I watched "Where to Invade Next" last night.

[Moostache]

21. We are well and truly fucked...

The problem is that too much of America has become zero-sum game territory. The rich do not see any use in increasing the size of the pie without a corresponding increase in the % of that pie that they keep. When you factor in inflation and cost of living increases and look at them versus wages, it is much easier to see this concept laid bare. They "win" in terms of the share of national wealth retained in fewer hands, and the rest of us "lose" by that exact amount extra being horded.

It did not have to be this way, which is the truly tragic part of our future ruination.

From the 1940's to the 1970's, US worker output and wages tracked on a parallel trajectory. As productivity rose, so too did wages and benefits. Enter Reaganomics and "trickle down"... the wages and benefits flatlined and the % taken and retained by the very top exploded.

This is not new.
There is a reason that all empires crumble and fall.
Empire USA is no different.

Greed.
Pure and simple.
When men take more than they need and horde it away from productive use - money, resources, time...you name it - the entire society is lessened a bit more each time.
Do it enough and things fall apart. The center does not hold.

I hope the rich realize that when enough people are pushed into 'nothing-left-to-lose' status, the heads being placed on the parapet won't be the 99% or even the 99.9%...a man with nothing left to lose is the most dangerous weapon of mass destruction ever seen. Creating hundreds of millions of them is suicide.