Unbiased thoughts informed by careful research.
Slippery Slope & The Koch Brothers
We are on the slippery slope, but it may not be too late to stop the avalanche from happening.
If the avalanche does take place, our democratic society which has frequently been called "The Land of Opportunity" will revert to an oligarchy where a few uber-wealthy families completely control the economic destinies of the proletariat.
Imagine: Medieval Europe, reinvented in the 21st century!
Note: The Koch brothers (Charles and David) who are reportedly worth over $50 billion:
In 2011, Forbes called Koch Industries the second largest privately held company in the United States with annual revenues of about $98 billion. Charles and David Koch each own 42% of the company.
The Koch brothers spent some $400 Million in the 2012 elections attempting to elect right-wing candidates to the White House, the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House and various state governorships. There is no reason to think that similar efforts won't continue into the future.
The Koch brothers have established or enabled dozens of right-wing organizations dedicated to: providing huge tax breaks to the rich and multi-national corporations; destroying trade unions and trampling workers' rights; privatizing Social Security and Medicare; and eviscerating programs which backstop the lives of our middle class working families, as well as our neighbors who are retired and/or disabled.
The Koch brothers made their fortune in the fossil fuel industry, and are strongly supporting a massive disinformation campaign to discredit the science around 'climate change' and/or 'global warming'. http://greenpeaceblogs.org/2012/04/02/koch-brothers-exposed-fueling-climate-denial-and-privatizing-democracy/
Most recently, the Koch brothers have announced their planned acquisition of the Tribune Newspaper chain — the nation's second largest newspaper publisher. The Tribune Company chain includes such newspapers as the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, the Hartford Courant, the Orlando Sentinel, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, the Baltimore Sun, the Daily Press and The Morning Call — among other papers.
This is an outrageous and egregious slap in the face to our Declaration of Independence which formed the very foundation upon which the Constitution of the United States was based. At the time, the notion that "… all men are created equal" was a brand new paradigm in the history of mankind upon which to create a legitimate and enduring government.
The current shenanigans in Washington between the House, the Senate and the White House may be an early warning that even the best thought out ideas around governance have a limited life span, and that the pure thoughts of our Founding Fathers were bound to be adulterated and tainted by multiple generations of people who ran for – and were elected — to office with selfish and ulterior motives.
Posted by walrus51
Filed in Economic Inequality, Economy, Government, Politics
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