Government the Problem?

It depends who you talk to. For those at the top of the income ladder, this is clearly the case. They benefit from a laissez-faire approach to economic policy and always have. But for the middle and the bottom? Then the story is different. As some economists start to talk of economic recovery and getting beyond the worst of the Great Recession, the stark reality for the poor and middle class in this country is a declining quality of life and dour long term prospects. A couple of weeks ago, New York Times columnist Bob Herbert pointed out that unemployment varies dramatically along class lines. Those at the top of the income bracket has an unemployment rate of only 3.2 percent and the next highest only 4 percent. Contrast that with the bottom two brackets ($12,499 or less and $12,500 to 20,000), that suffer through 30.8 and 19.1 percent, respectively: www.nytimes.com/2010/02/09/opinion/09herbert.html. Some would argue that this makes sense, given the realities of the new economy and the nature of the crisis itself. Yet it is part of a trend that has been accelerating since the 70s, a growing gap in not only income and wealth but quality of life between the rich and poor here and across the "developed" world: www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/10/21/business/main4535488.shtml. I think it would be naive not to recognize the relationship between this return to the Gilded Age of the turn of the century and the fall of communism. Without any alternative to fight, neoliberalism has ushered in a new phase where capital accumulation and consolidation of wealth accelerate dramatically. Services are being cut, marginal taxes lowered and the elites establishing rules that are skewed to their interests. The latest Supreme Court decision only punctuates the push away from democracy and popular rule and toward a theocracy of the market and its stewards. Is this sustainable in the long run? The history of capitalism is one of laissez-faire followed by economic crisis, calls for intervention and then deregulation soon after markets recover. Yet conservatives and business leaders are attempting to forgo any further intervention before the financial crisis ends. This could spell doom for America and across the globe. Will they wake up to the reality of the moment before it is too late, or allow their greed to trump our collective future? Here I turn to Edna St. Vincent Millay (with a minor edit) . . .

Thy candle burns at both ends
It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends --
It gives a lovely light.