The dreams we leave behind for our children.

Addicting Info.org
By Adam Haney

Robert F. Kennedy once said “Too often we excuse those who are willing to build their own lives on the shattered dreams of other human beings.”. This rings true today when I look across the country at what is happening in State legislatures, and Washington D.C.

The role of government today is under much debate. Does the government have the responsibility to look out for the people in general, or business? A small government- big government debate

Across the country we are seeing a phenomenon that seems to be considered fact without question. We have a spending problem, and not a revenue problem, meaning that government spends too much, as opposed to taking in too little. This is an excuse to cut spending when it comes to government services, and now we see the attack on workers rights.

Does this sound like an America you want to die in? A place where we will agree to give tax cuts to billionaires- at historically low rates- and subsidies to the most wealthy oil, and gas companies in the world? While paying for it by lowering teachers’ salaries and taking away their seat at the table when it comes to their labor?

It’s a scam of epic proportions. In this country at the end of 2001, 10% of the population owned 71% of the wealth and the top 1% owned 38%. On the other hand, the bottom 40% owned less than 1% of the nation’s wealth. Is this the future we want for our children?

This is not a new fight. It started with Reagan in the 80s when he cut taxes from 70% to lower than 30% for the rich while running up the national debt on defense spending, and cutting government programs that help the poor, and middle class. Defense is something that is very hard to argue against, but the fact is when a democrat gets in office they don’t have the money for domestic programs they want because of debt. It’s a very clever idea, and it seems to be working.

We stand at the crossroads of two different paths. We can raise taxes to support the safety nets that set up the middle class, or we can concentrate wealth at the top by cutting taxes that make these programs impossible to sustain.

While the elite get obscenely rich the bottom 40% of us- the people that build our communities, and serve the most in need- scramble for the one percent of wealth we have, and argue over who gets more of that one percent.

If fascism is defined as corporate control over the state we are in trouble. When millionaires and corporations fund elections, and create movements that are “grassroots” that push for corporate interests, and lobby for a concentration of wealth it is our duty to speak out, and be heard.

In an era where people are describing student loan reform as a government take over. When in fact it ensures that students aren’t buried in debt because they choose to go to college, and women getting equal pay for their work is deemed radical we must shape America into a better place as past generations have strived to do. As President Obama noted “Government shouldn’t try to dictate your lives. But it should give you the tools you need to succeed. Government shouldn’t try to guarantee results, but it should guarantee a shot at opportunity for every American who’s willing to work hard. “

It is our turn to ensure this, and future generations at least get a shot at the American dream as our ancestors have done for us.

It was Teddy Roosevelt who once said “To befoul the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics is the first task of the statesmanship of the day.”. If we fail to head his words we may find ourselves more comparable to RFK’s speech where he said “We learn, at the last, to look at our brothers as aliens, men with whom we share a city, but not a community; men bound to us in common dwelling, but not in common effort. We learn to share only a common fear, only a common desire to retreat from each other, only a common impulse to meet disagreement with force. For all this, there are no final answers.”

The future of our country was never certain, and we hold the power to sway what the unwritten history books say of us. At this hour when the rights of the many have been under attack, at the benefit of few we must consider that we are fighting for the future, and we have to win it. In the words of Thomas Paine “If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace.”