Gar Alperovitz: Political System Incapable of Meeting Social, Economic, Environmental Challenges

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Current Political System Incapable of Meeting Social, Economic, Environmental Challenges

Friday, 02 August 2013 10:24
By Gar Alperovitz, Truthout | Op-Ed


It's a commonplace sentiment that politics in America is broken. Each week brings more evidence of deadlock in Washington, of social and economic decay and of disillusionment. The debased nature of politics, however, is only the most superficial symptom of our problems. Beneath the surface-level partisan bickering, much deeper currents have begun to shift.

Recent polls, for instance, show that roughly 80 percent of Americans believe their Congressional representatives to be "more interested in serving the needs of special interests groups" than "the people they represent." Almost four out of five believe a few rich people and corporations have much too much power. And only 37 percent - not much more than a third of the population - have confidence in the most solemn and august of American institutions, the Supreme Court.

It is clear that something different is going on - both with the economy and, more fundamentally, with democracy itself. The data on long-running trends are clear:

Real wages for roughly 80 percent of American workers have not gone up more than a trivial amount for at least three decades. At the same time, income for the top 1 percent has jumped from 10 percent of all income to roughly 20 percent. Put another way: Virtually all the gains of the entire economic system have gone to a tiny, tiny group at the top - for at least three decades. ...........................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/17799-five-possible-paths-to-political-economic-change-in-the-era-of-stalemate-stagnation-and-decay

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