Capitalism and Class

Capitalism and Class

by

Ken Melvin

Whence this attitude that the working class is expendable and that the middle and upper classes are not?

Donald J. Trump, Mitch McConnell, and Betsy DeVos, being the brave, patriotic souls that they are, demand, for the sake of the nation, that the working class step-up and take the risk of going back to work and sending their working-class kids to school an do so without sufficient protective measures in force and with no legal recourse against the employers and districts.

Whence this attitude that the working class is expendable and that the middle and upper classes are not? Why is that, time and time again, we see the working class taking the brunt of, being wiped out by, economic downturns? Are they really without merit? Of such little or no consequence?

Including all those who work for a salary as being part of the working class, the working class is of the utmost consequence. The country would absolutely come to a standstill without them. The country would come to an absolute standstill without those who work for hourly wages — the unemployed are only those looking for a job, a way to help.

‘Tis those as worthless as the tits on a boar, those who live off of unearned income, those who are incompetent, lazy, corrupt,  .   .   .    who are of no merit. Trump failed in every manner conceivable to provide the leadership the country needed. At least the boar’s tits do no harm. Trump has only made, continues to make, things worse. Do you think for a moment that if Hillary had been president that she wouldn’t have acted quickly and aggressively? That she would not have prepared the nation? That she would have spent so much time watching TV? Stuffing her face? Golfing? Ignoring intelligence? Mitch and Betsy, too, did nothing of merit; instead, both worked hard at doing the nation great harm.

Where would we be today if it weren’t for The first responders? The supermarket employees? The Amazon, UPS, and FedEx employees? The cooks and janitors? The food producers, the food processing plant workers? The truck drivers? The police and fire? These are those of merit. These are those of merit too many of whom are paid too little to live on and don’t have healthcare coverage. These are those that Donald J. Trump, Mitch McConnell, and Betsy DeVos; and Governors Abbott, Ducey, DeSantis, Kemp, Hutchinson, Ivey, Reeves, and McMaster were so willing to sacrifice. These are those whom lickspittle Lindsey Graham feared might demand higher wages and crash the economy. These are those of the now second one-hundred-plus thousand being sacrificed for the good of the economy.

Did it come from our past, the feudalistic – antecapitalism – days, how far have we come from those days when serfs were cannon fodder in every way? Were Medieval Europe’s Feudal Lords equivalent to the modern day upper class? Are today’s small business owners equivalent the vassals of yore? And, the working class, are they the equivalent of serfs, or the Helots, of ancient Greece? Does the upper class of today look upon the working class as the Lords of yore once looked upon serfs? Do they think that the working class is there to serve them? Is this Twain’s rhyme of history we hear?