Wealth inequality

When one population segment holds a grossly disproportionate share of the wealth, political and economic power gravitates toward that wealth. When that disparity becomes extreme, a feudal system of sorts develops, with the poor effectively enslaved by the rich.

In democratic and despotic regimes, the privileged few maintain (and increase) their extraordinary advantage by restricting access to education and employment. They control major media outlets and manipulate the "message" they wish the public to receive (fictional or otherwise). They "buy" elections (if necessary) and suppress political dissent with defamation and bribes. Once in control, they use the force of law or the law of force to silence opposition and eliminate competition.

As a result, the "elitist" multi-millionaires now holding major political office in America enjoy virtual lifetime appointment (so long as they toe the party line). Gerrymandering and political "racketeering" enable party leaders (both GOP and DNC) to coerce "elected" officials to vote against the interests of The People to enrich those in charge and preserve the status quo.

During the 14 years Hugo Chavez "served" as president of Venezuela (he died yesterday, thank heaven!), he purportedly amassed a fortune for himself and his family of 2 billion dollars! America's ruling class likewise realizes uncommon gains in "public service". They have "legalized" insider trading (for themselves) and "outlawed" it (for everyone else). They run our government like a Ponzi scheme, printing counterfeit currency, using multiple books to befuddle the masses and violating the laws which they have concocted to control the rest of us. Those who manage to get themselves cast from office are either too criminal to avoid prosecution or insufficiently criminal to retain power. Otherwise they are victims of this nation's current demographic sea change. The elites require a docile, under-educated underclass over which to rule. Mexico is a perfect example. Its feudal history dates back thousands of years. Ignorance is as endemic to that culture as rice and beans are to Taco Bell. The American elitists have been importing record numbers of compliant "slaves" for 50 years. Our country is becoming more "Mexican" by the day.

English and Spanish now enjoy parity in the marketplace. My wife went shopping recently and discovered that the woman behind the counter couldn't speak a word of English. This worker required a translator just to do her job! (Who gave her this job? How many Americans have thus been displaced by non-English-speaking, imported, sub-par laborers?) I've joked that soon all sales signs will be written in Spanish. English will be relegated to subtitles, if written at all. (And who will be able to read them?)

Blacks and Hispanics vote almost exclusively along racial and ethnic lines and "what's in it for me?". By and large, they epitomize the "low-information" voter, getting virtually all of their political savvy from comedians, 30-second sound bits, union talking-heads and pop culture icons. Nary one of them ever reads a book. Congresswoman Mary Bono - no genius herself and despite being a "virtual" Democrat - didn't stand a chance once Hispanics became the electoral majority of her district.

I'm a teacher. (Well, I get paid to teach; whether I teach or not is questionable.) In consequence of 17 years of breathing on the job, I now receive a salary that is near the top of my district's pay scale (see page 49). I'm one of the highest paid K-12 teachers in the nation.

I also have a wife who home-schools our six (soon-to-be seven) kids. We live in a big house with a nice pool and most, if not all, of the comforts of home. We drive paid-off (though aging) vehicles and we even have a rental property (with a big mortgage) that barely breaks even financially. Though we live frugally, it's all gone by the end of each month. It's impossible for us to get ahead and almost impossible to get by. (If we didn't have "baby boomer" parents handing us cash or floating us loans from time to time, we'd certainly be "underwater" and maybe even living in a shack on the other side of town by now!)

Why is this germane? Because my income is greater than 77% of all U.S. household incomes! And we're barely getting by! Given that we have, virtually, no savings to speak of, no stocks, and virtually no equity, we will not be able to buy our children cars or pay for their college tuition. By comparison, my father drove a Cadillac to school in his youth and went to UCLA on his father's dime (as did my mother.)

Ours will be the first generation of Americans destined to be poorer than our parents. And my children? Will they be poorer than me? It's frightening.

What can be done about it? The wealthiest Americans previously bequeathed to us a nation of laws and opportunities that enabled us -- with hard work and initiative -- to achieve and acquire more than any other people on earth. Hard work and initiative are now penalized and restricted by burdensome regulation and heavy taxation. The "middle class" is being squeezed out of existence. If this continues, the materially enslaved "poor" will rise up and wage war against the masterful "rich", making an end of all nations. (See Doctrine and Covenants 87.)

Socialism is not the solution. "Taking from the rich to give to the poor" merely substitutes one form of tyranny for another. If "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" is not written in our hearts, it won't matter if it is written in our laws.