Great percentages of young people either unemployed or under employed. A coterie of leaders in their seventies and eighties with an absolute lock on power, many of whom have been in power for decades. A significant swath of economic assets held by a few well connected families. Media outlets more interested in following the script than revealing objective truth. And most disturbing, a sprawling secretive intelligence and security apparatus purporting to provide security to a vulnerable nation, but increasingly focused inward. No, I'm not talking about Egypt or Tunisia. All of these statements are true of the United States. When will our Tahrir Square moment arrive?
All the reasons that the Egyptian people poured into Tahrir Square this month should resonate with us here in the US. I'm not comparing our discomforts with the genuine suffering of the folks in Cairo, but in many areas recent trends in American life show that we are headed in a very unhealthy direction.
Youth Unemployment:
The United States has been systematically reducing the opportunity for young people. The Bureau of Labor Statistics most recent data set shows that only 48.9 percent of people 16 to 24 years of age were employed. That's the lowest rate since the 1940s. Unemployment, a different measure, was 19.1 percent in the latest data set. The stats are at the BLS website here:
http://www.bls.gov/...
Aging Leadership:
Our national leadership is gray indeed. Quoting the Wikipedia "As of February 14, 2011, 3 senators are in their 80s, 18 are in their 70s, 37 are in their 60s, 31 are in their 50s, 9 are in their 40s, and 2 are in their 30s". Look at the whole list and see how many Senators have been on the job for three decades. 86 year old Daniel Inouye has been there 48 years. This is not a slight against seniors, but rather a comment on incumbancy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
Income inequality:
Tax Policies and aggressive globalization have steadily moved wealth upward in the US since the Reagan revolution. This is well travelled ground, but here is an instructive overview by Huck Gutman:
http://www.commondreams.org/...
Media Control:
Here in the US, fewere and fewer Corporations own more and more of our media outlets. The FCC has largely stopped trying to limit this trend, arguing the the public has so many potential sources of information that ownership of Television or newspapers in key markets cannot possibly lead to a monopoly of ideas. Perhaps you've noticed that on matters of national importance the exact same words will come out of the mouths of Senators, Justices and media stars. This sort of group speak is in part orchestrated by the various policy outlets in Washington, but it also reflects the fact tht there are fewer and fewer people giving voice to the big ideas of our day.
http://www.freepress.net/...
Security Apparatus:
I've written previously about the huge piles of cash going into our security apparatus ( see Bernie v. Bulls**t). We are approaching a trillion dollars per year on Defense, DHS, and related agency spending. I support the core missions of these organizations, but this portion of the budget has become a black hole of secrecy, cronyism and corruption.
I for one think its about time we spoke up while there are still people in washington who will listen.
" You say your lifes a bum deal, and you're up against the wall? Well people, you aint even got no kind of deal at all. 'Cus what they do in Washington, they just takes care of Number One, and Number One aint you... You aint even Number Two."
Frank Zappa