Economic reality

It's a tired old saying but it's still true: The rich are getting richer and poor are getting poorer. This reality is discussed in an article entitled "Delusional democracy breeds delusonal prosperity". Here's part of what it says:

Contrary to popular thinking, many revolutions have not occurred because of a widespread desire for freedom or democracy. They have been driven by mass hatred and rejection of economic inequality. The poor have revolted against the rich for eons. For much of human history the lack of freedom was linked to economic inequality. Those in power limited personal freedom so they could control the economy and prevent a fair distribution of wealth, allowing a relatively few to amass riches. Things change. If there is a special American capitalist genius it is maintaining a system with considerable freedom but where economic inequality is staggering. Our freedom subverts the need to revolt against the economy.

The unwritten theory seems to be that if citizens have personal freedom they will ignore economic inequality. And it seems to be working well here in the United States of Affluence. Aristocratic power-economic elites that really run the country have done more than shred the structure of our democracy under both Republican and Democratic regimes. They have engineered an economic system that is destroying the vaulted middle class, creating a simpler two-class system: the wealthy and the working poor. Americans are kept in a distractive state of consumer borrowing and spending. They never use their consumer power to challenge the system. They are continually fed economic lies. They are mostly blind to their delusional democracy and its flip side – delusional prosperity.

The article then goes on to analyze the disparity between rich and poor and explain how that gap is widening. Then the writer predicts a revolt:

The hallmark of delusional prosperity is a widespread and stubborn belief that people who work hard will prosper because of so much economic opportunity. Yet data continually show that working- and middle-class Americans are not benefiting anywhere near the extent that wealthy Americans are. We may be a nation with great personal freedom, but we no longer have an economy in which macro-prosperity is shared. Like they say, the rich really are getting richer and everyone else is getting poorer. Fixing American democracy also means fixing our economy. Otherwise we are headed towards a class struggle of monumental proportions. Voting against "establishment" politicians in both major parties is a key way for Americans to "revolt" against the political system. There is no comparable way to rebel against our cruel economy, except to leave it.
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When will the Second American Revolution begin? How much more economic misery will it take? Maybe just a little more will bring the American population to the tipping point. We can hope.

I hope there's a revolt as well but I'm not really optimistic. I think we're headed for a police state such that any attempt at revolution will be immediately and effectively put down. And, of course, let us not forget that it is the peculiar genius of the Republicans that they are able to convince people to vote against their economic self-interest. That's part of the problem.