Steve's barking the myth of a middle class

When this country was in it infancy, we didn't have a class society we had , merchants, rich and poor land owners, workers, who were either well off because they had a trade that was in demand, or not so well off, and then we had workers who just got by, and then there were slaves. Now what we tend to think of the middle as those who were had a trade, but I don't think that they saw themselves as middle class.
I don't believe that any one in this country thought of themselves as middle class till after World War II.
I venture to guess that some economist who had nothing better to do decided to coin the phrase middle class.
In economics would a truck driver making 75 thousand dollars be called middle class. What would happen if he made 35 thousand dollars would he still be middle class or 25 thousand dollars would that truck driver be called middle class?
What a a teacher in college, would a full professor be called middle class, but not an adjunct who might make only 25 thousand dollars not be middle class? What about the student who hasn't worked a day in  his or her life calling themselves middle class?
As I recall from my old history books in old European society you had the upper class , or royalty and land gentry, the merchant or the middle class and the poor or peasants with the tradesman falling some were in between the middle class and the peasants. That definition of class is so outdated.
Now my whole working life I always considered myself just above poverty till I was able to get to the point of lower middle income.
I see poverty today in the US as under $35,000 with no more then $1,000 in savings . Poor as under $50,000, Lower middle $55,001 till $75,000 middle income as $75,000 to $ $125,000. Then we have upper middle income to $ 400,000. Now we come to the income packets of well off, wealthy, extremely wealthy, rich, and for those who take showers only in money, filthy rich.

A classless society is not a communist idea, many though not all of America's founding fathers believed in a classless society.

I myself am extremely classless, I think it's  funny to pass gas at the kitchen table.

Steve's barking at democratic minority rules

One would think that in a democratic society that the majority rules.
I'm not so sure about that. The fact of the matter I know that in a parliamentary system with many parties, majority rule gets the short shift unless one party wins a solid majority. Think of Israel, don't those  extremist parties have way too much sway?
What about that well oiled machine Germany? Even though the Christian Democratic took much more of the vote then any other party ( possibly at the expense of their previous coalition partners) they have to make deals to govern(?).
Now we come back to the good old US of A, which isn't a parliamentary government yet the Republican party has too make deals with the lower house to stay in charge, thus the undemocracy of the great democracy of the United States. Unfortunately for the Republican Party (re Tea Party) the lower house doesn't rule like in European Parliaments were no confidence votes can change the government.

There are people in the US who are nostalgic for James Buchanan and the weak ineffectual presidency.

Question: Do democracies want democratic really want democratic rule in other counties, especially when the citizens of that county what things that may be at odds with those countries?

Steve's Barking at what's great about America

In America we can self heal faster then any other nation.
In America we can criticize the government (in most cases) with out the fear of reprisal.
America has given the opportunity for many a poor boy to become rich.
A women born in America today will probably be on equal footing with any man in twenty years.
In America faults have been corrected with out outside force.
In America the Constitution protects the minority, even if it's it's religion, race, or ideas (too a point).
America has been the land of the bold, whether it's business or politics, buying land when  the majority question your wisdom  or bringing ideas from Europe, or creating our own for manufacturing.
America has up to now embraced the innovator, the intellectually curious.
America has been a place of the idea of freedom.
America the can do nation. Lets hope it will always be that way.

One can only hope that this great nation doesn't fall pray to the bulling that can only lead to the wussification of the embarrassing of what makes us the tops.

Steve's baring at the wussification of bussiness

Please tell me what has become of American Business leaders?
Were are the Woolworth,s who said never complain never explain. (He also said never ware brown because it looks like ---)
Were are the JP Morgan's who made sure to clean up the banking industry by running buck shops out of town. Helping this country by writing a check as if he was the Federal Reserve Bank when the banking system almost collapsed.
What have we got now. A bunch of whiners who blame the government for every mistake that they make, but have no qua ms about running to the government to help bail them out of a jam.
Setting up bucket shops in the banks themselves. (I believe they call them hedge funds that play around with naked derivatives).
One would think that these knuckleheads who run  the banking system would want some government regulation to put trust back into the system, but nooo  they want no regulations at all. The least they could do is like days of yore is self police, they don't even want that.
I could only imagine if the banking industry ran the National Basketball Association, there be no such things as fouls, you could take as many steps to the basket without dribbling, out of bounds no such thing. The excuse for no rules, if we have rules we can't compete with the European leagues who are talking of doing away with rules.


I use the rule of thumb, those who complain the most are the most incompetent.
Having rules is common sense.
Good industrial leaders of the past believed in there industries. I'm having a hard time thinking of good industrial leaders today.
Don't get me wrong these guy were sons of b------.

Steve's barking at Mad magazine and the republican party

The Republican party changes social security for the worse and blames the Obama administration for it.
The Republican party calls President Obama a socialist.
Were did  the Republican party get it's ideas from? Why mad magazine of cause.
I remember the cartoons but in a slightly different way.
The first cartoon was a group of Russians changing the star on a US missile to the Russian hammer and sickle.
The second was a cartoon a mother ask her son why he didn't make friends with a certain boy, Oh he's gay the boy said. But he's so bright the mother said. The she asked why he didn't make friends with this other boy. The son replied that he was gay. But he's the captain of the football team the mother replied. She then asked about another boy, and why he didn't make friends with that boy. He's gay the boy replied. How is that possible, he has so many girl friends. Why do you call him gay? The boy replied any body I'm not friends with is gay. I decide who is gay.

I know, I know that the last joke is pollitically incorrect, I believe these cartoon was in the sixties.
The jokes might be slightly different, after all my memories is not what it used to be.      

Steve's barking at freedom of speech in the US

We have freedom of speech in the United States, the constitution guarantees it.
Of cause the second president of the United States suspended that part of the constitution.
Of cause if your a corporation you have more freedom of speech then the average Joe and why not, they have more money then most of us poor slobs and after all were a classless society.

Unfortunately freedom of speech can only be guaranteed only so far by government. A comedian who offends a certain part of society may find it hard to find work. Same is true for television and radio personalities. What I'm trying to proclaim is that society sets it own rules and despite what the constitution states, freedom of speech in the United States maybe broad but it isn't absolute.
 The other fact, the constitution doesn't guarantee an audience as I know so well.

And so I've written an other boring, self serving piece of dreck. (garbage)

Steve's barking at Ron Paul

This is a change I'm actually naming some one. Ok some times I do name names.
I should like Ron Paul, he's has a different idea of how to make the government better.
No I don't mean let the states handle every thing, they are closer to the people and they can give the people what they want and better services. ( This was the pre constitutional thinking and is still held by vast minority of citizens even today).
Now Ron Paul claims to be a free libertarian. At one time I used think I was too. Keep the government off the people back. I go even further, keep big bureaucracies away from making decisions that will effect me. That includes big business, big city government etc. Oh I almost forgot big news organizations like Fox News.
Now that really doesn't sound like me. So who knew I was really an anarchist.
Now Mr. Paul sounds sincere enough, but I don't get why he would take Medicare in his medical practice, after all that's a big government program that interfere with a doctors way of treating patients.  If enough doctors didn't sign on this program would have ended before it started.

Now Congressman Paul stated on the telly that the United State has already defaulted on it's obligation, for it promised to pay it's civil war obligation in gold. He's kind of telling the truth, the government issued green backs or as we know them today as dollar bills with the promise to  pay back in gold. We some times call these gold certificates?
We haven't paid these green back with gold.
Now I seem to recall from my history books that president Roosevelt unilaterally took all the gold from the citizens of the United States
Now Nixon took us off the gold standard all together, our dollars are backed by nothing.
Now the question is did we really default as Ron Paul suggest, or is that really a stretch?
If we missed a payment on our debt it wouldn't be the end of the world, a meteor wouldn't hit the earth nor would the earth collapse from earth quakes , but there would be great hardship, and the possibility of hyper inflation in the United States would greatly be enhanced.

Now I'm not a worrier of the debt that the United States is piling up, for I can eliminate a third of the debt in no time at all. Of cause I don't think that people like congressman Paul would go along with the program. (I've stated how I would eliminate a third of the debt in a previous blog.

Eliminating or weakening the Federal Reserve as Doctor Paul has suggested that is not a good idea, we live in the 21st century and we need a central bank that will push money in case of disaster and burn money if too much money is in the system. (Burn Money)?

My gut feeling is that free libertarians like Ron Paul would have been good in the end of the 19Th century, but for the 21st century;free market isn't working the way it's suppose too .

*  I must be losing it, this isn't much of rant and some of it makes no sense at all.

Steve's barking I'm not so smart.

I'm not so smart. Actually I'm a real smart ass, it's just my brain that doesn't know every thing.
I understand Newsweek came out with a survey that claims that Americans don't know that much about this country. This may be true, but unfortunately I didn't read the article but I have my own take on what I don't think I know.
The chief justice of the US is Roberts?
Pierre is the capitol North Dakota or is South Dakota, maybe it's the capitol of no Dakota.
The voting members of congress are 435 or is it 650, I'm sure that the District of Columbia representative is just an observer.
I don't remember the name of the vice president under the original president Bush, except he corrected the right spelling of potato from a school child to wrong spelling.
International  I don't know the name of the prime ministers of India, Pakistan, or China ( I'm sure Ho is not the head of China and Mao has dead it seems like for ever.).
I'm worried about my ignorance of current events, And I know more then most anchor people on television or for that matter members of congress.

Steve's barking 1 plus 1

We all know that one plus one equals two, but what if a group of children were taught  that one plus equals three? What would happen if this became widely excepted?
Now the people who know better would make fun of those who believe that one plus one equals three and those who believe this would attack those who don't as socialist or even worse communist or what ever ist that group is scared of.
The one plus one = three would then ask  those who believe that one plus one =  two to prove it. This would be an almost impossible thing to do, so therefore one plus one now equals three, screwing up all mathematical equations and bring anarchy to the world.
Welcome to the world of history and economics.