Nearly One-Half of Americans Are Poor or In Poverty: With What Outcome?

Nearly half of Americans are now in poverty or fall into the low-income classification. [1]  Unless we can expect corruption and stupidity to disappear from Washington in the near future, there is little reason to anticipate that Congress will soon be doing anything about this problem.  But there is ample reason to hope that the problem won’t last indefinitely, although the means of achieving its resolution will be less desirable than would be the case if the United States had more enlightened leadership.

According to the ancient Chinese philosopher, Lao Tzu, speaking of the proper treatment of those subject to a sovereign, says that “the sage in the exercise of his government, empties their minds, fills their bellies, weakens their wills, and strengthens their bones.” [2]  We citizens of the United States have been having our minds emptied and our wills weakened for some time. 

The fact is, Americans as a whole no longer know how to think.  Political discussions in this country are, by and large, emotional expressions, revealing much about the subjective states of the speakers, but virtually content free as to workable solutions for social problems.  Moreover, widespread ignorance of history and the context of history, as well as ignorance regarding the very Constitution itself, have convinced most that there are no solutions to be had outside of the dominant paradigm, an attitude that proves self-fulfilling.

Up to now, however, our ruling class has kept most of us with our bellies full and our bones strong.  Those who did not enjoy that beneficence remained at the margins to serve as a warning to those who might stray from the paths of desirable conduct, and the emptying of minds served to divert people from considering the outrage of poverty in a nation of such wealth.

But, for whatever reason, much of the ruling class no longer considers the foregoing as a workable model of governance, and that faction of the plutocracy is beginning to gain the ascendancy.  The idea that our bellies must be kept full, and our bones strong, is no longer winning the day, and many Americans can expect challenges in those areas in the near future.

One hopes that this newer, younger, and more brutal ruling class is making a serious mistake, and that Americans will not tolerate empty bellies and weakened bones.  Perhaps it will prove true that empty minds and empty bellies cannot exist in the citizenry simultaneously.  In a word, perhaps the people will fight back when they become hungry.  If the rulers are wise we will not have to find out.  But the rulers are not wise.