THE MIDDLE CLASS MANIFESTO

Preamble to the Constitution

“We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

Right now the USA is in the grip of an economic downturn not experienced since the Great Depression. There is some debate as to the exact timing; the start and possible ending of this financial catastrophe, but the fact is that in January 2001 newly elected George W. Bush made the same mistake that President Calvin Coolidge made in 1924 when he cut federal income tax rates for the wealthy which precipitated the Great Depression. Calvin made a serious mistake and George W., like the idiot he is, did the same stupid thing.

During this time of tribulation, worry and suffering, there exists also an opportunity. There is an opportunity for the Middle Class of America to stand up, unite, demand their economic rights – and get what is due them for their lifetimes of hard work and taxes. This current economic downturn; call it a recession if you will, or another depression being disguised and held at bay by government propaganda, is not an accident of economics. It’s not a bad draw of the cards or an unlucky roll of the dice. No, this is not an accident; it’s a prime example of about one-hundred years of reckless political policies, bad decisions and failed leadership. It’s an example of politicians gone wild and bureaucracies running amuck.

In the fall of 2008 the Bush administration tried their version of a stimulus plan by sending out a measly handful of tax rebate dollars, and when that didn’t work they tried their own $700 billion dollar stimulus package. That effort failed, most of the money was wasted and over half can’t even be accounted for. Now, this new administration has tried their own version of a $700 billion dollar stimulus plan. Apparently it too was a wasted effort and waste of tax-payer dollars. Let’s look at this in more detail. All that money, from both administrations’ plans, will ultimately be funded by the American taxpayer. Who is the taxpayer in this scenario? The Middle Class of America is the taxpayer.

The richest Americans don’t pay taxes, just look at the recent news about the UBS Bank scandal in Switzerland to verify that. So, what is this great opportunity for the Middle Class American Taxpayer? Firstly, answer this question: What holds the world up? Gravity is what holds the world up: right? Okay, what makes the world go round and round? The answer to that question is – MONEY. Money is the grease that makes the world turn on its axis and that money equals POWER.

Who has that power? There’s two ways to answer that question. The most common answer would be to look at it from a socio-economic point of view. According to that method, 1% of the richest people in America own 40% of the nation’s wealth. Further, 19% of the richest people in America own 51% of the nation’s wealth. Do the math on that and you will see that 20% of the population own and or control 91% of the wealth in America. That means that 80% of the population own only 9% of the wealth in America. The reality of that is that the majority of the population, the 80% of the Middle Class, work likes serfs and peasants so that the 20% richest people can get richer. It is a disparity and inequality that begs a reckoning.

So, does that mean that the richest people have the power? That’s what they and their political flunkies would like the Middle Class to believe. But, there’s another way to look at the question of: “Who has the Power?” Try this on for size.

Look around at all those hard-working, tax-paying Middle Class people; look at their desperate economic situations; look at them and envision them with the Power. Not likely you say? Well, that’s what the politicians want you to believe. The politicians don’t want the Middle Class to realize that they have the Power. They want the Middle Class; that 80% of America, to be downtrodden, subservient and manageable. And, the way they do that is to arrange the economic system so that the rich get richer, while the poor get poorer. But, the truth is that the 80% of the American Middle Class do have the Power. The problem is that they don’t realize it and therefore don’t use that Power.

According to a government study released in 2008, consumer spending accounts for 75% of the Gross Domestic Product. That means that all those groceries, sundries, automobiles, toasters, televisions, shirts, pants, sneakers and other consumer items the Middle Class spends their hard-earned dollars on is the grease that makes the world go round and round. Say that number out loud: 75% - of the USA Gross Domestic Product is made up of Middle Class consumer spending.

According to the Central Intelligence Agency World Fact Book, the Gross Domestic Product of the USA is $14.8 Trillion dollars. The total for the worlds GDP is $78.3 Trillion dollars. That means that almost 20% of the total worlds GDP are made up by the GDP of the USA. And, of that amount, American consumer spending is 15% of the total GDP of the entire world. Do the math on that: $14.8 X 75% = $11.1 and $11.1 divided by $78.3 = 15% (rounded up). The American consumer’s share of the whole world’s GDP is over $11 Trillion dollars, or 15% of the total. 75% here at home and 15% of the world's GDP.

That is POWER.

No wonder the politicians want Middle ClassAmerica to run out and spend, spend, spend. The politicians are relying on the Middle Class to keep the boat afloat. Well, if they want us to get busy bailing and pumping, we can demand some things from them in return. Let’s use that Power to force the politicians to fix the broken system. Let’s force them to fix the system that they broke. We elected them and entrusted them to do a workmanlike job for us and they have done nothing but fail in their tasks and bring America to the brink of bankruptcy. The money the government put in peoples’ pockets through this stimulus plan is counterfeit. It’s not worth the paper it’s printed on. Why? Because it’s a loan, not a rebate or freebie; it’s a loan at criminally high, pawn broker rates that will merely put the Middle Class deeper in debt. But, the stimulus plan is a fact of life. It’s been passed and already doled out: Traded, Bargained, Stolen, Vanished.

How can the Middle Class turn this fiasco into an opportunity? The Middle Class now has the Power to fix the broken system. The Middle Class can demonstrate their Power by going on a Spending Strike. Only buy the bare necessities and forgo any splurging and luxuries – for a while, anyway – until the politicians wake up and smell the coffee and go to work. Call it another Revolutionary War, and Our Money is Our Weapon.

For too long now, the politicians haven’t had America’s and American’s best interests at the forefront of their planning and legislation. The politicians have let their self-interests, egos and greed influence their decisions. They have been like two warring tribes: the Republican Tribe versus the Democrat Tribe. They have used their energies bickering and fighting and back-stabbing each other instead of planning and working, all the while wasting our time and money. The only plans they seem to have is to get re-elected and the way they do that is to work against the other tribe in order to make them look bad at the next election cycle.

Instead of the political tribes working together and looking and planning generations in advance, so America can be strong and free, they can only see as far as the next election. Their thinking is that if the other side does good for the next two, or four years, then the losers in the next election might have to get a real job, or join the millions of other Americans at the unemployment office.

Okay, we see how to use the Power of the Middle Class and let’s assume that we have demonstrated that Power to the politicians and they realize they have to go to work. What do we want them to do? What’s the most important thing that will affect our future prosperity? Different people may have different answers to that question, but in my humble opinion the answer is – Energy Independence.

America cannot be secure in the short term or long term until we can produce our own sources of renewable energy. Yes, the new administration is pushing solar, hydrogen, efficient cars and battery-powered cars, and some other practical and not-so practical endeavors, but there is a quicker, easier and cheaper answer and that is another Manhattan Project focused on Alcohol Fuel and Bio-Diesel.

Henry Ford’s Model T was designed and built to run on Alcohol Fuel; the vehicles in Britain during WWII ran on Alcohol Fuel; in the 1980’s Brazil mandated that all their vehicles be able to run on sugar-cane based Alcohol Fuel, and, indeed, the Indy 500 race cars run on Alcohol Fuel.

Rudolf Diesel’s engine ran on Bio-Diesel made from peanut oil and there are Americans now running their diesel engine vehicles on recycled fast-food restaurant french-fry grease. The national transportation grid in America – all the cars and trucks on our roads – account for 70% of all the use of petroleum, the majority of which is imported and that petroleum is sold to us, at criminally high rates, by people we are presently at war with and who hate our Freedom Loving guts.

We, the Citizens of the USA, can learn a lesson from those folks in Egypt and other mid-East countries who are fighting for liberty. Actually, it was our forefathers example in 1776 that is inspiring them; so why isn't that same example inspiring us now? Are we going to continue to sit idly by while the 1% plutocracy, the richest who seek to control our destiny; and the 19% who work to keep the 1% in control, continue to stir poop in the stewpot? Or, are we going to control our own destinies? The choice is Ours to make.

Indeed, all across the globe and especially in the Middle East, middle-class and poorer Citizens are protesting, marching and demanding that their countries leaders (the 1% megolamaniacs and the 19% arse-kissers who keep the 1% in power) change their greed-driven and power-hungry ways and show those Citizens the basic human dignity and Rights they deserve.

At the last Presidential election America's Citizens were promised "Change". So far the only change has been an increase in unemployment and an increase in the number of Americans living at or below the poverty level. The plain fact is that things, economic and societal, will never change in a positive manner until we kick our oil dependency and gasoline habit.

The time for CHANGE is now and it is up to US Citizens of the USA to initiate that change. Put not your faith in princes or bureaucracies. The princes rely on bureaucracies to keep them in power, and the first rule of any bureaucracy is to protect and maintain the monopoly and power of the institution. POWER TO THE PEOPLE.

For more information on this subject please see:
The Counterfeit Traitor
and
The_Choice