Inequality Matters

[Pacifist Patriot]

I attended an interesting symposium last night. Unfortunately it was too short and didn't allow the entire panel to delve too deeply into the topic. On the other hand I was pleased to see the number of people who showed up on a Saturday night. Amazing actually.

I already knew of the astounding gap between the wealthiest and the poorest in America, but I had not given enough thought to how that affects participation in the democratic process.

The symposium was not long enough to address all participants' questions and didn't remotely touch upon possible solutions to the problem. But what grabbed me more than anything else was the author's concluding slide in the primary power point presentation.

An American flag with a bunch of bananas where the stars should be on the field of blue next to an American flag with a hammer and sickle where the stripes should be. It really did capture how I've been feeling lately about the state of "democracy" in the United States.

If Jim's presentation is any indication, the book is a "required read."

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1565849957/sr=8-1/qid=1146444510/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-1044016-4002365?%5Fencoding=UTF8