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In the business section of The Honolulu Advertiser this past Sunday, June 1, 2008, there was an article titled, “Rich still hanging on to a few luxuries,” which raises the question: Why does someone need to pay $250 for a haircut? The answer can be found in “The Theory of the Leisure Class” by Thorstein Veblen in the chapter “Conspicuous Leisure”: “In order to gain and hold the esteem of men it is not sufficient merely to possess wealth or power. The wealth or power must be put in evidence. And not only does the evidence of wealth serve to impress one’s importance on others and to keep their sense of his importance alive and alert, but it is of scarcely less use in building up and preserving one’s self-complacency.” The book was published in 1899 during a period in American History known as the Gilded Age, and not since the period ended with the Great Depression has the possession of wealth in this country been as lopsided as it is today. According to Forbes magazine, the top 400 wealthiest people in America have now amassed one and a half trillion dollars in net worth – that's one and a half million, million dollars for 400 people! This is the result of unfettered capitalism – something that is turning America into a plutocracy: something that our founding fathers took great pains to avoid when creating the Great American Experiment. Though we live under a capitalist system, it doesn’t mean that we are all of us capitalists. Only 1% of all Americans are truly considered such – multimillionaires who earn in excess of $500,000 annually (and with an average income that is approaching $2 million per annum). Generally they are top-level corporate executives, high-rung politicians, mega-celebrities and heirs and heiresses. For the most part, the beneficiaries under capitalism are large corporations and the people who run them. Additionally, we now have a government that favors this class to such a degree that it removes all constraints to their voracity, subsidizes their endeavors and cuts their taxes – putting the greatest tax burden on the middle class. Farm subsidies are of little help to small family farms because they are primarily awarded to large corporations like Monsanto, Cargill, Archer Daniels Midland and ConAgra. Along with other big businesses in the communication, information, defense, banking and energy industries, they feed greedily at the government trough while people are losing decent paying jobs that are being sent overseas, losing their homes and their savings and losing their American Dreams. Life is still pretty good for another 15% of American families, who are considered upper middle-class. With annual incomes exceeding $75,000, they can still afford to eat out occasionally and maybe put a kid or two through college – a state one. But for 30% of Americans, considered to be lower middle-class, it’s getting tough to make ends meet: these are families that take in $35–75,000 a year. The working class, another 30%, hasn’t had it this bad since the Depression – they’re trying to get by on $16-35,000 a year. And for another 25%, the working poor and the underclass, life has become desperate. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median household income in the United States in 2006 was $48,023. With a median household income of $61,005, Hawaii was the third highest state in the U.S., behind New Jersey and Maryland. But no matter which state you reside in, tough luck if you’re on the wrong side of that number. Executives from Shell Oil, Exxon-Mobile, Chevron, Conoco-Phillips and BP America have stated before Congress that their record profits are merely the result of market conditions – supply and demand, and that they are justified; because they pay for exploration and offset leaner years. Meanwhile, people who earn $8.00 an hour cannot afford gasoline to drive to work. Yesterday I paid almost $4.00 a gallon for gasoline and almost $5.00 for a loaf of bread. More than 40 million Americans are without health insurance – and even those with health insurance see an annual decrease in what it covers – with higher deductibles, copays and prescription costs. As Billy Joel wrote during the Reagan years: “Every child had a pretty good shot To get at least as far as their old man got But something happened on the way to that place They threw an American flag in our face.” How can a system that benefits so few so greatly continue to exist? It is accomplished through the exploitation of the commoners’ fears. Whether it be Hun, Bolshevik, Terrorist or gay couples getting married, plutocrats in America are able to maintain control of the government by declaring the threat and then presenting their candidates and programs as the safeguards. Do you want to see this continue? – then vote for John McCain this fall and get more of the same and maybe even another Great Depression.
Copyright © May 2008 Michael D. Kerrigan Return to Top of Page Return to Essays
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