[Peace-discuss] Shocking editorial

[Brussel]

You mean there's a paper like that right here in the great state of  
illinois?
--mkb
On Jan 8, 2008, at 8:59 AM, David Green wrote:

> The State Journal-Register (Springfield, IL)
>
> August 14, 2007 Tuesday
>
> Capitalism did its job well, but it's time for change
> SECTION: EDITORIAL; Pg. 5
>
> LENGTH: 852 words
>
> I watched the Minnesota interstate highway bridge collapse. I  
> watched the amazing pictures of the New York City steam pipe  
> explosion. And I watched the levees crumble and saw New Orleans  
> flooded.
> I wanted to write about how America's infrastructure is falling  
> apart. I was going to point out that there is insufficient money in  
> the federal budget to upgrade and maintain the roads, bridges and  
> utilities we all share and are imperative to our standard of living.
> I was going to close by making the point that the war in Iraq is  
> costing us well over $2 billion a week and that the money could pay  
> for rebuilding our infrastructure. I was going to show that it  
> could go a long way to making good on the promise of decent health- 
> care service for us all.
> But I started thinking. If we weren't involved in a catastrophic  
> war where would we spend the $300 million a day the war is costing  
> us? Would this money go to rebuilding our power grid? Would  
> prescription drugs be available to those who need them? Would our  
> roads, bridges, railroads, air traffic control systems be improved?  
> Would health care for all be affordable?
> Nahhh! I don't think so. Since 2001 the Department of  
> Transportation, the Department of the Interior, the Environmental  
> Protection Agency, the Department of Energy, and the Department of  
> Housing and Urban Development's have all received budget cuts of up  
> to 4 percent. The Corps of Engineers, despite what they were doing  
> in New Orleans, receives almost 2 percent less than in 2001.
> These are the federal departments most directly responsible for the  
> upkeep of our national infrastructure; they are not even close to  
> staying even with the degeneration of our national infrastructure.  
> The physical degeneration of our country didn't start under the  
> current administration. The infrastructure was crumbling under  
> previous administrations as well.
> Why? Isn't our government supposed to meet the needs of we, the  
> people? The truth is, government sees to the needs of those who  
> control the national purse strings. The Investment Bankers, Wall  
> Street Tycoons, Oil Company Magnates and the others who control 80  
> percent of our country's wealth call the shots. If they want a tax  
> cut, they get a tax cut. If they want less regulation, they get it.  
> If they want to increase their control over the world's oil, the  
> government does its best to accommodate them.
> There are men and women in government who are decent and actually  
> try to represent the interests of the majority of people. But the  
> rich and powerful are winning the ideological class war and large  
> numbers of us who are not part of the economic elite have bought  
> into their lies.
> The big lie is that the rich deserve everything they have and if  
> you are not happy, it's your own fault. Not happy with your lack of  
> health insurance? Eat healthier and you won't need it. Not happy  
> because your workplace closed and now you're forced to work two  
> jobs to make as much as one used too? It's your own fault for not  
> getting that master's degree in business.
> Not happy because the color of your skin seems to draw the  
> attention of the police as you drive? Quit whining - you should be  
> more careful where you drive. You're not happy because it's  
> impossible for your power chair to negotiate the curb cuts in your  
> neighborhood? Blame your mother for taking thalidomide. Not happy  
> because it's getting more expensive to gas up your car? Blame the  
> environmentalists for blocking drilling off the coast of Florida.  
> Not happy because that low-paying job you had laid you off to hire  
> new immigrants? Don't blame the owners; blame the new immigrant.  
> And so it goes.
> They've got us so turned around that for the first time in history  
> the have-nots are blaming folks who have less for our  
> dissatisfaction. In fact, many of us are more likely to identify  
> with the rich and powerful than with our neighbors and co-workers.
> History is filled with examples of how economic systems become  
> obsolete and are replaced. It was only a couple of hundred years  
> ago with the start of the industrial revolution that the feudal  
> system was replaced by capitalism.
> That was a good thing. Feudalism became a brake on the ability of  
> society to move ahead. Capitalism filled the historical bill.
> People who had a stake in maintaining feudalism fought hard against  
> the budding capitalists. There were revolutions aimed at  
> overthrowing or restricting the power of the feudalists in Germany,  
> France, England, the United States and just about the rest of the  
> industrializing world. Back then it was the capitalists who were  
> the revolutionaries.
> It is time to end capitalism's reign. It no longer is capable of  
> moving the standard of living for all forward. It is incapable of  
> providing the breakthroughs to benefit humanity. Those who profit  
> from capitalism are engaged in a giant war to maintain their  
> privilege and make us think that these inequalities are right and  
> just.
> Let's get over our fear of being called names and open our minds  
> and our hearts to create an economic system where greed is not good  
> but concern for our co-inhabitants of this planet is.
>
> Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo!  
> Search.
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