REVOLT AGAINST THE PLUTOCRACY

The first economic boom in American history, to really make a mark on society, was the Post Civil War boom in the 1790s.  Then, we had a second such economic bliss period known as the Guilded age.  This was around the years of the 1880s.  Then everybody knows about the Roaring Twenties.  Marked by elite clubs, champagne nights, beautifully dressed fragrant wives to the first American bourgeoisie. The Post World War II period would be the first time capitalism, would be truly successful.  The first three economic haydays were very exclusive indeed.  They catered to the richest segments of society. This stirred up political visionaries such as Karl Marx to begin a campaign of bashing capitalism.  In their minds, capitalism would be only for the elites. It seemed capitalism was designed to be very exploitative for the masses, because of a severe disparity in incomes. This brought back visions of Kings, and castles where there was a favored few, whom benefited off the sweat, and toil of a proletariat or serf class.  Greed seemed to be the ruling factor.  But the 1950s through the 1960s, would put this theory to rest, supposedly forever, and shame Karl Marx, his comrades, and communism forever.  During  this period, we did watch the rise of the strongest middleclass, and the smallest number of poor in the history of the world.  In come differences were at their lowest.  The rich made between ten and twenty times the lowest paid workers. A typical single family home would fetch about $15,000.00, give or take a couple of thousand.  Yet, a mansion would not be that much more at about $30,000.00 and up. A typical family car would run $2,300.00, and a Cadillac Fleetwood of the rich, would run a whole two times the cost of the average family car. The lives of Americans would become the envy of the world.  America would be changed forever.  Hey you stupid facist commies, eat your hearts out!

Then came the 1980s, yes those 1980s!  Laissez-Faire capitalism at it's greediest, most efficient best.  The 1980s launched the fifth time in history the United States would experience an economic boom period.  However, something happened, that would slowly, and methodically unravel the masterpiece of American capitalism for the common man, the average American.  Like a giant Condor the economy soared, soared, and continues to rise on some invisible thermal to this day, eclipsing all of the previous prosperous periods, both in time span, and capital gains of those already with capital. Wednesday, December 1, 1999 in the Sun Sentinel page 31A, Frank Rich (not joking with the Rich part of his name) o f the New York Times wrote an article "Who doesn't want to be rich?" hitting the nail right on the head.  "When historians look back at America as it rang in the momentous year of 2000, what will they find? An outbreak of millennial spirituality?  "Prosperity with a purpose"?  Guess again. What they are going to see instead is a country drunk on a TV quiz show called Who Wants to BE a Millionaire?"  It seems we have suddenly gotten a craving for all of these shows glorifying endless wealth dreams are made of. "All the stuff our parents told us didn't come true." quoted NBC executive Rosalyn Weinman. All of the shows like Inside Edition, Sixty Minutes, 20/20, and Hard Copy etc. seem to gravitate around famous stars, sports heroes, or the lives of rich corporate icons.  These shows used to do stories mainly on events that effected the average American, from politics, economics to the heroic deed done by an average citizen. Now, they cover most things that have no bearing on our lives what so ever, and the average American shouldn't be the least bit interested in. Yet, we seem almost in a brain washed stupor cheering, and screaming at something that has no effect on our lives, and has as much of a chance of happening to us as an alien encounter, with a bonus ride in a flying saucer.  Most popular magazines seem to cater to the elite few, with articles, and advertisements of expensive vacations to exotic lands, luxurious homes on the water, gorgeous sleek boats, fancy big automobiles, diamond clad watches, and stock brokerage firms requesting a $ million minimum for first time investors.  You would think, if you were an alien visitor from another planet, by all of the hype about mass riches, and wealth that this country, and every single member of it's population were rolling in dough. That we wipe our _ _ es with hundred dollar bills, and flushed them down the toilet. We role our cigarettes with fifties, and each citizen has a cool $ million stashed away in the mattress.  Frank Rich quotes; "If this country is so rich, why are so many coveting prosperity they already have? The answer is that most people don't have it, and the gap between the haves and the have-nots---and the haves and the middle class---is growing. While nearly half the country invests in stocks, 90 percent of the shares are held by the wealthiest 10 percent of the households according to studies cited by The Wall Street journal; meanwhile, stock options have pushed the ratio of executive pay to factory worker pay from 42 to 1 in 1980 to 419 to 1 in 1998."  As you have learned in Delight Of The Overclass Demise Of The Middleclass somebody has to pay for this mass flood of wealth to the elite few.