Tuesday, April 05, 2011
UPSTAIRS DOWNSTAIRS
THE WORLD OF THE UPSTAIRS ARISTOCRATS EATING CUCUMBER SANDWICHES OFF BONE CHINA, AND THE DOWNSTAIRS HOUSEKEEPERS IRONING LINENS AND STIRRING MARMALADE IS BACK. NO. NOT THE APRIL RETURN OF THE ENGLISH-PERIOD DRAMA, BROADCAST ON PBS DURING THE SEVENTIES. THIS UPSTAIRS DOWNSTAIRS IS DOMESTIC. IT’S THE GROWING INCOME INEQUALITY IN AMERICA. FOR SOME THIRTY YEARS IT’S BEEN FESTERING, AS THE WEALTHY DRIFT FURTHER APART FROM THE REST OF US. ACCORDING TO DAVID LEONHARDT IN THE NEW YORK TIMES, “INCOME INEQUALITY, BY MANY MEASURES, IS NOW GREATER THAN IT HAS BEEN SINCE THE 1920S.” THE DISPARITIES RESEMBLE BANANA REPUBLICS; THE COUNTRIES, NOT THE STORES. YES. THE RICH HAVE TRULY GOTTEN RICHER AND WE KNOW WHERE THE REST ARE….IN A STATE OF STAGNATION, AT BEST. WHILE AMERICAN COPORATIONS MOVE THEIR HEADQUARTERS TO P.O. BOXES IN SWITZERLAND, AND THE SECURITIES MARKETS REACH FOR A NEW HIGH-WATER MARK, MANY DOWNSTAIRS FOLKS STIR IN THEIR SLEEP FRETTING OVER TOMORROW. BESIDES BEING NOT VERY POLITE, IT’S ALSO VERY DANGEROUS FOR OUR SOCIETY.
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6 comments:
You are right (or is it "left?") on my friend. One of the ironies is that the very people who are being victimized by this new gross disparity of wealth are the ones who support the system that rewards the corporate pigs. Witness Joe the Plumber (whose name isn't Joe nor is he a plumber). The rich laugh as the the poor champion their cause. George Orwell in his wildest dreams couldn't have imagined a more mixed up, upside down world.
P.S.
The only thing that you got wrong is that todays U.S. aristocracy have no taste for cucumber sandwiches or marmalade. That is sooo yesterday and so elitist.
yes ben,
seems the middle-class are fighting the middle-class.
no more collective bargining.
just collective arguing.
From their limited lives they crossed oceans to get here.... where dreams can come true. They don't want a return of big government. They've had enough of it. There may be a slim chance, a very slim chance to making their way upstairs, but they're willing to pay their dues and take that chance.... no matter how long it takes, even if they have to step on their neighbor to get a step closer “upstairs.” They know what they are doing, and they don't welcome the rich inviting big government. They know that, then, the rich will still be rich, and while they may be a step or two closer to the upstairs.... the chance of ever making it there will never happen.
Interesting post! Compared to the 1920's the poor are much better off today because of the various "safety nets" and because "equal opportunity" is more that just a pipe dream. For this reason, the gaps between the uber-wealthy and the poor are far less interesting to me than the rapidly diminishing lifestyles of the middle class.
In the 1960's a high school graduate could get a job, purchase a home, and have his wife stay home to raise his children. They lived modestly: one car and no annual vacation, but they had time with each other, wanted for nothing, worked reasonable hours and were basically content. Today, what young couple could even dream of this situation? Even with a college education, two incomes seem to be necessary just to squeak by.
That is just tragic.
tim,
you may be tiny, but your brain is not.
yes. the poor have always been...well, poor.
but the middle class is where the waters are parting.
thanks
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