The Middle class and reality of how the other half lives.Classwar..

[bijou]

UP is really ramping up production of threads today.

undergroundpanther  (1000+ posts)       Mon Jun-23-08 06:01 PM
Original message
The Middle class and reality of how the other half lives.Classwar..
 Advertisements [?]Edited on Mon Jun-23-08 06:13 PM by undergroundpanther
Abuse only becomes easily recognized as abuse when it isn't deserved.....

..."O my dear sister, what are we to do with these troublesome people?"
"Britannia: "Try isolation first, my dear, and then—" ..


The Class war,what the middle class now feel looming on their backs has been going on full steam already on the poor,working poor, disabled, women,minorities immigrants,ex prisoners, homeless,mentally ill.
The atomization and isolation of lower class and middle class community ties has systematically created isolated individuals,individuals who feel alone ,afraid to relate ,and believe they are far less able to fight a class war all by themselves, so they don't fight, they just convince themselves they deserve to be financially abused,they learn to be helpless..
Some abuse victims aren't sure if they are victims or not. At least, they aren't sure whether they are deserving victims or undeserving victims.
http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=...
http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2007/0...
http://209.85.215.104/search?q=cache:LzuLcAdPqdkJ:www.p...


This class war the middle class are just beginning to notice now, began a very long time ,long before the wealthy bothered to touch the precious"middle class"'s comfort zones with their greed and predatory financial abuse.

What I think is getting the middle class upset is now they are being treated to what the poor,disabled,women,minorities, immigrants,ex prisoners, homeless,and mentally ill have been dealing with for a very long time already. Or,What's that sucking sound,dear? Oh, it's the wealthy sucking other people's lives away ..wow look at all those tent cities.

Uh huh,and you might be living there too once you lose your spouse,house gets foreclosed,your kid gets sick,or you get a pink slip..Mr Jones.

In a Class war each stratified part of the classes serves a function to insulate the rich from having to share,keep the rich immune from social responsibility and keep the rich,rich.

Such a high level of inequality doesn't just happen. It is produced by specific arrangements in society that enable exploitation and exclusion along the categorical lines of social class. An effective system of social stratification requires three basic things: a social structure that divides people into categories on the basis of some combination of achieved and ascribed traits; the labeling of certain of these categories as out-groups containing people who not likable and not competent as human beings; and the existence of one or more social mechanisms that reserve resources for in-group members while extracting other resources from out-group members without full remuneration.
http://mediamatters.org/altercation/200708270002


The poor,working poor disabled,women,minorities, immigrants,ex prisoners, homeless,and mentally ill are who's the front lines in this massive plundering. The lower classes are who that protected the"middle classes" from the more severe poverty and physical suffering caused by wealthy people's insatiable greed.This insulation the poor gave to the middle class is becoming threadbare now that the rich and their 'markets'are no longer are regulated to play sorta fair anymore..
http://usliberals.about.com/od/education/a/BushEdCuts.h...

We the poor,disabled,women,minorities, immigrants,ex prisoners, homeless,and mentally ill are the middle classes's scapegoats,we are the lifestyles of shame and doom you tell your kids about if they don't get good grades.Poor people are told by everyone with more income that poor people being inferiors morally to those more fortunate caused all the problems in society.We to blame OURSELVES alone for our less ambition driven ,unable to keep work, can't stay off drugs/booze ,can't stay out of jail,can't get our shit together lives of suffering. Poverty's political invisibility are spooky reminders of what happens when hope is stolen by those who have plenty but do not care to share and justice never helps because of the propaganda,beliefs and political selfishness and ignorance of the fortunate and excessively fortunate.
http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/iie/v3n2/justwor...
http://www.reason.org/commentaries/summers_20060925.sht...

The lower class,the invisible ones, scuttled away in section 8 rat-holes,living in cars or tents by overpasses,being shooed off benches by cops when exhausted.We are our cultures un-success stories,the Anti-Algiers..Asking for money to buy a way to numb away this reality with another hit or drink, or even*gasp* to buy food!!
http://www.ombwatch.org/article/articleview/3159/1/402
http://www.proliberty.com/observer/20060914.htm

What were you taught from childhood, about poverty,middle class folks? Stuff about all those crass,unwashed blights,white trash,ghetto,bum,freak losers marring your pretty suburbs, with our unkempt,unpredictable,disturbing, suffering lives?

I think the lower class are allowed to merely survive so the middle class can live better so the wealthy few can lead insulated lives of ease,luxury and leisure like gods on Earth.Stratification and inequality has been set up ands the wealthy created this class war that if not stopped soon will hurt a vast majority of us if we do not look at the habits and lifestyles of the undeserving rich and tell them that they have had enough.Because of ingrained stereotypes people believe,,Beliefs like people are poor because they are inferior or depraved or deserve it,undermine equality .And people who think it is good for desperate people to listen to their opinions just for a bite to eat,or jump like a dog through pointless hoops to get services so we will not die..are contributing to the suffering.
Such obliviousness and smug arrogance from the "middle class" is an affect they have from aping the upper class, it is there everyday demeaning further the 'unfortunate' people who need help.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa5404/is_200106/...
ttp://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2006/07/a_decade_after_.html
http://www.allacademic.com//meta/p_mla_apa_research_cit...
http://bctf.ca/lessonaids/online/la2030/blaming.html

The lower classes are the assumed dogs to be kicked first when your wealthy owner/master let you down,or hands you pink slips,or signs Nafta or your job goes overseas...
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/05/13/8912 /
http://www.umsl.edu/~keelr/010/econstra.html

The homeless, poor,mentally ill,among others who suffer already bear the "sport" of your neglected,isolated,well fed and taken care of in every way but emotionally, middle class children,who because parents work all the time are left alone,bored and want to have some fun at our expense..
http://jackiedowd.blogspot.com/2006/06/some-teens-idea-...
http://www.wesh.com/news/13587663/detail.html?qs=1 ;bp=t
http://www.local6.com/news/9670295/detail.html

Lower classes are the canaries in the cultural coal mine.Bellwethers of the tide of class war,of our entire system of scam or be scammed.We are the human shields, made into debris taking the cuts for you so you could live well,or better than we ever will or can hope to.
http://publicsafety.com/article/article.jsp?id=4237&sit...
http://digg.com/world_news/WTF_Hospital_Dumps_Paraplegi...
http://bullsheet.wordpress.com/2008/05/07/la-hospital-c... /

In the times when the 'middle class' were doing well they could just ignore us ,like the politicians always do, never recognize we exist we lower class..
http://www.uncommonthought.com/mtblog/archives/2008/06/...
The middle class throws less than the rich can but won't or even the poor who do but get pinched for it!!It's strange but true.


Actual versus Potential Donation: On average, an American household with a salary of $924,495 with an investment asset of $18,125,000 gave $122,940 to charity in 2000—but had the potential to donate up to $1,031,000 without any change in standard of living.

Giving by Class: The two groups in the United States that give the highest percentages of their income are the poor (those making less than $20,000 per year) and the rich (those making more than $100,000 per year). Middle-class Americans (those making between $40,000 and $100,000 per year) are the smallest percentage givers.11
http://www.generousgiving.org/page.asp?sec=4&page=161
While the middle class lived well enough, they islanded themselves ,they ignored people on the street their pleas,telling themselves "that bum will just spend it on drugs" as they quickly roll up their subaru windows. Middle class do give,but prefer to leave the hands on sharing to charities and churches that force propaganda for food ,shelter or rehab. Charities and churches we all know the executives will skim off the top so very little of what little you middle class folks gave to us by proxy ever reaches our hands, you see the wealthy have to take the biggest slice because they are the biggest parasites and enemies of peace and prosperity for all..( but not for the lower class that is we are depraved and inferior we have to suck ass or"earn it" by humiliating ourselves first)
http://www.lipmagazine.org/articles/featdelmoral_nonpro...

I fear it is not too long until the middle class that are unable or unwilling to look at the true source of their discomforts because they fear us,find us strange scary or 'gross,they will scapegoat us even worse instead of making us allies. I also fear when they clamor for reform to the government,the funds to help the middle class will not come from the wealthy few fat pockets who created this class war to benefit the wealthy to begin with.The money will be taken from,and cut from the programs to help the poor,disabled,
women,minorities,immigrants,ex prisoners, homeless,and mentally ill need to survive ..But because we are just not important enough..because life has broken us,and people don't like to deal with it, because we can't do what the middle class can accomplish and for as many reasons as there are people who are poor,
disabled,women,minorities,ex-prisoners,homeless,and mentally ill.
http://www-tech.mit.edu/V119/N21/col21kris.21c.html

The middle class like the upper class sadly is inclined to let others suffer so they will not feel the pinch too hard .Some do this by kissing their corporate abuser's ass,sucking up on up the chain of power,this appeasement of the abusers of power ensures the programs that help us merely survive are cut ,cut ,cut until they are there no more,or strapped so tight they cannot help the new poor falling in the gutter beside us now,ex middle classer's desperate afraid suicidal and feeling so helpless.and ashamed..How many middle class will join us in the gutter before they join us and fight this class wart and bite the masters hands off that he uses to steal and oppress people with? The rich will shred the social safety net before they'll ever be taxed so you "middle class" people can afford a lifestyle and comfort that cannot be sustained,so the rich can grab a little bit more..The middle class shrinks and it sits there while the rich are not confronted on their theft, exploitation,and financial abuse.

Middle class, Why not YOU wake up,stop being so bigoted against the poor,disabled,women,minorities, immigrants,ex prisoners, homeless,and mentally ill.Don't be afraid to reach out to those in bad neighborhoods,Stop stereotyping,Get to KNOW us,Talk to the people with smelly clothes,Speak to the "bums" that on the corner,Dare to relate to another world it could change everything.We are human beings like you .Fact is, the middle class are only a curb of a personal tragedy away from the 'gutters' even though the middle class fear that .We the underclass, the useless eaters that the wealthy and nazis call us,Some of us are here even on DU.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

poor bashing,stereotyping,hunger,suffering in the heat/cold,no place to shower,sleep, no address, this is the life of the politically invisible, poor and struggling deal with everyday.
The wealthy exploiter/dominator class of the few parasites do see Middle class people like cattle to exploit,and a tool to keep the classes stratified ,dis-empowered ,divided and submissive.But even cattle are expendable when the wealthiest of tapeworm sucking this nation dry wants another new yacht and does not want to be taxed.
http://blogs.wsj.com/wealth/2008/05/22/more-voters-say-... /

Erin Burnett, the new glamor star at CNBC, says with a sneer that Americans are wrong to believe they have any right to a home.
In Ms. Burnett's world, the people have no right to a home, but the hedge funds have a right to the bailout. When things go bad, the average Americans get the boot, while the upper class gets the loot, paid for by the taxpayer, helping only the few.
http://pundits.thehill.com/2007/08/17/gilded-age-crime-... /
http://ehrenreich.blogs.com/barbara_commentators/2007/0...

None of us deserve to be financially abused,stigmatized,outcast scapegoated, Just as no one deserves to be "elite" or is entitled to have the world as their own personal oyster..So look to the real causes of this economic suffering,see the injustice abuse and inequality here. Look for the people who benefit the must from making others suffer,and blame the fortunate few and the rigged unregulated unfair market they rob us all through..and throw away sickening beliefs like the just world hypothesis and disgusting myths like poor people are poor because they are somehow deficient or depraved,and must be fixed and treated like children or have religion crammed down their throats because they are hungry or cold...
 

Just occasionally UP doesn't have the loopiest posts in a thread.

Hydra (1000+ posts)       Mon Jun-23-08 09:05 PM
Response to Original message
1. The "Middle class" has always been the top 1%'s best advocates and skullcrushers
 Because they think they're going to get some of that, someday.

The rules have changed, though. The Uber-rich don't NEED all of us anymore. The can produce all the goods and services they need with only 5% or less of us. The rest are dead where they stand.

Wiley50  (1000+ posts)      Tue Jun-24-08 03:38 PM
Response to Original message
15. K&R You Speak The Core Truth, Panther
 There is only one way that this situation has ever even begun to be improved:

"and the people who simply can't take anymore
so they pick up a gun or a brick or a stone"
"Lives in the Balance " Jackson Browne


First we have to get through the phoney religious morality the rich have put in place to protect themselves.

Then we have to get through or convert the middle class that the rich maggots hire to protect them.

We have to somehow organize without them seeing and stopping us before we're strong enough.

And then we have to kill ALL of the maggot rich.


I can't see a picture of, for example, Lee Raymond with his fat rolling off his neck

without being seized with the strong desire to kill him and all like him.

but the miserable middle class protect them, at least until they become poor like us

And then it will happen. Bet on it.
 

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3507594

It is marxist central on that thread.

[franksolich]

Oh my, bijou.

I read that while slumming around Skins's island yesterday (Tuesday), and man, the cerebral cells started to melt.

You must be made of sterner stuff, madam.

[bijou]

Oh my, bijou.

I read that while slumming around Skins's island yesterday (Tuesday), and man, the cerebral cells started to melt.

You must be made of sterner stuff, madam.

I saw it for the first time yesterday too, I thought it would sink wthout trace so I didn't bring it over.  But when I saw the replies I thought it deserved an airing.

[Chris_]

I am moderately curious as to just how exactly SubwayKitty proposess for her/his/it's side to conduct her/his/it's little "ClassWar"...

After all, to use the terms coined by Ayn Rand, I can probably count on one hand the number of "Producers" who lean to their side in the great political debate (Steve Jobs comes immediately to mind, so that number isn't zero); so that kinda precludes forcing "change" on our side by economic means.

And then there's that little sticking point that arises when they figure that economic pressure doesn't work and they try to get more "assertive" of their point of view (how do they get their heads that FAR up their own asses, anyway?):  it is their side that has forsaken guns over the last 30-40 years, not ours.

Nothing like a battle of wits with an un-armed opponent, eh?

[MrsSmith]

disabled,women,minorities, immigrants,ex prisoners

Wow.  And all these years that I've been middle class, I guess I'm what?  Not a woman any more? 

My mom was an immigrant and a woman, and my folks made enough to be middle class...so what does that make her? 

And I never, ever knew that no disabled people or ex prisoners were middle class...my boss in Nebraska was disabled, and he made enough money to be middle class.  I wonder what he is, then??


   

[Rebel]

I'm middle-class and I know damn well what's in my best interest. .....and it ain't in the name of Socialism or Barack "the Messiah" Obama.

[NHSparky]

What if they gave a class war and nobody came because the middle class was too busy trying to become the upper class to attend?

[Chris_]

"Class War" is code for "I made bad decisions in my life and have envy like you cannot believe -- if I can't earn it then THEY don't deserve it."

[LC EFA]

Sounds like it's nearly *that* time of the month for UGP.

Where it / he / she will go in for another time out period in the rubber room with a wrap around coat.

Whatever they're prescribing UGP clearly isn't working.
 

[jukin]

One political party is ultra rich and ultra poor.
One political party is in the middle.

One political party believes in extorting money for government to do charities.
One political party believes in personal giving to charities.

One political party believes in regulations that let the government control one's life.
One political party believes in personal freedom.

Why would one think that is subwaycat/man/woman/freak?

[BlueStateSaint]

bijou, H5 for the intestinal fortitude to go wading through that mess.

[DixieBelle]

Oh my.

does it not have a space key on it's keyboard?

H5 to anyone who read that!

[BlueStateSaint]

Oh my.

does it not have a space key on it's keyboard?

H5 to anyone who read that!

Yeah, this is kinda OT, but H5 again for the avatar pic!

[DixieBelle]

LOL. Kind of goes with the thread too.

[Flame]

disabled,women,minorities, immigrants,ex prisoners

Wow.  And all these years that I've been middle class, I guess I'm what?  Not a woman any more? 

My mom was an immigrant and a woman, and my folks made enough to be middle class...so what does that make her? 

And I never, ever knew that no disabled people or ex prisoners were middle class...my boss in Nebraska was disabled, and he made enough money to be middle class.  I wonder what he is, then??


   

My mom was an immigrant, also.   She was also widowed after 5 yrd of marriage, and was a single parent, raising 3 kids on her own after that.   We were what I would call middle class.

[Bondai]

K&R You Speak The Core Truth, Panther

Cut and paste more like it, and the shit it posts is never the truth....

[MrsSmith]

disabled,women,minorities, immigrants,ex prisoners

Wow.  And all these years that I've been middle class, I guess I'm what?  Not a woman any more? 

My mom was an immigrant and a woman, and my folks made enough to be middle class...so what does that make her? 

And I never, ever knew that no disabled people or ex prisoners were middle class...my boss in Nebraska was disabled, and he made enough money to be middle class.  I wonder what he is, then??


   

My mom was an immigrant, also.   She was also widowed after 5 yrd of marriage, and was a single parent, raising 3 kids on her own after that.   We were what I would call middle class.

According to UP, only white males can be middle class.  I guess the rest of us are just faking it?