Deep in the Gilded Age - by TPO

Deep in the Gilded Age 

- by TPO -
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  "What is the chief end of man?--to get rich. In what way?--dishonestly if we can; honestly if we must."
-- Mark Twain-1871

 
The Rise of the Modern-day "Gilded Age"
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Between the years 1870 - 1900, it was common to observe poor people work as slaves or laborers under the rich, who exploited them to work hard in deplorable conditions, and paid them meager wages, while retaining the profits. This made the rich richer, and the poor poorer.

The Gilded Age was the encapsulation of the unfettered capitalism present at that time, e.g., the railroad company of Jay Gould and the oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller. Individuals controlled entire capitalistic ventures and reaped the profits, while the employees of the venture were given fixed low wages, thus deepening the chasm between the rich and the poor.

The Return of "Gilded Age" with a Vengeance 

(beginning in the early 1980's and into the present day)
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- Unregulated Corporate Capitalism, especially the poorly regulated financial industry

- Union busting being done by the government at the behest of corporations

- Unheard-of levels of Income  Inequality through systematic attacks on the middle class by plutocrats

- Citizens United essentially allows corporations and plutocrats to openly buy elections

-An aggressively partisan Supreme Court that takes interpretation of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights to illogically logical lows

- Violations of Civil Liberties ... eg, the abuses of the Patriot Act

- Voter repression by means of voter ID laws and the questionable gerrymandering practices of some States

-The promotion of anti-immigration, xenophobia, and the scapegoating of the powerless for the current problems of society.