How Can the Richest 1 Percent Be Winning This Brutal Class War Against 99% of Us?

[Better Believe It]

How Can the Richest 1 Percent Be Winning This Brutal Class War Against 99% of Us?
How has a tiny fraction of the population arranged for their narrowest economic interests to dominate those of the vast majority?
By Larry Beinhart
January 21, 2011

How has a tiny fraction of the population – which is diverse in many ways – arranged for their narrowest economic interests to dominate the economic interests of the vast majority? And, while they’re at it, endanger the economic well-being of our nation, and bring the financial system of the whole world to the brink of collapse.

They have money.

We have votes.

Theoretically, that means we should have the government. Theoretically, government should be a countervailing force against the excesses of big money, take the long view for the good of the nation, and watch out for the majority. Let alone for the poor and downtrodden.

What we actually have is one political party that is flat out the party of big money and another party that sells out to big money.

Read the full article at:

http://www.alternet.org/economy/149596/how_can_the_richest_1_percent_be_winning_this_brutal_class_war_against_99%25_of_us/?page=entire

[bobbolink]

1. Remember the saying -- "What happens to one of us happens to ALL of us"?

For a long time now, middleclass progressives have turned the other way when poor people were ignored and cut out.

It shouldn't come as a surprise to see the same thing happening to them, now.

[Better Believe It]

9. Or the old labor saying "An injury to one is an injury to all"

[bobbolink]

12. Of course. Or, "the chickens are coming home to roost".

Yet, the blaming and ignoring of poor people will continue.

Enjoy your new poverty, middleclass! Time to do some much-overdue soul-searching!

[Blaq Dem]

54. People are getting dumber and dumber.

If it's possible to convince majority of white people on the notion of white supremacy, it's possible to today to convince them to go against their own interest to support the corporate warlords.

How many industrial nations do you know to every advance by slicing funding to education?

[DonCoquixote]

34. Sad but true

especially if those poor happened to have skin that was anything but "coffee, heavy cream".

[Atman]

2. Money.

Why is that a surprise to anyone? It may not buy happiness, but it sure as shit buys POWER.

[Marr]

3. It's easy as pie to get the working class to fight itself, that's all.

Now that the media is almost wholly owned by a handful of massive corporate interests, it's easier than ever. People don't see the meaningful divisions in our society, because no one talks about them.

You get poor white people blaming poor black people, young people blaming old people, religious people blaming those who don't share their beliefs, whatever. They'll fight over anything.

[ljm2002]

7. Precisely. n/t

[hfojvt]

8. don't you mean 'we', white man?

WE will fight over anything. But it is not just about blame, it is about knives and buses. Old people will stab young people in the back and throw them under the bus for their own gain. Further, they have their own lobbying group - the AARP, that generally both parties have answered to, although it seems weaker now with unfettered corporate money. The NAACP is quite happy to push for policies that help poor black people and ignore poor white people. Unions are also happy to push for policies that help their own members and ignore those who are not in a union. And so on.

As Robert Reich suggested, we need an AAWP. American Association of Working People, to fight for all working people instead of just some.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

39. AAWP? This was purpose of IWW.

IWW, to fight for all working people.

[Hannah Bell]

50. "Old people will stab young people in the back" = wtf?

[hfojvt]

68. they will lobby for things, like the examples here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=5583476&mesg_id=5592857

[bobbolink]

16. I am a poor white person who has never blamed a poor black person.

I would submit to you that there are MANY of us in that category... in fact, the MAJORITY.

What has happened is that the rest of you have ignored us poor folk, and now are facing the same predicament.

[kestrel91316]

4. Money talks, so they control the message.

[JHB]

5. They use a fogbank of steam...

...rising from heaping mounds of elephant dung.

The money can afford a lot of dung-steamers to obfuscate and divide the votes.

[howaboutme]

23. Agree, the culprit is spelled M E D I A

I blame the media and their never-ending quest to profit regardless of the outcome to society at large. Greed mongers is not a strong enough a descriptor.

Could the real mission be to keep the USA divided, unfocused and in turmoil while the bankers and corporations profit, and wealthy billionaire elitists with which includes many in the media enjoy strong ties, and can then pillage the country at will? Strong words but not as strong as they need to be. The same media has pushed the USA into unnecessary wars; has done nothing to create public outrage against Wall St nor the incessant process of international (not USA) corporations shipping our jobs to China to provide investment gains for bankers and capitalists.

But no one has ever said it better than this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acLW1vFO-2Q

[Enthusiast]

62. That is my favorite video.

You are correct. Media is the mechanism they use to divide and control the voters. They use the media to promote ignorance on the issues and generally dumb down the viewer.

[Doctor_J]

6. Because we're weak and brainwashed

They are ruthless and disciplined.

No guillotine = no change.

[ljm2002]

10. That about covers it...

..."weak and brainwashed" vs. "ruthless and disciplined".

[FiveGoodMen]

40. "No guillotine = no change"

Well put!

[cali]

11. we have an anesthetized populace

[toddwv]

13. Because 60% of us are more interested in soundbites than the real politics behind them.

We are bombarded by a 24/7 corporate media cycle.

[WinkyDink]

15. Because some are working 2 or 3 jobs and worry most about surviving.

[bobbolink]

17. Absolutely, and some CANNOT WORK, and worry about surviving.

AND, we are the ones ignored by th Latte liberals.

[KamaAina]

14. Because they've enlisted most of "us" on their side

through manipulation of the media, and above all, the bogus idea that if we all work hard enough (for them), we can join them someday. :eyes:

[FBaggins]

18. It's really a pretty silly question.

Are the 10% winning the war against the 90% because we have an African American president?

Or is it more likely that you don't have to be black to support a candidate who happens to be black?

Not everyone is a single-issue voter.

[Better Believe It]

21. I don't think 10% of the population is at war against us or really has much power.

It's the top 1% that really controls the economy and politics of the nation.

[FBaggins]

29. They aren't... but I don't buy that the top 1% are at war against the rest of us either.

Though no doubt some of them are.

[Overseas]

61. Warren Buffet disagrees with you on class warfare.

Mr. Buffett compiled a data sheet of the men and women who work in his office. He had each of them make a fraction; the numerator was how much they paid in federal income tax and in payroll taxes for Social Security and Medicare, and the denominator was their taxable income. The people in his office were mostly secretaries and clerks, though not all.

It turned out that Mr. Buffett, with immense income from dividends and capital gains, paid far, far less as a fraction of his income than the secretaries or the clerks or anyone else in his office. Further, in conversation it came up that Mr. Buffett doesn’t use any tax planning at all. He just pays as the Internal Revenue Code requires. “How can this be fair?” he asked of how little he pays relative to his employees. “How can this be right?”

Even though I agreed with him, I warned that whenever someone tried to raise the issue, he or she was accused of fomenting class warfare.

“There’s class warfare, all right,” Mr. Buffett said, “but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/26/business/yourmoney/26every.html

[FBaggins]

64. Yeah? And by saying that...

he gets to be rich and have you think that he's on your side.

win-win.

[Overseas]

67. I appreciate his acknowledging that his side started the war and they are winning.

I don't really think he's on my side.

But his occasional honesty about our plutocracy is refreshing.

[bluestate10]

31. So the rest of us should.

Clasp one hand over our eyes and one hand over our ass and whine? No internet exists that allows each of us to buy american made products and force more to be offered through direct action and the power of our wallets, or contribute to charities that work the issues that we care about, or to start up our own companies to test whether our ideas and values behind them will sell to like minds. Oh yeah, it is easier to point the finger at the 1% of the US population who all may or may not be selfish assholes while ignoring our own complicity. The bare fact is that we get what we ask for, nothing more, nothing less. Demanding change without instilling fear via direct consumer and business startup action is going to generate a big yawn from those that we want to hear us.

[FiveGoodMen]

41. Huh?

[pansypoo53219]

19. divide + conquer.

don't say class warfare(EVEN HO THEY ARE WINNING). the proble is poor black on welfare, no, unions........MEXICANS. but don't say it's wall street.

[Release The Hounds]

20. Because a good chunk of that 99% supports and enables that 1%

[Better Believe It]

24. And they don't think in terms of class because of media and educational conditioning.

[Spike89]

22. The myth of upward mobility is powerful

Although they use the divide and conquor tactics many have described, their real success has been in perpetuating the belief that people can move between classes with hard work, a bit of luck, and a fierce determination and belief in the ideals of capitalism. What this does of course is turn a huge number of every class into allies of that 1%. It isn't necessary that they convince the lower middle class that they can easily become one of the elite, just that they can move into the middle, or even the upper middle class. At the same time, they hold out the carrot to the upper middle class that they can ascend to "upper class" power.
As with all really effective behavior control schemes, it isn't just the promise of rewards. There is a huge fear component too, and it is even easier to tap ,into and exploit because the class "below" yours will always be bigger. People don't want to fall into a lower class and they are acutely aware that the lower classes are scrambling to realize the false promise of joining (or replacing) them.
This leads to people wanting to protect their current class and at least the one above them that they aspire to while at the same time keeping the people below them from catching and/or passing them. Incredibly, the most gullible actually believe every class above them is attainable, thus explaining why so many lower income folks consistently vote against their best economic interests--they really believe that although they are poor now, it is only a matter of time before they or their children are billionaires.

[StarsInHerHair]

47. yes they run on fear, reminds me of Needful Things 1993 film

the guy playing the devil..........used fear, envy, and hatred to get the townspeople to tear eachother apart. Reminds me of a party's hallmark pr campaign style.......

[Davis_X_Machina]

25. We're in the Masada/Saipan Banzai Cliffs

...stage of our cold Second Civil War.

That 1% can count on the active cooperation of enough other Americans to maintain a ruling coalition.

"What we actually have is one political party that is flat out the party of big money and another party that sells out to big money."

What we really need is a third party, smaller than either one of those, that will it possible for them to maintain political power on even thinner margins at the polls. Works a treat in the UK.

That's the ticket.

[bluestate10]

26. Take a look at tax tables going back to the implementation of income tax.

You will see that the rich has always paid a lower percentage of their total earnings in taxes than any other group, except after New Deal changes, the working poor.

There are two possible solutions.

First, political actions can be attempted to get the marginal tax rates of rich people to a level where their net tax rate on total income is at least as high as that paid by the middle class and upper middle class. As of now, the gap between the percentage of income paid by the rich and that paid by the MC and UMC stands at approximately 5.2%. But the chance of political action succeeding is rather small given the lobbying power of the rich.

Second, people that think that rich don't pay their way can work to become part of the group and donate income directly to social agencies. I like this route more because money given goes only to social causes and not to military, police, perks for politicians, et al. One major problem that I have with OPs that decry the rich not giving a fair share to society is that when the OP writers and adherents are challenged, to take direct action and earn more to give more to worthy charities, all reasons under that sun are given for why that is impossible. One of the most disheartening of those reasons given is "corporations have a strangle hold on the economy, there is nothing that can be done". Yet the most common reason given ignores that fact that individual decision as a business person or as a consumer have enormous power in shaping not only products that are offered for sale, but also job opportunities for relatives, friends and neighbors. I listened to the interview that one of the founders of DU gave on the Young Turks webcast. One item in particular that struck me is that the founders of DU did not like the political environment after the election of G W Bush in 2001 and decided to start a site where people of like minds could coalesce and share ideas. The early days for the founders were almost surely rough ones with resource constraints and lack of money, but anyone that really want to make change face those challenges and overcome them.

Finally. Anyone can sit and write screeds that complain about the way things are. But people that have a lasting impact don't see things as they are, but see things as they will make them. If one thinks the rich do not pay their fair share, establish the mechanisms for making a lot of money and give much of that money to causes that one believes in. If one does not like the "system" work within the system to first overwhelm it, then change it to a more positive societal oriented system. Positive societal change is not easy, sacrifices must be made to bring about meaningful societal change. True change agents, including some that ARE rich, understand that dynamic and are not deterred by it.

[SoCalDem]

27. Piece of cake..

The own the media & they own the lawmakers, the supreme court & banks..

and we don't

[upi402]

28. Corporatist TV News, Talk Radio

People are easily fooled.
The means to do it is TV & Radio propaganda.
TV & Radio is expensive and a private club soapbox.
Campaign finance reform, fair trade etc. will never happen with TV & Radio as it is.

[bluestate10]

33. So.

When I buy a pair of trousers, I do not have a choice of looking around for a company that makes them using american workers? Same with shirts or drawers. When I have a good idea, I can't use the internet to first reach than sell to consumers that appreciate the benefits and social goals of what I offer? Making real, lasting change is not easy, never has been. But one certainty is that sitting on a website preaching complaints to a echo chamber of like minds will not accomplish shit.

[upi402]

70. Well I guess you know

...some shit then dontcha!
:spray:

:rofl:

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

30. Because they buy the people that make the rules and call it democracy.

[PassingFair]

32. Because they are able to pass off guys like THIS as "liberals":

[Catherina]

35. Because they've convinced the majority that there's something good and noble about profit.

Good article but I think the answer is boils down to profit (which is tied in with many of the good responses in this thread, i.e. upward mobility).

For profit we're complicit.

For profit we cave and accept a superficial lesser-of-two-evils argument.

For profit we turn a blind eye to where that profit comes from and the misery it causes.

For profit we kill.

What we're seeing now is just the inevitable conclusion Socialists and Marxists warned against for years.

[socialist_n_TN]

44. EXACTLY! And they've convinced those same people...........

that profit is not only good and noble, THEY'VE CONVINCED THEM THAT PROFIT IS THE SAME AS GOD. Probably a majority of this country think of capitalism in the same terms that they think of God. I swear, that lie is Evil's BIGGEST victory over the forces of Good.

They take a system that's TOTALLY amoral and based of fucking over others to "win" and claim this is what GOD wants. It's insanity.

[blindpig]

36. In a bourgeois democracy....

the economic is held distinct from the political. This is clearly a fallacy, as we can witness a million times over how money, big money, can effect politics. Parties mean nothing, class mean everything.

[socialist_n_TN]

46. This is Truth with a capital "T"..........

It's another example of the big Lie of capitalism. Economics runs politics because economics is ultimately about the power to control THROUGH politics.

[blindpig]

55. Well, it wasn't exactly my idea.....

[socialist_n_TN]

69. Ah, but you did SAY it here..............

And the Truth ALWAYS needs to be said and emphasized.

[krispos42]

37. They own the majority of the free speech

Therefore, when the politicians pander to the rich, they are listening to what the majority says!

[justiceischeap]

38. Because there's a large majority of that percentage who think they too can be part of the 1% n/t

[Odin2005]

42. The Elite control the media, and thus control people's minds.

The MSM is not about facts, it is ALL propaganda, it is mind control. It is how the elites maintain power without obvious repression.

[socialist_n_TN]

43. There's a lot of good answers in this thread, but............

it's probably something as simple as it's easier to orgainze a small group than it is a big group. Throw in a boatload of money, which is power in our culture, and voila! The lower classes are either divided or complicit. The ones you can't buy off, you can get them fighting against each other. Or just outright murder them. I'll say it again. Capitalism is nothing but and Evil and Satanic system. It annoints the WORST of our natures and that's Satanic.

[steelmania75]

45. Because they've tricked Americans into either thinking they're rich or that if you

cut taxes on the rich, the wealth will come down to you.

[wiggs]

48. 40 years of bankrolling think tanks, spending billions to purchase and consolidate

of media, willingness to go low in politicking (no small factor....smearing, lying, and confusion works), the development of false but effective talking points around which all RWrs congregate, corporate personhood, and partial dem complicity. Simple.

The 2010 election was a perfect example of all these factors...a success for: coherent messaging, nearly unlimited money targeting key states, and a willingness to propagate misinformation and fear. It wasn't the issues.

[Hannah Bell]

49. "we" don't even have "votes". money buys votes, mindspace & bodies.

concentrated wealth & democracy = incompatible.

[butterfly77]

51. K&R..

[Motown_Johnny]

52. The ones with the most toys win

[Scruffy1]

53. I think it's called media-William L. Shirer...................

In his famous "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich":

"I myself was to experience how easily one is taken in by a lying and censored press and radio in a totalitarian state......it was surprising and some consternating to find that notwithstanding the opportunities I had to learn the facts, and despite one's inherent mistrust of what one learned from Nazi sources, a steady diet over the years of falsehoods and distortions made certain impressions on ones mind and often misled it."

Now if you have a whole media that is nothing but propaganda and misdirection you really don't have much problem with control. Even here on DU we get hung up on the media frenzy of the day, not the larger issues at hand. Witness
the media hype of the TSA searches, for one example. Or we just our time talking about the latest comment from a professional ass hat like Pat Buchanan or Steve King. They are just paid clowns to distract us.

Interesting to me that Robert Bork and Antonio Scalia were the ones to strike down the fairness doctrine and were rewarded with appointments to the Supremes. Bork was a little too undependable and might have actually believed in something so he didn't make it but Fat Tony sailed right through with no problem from the Dems.

Goebbels did not look at books as a problem because hardly anyone ever read them anyway. I think the book burning was just a way telling the intellectuals to fuck off and that pseudo knowledge is just as good as real knowledge.

[quaker bill]

56. Because of the true golden rule:

"those who have the gold make the rules."

[The Gunslinger]

57. They have brainwashed

most of the 99% to fight their battles for them. fox news and the rest of the main stream media is nothing but Nazi propaganda. Steve Cohen was totally on target.

[NuttyFluffers]

58. Simple. Bribes, distractions, delusions.

Bribes: money, food, comfort, etc.

Distractions: circuses, sports, TV, etc.

Delusions: jingoism, fundamentalism, scapegoats, etc.

Apply in measure to sway enough of the populace to beat down on those of the populace who stands up, and keep the rest in an imbecilic cuddle space. Global conquest is easy. It's just a luck of the lottery being born with the right connections... see, George W. Bush. even an idiot can do it.

[anarch]

59. because of television

[Brickbat]

60. Because when a smart, privileged TV personality is fired, the first thing a group of smart,

privileged people do is to boo-hoo and bewail the fact that they have no voice.

It is to laugh.

[Chimichurri]

63. Everyone I know is uninformed and apothetic. Without knowledge, nothing

will happen. That's why TeaBaggers have all that misplaced anger. The right wing are masters at using small sentences and soundbites to win over the already angry, uninformed electorate.

So long as the media keeps consolidating, where less and less real information is provided, the bottom 99% will continue to chase it's own tail.

[sarcasmo]

65. They pay off the candidates we put in office.

[Pedalpower]

66. I'm too worried about the radical gay agenda to care about this...

YES, THAT'S A JOKE!!!!

If we can show people that Guns, Gays, Minorities, Unions, and Muslims are NOT issues for everyday folks, we may be able to get people focused on that's really ailing this nation.

They will do anything to stop that.

That ordinary, Freedom-lovin', working-poor people will crusade for policies that support Communist China absolutely blows my mind.