The Shocking Redistribution of Wealth in the Past Five Years

[Octafish]

87. Thank you for sharing, Jasana. You have expressed what the vast majority of this nation now face...

Unfortunately, similar times and conditions have existed in the nation's past, the Great Depression being one example. Then, the Republicans as a party wanted to do nothing, expecting things would take their natural course and the economically weak would fall by the wayside. Led by Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Democrats took the opposite approach, using the powers of government to build a better economy that better served all Americans.

In my time, I saw how John F. Kennedy continued the New Deal as the New Frontier. The peaceful exploration of space was the best thing to happen to jobs in history. At its peak 400,000 Americans were employed in the Apollo Project.



Imagine if President Kennedy had lived, where the nation would be today? I believe, if we could figure out how to the moon and back, we could face any problem on earth and solve it -- from ending hunger, poverty and ignorance to creating a lasting peace.

Problems today's GOP considers intractable (see Poppy Bush inaugural "More will than Wallet" inaugural speech) such as joblessness, poverty, crime, would be tackled, instead of ignored, like they've done with public education. And the treasures accumulated since would be used to make life better for everybody on earth instead of sitting in a secret Swiss bank account.

But, no. The conservatives killed the New Deal after LBJ and the Great Society. For the space program, it started with Nixon. Instead, they gave the store away to War Inc, who sank the national treasure into the "Money trumps peace" crowd.

Today, we know what needs to be done: Jobs. Housing. Health Care. Education. Infrastructure. Research. And all the rest that helps build a stronger nation.

What we lack are leaders -- D, R, I, none, etc. -- with the courage to do what it takes, part of which is taxing those who've most benefited from the greatest wealth in human history and the trickle-down, low tax economics that help them accumulate more at the expense of the great majority of Americans.