On this wonderful ( and commercial driven) day off from work or school we need to give thanks. The super rich, mega millionaires and billionaires alike, are what’s keeping our nation afloat. After all, it is they who pay so much in taxes compared to the rest of us. So said my optician pal , wearing his MAGA hat the other day. Oh yeah, I said, well look at the taxes on each gallon of gas you purchase next time. Factor out the less than 1 % of our populace and realize who is actually footing that bill. Stand by the counter of any large retail store and see how much of every purchase goes towards sales tax. In some states it’s almost 10% or each dollar spent. How many toaster ovens and articles of clothing do the Super Rich buy compared to the rest of us working stiffs and unemployed?
The Two Party/One Party political system owes much thanks to the Super Rich. Who do you think subsidizes their electoral campaigns compared to the minuscule donations the rest of us make? From $ thousands from one individual to the mega millions from all those PACs and Super Pacs and you know who plays the tunes of legislation that both parties dance to. So many of former elected officials go right passed GO into the armies of lobbyism. Look at the cabinet choices from any administration and see how many are from the high level corporate world. Folks, it has always been no such thing as a democracy. The system that the Super Rich have put into place makes sure that only the wealthy or those who suck up to the wealthy will see elected office.
Imperial wars have always been as American as that turkey and apple pie you will eat on Thanksgiving. During the Vietnam debacle AKA Phony War each time a Huey helicopter was shot down, the company ( owned by a pal of LBJ by the way) sold another to Uncle Sam for $ 1 million. By the way, today’s Apache Helicopter costs Uncle… ready for this folks… $ 31 million. Each time a Naval missile is fired by us the cost is around $2.1 million. Now let’s look at how the ‘ Money talks ‘ theorem works. In 2003 the Bush/Cheney Cabal created a fake need for war on Iraq due to fixed misinformation sold to the suckers… sorry, the public. So, we spent mega billions of taxpayer dollars to bomb the shit out of Iraq, invade and then occupy the country. After dropping more bombs than we dropped on Germany in WW2, the Iraqi infrastructure was like Berlin circa March of 1945. Guess what happened next? The Cabal then gave contracts to many of the Bush/Cheney donor corporations to ‘ Rebuild Iraq’. Reminds me of the scene in Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket ( 1987) when the Mathew Modine character is getting a ride on a HUEY. He and his photographer sit in the back of the copter watching a soldier with a standing machine gun blowing away any civilian on the ground he sees. The young Marine stops for a second, looks back at them and says ‘ Ain’t war great?’
PA Farruggio
Thanksgiving 2024