<html><head></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><p class="rteleft">President Roosevelt's call for all Americans to support an economic Bill of Rights in his fourth State of the Union address:</p>
<blockquote><p class="rteleft">We have come to a clear realization of the fact that
true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and
independence. "Necessitous men are not free men." <em>People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.</em>
In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident.
We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new
basis of security and prosperity can be established for all regardless
of station, race, or creed.<a href="http://www.truth-out.org/in-twilight-social-state-rethinking-walter-benjamins-angel-history66544#33.">(33)</a> [Emphasis added.]</p><div><br></div><div>This comes from a long but forceful article by Henry Giroux: </div><div><br></div><div><a href="http://www.truth-out.org/in-twilight-social-state-rethinking-walter-benjamins-angel-history66544">http://www.truth-out.org/in-twilight-social-state-rethinking-walter-benjamins-angel-history66544</a></div><div><br></div><div>Following on theRoosevelt's quotation, he recites: </div><div><br></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Times New Roman'">…One measure of how the economic elite is destroying America and waging a
war on the poor, working class and middle class can be seen in the fact
that, despite being one of the richest countries in the world, the
United States has the highest poverty rate in the industrialized world.
Over 44 million people or one in seven Americans live below the poverty
line.</font><a href="http://www.truth-out.org/in-twilight-social-state-rethinking-walter-benjamins-angel-history66544#37."><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Times New Roman'">(37)</font></a><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Times New Roman'">
In recent years, the steepest rise in poverty has taken place among
children, with some experts predicting that six million kids will be
living in poverty in next decade.</font><a href="http://www.truth-out.org/in-twilight-social-state-rethinking-walter-benjamins-angel-history66544#38."><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Times New Roman'">(38)</font></a><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Times New Roman'">
In addition, over 50 million people cannot eat without food stamps, and
a stunning 50 percent of US children will use food stamps to eat at
some point in their childhood. Regarding health insurance, a staggering
50 million have none, a figure that becomes even more disturbing when a
runaway unemployment rate of 20 percent is factored into the equation.
If we count all the "uncounted workers - 'involuntary part-time' and
'discouraged workers' - the unemployment rate rises from 9.7 percent to
over 20 percent."</font><a href="http://www.truth-out.org/in-twilight-social-state-rethinking-walter-benjamins-angel-history66544#39."><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Times New Roman'">(39)</font></a><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Times New Roman'">
On top of this, we have three million people who are homeless, while
over five million have lost their homes; by 2014, it has been predicted
that this last figure will rise to 13 million. The standard of living
for the average American plummeted during the economic crisis - "the
median American household net worth was $102,500 in 2007 and went down
to $65,400 in 2009."</font><a href="http://www.truth-out.org/in-twilight-social-state-rethinking-walter-benjamins-angel-history66544#40."><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Times New Roman'">(40)</font></a><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Times New Roman'">
Meanwhile, against such staggering poverty, loss, human despair and
massive inequality in wealth and income, the top 1 percent of the
population has massively increased its wealth and power. For instance,
Matt Tabibi claims that the top 1 percent has seen its share of the
nation's overall wealth jump from 34.6 percent before the crisis in 2007
to over 37.1 percent in 2009. The top corporate executives collect a
salary that gives them $500 for every $1 earned by the average worker.
The wages of the 75 wealthiest Americans "increased from $91.2 million
in 2008 to an astonishing $518.8 million in 2009. That's nearly $10
million in weekly pay!"</font><a href="http://www.truth-out.org/in-twilight-social-state-rethinking-walter-benjamins-angel-history66544#41."><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Times New Roman'">(41)</font></a><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Times New Roman'"> As Robert Reich points out, "The top one-tenth of one percent of Americans now earn as much as the bottom 120 million of us."</font><a href="http://www.truth-out.org/in-twilight-social-state-rethinking-walter-benjamins-angel-history66544#42."><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Times New Roman'">(42)</font></a><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Times New Roman'">
In addition, the top 1 percent owns 70 percent of all financial assets,
an all-time record. In light of these trends, it is hardly surprising
to read that "the 400 richest families have a combined wealth of $1.57
trillion more than the combined wealth of 50% of U.S. population"</font><a href="http://www.truth-out.org/in-twilight-social-state-rethinking-walter-benjamins-angel-history66544#43."><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Times New Roman'">(43)</font></a><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Times New Roman'"> and that "the top 1% took in 23.5% of nation's pretax income in 2007 - up from less than 9 percent in 1976."</font><a href="http://www.truth-out.org/in-twilight-social-state-rethinking-walter-benjamins-angel-history66544#44."><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Times New Roman'">(44)</font></a><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Times New Roman'"> In spite of the fact that every 34th wage earner in America in 2008 went all of 2009 without earning a single dollar,</font><a href="http://www.truth-out.org/in-twilight-social-state-rethinking-walter-benjamins-angel-history66544#45."><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Times New Roman'">(45)</font></a><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Times New Roman'"> Wall Street handed out $150 billion to its executives.</font><a href="http://www.truth-out.org/in-twilight-social-state-rethinking-walter-benjamins-angel-history66544#46."><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Times New Roman'">(46)</font></a><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Times New Roman'">
As David McGraw points out, "100% of these bonuses are a direct result
of our tax dollars, so if we used this money to create jobs, instead of
giving them to a handful of top executives, we could have paid an annual
salary of $30,000 to 5 million people."</font><a href="http://www.truth-out.org/in-twilight-social-state-rethinking-walter-benjamins-angel-history66544#47."><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Times New Roman'">(47)</font></a><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Times New Roman'"> And as the "'bonus culture' of greed, ambition and excess"</font><a href="http://www.truth-out.org/in-twilight-social-state-rethinking-walter-benjamins-angel-history66544#48."><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Times New Roman'">(48)</font></a><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Times New Roman'">
continues, middle- and working-class families are ending up in food
pantries, homeless shelters or worse. Yet, Lloyd Blankfein, the CEO of
Goldman Sachs, claims that the "bonus culture" produced by the current
crop of financial zombies is "doing God's work."</font><a href="http://www.truth-out.org/in-twilight-social-state-rethinking-walter-benjamins-angel-history66544#49."><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Times New Roman'">(49)</font></a><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Times New Roman'">
Without any irony intended, Blankfein publicly asserts this arrogant
comment knowing full well that, under the grip of the recession caused
by those "doing God's work," teachers are experiencing massive layoffs;
public servants are taking salary and benefit cuts; schools are
hemorrhaging under a lack of resources; and the war in Afghanistan
endlessly siphons off financial resources needed by the federal and
state governments to address the nation's housing, employment and
economic crises.…</font></div><div><br></div><div>For an interview with Giroux, with Stephen Lendman:</div><div><br></div><div><a href="http://www.truth-out.org/radio-interview-with-henry-a-giroux66613">http://www.truth-out.org/radio-interview-with-henry-a-giroux66613</a></div><div><br></div><div><br></div></blockquote></body></html>