It’s the oligarchy, stupid
Herman Cain just doesn’t get it.
His allegiance to the Horatio Alger myth makes him far too dismissive of real world problems facing recent college graduates. Cain demonstrated how out of touch he is when asked his opinion about the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations now gripping New York and other cities around the country. Many of the protesters are young people from middle class backgrounds and with college educations.
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“If you don’t have a job and you are not rich, blame yourself,” he chided, adding a finger-wagging explanation that his parents didn’t raise him to look enviously at those with more wealth.
“It is not a person’s fault because they succeeded,” Cain said. “It is a person’s fault because they failed.” Cain doesn’t seem to realize that young people today do not lack initiative; they lack opportunity. They face the worst job market in decades.
But that is not the worst of it. Young people see a dysfunctional political system, in which policies that could alleviate widespread distress and help put the economy back on a path to growth have been declared off limits. They see a political system that makes them suffer — along with middle- and lower-income people of all ages — for the sake of the corporate interests whose money now dominates American government.
The classic Alger virtues — determination, focus and work ethic — worked for Cain (age 65) and fellow candidate Mitt Romney (age 64) when they were young in a world where America’s expanding economy was dominant. Young people today are no less entrepreneurial or driven than previous generations. The problem is that times have changed, and the Republican candidates might want to take note.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/10/10/2447870/its-the-oligarchy-stupid.html
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