The Coming War Between Rich and Poor

JIMMY CARTER was president of the United States from 1977 to 1981, and he's still alive. That in itself is amzaing. If you are thirty five years old or younger you don't remember president Carter. There are middle aged Americans who were not yet born when Carter was president. The longest lived ex president in American history. He was a disappointment to liberals and conservatives alike, and for that reason was only elected to one term. Conservatives did, and still doo, make fun of Carter for his emphasis on human rights, and his willingness to negotiate with America's enemies. He speaks out from time to time at the age of eighty nine, and by so doing continues to anger conservatives. They'll survive. Carter may well be the most "successful" and productive ex president in American history, in the way that really matters; being of service to humanity. The other day he made a startling comment. He said that today's american middle class reminds him of yesterday's poor class. Worker's wages, for over three decades, have failed to keep up with the cost of living, as have most middle class incomes. Middle class and working class jobs have been exported, and the middle class continues to shrink. As the gap between the rich and poor grows ever greater, more and more Americans are sinking below the poverty line, according to Carter, and even if you take into consideration those who live in poverty but somehow manage to have big screen TVs, cell phones, and a weight problem, if you determine the number of Americans in poverty by simply using income statistics, and ignoring bad life style choices, the number is still enormous. Tens of millions of Americans, mostly hard working but still in poverty, the "working poor", one in five children undernourished. That's disgraceful. That's shocking. that's disgusting, in the richest country in the world. And the wealthy class continues to grow too, giving conservative, leave alone survival of the fittest types to claim that opportunity is available to all. Yeah, right. Consider the current government gridlock and shut down. Dear reader, what is going on even as we speak is, for all intents and purposes,a war between the rich and the poor. So far the war has been fought at the ballot box, in the media, and in the hallowed halls of government, but increasingly contentous it is becoming, as the gap, and the resentment, between the two classes grows. Lest we forget taht this country has already been violently divided in warfare once, and nearly more than once. Throughout American history there have been violent battles between master and slave, owner and worker, black and white, native American and white, and more, much more. Thousands hae been killed on the streets of American cities in these battles. Tragically, we're not done yet. We can only hope that some miracle intervenes and prevents, or ameliorates our next great internal conflict. Maybe we can solve future internal conflicts with words, opinion polls, elections, and lawmaking. It isn't likely though. The slave rebellions of the eigteenth century, the Indian wars of the nineteenth century, the bonus army of 1932, and the race riots of the nineteen sixties clearly demonstrate than when push comes to to shove, Americans resort to violence, regardless of whether and especially when all else fails. A more realistic hope is that after its over, the living outnumber the dead.