Decimate it and you have a failed nation
Regardless of what the Teahadist-Republicans want and are doing, the fact remains that the beleaguered American middle class has seen a remarkable decline to the point that it is reaching decimation.
These misguided and selfish politicians know better but they would much rather cater to the special interests and the very rich than to see the poor lifted out of poverty and the middle class grow in America. This is what many have described as “A GROWING OLIGARCHY” at the expense of the decimation of the middle class.
Make no mistake about it; America’s greatness is in part the principles in which the country was founded, its natural resources and a burgeoning middle class. Take away any of these three factors and you have a failed nation. We have already seen how in the first of these, the principles of the Founding Fathers we have not just deviated but totally abandoned the concept that Government exists to serve the people and not a bunch of fat cats and selfish super-rich.
The natural resources continue to be there although somewhat mismanaged and abused. We could argue until we are blue in the face about wiser and better ways to take advantage of our natural resources. A good example of mismanagement and permissiveness was the Gulf Oil disaster.
But the last item, the preservation and nurturing of a middle class is an unwavering, unforgiving and necessary one for our nation to prosper and even survive. Republicans have paid little attention to this and are hell bent on destroying our country in order to benefit the very few. If this continues, America will have no future.
The cruel joke about Brazil was that it was the country of the future — and always would be. But now, Brazil is meeting its potential like never before.
Impressive economic growth, a booming commodity sector and the country's popular government are receiving worldwide attention. The country's center-left president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva — who as a boy shined shoes on the street — has led a crusade against poverty.
Innovative state programs, along with the economic growth, are lifting millions of Brazilians into the middle class and making the country a model for the developing world.
Brazil's $1.3 trillion economy is bigger than those of India and Russia, and its per-capita income is nearly twice that of China. Recent discoveries by Brazil's state oil company are expected to make the country one of the world's biggest crude producers. An unwieldy bureaucracy and red tape have not slowed foreign investment, which at $45 billion in 2008 is three times as much as it was a decade ago.
Sure Brazil made some horrendous mistakes and has somehow managed to get their shit together and they are now poised to be a FIRST RATE WORLD POWER. All indications are pointing in that direction: Brazil has good democratic foundations, almost unlimited natural resources, land size, a growing middle class and very enterprising, hard working people.
The first female President of Brazil took office just a few days ago and the consensus is that Brazil will continue to advance and progress; as it is emblazoned in its flag: “ORDEM E PROGRESSO”…a lot more optimistic outlook than what we have in America today.
And yes, dear reader, Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff are liberal, progressive, center left and I am sure that makes a lot of Republicans sick to their stomachs but you can’t argue with success.
Just think about what she said at her inauguration speech:
But it is important to remember that the destiny of a country cannot be reduced to the action of its government. It is the result of the work and the transforming action of all Brazilians. The Brazil of the future will amount to what we do for it today. It will amount to the participation of each and every one of us:
Of the social movements,
of those who toil in the fields,
of the liberal professionals,
of the workers and the small entrepreneurs,
of the intellectuals,
of the public servants,
of the business executives,
of the women,
of those of African descent, of the Indigenous Peoples, and of the young,
of all those who fight to overcome various types of discrimination.
Doesn't this sound just like all those the Teahadist-Republicans seem to be against?
Lastly, somebody wrote me a nasty e-mail asking me if I admired and loved Brazil so much why I didn't move there. My answer to this "anonymous" asshole is simply this: I love America too much to allow the right-wing, rich fat cats, Teahadist-Republican, Homophobic, Racist and Xenophobic movement to destroy it and I will do everything in my power to defend the Constitution, the ideals of the Founding Fathers, the freedoms and the concept of DEMOCRACY.