Love Justice

I have a sense and hope that there is coming a tipping point in the greed and audacity of the rich and powerful. I hope that it is in time to stop much of the exploitation of the leverage the rich have to set the rules of the economy to benefit them. This week Congress is planning to pass a tax plan that will grossly benefit the rich and ultimately cost the middle class and poor in income and social supports. In the same week they took away Net neutrality rules that allow those with the control of access to the internet to tax those without for access.

The problem with happiness in this country according to economists is not the lack of wealth at the top. The problems with happiness have to do with corruption and lack of social supports according the World Happiness Report 2017 (http://worldhappiness.report/ed/2017/). The argument for the Republican candidate in the last election was the corruption of the elite in Washington. Now the elite in Washington are capping a decade where we all spent digging out of a recession they created by taking more of the wealth. This is with a backdrop of already having the majority of the wealth already.

I hope that the wins in Virginia and Alabama are a harbinger of a populace sick of being squeezed. Last week, I was shocked that some medicine I had to buy for my daughter was over $200. After calling the doctor, she wrote a prescription costing $17. Imagine the lack of morality it takes to upcharge $200 on a prescription that a child needs to get well. The sad part is that other life-saving drugs have been raised much higher. Medicine was once a profession one got into to help other people get better, not to maximize profit.

The mindshift of seeing capitalism as a feature of Americanism is at the point of being strongly questioned. It has been assumed that capitalism is an American feature. That stands in contrast of the commonwealth that Christian communities first built in the New World. Christianity is primarily a "give to those in need" , non-material philosophy. Younger generations are heavily questioning the capitalistic/materialistic values of their parents and grandparents. They have seen the lack of happiness it creates. Bernie Sanders spoke to the younger generations and in that he may hold the future as people tend to get hardened in their positions as they get older.