CLASS WARFARE -- Lessons of History
Did you notice how the Republicans responded to Obama’s recent speech with an immediate outcry of “class warfare”? They are desperate to stigmatize and stifle any outbreak of class warfare rhetoric because it would expose their dirty little secret, namely that ever since Reagan, the Republicans have successfully waged class warfare sub rosa. Recall my previous posts on how the top 10% have scooped up 85% of the growth in income since Reagan introduced us to “Voodoo Economics” (compared to 35% previously), and, more specifically, 98% during the first 7 years of W’s administration.
See: http://www.stateofworkingamerica.org/pages/interactive#/?start=1917&end=2007
How will it end? The Lessons of History are clear:
As the rich and powerful elite persist in their unbridled quest to gather up all the marbles, they will leave in their wake a destitute, debt-laden population with insufficient purchasing power to keep the economy functioning, leading to another financial/economic meltdown. At this point, with an economy in shambles, it can go one of two ways (or one way and then the other):
With nothing left to lose, the desperate population will confiscate and redistribute the accumulated wealth of the elite either through taxation, if we are lucky (think FDR), or otherwise through violence (think French and Russian Revolutions).
With everything to lose, the rich and powerful elite will close ranks behind a right-wing dictator (think Nazi Germany) (“When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross.” Sinclair Lewis)
The fusion of economic chaos and political upheaval will inevitably lead to dictatorship in America (think Napoleon, Stalin and Hitler) -- the seeds of which have already been planted by Junior Bush (and not repealed by Obama) in the Patriot Acts.
As to “when,” hard to say. However, the signs will be there for all to see: a stock market meltdown, another “panic” like 2008 — the difference being the next rescue plan, superimposed on previous massive accumulation of national debt, will force the Fed to monetize the debt, producing rampant inflation and the dethronement of the dollar as the premier reserve currency (think Weimar Germany).
Overlay this scenario on top of the developing Clash of Civilizations between Islam and the West, further polarized by the distribution of oil reserves at a time when oil production is peaking globally, and you have the makings of Armageddon.
And on that cheerful note, I remain, yours truly,
David L. Smith