Cartoon 651: Decision Point

It seems pretty clear that if America continues as it is currently going it will accelerate in its downward spiral. The Conservatives believe that if we merely return to the way we used to do things (1950s for society and Gilead Age for business and the wealthy) the nation will continue on the path of the “New Rome. However, this is a fallacy. Society in America has made some fundamental changes. The biggest is the women in the workplace and change in the makeup of the family unit. There is no way to turn the clock back. It takes both people working for most people to make ends meet. In fact it is women that are increasingly more employable; motivated and better educated. America now has a 50% divorce rate and single parent families are becoming the “norm” rather than the exception. To turn these things around the Conservatives would have to force a more masculine society and disenfranchise females.

The Gilead Age was a time of no personal income taxes on the wealthy and few, if any, regulations on business and industry. Today the wealthiest 1% of American’s pay a very small portion of personal income taxes relative to wealth. There are so many loop holds built in the tax system for them. The same can be said for some major corporations. Do you realize GE had a year in the last decade where it paid no Federal taxes? The tax burden that once was shouldered by business over the last few decades has been shifted to the individual. This is on top of “double dipping” by business and industry, receiving on-going tax break incentives for things they are not doing, like in the oil industry and agri-business.

Americans need to participate in the democratic process. Do you want things to continue in the direction they are going?