Oh God America, What Happened To You?

1 in 4 American children now live in poverty! That's 16 million children, living in cars, cheap motels, homeless shelters and other makeshift housing, some of it on the streets. And those numbers are growing. Meanwhile the U.S. Military Industrial Complex (MIC) is flooded with money, as it builds fighter jets, drones, ships, tanks, weapons of mass destruction and sends "contractors" to help fight endless wars and military occupations.

The War Business and all the jobs it provides is now America's top priority as the U.S. lays off teachers, police and fire fighters and looks to slash Social Security, Medicare, and the safety net for a rapidly growing number of people. But war is extremely profitable, for the MIC firms are flush with bonuses for top management and big dividends for shareholders. Politicians are collecting campaign contributions and in many cases, when their political careers end, they land jobs with or lobby for those same companies. In fact, it's great for everyone but the U.S. taxpayer that pays the bill, the military families whose sons and daughters are being killed, severely injured or emotionally traumatized and the peoples of the nations being occupied for they too pay in blood and in destroyed economies and dreams.

Meanwhile the U.S. job market is a disaster as so many factories have been shipped overseas leaving Americans to buy foreign made goods they can't afford with money they don't have so they use credit, hoping they can continue to pay their credit card bills. While housing values have collapsed and keep falling in most of America.

Oh God America, What happened to you? What are you going to do about this mounting disaster? Surely it will be more than simply casting a ballot because as you can see, that doesn't work no matter how charismatic the politician. Are you going to take control of your political system as is happening in some parts of the Middle East? Or will you teach your children to dream small, think small and act small. You have the power to do something about this if only you will take action.

Dick
The statistics in this piece are from the television show "60 Minutes," story "Hard Times Generation: Families living in cars," 11/27/11, http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7389750n&tag=contentBody;storyMediaBox  Another measurement of what is happening to children and their families is "Lines Grow Long for Free School Meals, Thanks to Economy," The New York Times, 11/30/11 http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/30/education/surge-in-free-school-lunches-reflects-economic-crisis.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha2