Once again, an international study finds that the US is not number one when compared to other countries; this time in the area of social justice.
A NYT article refered to a report released on Thursday by the Bertelsmann Stiftung foundation which compared various rates of poverty, income equality, education spending and healthcare among the OECD members. The results are not flattering for the US – not only did most of the established Developed Nations score better, but also most of the nations of the former Eastern Block and South Korea.
These findings confirm the results of earlier studies such as the PISA study, which shows that american students achieved, at best, average results when compared internationally, or the study on healthcare in which the US came in 37th.
All these studies confirm another side effect of the 99% problem: the burden for for more and more of society’s fundamental needs are shifted to individuals, while at the same time, the ability of those same individuals to actually fulfill the needs is diminished. Currently, too many of the 99% do not earn enough to sustain themselves and pay for services such as health care, education, housing etc., even if they are lucky enough to have a job.
American society must realize that you can’t have your cake and eat it too. Someone has to pay for the basic services of a civilized society, either individuals, or “society”, i.e. government.
As the last 20-30 years have shown, removing most regulations and thus encouraging a society of greed and “I’ve got mine” will not lead to “trickle down” wealth. So if the 1% is not offering the 99% the opportunity to support themselves by voluntarily providing jobs, then government must provide the needed services – which it can only do if given the means.
I wonder when the GOP and the 1% will get that?
#OWS
