Donald Trump and Joe Biden have taught Americans a valuable lesson: maybe, just maybe, in order to become the president of the most powerful nation in the world, a higher bar needs to be set. Why must one possess a license to apply makeup, yet to “practice presidenting,” one need only excel at the act of breathing?
Although Trump promised to drain the swamp, he ended up adding more alligators, frogs, turtles, and snakes to Washington DC’s wetlands. He also added a bat.
Cronyism, nepotism, kleptocracy, and a general sense of chaos reigned supreme. The wall never went up, but Trump’s bank balance certainly did.
So, with that being said, Joe Biden’s election, a referendum on Trump, was a victory for the country, right?
Far from it. After all, this is the same Joe Biden that was a key part of the Obama administration which, according to Jacobin magazine, arguably the most left leaning site imaginable, repeatedly failed to help the people most in need of help. Wall Street, on the other hand, fared rather well.
If the month of January has taught us anything, today, when it comes to elites on Wall Street acting with impunity, absolutely nothing has changed.
But, you say, Kamala Harris is surely a sign of change? No. The vice president, hailed as some sort of Wonder Woman-like deity, has a history of harshly penalizing minorities. The Democrats, ostensibly the party of the people, appear to be the party of a very select group of people, namely the wealthy people.
In fact, the author Joel Kotin tells us that, “minorities have done much better—in terms of income and homeownership—in deep red states and regions than in the more “enlightened” blue regions.”
Kotkin continues, “in metropolitan areas such as Washington, D.C. and Atlanta, the median African-American income, adjusted for costs, is more than $60,000—compared to $36,000 in San Francisco and $37,000 in Los Angeles. The median income for Latinos in Virginia Beach-Norfolk is $69,000, compared to $43,000 in Los Angeles, $47,000 in San Francisco, and $40,000 in New York.”
When it comes to the finances of minorities, the bluer the state, the bluer the mood.
Meanwhile, the expansionary monetary policy, like Americans’ waistlines, continues to grow in size. Last year, U.S. government-spending amounted to $6.5 trillion. To put this figure in perspective, it represented a 48% increase on the amount spent in 2019. Yet, as the data shows, the people who need help the most are not receiving enough of it.
Really, though, is anyone surprised by this?
America’s two political parties possess exceptional actors, the type of people who excel at telling their supporters what they want to hear, not what they need to hear – the truth.
The two parties, we are told, differ greatly both philosophically and psychologically. They drink from very different cups, so to speak. When it comes to Wall Street, however, they drink from the very same cup. In fact, they share the same straw. A bipartisan love of Wall Street exists – a steamy affair, full of heavy petting and loud breathing.
Throughout the years, by helping tighten Wall Street’s vice-like grip over society, both parties have engaged in what can only be described as financial fellatio. Distance, they say, makes the heart grow fonder. But, for these two parties, proximity has helped nurture a relationship full of scandal and deceit.
Thankfully, more and more people are starting to see through the facade; today, trust in traditional institutions is dangerously low.
The problems that exist do not magically disappear with the removal of Trump from office. He was just a symptom of the disease, more commonly known as modern day politics. So, what are the people to do?
As John D. MacDonald famously quipped, “If the cards are stacked against you, reshuffle the deck.”
How can we abide by the current system when a company like Robinhood, named after a man who helped the needy, reportedly colludes with the likes of Citadel? Robin Hood worked to defeat the Sheriff of Nottingham, not to fatten his pockets. Alas, this is America and, more significantly, this is Wall Street’s America.
It’s time for a Great Reshuffling. It’s time to decentralize the deck.
#decentralizethedeck
