Paul Buchheit reports via AlterNet
While Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning and John Kiriakou are vilified for revealing vital information about spying and bombing and torture, a man who conspired with Goldman Sachs to make billions of dollars on the planned failure of subprime mortgages was honored by New York University for his "Outstanding Contributions to Society".
This is one example of the distorted thinking leading to the demise of a once-vibrant American society. There are other signs of decay:
- A House Bill Would View Corporate Crimes as "Honest Mistakes"
- Almost 2/3 of American Families Couldn't Afford a Single Pill of a Life-Saving Drug
- Violent Crime Down; Prison Population Doubles
- One in Four Americans Suffer Mental Illness; Mental Health Facilities Cut by 90 Percent
- The Unpaid Taxes of 500 Companies Could Pay for a Job for Every Unemployed American ...for two years ...at the nation's median salary of $36,000 ...for all 8 million unemployed.
Citizens for Tax Justice reports that Fortune 500 companies are holding over $2 trillion in profits offshore to avoid taxes that would amount to over $600 billion. Our society desperately needs infrastructure repair, but 8 million potential jobs are being held hostage beyond our borders.
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(Score: 2) by Alfred on Tuesday December 08 2015, @03:40PM
In your 50 year scenario we will be so drugged up that the only way we will be moving pitchforks is if there is a historical pitchfork/unrest simulator for PlayStation 12.
Do americans know what an actual pitchfork is? Would they recognize it? This might be the only one most have seen: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Gothic [wikipedia.org]
I think that already Americans are too far into bread and circuses to do anything. Write an email to your senator? Nope too hard. Read into the text of a bill? Also too hard. Soon it will be too difficult to listen to the daily propaganda news and just complain about it.
(Score: 3, Touché) by DNied on Tuesday December 08 2015, @04:32PM
You guys need an amendment to your Constitution introducing the right to bear pitchforks.
(Score: 2) by Alfred on Tuesday December 08 2015, @09:37PM
Also, everyone agrees that the 2nd amendment refers to guns. I would rather have a gun than a pitchfork. But you can bring a pitchfork to a gun fight if you want.
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Tuesday December 08 2015, @08:50PM
Important to distinguish between hayforks and manure forks, and for grain a large aluminum shovel is used.