Chris Jepson: Die if you worry

Ah, what is the rational mind to do? If versed at all with a smattering of history you clearly understand that “we” live in a grand time. If, of course, you have enough. Enough for adequate housing. Enough for preventative dentistry and healthcare. Enough for a balanced, nutritious diet. Enough to indulge your intellectual and artistic expressions. Enough to provide for your children. Enough until you die.

We could argue over what constitutes enough, but clearly more and more Americans don’t have enough. If you are not catching Bill Moyers’ Sunday morning PBS TV show, I unequivocally recommend that you do so. Moyers is a great, decent liberal American with the cojones to tackle our nation’s many social and structural ills. He calls a spade a shovel.

An interesting development that is getting more and more press is the idea of social/economic mobility. Americans assume that our nation is the epitome of the Horatio Alger myth of pulling one’s self up by his/her bootstraps and that, say, England is the exact opposite, a hierarchical, caste system that inhibits upward economic mobility. Interesting, but wrong. It turns out that since WWII, the young of England are outperforming their American cousins on the “moving-on-up” economic ladder.

The 1970s were a transitional decade for the United States. Wages/incomes for middle class America have been flat for 40 years. We understand that the wealthy have gotten wealthier, that the top 1 percent of Americans own 40 percent of the nation’s wealth, that the top 1 percent have secured more of the nation’s income than at any time since the 1920s. You can argue that that these percentages are no more than the cream rising to the top, that through hard work and initiative, the resourceful are rewarded.

I get that. I do. And some of that scenario (hard work/creativity) is accurate and the rewards justified. I respect intelligence and resourcefulness. I applaud the entrepreneurial spirit. But a large segment of the American population is being, unequivocally, left behind. There is no denying that.

The question then arises, what can be done to address the growing economic stratification of the United States? No one sanely argues that part time, minimum wage job growth will in any way address what is happening to America’s workforce. I envision the inevitable social unrest (see: all of history/see: French Revolution specifically) that accompanies such glaring class/economic disparities.

What will be done? Nothing. Probably not until the nation is broke (in every sense of the word). There will be a lot of political words spoken, pledges made, protestations of solidarity with the “average” man, but America’s political establishment (both Dems & Pubs) are clearly in the pocket of America’s 1 percent. They do the bidding of America’s largest multi-national corporations. They take huge sums of money from Wall Street and our financial conglomerates. They run for public office but, in essence, shill for private corporations. Our politicians enrich themselves and their “handlers” more than they value the commonweal of the nation. No other interpretation explains our decline.

Don’t even get me started on the environment or our imperialistic foreign policy/wars, decaying infrastructure or our insane healthcare system. All these “problems” are solvable but won’t be. Simply look closely at who profits from perpetuating the status quo.

I try, earnestly I do, to live by, “Die if you worry, die if you don’t.” Emphasis on “don’t.”

But damn if it ain’t hard … to not worry.

Hope? Stay tuned.

Jepson is a 27-year resident of Central Florida. He’s fiscally conservative, socially liberal, likes art and embraces diversity of opinion. Reach him at [email protected]