New Low

I got far too excited today when I read the headline proclaiming Bush's approval rating to be at a new low. Not that I want to see any President fail, but, seeing that failure is a given where this man is concerned, I am pleased that at the very least, more of my fellow Americans recognize how bad of a job the guy has been doing. Only 47% described Bush as competent, and better yet, 40% described him as "honest and trustworthy."

My fear, of course, is that no one is learning a damn thing from any of this. I know that lots of those unhappy survey respondents are only unhappy because of some very immediate, and often very transitory, issues in their lives. Most see that their wages are down, and they're rightfully pissed off. But will they put 2 & 2 together to realize that if their wages are down, but "the economy" is up (as Bush loves to remind us), that means someone is taking their share of the value that they add to the economy before it gets to them? Will they bother to think about the fact that, under pseudo-conservatives like Bush, capitalism is beginning to eat itself as Marx predicted? I kind of doubt it. People in this country are sadly brainwashed: if you're income is down, blame your taxes. Blame "outsourcing," and those damned cheap laborers in China and India. Of course, make sure you keep buying at Walmart, even as it artificially depresses wages and purchases cheap good from over seas. Asking why the people in the top 1% keep taking more and more of the value the rest of create is too close to being a socialist question, as is asking why those people should be allowed to get richer and richer when the rest of us are getting poorer an poorer.

But if people don't start asking that question, we will keep getting poorer. If capitalism continues down this path in the US, the country will continue to slide further into oligarchy, and oligarchy almost always slides on into fascism. Don't believe it? When he wanted to set energy policy that governs a significant issue in your life, Bush brought in energy executives, men who are now enjoying record profits as you pay record high gas prices. When he wanted to stimulate the economy, he cut taxes for the most wealthy, people who did not need an immediate economic boost, claiming that it would eventually trickle down the social ladder. Years later, those wealthy persons are still enjoying their lower taxes, plus bigger profits, while the earnings of average Americans are actually dropping when you adjust for inflation. How about something more personal; Bush and his inner circle, almost to a man, avoided military service in Vietnam, either by entering the Guard and using dady's influence to stay safely Stateside, or by taking deferment after deferment, but they have no problem expending the lives of average and poor American kids in a war that they still cannot show a compelling reason for.

So, the poll numbers are down. Again. Which means that lots of my fellow Americans are unhappy. The question is, are they unhappy enough to learn anything yet?