Dystopian Utopia

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Posts tagged OWS

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randomactsofchaos: whipporwill: Seniors get socialism, young Americans get debt Socialism for the old, raw capitalism for the young – that seems to be the new American Way. There are quite a few folks in their 60s, 70s and 80s freaked out by the phantom specter of creeping, European-style socialism who, at the same time, are oblivious to the reality that they already live in a socialist paradise. Americans over the age of 65 have free medical care and a steady income to the day they die provided by the federal government. Meanwhile, many young people in this country cannot find jobs, cannot afford homes and are weighed down by student loan debts. For the first time, a new generation of Americans appears destined to be poorer than their parents. Census data released this week indicates that the over-65 cohort boasts a net worth that is 47 times greater than the net worth of citizens under age 35. This is the biggest disparity on record; twice what it was in 2005 and five times the difference just 25 years ago. While politicians have dutifully maintained the social safety net for seniors, they have hacked away at programs that benefit young people, particularly support for public schools and colleges. Back when I was a Baby Boomer lad, the public schools I attended were well funded and rich with an array of course offerings. Now, too many public schools are starved for funding, arts and humanities courses are being cut and extracurricular activities are endangered. When I went to college, tuition was a few hundred dollars a year. If you were lucky enough to live in California, tuition was free and the universities were among the best in the world. Now, tuitions have skyrocketed, state funding has been slashed and access to higher education is restricted. Coming out of college, I never worried about finding a job – everyone found a job. The internships I had paid pretty well. My first job paid even better and it did not take me long to save enough money to buy a house. Today, unpaid internships are the rule. Even with a college degree, young people find starting positions at many companies are lowly training gigs with no pay. When paid employment is finally obtained, there are student loans to be paid off before a young person can begin to think about buying property. Those who have managed to buy houses have seen the value of those homes drop. Many have lost houses to foreclosure. Meanwhile, older Americans who bought into the housing market when home values were soaring are sitting pretty.

randomactsofchaos:

whipporwill:

Seniors get socialism, young Americans get debt

Socialism for the old, raw capitalism for the young – that seems to be the new American Way.

There are quite a few folks in their 60s, 70s and 80s freaked out by the phantom specter of creeping, European-style socialism who, at the same time, are oblivious to the reality that they already live in a socialist paradise. Americans over the age of 65 have free medical care and a steady income to the day they die provided by the federal government.

Meanwhile, many young people in this country cannot find jobs, cannot afford homes and are weighed down by student loan debts. For the first time, a new generation of Americans appears destined to be poorer than their parents.

Census data released this week indicates that the over-65 cohort boasts a net worth that is 47 times greater than the net worth of citizens under age 35. This is the biggest disparity on record; twice what it was in 2005 and five times the difference just 25 years ago.

While politicians have dutifully maintained the social safety net for seniors, they have hacked away at programs that benefit young people, particularly support for public schools and colleges. Back when I was a Baby Boomer lad, the public schools I attended were well funded and rich with an array of course offerings. Now, too many public schools are starved for funding, arts and humanities courses are being cut and extracurricular activities are endangered. When I went to college, tuition was a few hundred dollars a year. If you were lucky enough to live in California, tuition was free and the universities were among the best in the world. Now, tuitions have skyrocketed, state funding has been slashed and access to higher education is restricted.

Coming out of college, I never worried about finding a job – everyone found a job. The internships I had paid pretty well. My first job paid even better and it did not take me long to save enough money to buy a house.

Today, unpaid internships are the rule. Even with a college degree, young people find starting positions at many companies are lowly training gigs with no pay. When paid employment is finally obtained, there are student loans to be paid off before a young person can begin to think about buying property. Those who have managed to buy houses have seen the value of those homes drop. Many have lost houses to foreclosure.

Meanwhile, older Americans who bought into the housing market when home values were soaring are sitting pretty.

Filed under politics ows education

23 notes

99% v 1%: the data behind the Occupy movement - animation

It has been the rallying cry of the Occupy movement for the past two months - but is the US really split 99% v 1%? As poverty and inequality reach record levels, how much richer have the rich got? This animation explains what the key data says about the state of America today

(Source: Guardian, via proletarianinstinct)

Filed under occupy 99% OWS

36 notes

Are We an Orwellian or Huxley Dystopia?

occupyonline:

HUXLEY FEARED

There would be no one who wanted to read book.
Those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism.  
The truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance.
We would become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumblepuppy.

As Huxley remarked in Brave New World Revisited, the civil libertarians and rationalists who are ever on the alert to oppose tyranny “failed to take into account man’s almost infinite appetite for distractions.”

In Brave New World, people are controlled by inflicting pleasure.

In short, Huxley feared that our desire will ruin us.

ORWELL FEARED:

Those who would ban books.
Those who would deprive us of information.
That the truth would be concealed from us.
WE would become a captive culture.

In 1984, people were controlled by fear of pain.

In short, Orwell feared that what we fear will ruin us.

Really interesting article - click through to read. 

(Source: enlighteningnews)

Filed under dystopia owell orwellian huxley ows occupy movement change

138 notes

Congress Got 25% Richer During Height of Recession

occupyonline:

Members of Congress had a collective net worth of more than $2 billion in 2010, a nearly 25 percent increase over the 2008 total, according to a Roll Call analysis of Members’ financial disclosure forms.

Nearly 90 percent of that increase is concentrated in the 50 richest Members of Congress. Two years ago, Roll Call found that the minimum net worth of House Members was slightly more than $1 billion; Senators had a combined minimum worth of $651 million for a Congressional total of $1.65 billion. Roll Call calculates minimum net worth by adding the minimum values of all reported assets and subtracting the minimum values of all reported liabilities.

According to financial disclosure forms filed by Members of Congress this year, the minimum net worth in the House has jumped to $1.26 billion, and Senate net worth has climbed to at least $784 million, for a Congressional total of $2.04 billion.

(Source: enlighteningnews, via proletarianinstinct)

Filed under congress senate recession rich money income net worth politics corruption ows occupy