Reader’s Write: 1 percenters sell middle class bill of goods

The Island Now

Many of us in the middle class have been sold a bill of goods by those who do not care about us. They use the catch phrase “big government” to make us blame our government for the economic decline of our class. 

Look around, one or two percent own 48 percent of the world’s goods, and we are being told that they are the job creators. Not true.

They have bought off our lawmakers to promote their interests for what the very powerful corporations want. We need to promote reform in our educational system, to create a healthcare system that provides access and care to all, to radically repair and rebuild our roads, bridges and public transportation systems, allow long term illegal immigrants, who pay into our system from low salaries, provide better minimum wages and unemployment benefits. 

Where are our priorities?

Instead we reduce the buying power of the unemployed, allow illness to sap our resources inefficiently because of the lack of prevention, pay the oil companies and corporate farmers subsidies when they are making huge profits, allow tax loopholes for huge corporations that have taken jobs abroad, fail to penalize investment banks that speculate on paper without producing real jobs.

And please, do not believe that paying very low wage workers a living wage will reduce jobs. Instead, the middle class is paying taxes to support food stamp programs, to subsidize shelter costs and all the other costs that the very poor cannot buy while profits for many large corporations soar.

And I have saved the worst for last. We continue to remain in wars, spending inconceivable billions to create countries that hate us, sending our young people to fight and suffer egregious injuries that we cannot afford to ameliorate. Too late, we learn that the reasons for fighting are such huge lies.

Our real challenges are to change our priorities, to get rid of all those in government who care only for their own misguided interests. Be informed, be loud, question motives.

Esther Confino

New Hyde Park

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