"Mixed Economy"

I remember the USA of the "mixed economy". The rich were still rich. We had a large and prosperous middle class. There really was a safety net -- or, at least we almost all thought so.

Public education was working, college was attainable for most, health insurance was still affordable, unions were strong -- for most, life was good.

The ruling class never got over the 60's. The fact so many kids could be so well educated, so prosperous, that they could confront the government on so many policies was frightening to them. When folks talk about the "excesses of the 60's and 70's, they tend to forget -- those "excesses" have led to a huge expansion of civil rights, have made the "American Dream" a little less "white".

In addition, the very fact our conscript army could even think about refusing to be cannon fodder, led to great changes.

Now we seem to have developed a "warrior class". "Professional Soldiers" who would most likely be quite willing to turn on their fellow citizens. In addition, our "local police" (as in "Support Your Local Police")have become ever more militarized, less connected to the overall community, more insular, and far more heavily armed.

College is once again less affordable. Young folks today graduate with a debt load that almost insures they go to work, buckle down, make NO waves -- and pay off that debt. The year taken for "bumming around" is no longer available to middle class kids -- it is once again the province of the well to do (if not just the rich).

If you lived through the 60's, you must remember that it was possible to earn a living almost by accident. I had an apartment on the Lower East Side of Manhattan that cost $45.00 per month. It wasn't the best -- but I had lots of room, and money left for other things. Survival was easier.

Our ruling class changed all that. In fact they convinced people that "other folks" having rights was really "bad". They misrepresented the realities of "welfare". They have ruled on FEAR for a long time.

Most (ALL) folks resist change. Many people seem to equate "change" with their reduced abilities caused by aging. Every generation seems to have a "Golden Age", when things were "better". It's usually when they were about 18, young, fresh, and had not been battered by life yet. It is usually self delusion, a lie.

It seems our ruling class used all that stuff to fool the people. We stopped educating our people, we rewrote history, we turned anti-science, anti-thought, and began to use rigid-religious-rules to control people.

It appears the wealthy, the ruling class have outsmarted themselves. Their greed, their desire to control all, has led to this economic, and moral breakdown. Folks are losing everything. Corruption is at very high levels -- we lose literal TONS of cash, and no one gives a damn. To most folks, this is just the way it is.

It wasn't always this way. We were a better, more open, more inviting nation. We were far from perfect -- but we were moving in a positive direction. Not so today.

We can change it.