Reply #8: It's no where near a minority

[wadestock]

It represents the downfall of modern capitalism....turning fascist, greedy, and self-destructive.

Are the people controlling the "machine" or is the machine controlling the people.

In this case....it's not a subtle drift of personality shift, but a wholesale mass psychosis brought on by an irresponsible interpretation of what capitalism is supposed to mean.

Capitalism without responsibility breeds this neurosis.

As you may suspect, it all started with Reagan. A free ride. It's your money....you know how to spend it better than the government.
Sounded nice from a grandfather type with a soft voice.

Remember JFK? Ask not what your country can do for you....ask what you can do for your country.

Nice line...but not really on the mark.
The real point is this. If you think the country is there to create an environment which optimizes personal success....go create yourself another country. This one believes in responsible capitalism.

The shift of money to the top has created a wealth base of 50 Trillion dollars in the hands of only a few million people. This base is so stinking rich and above the law that they are above the very constitution which we hold so dear and figure will protect us no matter what.

The cat is out of the bag.
Absolute power...ie money in the hands of a few....has corrupted this country.

The process of "survival of the fittest"....is no longer true in this version of capitalism. In fact....the ones with the money are much less representative of the cream of our society...and with the ability to make money on top of money....they are becoming the "bad business owners"....who have no ability to understand such important concepts of quality management or human resource management.

The alarming tilt in wealth disparity we see now is a similar situation to what happened before the great depression. The difference now is we have an unbelievably huge debt...and the fix will not occur through rebalancing the wealth distribution... but also through a large scale selling off of our debt to other nations...particularly rising China and India.

Whether this is a plus or minus is how the rest of the world will pick up the pieces after our capitalistic party implodes.

The nuerosis you speak of isn't wholesale in other european countries, as much as Americans would like to believe. Most other countries are now better eductated, and have a much stronger nationalistic belief that their country will be there for them. They are making strides in technologies that will invest in their infrastructure.

The real unknown is China. They are showing themselves to be even worse decadent capitalists than we are!