The Poor and the Middle Class Will Save America Yet

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/visions/poor-and-middle-class-will-save-america-yet




A few days ago I had breakfast with a man who had been one of my mentors in college, who participated in the struggle for civil rights in the 1960s and has devoted much of the rest of his life in pursuit of equal opportunity for minorities, the poor, women, gays, immigrants — and also for average hardworking people who have been beaten down by the economy. Now in his mid-80s, he’s still active.

I asked him if he thought America would ever achieve true equality of opportunity.

“Not without a fight,” he said. “Those who have wealth and power and privilege don’t want equal opportunity. It’s too threatening to them.They’ll pretend equal opportunity already exists, and that anyone who doesn’t make it in America must be lazy or stupid or otherwise undeserving.”

“You’ve been fighting for social justice for over half a century. Are you discouraged?”

“Not at all!” he said. “Don’t confuse the difficulty of attaining a goal with the urgency of fighting for it.”

[DiverDave]

1. when we get off our knees

and stand and fight, that will change every thing

[ThirdWayCowplop]

6. It is easy to stand and fight but few actually do

One can easily and painlessly fight back by their withholding of their labor and with every dollar they spend by spending that money in business that support your values.

Lots of people shop WalMart unfortunately, but WalMart did not get rich and powerful all alone it took lots of people, except the 1% to give WalMart its power, the 99% should take that power away from WalMart, but do we as a people have the courage to do so?

Everyone knows that Union Labor created the middle class in America but how many people regularly purchase non union made products? How does one expect to have a strong middle class if we who are left do not support union labor by purchasing their goods or shopping at businesses with union labor?

If we want change we have to fight for it and very few are really interested in standing and fighting.

[BillyRibs]

2. Whenever the Punch comes high from

Those who have wealth and power and privilege the use of the propaganda "The poor and middle class must be lazy or stupid or otherwise undeserving." When the poor and middle class punch back. Those who have wealth and power and privilege Cry class warfare. I say Let the Bitches cry!

[Downwinder]

3. Wealth is based on labor.

Without laborers they have no wealth, only paper.

[BillyRibs]

4. Sir, They Have Been Stealing our Labor for years.

[Downwinder]

5. Need to stop the theft.

Either bring us up to their level, or
bring them down to ours.

[Enthusiast]

7. Things are different now.

We can't fight back without serious repercussions.

There are cameras everywhere, recording everything.

When we try to protest there are militarized police there ready to oppose us. Any and all anti-establishment type groups have been infiltrated.

Remember how Dubya shunted protesters off into "free speech zones". The media won't cover protests either, unless the protests are right wing protests like the Tea Party against health care reform.

The deck is stacked against us. Of course, I'm all for giving it the old college try. But geeze.

[Scuba]

8. Kick for on-the-money comments.

“Those who have wealth and power and privilege don’t want equal opportunity. It’s too threatening to them.They’ll pretend equal opportunity already exists, and that anyone who doesn’t make it in America must be lazy or stupid or otherwise undeserving.”

[KG]

9. piss on the middle class, they've been voting puke for decades. they're now getting their ROI.

and they're still voting gop