7) The US ranks first in homicide rates in the western world and 7th for the entire world
8) The US has the highest incarceration rate of any nation on earth, both in terms of the per capita rate and the overall number of people locked up
9) A child born into poverty in the US today has a 33% chance of moving up the socioeconomic ladder, compared to a 50% chance in 1946
As it turns out, America is indeed exceptional, but not in the way President Obama would like everyone to believe.
Wilkinson and Pickett also found that, although the poorest of the population reaped the most benefits from equalization measures, the entire population benefited to some degree from more equality. Furthermore, it was recognized that past a certain level, increases in material gain did not produce more happiness or well-being among people. In other words, once a person's basic needs were satisfied comfortably, there was a law of diminishing returns for acquiring more wealth or material goods.
Another point that was made by the authors was that societies did not need to follow only one model to achieve more equality. What mattered was that there were effective mechanisms of some kind in place to facilitate more equality in a society. At the time of the book's publication, there were two models recognized among the market democracies: the Scandinavian model of social welfare programs provided by the state and the Japanese model that encouraged less disparity in incomes between different levels of society, obviating the need for many state welfare programs. For example, as of 2013, American CEO's made 354 times as much as the average worker, whereas Japanese CEO's made only 67 times as much as the average worker.
Solutions
Money Out of Politics
In 2014, Princeton Professor Martin Gilens and Northwestern University Professor Benjamin Page published a study in which they determined, through quantitative analysis of 1,779 policy issues, that average Americans and organizations representing the interests of average Americans have virtually no influence over public policy at the national level. Policy is dictated by large corporations, the super wealthy and the organizations and lobbyists who represent them, mostly due to the huge sums of money they are able to contribute, directly or indirectly, to political campaigns.
To end this institutionalized bribery, money must be removed from politics. A constitutional amendment must be passed to clarify once and for all that corporations are not human beings and that money is not speech. There are significant efforts underway for such an amendment. Move to Amend is working toward pressuring Congress to introduce and pass such an amendment; while, Wolf PAC is an organization working to get enough state legislatures to call a constitutional convention to introduce and pass an amendment.
Media outlets that rent out our public airwaves for profit must provide free air time to election candidates, eliminating the need for candidates to buy advertising.
Reign in the Military Industrial Complex
During WWII, Senator Harry Truman presided over the Special Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program which investigated waste, inefficiency, and war profiteering. When Truman received word that a company might be engaged in such behavior, he would drive out and pay surprise visits to the company. He would investigate aggressively and, according to The Nation, his work prompted President Roosevelt to support increasing "the excess profits tax to 90% and charg[ing] the Office of War Mobilization with the task of eliminating illegal profits."
The Pentagon, which can't pass an audit and can't properly account for billions of dollars over the years, also routinely does business with defense contractors that have the most fraud and misconduct claims against them, such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing and KBR.
An independent commission should be impaneled to investigate war profiteering, waste, fraud and misconduct. The commission should have the authority and expectation to act on its findings rather than just issuing a report that will be ignored. An attitude that corporations that intentionally commit fraud and misconduct in relation to military contacts as well as lobbying to have American troops put in harm's way for wars that have nothing to do with defending the homeland will be considered unpatriotic at best and treasonous at worst. Political lobbying by military contractors should be outlawed and military personnel should go back to providing services for themselves such as cooking meals, cleanup and latrine duty.
A moratorium should be placed on any new military bases or expansion of existing ones. Gradual dismantling of military bases should follow based on the criteria of the necessity of defending the homeland. Simultaneously, there should be a halt to NATO expansion. The US should work with Europe and Russia toward a new, inclusive security architecture for Europe where the US is a partner, not a dominator. This would eliminate the pretext of the US needing to provide the majority of Europe's security.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
14
8
7
