I was reading in Dr. Jeffrey Sachs’ new book “The Price of Civilization” and I started asking myself questions about the state of America and how we got to where we are now.
Are we at the beginning of the New American Revolution? Like the Tory government of old has our present government failed in its basic responsibility of a modern civilized society?
Are we at the beginning of the New American Revolution? Like the Tory government of old has our present government failed in its basic responsibility of a modern civilized society?
The parallels between the start of the American Revolution and today are striking. In 1700’s in Colonial America the Tories, the aristocrats, were the ruling class. They would have been the top1% of today. Their ranks included minor royalty, and the wealthy of the day.
The Tories held allegiance to the Crown and to the East Indian Company. The sole purpose of the Colonies was to make money. The colonies were the first company store. The number one goal of the Tory government was profit for the Crown, the East India Company and of course themselves. The interweaving of the three was so inbred there was no distinction. They were one and the same.
The rest of the population the working classes was again divided and some did very well for themselves and the status quo was perfectly wonderful by them. They had work, aspired to become wealthy and had social status. They certainly were not going to rock the boat and speak up against the aristocrats. They knew their place and liked it.
But many were feeling the sting of taxation without representation. They had no voice. Life was hard and many lived hand to mouth, day in and day out. There was little hope things would get better and they could be like their brothers who had steady income. They were the 99%.
It was those men and some wealthy open minded compassionate colonist, who forged the compact that gave America its freedom. The pursuit of life, liberty and happiness are bedrock words in our Declaration of Independence.
That document said to the world, we will be different than any other country that ever existed. It said all men were created equal and in America, it did not matter where you were bore, or who you were born to, or what is your social status, all Americans could strive to be as great as their talent could take them.
For many Americans those words are meaningless. Like the colonist who had no voice, the 99% today is voiceless. The government is run by the rich for the rich. Our Representative government has failed. Every Senator and more than half of the House of Representatives are millionaires. The 99% are not being represented in our government.
The American Dream for many is just that, a dream. Many believe the game is rigged and until we take the money out of politics the game will never change.
The East Indian Company is long gone but in its place, we have Wall Street, multinational corporations and politicians who have no loyalty to the America people. Their loyalties are with their stock holders, profits and their own political power.
