Chapter 1

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The Two Americas

"Inequality has the natural necessary effect, under the present circumstances, of materializing our upper class, vulgarizing our middle class, and brutalizing our lower class" - Matthew Arnold

     I chose the topic as the first chapter because this seems to be the end result of everything that has happened in America in the last 50 years.

      When John Edwards ran for president he spoke of the two Americas. He was referring to the rich and the poor. This was a clear case of playing the class warfare card trying to get the support of the poor by playing them off against the rich. This cheap trick has been used before and typically by candidates who have no vision and no solutions for our problems.

      But he was right. There are two Americas. He just misidentified them.

     The first is a set of people who have a good salary, job security, automatic raises, health insurance, paid vacation, sick leave and a good pension when they retire. The second America is those people who have none of that. They make less money, often have no job security and are at the mercy of current economy's ups and downs, no health care in many cases, little to no paid vacations, little or no sick leave and in most cases no pension to retire on except social security.

      The first America are all those who work for the government. This includes federal, state, county and city governments. This includes the military and police who will be called in to subdue Americans in times of civil unrest when Americans finally get fed up with all this, the teachers who are usually leftist and who are often brainwashing these young minds, all the bureaucrats who make all the regulations that control our lives and the IRS employees who collect taxes for pay for the first America.

      By the way, taxes are collected at the point of a gun despite the fact that the government brags that we have the largest "volunteer" tax system in the world. Let's say that you don't pay your taxes. After many letters, the government will eventually put a tax lien on all your property. When they come to seize your home, car, your boat, your camper and everything else you have, he will be a federal marshal and he will be armed. If you resist the seizure violently the gun will come out at it will be pointed at you. Taxes are collected at the point of a gun. It's just that most people simply pay them to avoid the hassle but taxes will be collected at gun point if necessary.

      The first America also includes the Congress and state legislatures who pass all these laws that we often object to. Also included are their staffers. It includes all city, county, state and federal employees who write and enforce the law.

      Except for the military, all the people are in unions which protect them. These are called public sector unions and now there are more people in public sector unions than there are in all the other unions put together. They are forbidden to go on strike but they don't let a little thing like the law stop them. They are the law. Teachers have gone on strike and you may remember when the air traffic controllers went on strike. Fortunately Reagan was president and he simply fired them for breaking the law. A democrat president would have just given them more money.

      When teachers go on strike the first demand is to be given legal immunity for breaking the law by going on strike. That is the first demand for even entering into talks to end the strike.

      Secondarily, we can and should count all the employees who work for the defense industry because, even though they are not government employees, they get their salaries and benefits through government contracts. So they are, in fact, government employees, just indirectly This is true for all people who contract with the government to the extent that their company's income comes from federal, state, county and city government spending. This may be true for the man who picks up your garbage.

      Will Rogers said that the hardest thing to recognize is a tax dollar on its way back from Washington. What we may say is it's hard to recognize who is really just another government employee.

      Statistics show that those in the first America make a higher average salary than those in the second America and their pensions are higher. Furthermore, they will not have to participate in Obama's healthcare system.

      So what about the second America? These are the people who compete in the rat race which is called the private sector. They have no guaranteed anything. When the first America screws up the economy, it's the second America that gets laid off.

      Adding insult to injury, the second America pays for the first America with their taxes, ultimately collected at the point of a gun remember.

      During the economic recovery underway, most of the jobs that have been created are government jobs. The first America certainly knows how to take care of itself.

      This process can only end in revolution as history has shown. The Tea Party may be the first step - organizing the common people who are fed up with this. These Americans are being called radicals, extremists, angry mobs and racists (presumable because the President  is black.) The Russian revolution began when a crowd gathered in front of the palace to present their concerns to the czar. This was a peaceful attempt to communicate with their government which ended when the palace guards drove them away, killing many in the process. Then the revolution began.

     Great civil unrest has already occurred in America. You may remember the civil rights movement and the movement to end the Viet Nam war. Thousands of citizens showed up to petition their government for redress of grievances as the Constitution puts it and guarantees it as a right. Once in the anti war protests they were going to shut down the government.

      They were going to do this peacefully by putting so many people on the bridges and major streets  of D.C. that the city would become paralyzed. But, although the Constitution did not get into it, it turns out that you need to get a permit from the very government you are protesting to hold the protest. That permit can put conditions on the protest. They can limit you to where you can go or march to. They typically limit you to a certain part of town and let you vent. Here is how they look at. OK, let's let them march and wave their signs, vent their emotions and all this will be over in a couple of days, then we can go back to business as usual.

      But the government was not about to let anybody shut down the government. It sets a bad example. It's poor form to let the citizens take control.

      Once the anti-war protesters declared their intentions to march and close down Washington, the permit that was issued limited the marchers to certain bridges and streets and blocks of those streets. There would be no shutting down Washington. Of course, the threat was made that anyone who violates the terms of the permit would be arrested. ( The government loves to threaten its citizens. It's exercising power without actually exercising power.). It's curious that a citizen threatening another citizen may be breaking the law depending on how it's done. It is often legal grounds for a court issued no contact order.

      Well the kids were having none of that. They were romantic revolutionaries after all. And their thinking was that they can't arrest us all because there is not enough space in the jails to hold us all. They were naive despite, or maybe because of, the time they had spent in college. When the march began and when the permit was violated, they were arrested by the hundreds. But where were they detained? They were detained at the RFK stadium.

      It turns out that a modern sport's stadium is the perfect place to detain large amount of people. They seat 50,000 people and you can cramp a few more thousand on the field. They have gates to assure that only ticket holders can get in and they have restrooms, which would be a necessity. The gates can be easily guarded to see that no one gets out. There would be no food but you are in prison after all and should suffer a little. Not eating for a few days will weaken you and make you easier to handle when you are released.

      Well it turns out that every major city has one or more of these stadiums or what might be called "mass detention centers". So the government can easily handle mass riots all over the country.

      Another thing I noticed in these marches was how cleverly the government was able to build barricades. Rope lines are not very effective in holding back an angry mob. What the government did in D.C. was to park city busses front to back in a line. They surrounded the White House with these bus barricades. This technique makes a perfect barricade. They are about eight feet high with smooth sides so that there is nothing to hold on to if you try to climb over them. They are low to the ground and you can barely get under them and it you do, you come out the other side on your stomach ready to be handcuffed and taken to the stadium. Parked front to back you can't get between them. It's perfect.

      Furthermore, major cities, where a revolution would surely start, have thousands them, curiously bought by the federal government. So any major city can create impenetrable barricades for crowd control. Factor in the police departments and nation guard, America is well positioned to protect itself in case of civil unrest. Will people get killed? Sure, remember Kent State? But that is the cost of doing business.

      So these are the two Americas and the way that the first America will protect itself from the second America.

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