The United States is ruled by greed and corruption.
Not even close, showing up at #16 in the latest "World Happiness Ranking". The countries ahead of us would probably be considered "socialist" according to our politicians, providing universal healthcare and a strong social safety net. Why can't our government provide this?
Healthcare - we spend FAR more than other developed countries yet rank last in quality of care and life expectancy. How can this be? Where does the money go?
one night in a hospital averages over $10,000 in the US
administrative expenses account for approximately 15% to 25% of total national health care expenditures
In other words, our healthcare system puts PROFITS ahead of PEOPLE
Education - corporate America benefits from an educated populace, right? It typically requires a college degree for an entry-level job. Corporate support for public education must be off the charts!
we have the second most expensive education system in the world
American 15 year old's score about average in math, science, and reading (worldwide)
among all public university graduates, the average debt at graduation is $16,300 which takes (on average) 21 years to pay off!
more than half of college graduates over the age of 25 don’t work in their field of study and a quarter of them earn less than $30,000 a year
routing public money to charter schools means corporate profits
corporate support means they call the shots
Corporate America requires an unquestioning and docile workforce to maximize PROFITS!
Housing - nothing much to say to this. Housing (both to buy or to rent) is out of reach for many these days
average sales price for a house: $525,000. About 20% higher than a year ago
a 30 year fixed rate loan will have an interest rate of 5.8%; an average loan of $450,000 will mean a payment of $2640 which represents HALF the gross income of a couple each making the median US income
odds are that some mammoth corporation will buy the house you want anyway and offer to rent it back to you
average rents are at over $1320 in the US. And you better not move! Average asking rent is $1900!
The banks and Wall Street cares nothing about the ninety-nine percent. PROFITS AT ANY COST!
Food - we know that we have plentiful high-quality food in America. But the grocery bill gets higher every week (10% more than just a year ago). What's going on?
here are the reasons cited by the industry: supply chain issues due to the pandemic, transportation and energy costs, the war in Ukraine, bad weather, bird flu affecting the chickens
because there is little "competition", corporations pass their cost increases directly to the consumer. 2021 was the most profitable year for big corporations since 1950, with pre-tax profits rising to $2.5 trillion and after-tax profits surging 35%
nearly 39.5 million people — 12.8% of the U.S. population — were living in "food deserts" without ready access to healthy food options. Turns out there's little profit to be made by opening grocery stores in these areas
Once again, our profit-driven economic system funnels wealth from the middle class to the financial elites!
Follow our blog posts to keep up with how your wealth is being taken from you every day....
You can only do your best. That's all you can do. And if it isn't good enough, it isn't good enough.
Imelda StauntonRead
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio
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