Dispirited People
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Darrell Castle talks about the troubling dissatisfaction that is present in American life today caused by the economic reality of the middle class and the indifferent attitude of America’s politicians.
Transcription / Notes
DISPIRITED PEOPLE
Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 22nd day of September in the year of our Lord 2023. I will be talking about the troubling dissatisfaction that is present in American life today and I argue that much of it is caused by the economic reality of life in Middle Class America, and by the indifferent, let them eat cake, attitude of America’s politicians.
Polling data indicate that my theory is valid and that the middle class is disappearing because it is being incinerated by the economic reality it faces. For example, the President spoke to the UN General Assembly earlier this week and he told them that he supports delivering the health care of Americans into the hands of the globalists at the UN World Health Organization. In the choice between freedom and enslavement he clearly comes down on the side favoring enslavement. Mr. Middle Class sees all this and he doesn’t know what to make of it but he is very suspicious. Not suspicious enough to go to the barricades, not yet anyway, but a report coming from the Census Bureau this week might help him on his way.
Yes, while the President was telling the UN that we just have to persevere in Ukraine the Census Bureau was telling Mr. Middle Class that he was descending into poverty as if he didn’t already know that. Yes, it seems that the poverty rate increased last year for the first time in 13 years. So, the President goes to the UN or he takes another 10-day vacation and the working people of America slip into poverty. That’s more than likely going to cause some unease among Americans, even Democrats. I suppose the President’s usual answer of Trump did it will have to suffice at least for a while.
Instead of the usual political clap trap, let’s look at some things that might really be causing it. Recent polls indicate that something is wrong out there in Middle America. Democrats and Republicans alike understand that the problems are eating away at their lives and their standard of living. Whether Democrat or Republican or whether they are ashamed to be publicly identified with either of those groups, and therefore identify themselves as independent, they know something is wrong. They may blame each other as their masters at the heads of the two political parties have trained them to do, but there seems to be a growing unease as business-as-usual fails to provide answers.
The disease is economic although it may exhibit many symptoms, it is economic. When James Carvelle advised Bill Clinton in 1992, “it’s the economy stupid” he was right and it’s still the economy today. A recent poll indicated that 61% say they lack confidence in what has come to be called Bidenomics to manage economic problems. 54% said Congressional Republicans gave them more confidence that they could successfully deal with the issues facing the country while 45% said they had more confidence in Biden, so they are confused and that is no accident either.
Americans are not happy and clearly the driver of their unhappiness is the economy. These polls I have been reading can be confusing but significantly only 37% approve of the way Biden has handled the economy. 70% disapprove of how he has addressed inflation while 75% say they think economic conditions are poor for them. By a large margin the economy is far and away the most important issue facing the country and people in the Middle know that economic reality is stacked against them.
Freeing the dollar from the restraints that held it and which forced politicians to be at least a little bit accountable for what they did to the rest of us, has caused a stagnant economy and declining standard of living and worse result for the Middle Class than for others. Since Nixon removed the dollar from its links to gold in 1971 the real wages of working Americans have been stagnant or falling. In other words, real wages adjusted for inflation have made little or no progress in 52 years. To break it down even further, the average worker makes many times today what he made in 1971, but in terms of what he can purchase with those dollars he has made no progress. A new car, for example, now costs many times what it did in 1971, but our worker also makes many times what he previously made, still his wages have not matched the decline in value, i.e., purchasing power of the dollar. It takes more hours and days of labor for the car to be paid for now than in 1971. The increased price of food their family eats and the fuel to get them to work and school eat away at family lifestyles and forces them into reliance on credit to make up the difference.
In those polls we were just talking about, 71% said they changed what groceries they buy. 70% said they cut back on “extras” so they could afford necessities. 50% said they canceled their summer vacation this year. I see the devastation of the American family in my law office every day. I’m a lawyer as you all know, but a great deal of my law practice is devoted to consumer bankruptcy. I see the income of the people coming into my office and I wonder, how can they live on that, so no wonder they have so much debt. The answer is they can’t live on it and they are not intended to live on it. They are intended and preplanned to become debt slaves for life.
Prices go higher and higher and the politicians argue about who is to blame and whether the price increase even exists. For those who insist there is no inflation I would like to invite them to my favorite gas station which happens to be the cheapest one in my city as well. I buy gas for my wife’s car and my car each Sunday and it is a rare day when it’s not higher than it was the previous week. Families try to cut corners and drive less, but sooner or later they must start charging necessities such as fuel and food. The wages they earn reflect the reality of the workplace today and the necessity of survival of their employer as well. In other words, it is virtually impossible for a Middle Class or less American to make ends meet without credit.
So perhaps the politicians should consider the kitchen table of Americans when they start making their campaign plans. They could start by explaining how the refusal to achieve energy independence affects the ability of people to get to work without buying gas on credit, especially now with the BRICS oil alliance reducing production and driving prices higher. How does constantly increasing government spending impact their household bottom lines. If the government could just allow American agriculture to be unleashed food inflation would be greatly reduced and at least everyone could be fed. The fact that I know and Mr. Middle Class who is now trending to lower class, knows these policies are intentional, and that contributes to anger and stress that is being felt across America.
The problem is that the politicians are members of the ruling elite and Mr. Middle America is not. He knows that his country has been stolen from him and he therefore lives in frustration because he can do little besides put up with it. He can’t even freely express his dissatisfaction because free expression is now stigmatized. His children are taught in public schools that free expression is bad unless it reflects the wishes of the global ruling elite.
How are these things possible in America? If inflation is the culprit for our economic problems, and the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS), and the Census Bureau, tell us that it is, how can these things happen in the greatest country in the world? This is the greatest country isn’t it, the most educated, the smartest, the least corrupt of any country on earth. If inflation is killing our middle class and our politicians are clueless, then maybe some or all those things are not, or at least no longer true about America.
Maybe we are not the most educated since we banned free expression, maybe we are not the smartest, and maybe our politicians are just as corrupt if not more so than those of any other country, or perhaps we just need to replace our politicians. I know that Mr. Middle Class is troubled by what he sees and by the vices of debauchery, degeneracy, and profligacy which are and have always been a characteristic of the ruling elite of any society and this one is no different.
Breitbart tells us that real household income suffered its biggest drop in 12 years last year. It was 2.3% lower than the previous year. That was the biggest drop since 2010 when it was down 2.6%. Last year was the fourth worst year for real household income since 1985. During the pandemic the government, i.e., the FED pumped trillions into the economy to help business and workers alike survive the problems created by the government with its lockdowns. The massive infusion of new money, with no increase in production, caused rapidly rising prices with no wage growth.
We have just seen that not only did production not increase, but it decreased during this period. The money pumped out by the FED eventually dried up and the only thing that workers had left was unpayable debt because the massive inflation caused by the new money remained, but the new money didn’t. Families faced higher prices for everything they needed without a corresponding rise in income so, like the government now 33 trillion underwater, debt became their only answer.
The results of all these economic problems caused by government mismanagement, arrogance, and just not caring for the American people, i.e., who cares about their suffering are a lot more widespread than the collapse of the financial lives of working people might indicate. When COVID shut down travel, especially travel abroad, it exacerbated the economic woes and caused Americans to slip further into their world of unease and despair. That’s my theory about the continuing effects of the government-imposed lockdowns anyway. The lockdowns put problems which had been simmering on the back burner in the fore front for all to see. The U.S. has been slipping in the world rankings for such things as GDP, education, reading and writing, etc. for at least 20 years and the lockdowns exacerbated those problems.
So, where does that leave Mr. Middle Class in this wonderful world of ever-expanding technology with one breakthrough after another. The government he pays taxes to with all its bureaucrats and officials pay lip service to him because he and millions like him are necessary for them to remain in power. No one in power, in the elite class cares about him at all. In fact, they think he is a moron because he and his children have gone through the school system they created. He is lucky if his daughter knows she’s a girl and his son knows he’s a boy. He may not be as educated as some of his elite betters, but he is starting to understand that this whole system he serves is stacked against him so that it is virtually impossible for him to survive.
The elites talk about democracy a lot which they usually refer to as “our democracy” but he knows that it seems a lot more like theirs than his. He is starting to think that this democracy thing is just a clever ruse to institutionalize elite power within an elite system which he has absolutely no way whatsoever to crack. He wonders, what if this “our democracy” thing turned out to be just a safety valve to give people like me the illusion of equality and fairness when it is really about just giving the rabble some voice even though the voice is never heard. Perhaps it is just intended to keep people like me from destroying the whole system of elite control.
Finally, folks, Mr. Middle Class is dispirited alright and for good reason. He understands that the values he grew up believing in and that he fought for are now just words to pacify and control the masses of people like him.
At least that’s the way I see it,
Until next time folks,
This is Darrell Castle,
Thanks for listening.
