Democracies wouldn't be democracies without some disagreement, but the bitter and divisive partisanship we see today in Congress and elsewhere has occurred only twice before in American history. The first, most obviously, was the Civil War. The second, less obviously, was in the late 19th and early 20th centuries -- years when William Jennings Bryan ran for president on a populist ticket that pitted western farmers against eastern bankers, and when, subsequently, Eugene Debs ran for president as a socialist and garnered almost a million votes. That second period, not incidentally, was marked by wide inequality of income and wealth -- by some measures, as wide as we're experiencing today.
Why does fierce partisanship correlate so directly with inequality? I suspect it's because, in such times, large numbers of people who can't get ahead no matter how hard they try become so frustrated and angry they want to blame someone or some group for their plight, and are therefore attracted to anyone who offers easy villains and scapegoats. The underlying problem has little or nothing to do with villainy, however; it's with a system that hasn't adapted itself to changing economic conditions. The angry partisanship subsides only when the system is reformed to create widely-shared opportunity and prosperity: The last time around, through progressive and New Deal era reforms like a graduated income tax, the breakup of monopolies, 40-hour workweek, Social Security, unemployment insurance, the right to join a union, and minimum wage.
But that raises a chicken-and-egg problem: how to reform the system when the nation is so bitterly divided that no reform can be enacted?
Why does fierce partisanship correlate so directly with inequality? I suspect it's because, in such times, large numbers of people who can't get ahead no matter how hard they try become so frustrated and angry they want to blame someone or some group for their plight, and are therefore attracted to anyone who offers easy villains and scapegoats. The underlying problem has little or nothing to do with villainy, however; it's with a system that hasn't adapted itself to changing economic conditions. The angry partisanship subsides only when the system is reformed to create widely-shared opportunity and prosperity: The last time around, through progressive and New Deal era reforms like a graduated income tax, the breakup of monopolies, 40-hour workweek, Social Security, unemployment insurance, the right to join a union, and minimum wage.
But that raises a chicken-and-egg problem: how to reform the system when the nation is so bitterly divided that no reform can be enacted?
This is what happens when the fascist Koch brothers fund the GOP Governors, the state legislators and all the political power right down to the school boards. They own the GOP, the police are influenced by these people, and THIS is the result.
THEY MUST BE STOPPED!!!! STAY AWAKE!!!!
The March Against Monsanto continues 10/12/13
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You know I remember a time, not all that long ago, when such thoughts were U N T H I N K A B L E. Unthinkable. Further from anyone's mind than could ever be. What the hell has happened in this country?
While we're subjecting families on Medicaid and food stamps to austerity, several states are spending more on prisons than they are on colleges. Gotta keep spending our precious tax dollars to lock up all those nonviolent drug offenders.
http://huff.to/1dAT14p
http://huff.to/1dAT14p
Stop the World, the Teabaggers Want Off added a new photo.
The nation’s oldest and largest civil rights group is seeking action from the Department of Justice and is targeting the NRA and ALEC-championed "stand your ground" laws.
As Feds Review Martin Case, NAACP Seeks DOJ Action and Targets State ‘Stand Your Ground’ Laws
July 15, 2013
Have you ever seen a bigger opportunist? Maybe Dick Cheney.
Thanks to The Blue Street Journal
Shared by www.occupydemocrats.com
Thanks to The Blue Street Journal
Shared by www.occupydemocrats.com
Because food stamps are "wasteful spending."
Read the full story HERE: http://occupydemocrats.com/ house-republicans-target-food-s tamps/
Read the full story HERE: http://occupydemocrats.com/
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Anybody reading this who can't name their Senators? Really?
Carl Younger shared Democracy for America's photo.
Sign the petition to tell Harry Reid that we need filibuster reform now! http://bit.ly/15Hwhz9
Sign the petition to tell Harry Reid that we need filibuster reform now! http://bit.ly/15Hwhz9
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