The Coming Revolution

 

 

"Desperate people will resort to desperate measures in desperate times..."

Let me start out by saying that I don't believe in violent revolution. More times than not it leads to heartache and bloodshed. That being said, I am starting to think the world is on a collision course with a massive revolution. Why? As much as I get sick of the Left carping about income inequality, the teeter totter of income is getting more and more stuck on one side.

A statistic was just released which shows an astonishing number. 85 of the richest people in the world have more income than 3.5 BILLION of the poorest! That is a prescription for disaster. Our country, our world, cannot continue like this. It is wrong from societal standpoint, it is wrong from a faith standpoint.

In addition, about half the people who are working in this country, now see themselves as just treading water. Not getting ahead. That number is down almost 15% in the past six years. For many, wages are flat year after year. Benefits, if available, cost more year after year. Families are pinched, and more and more use up all their margin just to stay afloat. Many are one missed paycheck away from real problems. Some even end up on the street.

The only solution I have heard of late is to raise the minimum wage. Some in Minnesota want to see it raised to $9/hour. Others say $7.75 an hour. Here is a news flash - you cannot live today on either $9/hour or $7.75/hour. Both of those wages will keep someone firmly entrenched in poverty. In addition, since most minimum wage jobs are low or no skill and are mostly for entry level purposes. Once wages goes up, market forces will take effect. Bottom line - less people will be hired.

World poverty, as well as poverty in this country is a big and growing problem. EVERYONE needs to become involved in crafting viable solutions. People who have no hope, who see their families suffer, can become very revolutionary in solutions. All it takes is one spark, one charismatic megalomaniac to get the ball rolling. And once the ball gets rolling, we will all have a very big problem.

A possible solution might be this simple. It all starts with education. Does not matter if it is within the United States or the world itself. Poverty and lack of education go hand in hand. In the United States, we continue to breed poverty because we continue to support a failed education system. It needs to be radically changed. It needs to be privatized. And I mean now. The fact we have schools in Minneapolis which year after year have a graduation rate of 50% (or less), is unbelievable. The fact nobody in our local government has good, workable solutions is even more unbelievable. Throwing more money at a broken system has been nothing but a fool's folly.

We can do the right and moral thing. We can fully address poverty now, or we can wait for the coming revolution to fix it for us. We need to admit the War on Poverty has been a dismal failure, and try something radically different. Something that will work. If the revolution does come, it will affect everyone. However the biggest targets will be the ones with the biggest numbers in their bank accounts.