It’s All Right Ma… I’m Only Bleeding!

homeless USA

Many thanks to Bob Dylan’s great song of the same name. What rankles me is how so many of my friends, neighbors and acquaintances seem to accept how far down the rabbit hole our Amerikan society has fallen. We live under the broken umbrella of an nation whose political leaders care not to protect the overwhelming majority of us. We live under the auspices of a Military Industrial Empire that spends half or our hard earned tax dollars on phony wars, illegal foreign occupations and excessive militarism at home. Yet, most of the lemmings I cohabit with are only concerned about tripe news on sexual scandals and other base events that have nothing to do with their health or financial well being. For every person who can profit from insane stock market run ups, there are a thousand times more folks who are lucky to afford the bare necessities of life. Many of us, even we who earn more than the median income level, still walk around with missing teeth, knees and necks in need of operative repair and so on.


We Amerikans have become like those serfs on the feudal manors, working hard and still bowing and scraping when the lord passes. Why should the boss worry in most businesses, when but less than 10% of private sector workers are in a union? There are fewer and fewer protections for working stiffs in Amerika, and the empire knows it. When we who know better shout as loud as we can that the Fat Cat CEOs earn upwards of 300-500 times that of their workers, some serfs answer ” Well, they worked hard for their success, and they deserve it! ” Really? Well, in 1960 the top federal tax rate was at 90%, and the Fat Cats still did very well ( of course no one paid 90%- they all had accountants and plenty of write offs ). In 1985 that top rate was at 50%… now it is at 37%. So, do the math: A Fat Cat CEO who earns 300-500 times of his or her worker is most likely keeping double or triple what his counterparts of 32 or 57 years ago kept. Where is the disgust from most of my fellow working stiffs? Instead, how many out there really care if Elon Musk has control over our Social Security and Safety Net once Trump takes over? 

Amerika is truly running out of band-aids!

Philip A Farruggio is a free lance columnist, host of a radio interview show and lifelong Anti War Activist. He is son and grandson of Brooklyn, NYC longshoremen and a graduate of Brooklyn College, Class of ’74. He has a blog on the itstheempirestupid.com website produced by Chuck Gregory.  You can find Philip’s work on many sites such as Countercurrents, Dissident Voice, Nation of Change and Muck Rack. Philip can be reached at [email protected]

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