The process is gradual, insidious, lethal. It starts
with financial stress in various forms, and then, according to growing
evidence, leads to health problems and shorter lives.
Financial
stress is brought upon us by the profit motive of capitalism, which
offers little incentive to feed hungry children, to treat the sick, to
secure us in retirement, to provide job opportunities for middle-class
Americans. Some of the steps in the process are becoming more and more
familiar to us.
1. Giving Half of Your 401(k) to the BanksThe Frontline documentary
The Retirement Gamble reported that a 401(k) fund earning 7% a year with 2% in fees would lose up to 60% of the value of an equivalent non-fee fund.
A 2% fee doesn't seem like much, but the documentary's claim was close to the truth. Based on the 6%
historical stock market return, an employee investing
$1,000 a year for 30 years in a non-fee fund and then holding the
accumulated sum for
another 20 years would end up with $269,000. Imposing a 2% annual fee
would reduce the final total to $127,000, a 53% loss. Imposing a 1.3%
fee, which according to the documentary is the industry average, would
reduce the final total to $165,000, a 39% loss.
The financial
industry is taking this money from more of us every year. The number of
private sector workers depending on a 401(k) instead of a company
pension has
increased from 12 percent to 68 percent since 1983.
2. Watching 24,000,000 Children Go Hungry to Avoid Inconveniencing 20 Rich IndividualsIt's an unthinkable trade-off, but it's happening. Although the 2013 SNAP (food stamp) budget of
$78 billion isless than the 2012 investment earnings of
20 wealthy Americans, SNAP is being
cut while not a penny extra is taken from the multi-billionaires.
The children, who make up nearly
half of the
48 million recipients, will now get
$1.40 for a meal instead of $1.50.
3. Listening to the "Job Creators" Mock the TruthCasino billionaire
Steve Wynn: "Guys like me are job creators and we don't like having a bulls-eye painted on our back."
Bank CEO
John A. Allison IV: "Instead of an attack on the 1 percent, let's call it an attack on the very productive."
The reality is that corporate profits have
doubled in ten years, and the corporate tax percent has been cut in half, while millions of jobs have been
lost. Some of the job-cutting data comes from
The Nation,
Market Watch, and
Business Insider.
How
did "job creators" Steve Wynn and John A. Allison IV do? The following
numbers are taken from their annual 10-K reports, submitted to the SEC:
From
Wynn Resorts: A doubling or more of profits, a reduction in employees
---- 2012 Income $728,699,000 / Employees 16,000
---- 2011 Income $825,113,000 / Employees 16,400
---- 2010 Income $316,596,000 / Employees 16,405
---- 2009 Income $ 39,107,000 / Employees 18,900
From Allison's bank,
BB&T: A doubling or more of profits, little difference in employees
---- 2012 Income $2,028,000,000 / Employees 34,000
---- 2011 Income $1,332,000,000 / Employees 31,800
---- 2010 Income $ 854,000,000 / Employees 31,400
---- 2009 Income $ 877,000,000 / Employees 32,400
4. Feeling the Debilitating StressOver 200 recent
studies have confirmed a link between financial stress and sickness. In just 20 years America's ranking among developed countries
dropped on nearly every major health measure.
Lack of proper health care is one source of that stress. A
Harvard study estimated that nearly 45,000 Americans lost their lives in 2005 due to lack of health insurance.
In
addition to its effects on our physical health, financial stress
threatens our mental well-being. Stunningly, one out of every five
American adults had
mental illness in 2011, as reported by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Another recent
study found
that unemployment, whether voluntary or involuntary, can significantly
impact a person's mental health. But only one of two Americans needing
mental health care can
afford treatment.
Grimmer still is the growing
suicide rate, also linked to
unemployment and
declining wealth. The rate has
accelerated since the 2008 recession.
The
facts show that we were a relatively healthy people until unregulated
free-market capitalism began to disrupt our lives. Now, because of its
winner-take-all profit motive, we're literally fighting for our lives.
Paul Buchheit is a college
teacher, a writer for progressive publications, and the founder and
developer of social justice and educational websites
(UsAgainstGreed.org, PayUpNow.org, RappingHistory.org).
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