Fwd: Split apart and despondent

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: John

Last evening I sent out an article entitled This Economy Is Ruined for Many Americans.  The attachment in this e-mail explains why.  This, of course, is something those limping along in the bottom half of the income spectrum in the nation understand quite well; but far too many of us have little or no appreciation of just how stark the divide has become.  Here I am particularly referring to those who condemn the entire group of Trump voters as disreputable racists, deplorables and ignoramuses.  As Bernie Sanders said a few days ago:  "Some people think that the people who voted for Trump are racists and sexists and homophobes and deplorable folks. I don't agree because I've been there. Let me tell you something else some of you might not agree with, it wasn't that Donald Trump won the election, it was that the Democratic Party lost the election."  'There' is where the great majority of folks have seen their very lives torn asunder by neoliberal policies, implemented by both major Parties, which have destroyed their livelihoods, their hopes for the future and, in far too many instances, reduced them to effective 'debt-peonage' or even drugs and suicide.

What the attached article makes very clear is that this is something which has become much more stark in the U.S. than in nations of Northern Europe which are also subject to neoliberal policies.  It is certainly true that some nations, like Greece, have become far worse off because of these same policies, but that is more the result of the fact that the nations of the EU do not have sovereign currencies with which they can manage their economies – thus the northern tier countries tend to exploit the weaknesses of those on the southern tier.  In this country, no such excuse exists, nor should the policies which have brought us to this sad state of affairs.  Sanders went on to say that a "fundamental restructuring of the Democratic party" was needed to win future elections and that problems with party's current setup is why many were quick to support Trump in the election, not because of some of the rhetoric on the campaign trail.  At this time, it's not at all clear that a "fundamental restructuring of the Democratic Party" is even possible, but that would be the very minimum of what needs to happen if any real change is to occur down the road.

John

Link

• Economic growth in the US: a tale of 2 countries