15 Signs American Society Is Coming Apart at the Seams
Tom Davos
15 Signs American Society Is Coming Apart at the Seams
By David DeGraw, Amped Status
Posted on November 21, 2009, Printed on November 22, 2009
http://www.alternet.org/story/144109/
Editor's note: The following is an edited excerpt from the Amped
Status report, "The Critical Unraveling of U.S. Society."
http://ampedstatus.com/the-critical-unraveling-of-us-society
The economic elite have launched an attack on the U.S. public and
society is unraveling at an increased rate. You may have missed it in
the mainstream news media, but statistical societal indicators are
reading red across the board. Letbs look at the top 15 statistics that
prove we are under attack.
1) The inequality of wealth in the United States is soaring to an
unprecedented level. The U.S. already had the highest inequality of
wealth in the industrialized world prior to the financial crisis.
Since the crisis, which has hit the middle class and poor much harder
than the top 1 percent, the gap between the top 1 percent and the
remaining 99 percent of the U.S. population has grown to a record
high.
2) As the stock market went over the 10,000 mark and just surged to a
13-month high, the three big banks that took taxpayer money and
benefited the most from the government bailout have just set a new
global economic record by issuing $30 billion in annual bonuses this
year, bup 60 percent from last year.b Bloomberg reported: bGoldman
Sachs, the most profitable securities firm in Wall Street history, had
a record profit in the first nine months of this year and set aside
$16.7 billion for compensation expenses.b Goldman Sachs is on pace for
the best year in the firmbs history, and it is also benefiting by only
paying 1 percent in taxes.
3) The profits of the economic elite are bnow underwritten by
taxpayers with $23.7 trillion worth of national wealth."
As the looting is occurring at the top, the U.S. middle class is just
beginning to collapse.
4) Workers between the ages of 55 to 60, who have worked for 20 to 29
years, have lost an average of 25 percent off their 401k. During the
same time period, the wealth of the 400 richest Americans went up by
$30 billion, bringing their total combined wealth to $1.57 trillion.
5) Home foreclosure filings "hit a record high in the third quarter
(of 2009)b& They were the worst three months of all timeb& 937,840 homes
received a foreclosure letter" in this three-month period; b3.4
million homes are expected to enter foreclosure by yearbs end, with
some experts estimating that next year will be even worse.b
President Obama has enacted a $75 billion taxpayer funded program that
has been a spectacular failure in stemming the foreclosure crisis and
has proven to be another massive waste of billions of taxpayer
dollars.
6) 25 million people are unemployed or underemployed.
This means we have 25 million people who urgently need to increase
their income, and theybre quickly running out of options. The
unemployment rate is expected to rise further and remain high for
several years. bThe presidentbs chief economic adviser warned that the
nationbs unemployment rate could stay bunacceptably highb for years to
come."
The New York Times reports: "Americans now confront a job market that
is bleaker than ever in the current recession, and employment
prospects are still getting worse. Job seekers now outnumber openings
six to one, the worst ratio since the government began trackingb&.b As
this ratio continues to grow, it will lead to a further reduction in
wages -- average worker wages have seen a sharp decline over the past
year.
Economist Nouriel Roubini, a man who accurately predicted our current
crisis, just reported on unemployment stating: bThink the worst is
over? Wrong. Conditions in the U.S. labor markets are awful and
worseningb&. So we can expect that job losses will continue until the
end of 2010 at the earliest. In other words, if you are unemployed and
looking for work and just waiting for the economy to turn the corner,
you had better hunker down. All the economic numbers suggest this will
take a while. The jobs just are not coming back.b
7) As the few elite banks thrive, there have been 123 U.S. bank
failures thus far this year. Recently, three banks that the government
declared bhealthyb and gave taxpayer money, have folded. The Wall
Street Journal reports: bU.S. regulators have seized or threatened at
least 27 banks that got capital infusions from the Troubled Asset
Relief Program, including some lenders government officials knew were
troubled when they awarded the money. The troubles put taxpayers at
risk of losing as much as $5.1 billion invested in the banks since
TARP was launched in October 2008.b
8) As bankruptcies surge across the board, 10 U.S. states are on the
verge of bankruptcy, with several ready to declare a financial state
of emergency. California, Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Michigan,
Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island and Wisconsin are all
bbarreling toward economic disaster, raising the likelihood of higher
taxes, more government layoffs and deep cuts in services."
9) This is occurring at a time when the bfederal budget deficit for
the fiscal year that just ended was $1.4 trillion, nearly a trillion
dollars greater than the year before." In total, "U.S. public debt
topped $12 trillion for the first time in historyb& The public debt
topped $10 trillion in September 2008. The debt is quickly approaching
the statutory limit of $12.104 trillion, meaning Congress would have
to raise the ceiling to prevent a shutdown of government operations."
Economist Dean Baker explains the risk of running such a large
deficit: "The debt limit must be increased at regular intervals in
order to allow the government to function normally because the
government is currently operating at a deficit. If the debt limit is
not passed, then at some point the government will not be able to pay
workers and contractors. It wonbt be able to send out Social Security
checks or make payments for Medicaid and unemployment insurance to
state governments. And, it will not be able to make interest payments
on government bonds, effectively defaulting on the national debt."
Needless to say, all of this will make life drastically more difficult
for American citizens. As the middle class continues on the path of
economic decline, the number of citizens living in poverty has already
hit an all-time high.
10) Although the governmentbs official figure tries to low-ball the
number, 47.4 million U.S. citizens live in poverty, and the U.S.
poverty rate is the highest in the industrialized world.
Predictably, homelessness is rising at an increased rate as well. "The
U.S. government does not tally the numbers but interested
organizations say that more than 3 million people were homeless at
some point over the past yearb&. The fastest growing segment of the
homeless population is families with children.b
Children have been hit especially hard by the economic crisis:
11) * 50 percent of U.S. children, one out of every two children, will
need to use food stamps to eat.
One out of every two children in the United States of America will
need to use a food stampb& to EAT!
If you didnbt think starvation was a serious threat in the U.S., just
read this new Washington Post report: bThe nationbs economic crisis
has catapulted the number of Americans who lack enough food to the
highest level since the government has been keeping track, according
to a new federal report, which shows that nearly 50 million people b
including almost one child in four b struggled last year to get enough
to eatb& Several independent advocates and policy experts on hunger
said that they had been bracing for the latest report to show
deepening shortages, but that they were nevertheless astonished by how
much the problem has worsened. 'This is unthinkable. Itbs like we are
living in a Third World country,' said Vicki Escarra, president of
Feeding America."
The United States Department of Agriculture released these findings in
a study that was completed in December 2008, which means these numbers
donbt take into account the millions more unemployed throughout 2009.
The numbers of people living in poverty and struggling to eat has seen
a significant increase since then.
This a national tragedy. But it gets much worse.
12) In 2008, according to the Census Bureau, the number of U.S.
citizens without health care grew to a record 46.3 million. bThe new
figures, however, understate the severity of the economic downturn
because a large portion of the nationbs job losses and unemployment
rate increases occurred after the Census survey data was collected in
March as part of the annual Current Population Survey."
13) Lack of health insurance has caused 45,000 preventable U.S.
citizen deaths in the past year. The American Journal of Medicine
recently released a study that stated, bNearly two out of three
bankruptcies stem from medical bills, and even people with health
insurance face financial disaster if they experience a serious
illness.b
A Johns Hopkins Childrenbs Center study reported that 17,000 children
have died due to lack of health care. You can also add in a recent
report that revealed that 2,266 U.S. veterans have died in 2008 due to
lack of insurance.
The 50 million now uninsured and the 45,000 preventable deaths per
year statistics are expected to drastically rise over the next few
years. As the Senate continues to strip meaningful amendments from a
health care bill that wouldnbt even take effect until 2013, it has
become clear that, despite the media hype, the health care bill is
going to fall far short of meaningful reform and continue to rig the
game in favor of large insurance company profits at the expense of the
U.S. population. With the highest cost healthcare in the world,
current trends will continue and much needed change is not on the
horizon.
Never before has the United States had so many citizens with so little
means, little to no income and heavy debt. Debt and costs of living
have now shackled U.S. citizens just as they have shackled people
throughout the world. The economic hit men have now hit the United
States as well and millions of American citizens are now effectively
sentenced to a slow death.
Economic Imperial blowback has hit the mainland.
And the clock is ticking louder by the dayb&
And herebs two more facts for you:
14) The gun and ammunition manufacturing industry in the United States
has over 200 companies producing billions of dollars in annual
revenues. This huge manufacturing base cannot fulfill demand quickly
enough. The demand for guns and ammunition has hit a record high and
the gun industry cannot produce enough bullets to keep up with orders.
Americans are arming themselves to the teeth!
15) In the past year, 100 new armed militia groups have been formed,
as militia members have doubled in numbers. Federal authorities are
gravely concerned about the buptick in militia activities." One
federal authority recently said, bAll itbs lacking is a spark. I think
itbs only a matter of time before you see threats and violence."
So letbs break down these numbers.
You have a population of 50 million people who are in desperate need
of money, they most likely have no health insurance and canbt afford
to get health care or help of any kind. Part of this population
probably also has loved ones who canbt get life sustaining medical
treatments, or loved ones who have already died due to lack of costly
medical treatment. The clock is ticking loud for these people and they
are running out of options fast, and time delayed is time closer to
death.
While the richest 1 percent have never had it so good, a significant
percentage of the U.S. population now has firsthand experience in
this. Millions upon millions of Americans are poor, broke, struggling,
starving, desperateb& and armed.
We are sitting on a powder keg!
We are now witnessing the critical unraveling of U.S. society.
You can read the rest of the report here.
B) 2009 Amped Status All rights reserved.
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