America Is a Plutocracy After 40 Years of Work by the 1 Percent

The facts are clear and easy to research. Between the late 1970s and 2018, the wealthiest one percent of all Americans placed politicians in key positions which allowed them to increase their personal wealth by percentages unimaginable by any working-class American. Meanwhile, the average pay of the working class remained virtually stagnant. This is why the quality of life for the majority of our nation’s people is ranked 15th in the world of developed nations.

After key figures were put in place, the one percent worked to elect presidents who would adopt fiscal policies which would make them wealthy beyond their own outrageous dreams.

In 1981, Ronald Reagan chose a fiscal policy he called “supply side economics,” but is better known as “trickle-down economics.”

Reagan was fully aware that the premise of his plan for our nation’s economy was foolhardy and unrealistic. Simply explained, he pretended to believe that reducing taxes for the super-rich and our major corporations would grow America’s economy. They would use their greatly increased profits to grow their businesses and create new, good-paying jobs. Of course, none of this became a reality. These profits were placed in offshore accounts. Profits rose by hundreds of percentage points as the number of billionaires in America took a very sharp upturn. Fewer taxes resulted in the first one-trillion-dollar deficit in America’s history by 1989.

The one percent recognized the inevitability of a George H.W. Bush presidency, knowing that he would adopt the same fiscal policy of trickle-down economics.

They weathered the storm of Clinton’s eight years in office, as the national debt was erased. They needed a new puppet in the White House. Hundreds of millions of dollars began to pour into Republican war chests. In 2000, the most controversial election in history resulted in the presidency of George W. Bush. The Supreme Court of the United States literally gifted the presidency to the man who came to be known as “W.” The history of corruption in all three branches began long ago.

Once again trickle-down economics became the fiscal policy of our nation and the capitalistic society moved closer to a plutocracy.

Courtesy of Keith Cooper (Flickr CC0)

Two unnecessary and unwinnable wars added billions of dollars to the vaults of the one percent. By the end of Bush 43’s two terms in office, the wealth of Wall Street bankers had risen once again, while the American people faced a second depression, which nearly became a reality. The number of lies offered to the American people increased. Fox News increased its efforts to brainwash poorly informed Americans.

Beginning in 2009 President Barack Obama was forced to spend the vast majority of his presidency repairing the devastation caused by Bush and his failed administration.

In 2017 America was on the road to an amazing recovery. However, when Trump illegitimately received the Electoral College vote, trickle-down economics once again became our nation’s economic policy.

When Covid-19 began to cost a loss of lives counted by the hundreds on a daily basis, most Americans lost their jobs, and without assistance, they would lose their homes and virtually everything they had worked for their entire life. Trump did nothing, but President Biden did. His stimulus plan saved America.

What is most interesting is that the one-percent experienced enormous growth in their profits during the height of the pandemic, and the number of billionaires increased while the working class suffered.

Today price gouging is the norm, as the super-rich call it “inflation.” The plutocrats are getting richer day by day.

Finally, think about this fact. Between 1975 and 2018, the one percent literally stole 47 trillion dollars from the treasury of the United States. That’s right, “trillion” with a “T.”

Ask yourself a single question, and ask it honestly: “who is running the United States of America?” It’s not the three branches of government, at least two of them work for special interests today: the millionaires and billionaires. And because “the truth lives here,” I am required to tell you that plutocracy cannot endure without a fascist government.

Op-ed by James Turnage

Sources:

Daily KOS: The 1% stole 47 TRILLION DOLLARS from us from 1975-2018
Our World: Opinion: The World Has Reached Peak Plutocracy; by Soren Ambrose

Featured and Top Image by Sanfranman Courtesy of Wikimedia – Creative Commons License
Inset Image Courtesy of Keith Cooper’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License