blargblog: Class Struggle Undermines the "American Dream"

March 25, 2004

Class Struggle Undermines the "American Dream"

Judging that the American Dream is a fraud, Aine the Evil Queen explains how the middle class democratic aspirations we ingested with our daily bread have gone to rot:

Privileges granted or sanctioned by our government underlie the economy, the social and political spheres of influence, and the mental and moral manifestations that appear so ominous in these United States. Indeed, the resemblance to Mordor is not going unrecognized here.
This inequality in distribution causes the formation of two clearly marked and powerful classes within society with distinct views and mutually hostile feelings. One of them is lifted into superabundance and the weaknesses and vices that spring from it; while within that class is born the spirit of superiority and the feeling that the "work force" people were created expressly to labor for their benefit alone.
The "work force" people, composing the vast majority of the population, constitute the opposing class. Cut off by monopoly from free access to natural opportunities, and robbed of and taxed on the fruits of their labor at every turn, they have been reduced to intense competition for not only a living, but survival itself. At one time, those in the "work force" group believed that it was possible to work their way into the other class, and some still do believe in that, but the evidence of anyone actually able to do such is becoming increasingly rare.

Sound familiar? If so, that's cuz ya remember your classic marxian reading. Funny how the demise of Communism (note the big "C") did not bring down the historic conflict between ruling and working classes. Aine goes on to grind her teeth about the intra-class warfare among the Bush and Kerry camps, "exchang[ing] blows over military service records, gay marriage, and suchlike" while economic mobility for all but a select few stagnates. What good are tax cuts when the real income of 90% of taxpayers has fallen 7% over the last 30 years? "Oh, goody! A $300 check! Let's drop it down the debt hole—yayyy!"