After a long rehearsal last Monday night we went out for some beer with friends, and we actually had a fairly heated political discussion during which two friends felt that most Americans were doing well and happy with their lot. The other three of us were not in agreement, and I read this on NY Times this morning that certainly helped to substantiate our point. Even those who don't "know it" can certainly feel it.
In Judith Warner's blog, she wrote,"based on a new set of data from the I.R.S...It showed that America’s most wealthy earn an even greater share of the nation’s income than they did in 2000, at the peak of the tech boom. The wealthiest 1 percent of Americans, the Wall Street Journal reported, earned 21.2 percent of all income in 2005 (the latest date for which these data are available), up from the high of 20.8 percent they’d reached in the bull market of 2000. The bottom 50 percent of people earned 12.8 percent of all income, compared with 13 percent in 2000. And the median tax filer’s income fell 2 percent when adjusted for inflation (to about $31,000) between 2000 and 2005."
Boy, that gave me another dose of reality as I realized that I make just pittance above the median income in the United States. I, with a B.A., and M. Mus., and someday a D. Mus, am barely doing better than the median income. By the way, I make less than 40% of my boss' income. That sucks. No wonder people are discontented, even if they don't know it yet. Judith Warner wrote about the media's inability to perceive the state of Americans' discontent as a factor in mis-predicting the presidential potential of Hilary Clinton. The media has abandoned the fast disappearing middle class and our needs; therefore, they could not foresee Hilary's popularity among the vast majority of Americans. It's Saturday, so my thoughts go no deeper.
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2 comments:
Man what a great post about a great post. Your reflections are important...and Warner's points are dead on. And her reference to Maslow is a nifty connection to boot.
The jury is still out, however, on whether Clinton can win the general election. I am convinced that she, of all the Democrats, is the best candidate. But the popular culture in this country can easily be hijacked by a protracted soap opera, which is how the Republicans will play it. If you think the swiftboating of '04 was bad, I believe it is about to get MUCH worse.
So the question is...are we ready to get serious about the election? The media isn't going to help us get there. In fact, they are going to do all they can to keep it in the basement.
The question of Clinton's electability will depend largely on whether the voting public can spare the time away from Dancing with the Stars.
Hey! I resemble that last remark! :-)
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