CNN asks: What Happened?

In a letter to Lou Dobbs show today, the writer asks (paraphrased):

"Both my wife and I both have to work 60 hours a week at two or three jobs and we can barely survive. What happened"?

I'll tell you what happened. How was it that my Father could work at a factory job with no education and be the sole supporter of his family with a house, a cottage and automobile paid for, money in the bank and retired at age 50?

The answer is his generation had to fight for their rights at a time when it was even illegal to strike, and many of that generation died creating a middle class.

But what does this generation do? We send our brightest and best young people overseas to die at the hands of religious fanatics, oil companies and demigods.

Today I have to ask myself -- what middle class? If it weren't for credit cards most of us would not 'own' anything today. It is all a mirage and there is in fact no more middle class.

The baby boomer generation are a bunch of pansies. Schwag smoking, aging hippies with flowers in their hair and talking of peace and love man, whilst the corporations with their bought and paid-for politicians stole it right out of their designer jean pockets.

There would have been blood in the streets if they tried that with our parents' generation.

There is a predominant attitude by the haves that it is their right to get richer and the have-nots are mere trailor-park trash to serve their needs.

Every day we see white-collar criminals bilking millions of dollars and receiving a slap on the wrist, while lowly shoplifters get the book thrown at them.

The fact is they don't want us to retire with pensions because they know there isn't enough in the kitty. They want us to work until we drop and carry us out with a tag on our toe.

That is reality, and that my dear friends is what has happened.

Now where is my gold watch?

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* From the history in a nutshell series.

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