Snowballing - Lauren Kuehmeier

  Tuning into the political debates for the upcoming election is always interesting and brings up a slew of issues, the unemployment rates along with other economic issues always makes it into the mix. Possible nominee, Bernie Sanders, whose political event I recently attended makes unemployment a focal point of his candidacy. He discusses what is not customary to discuss while running for president, which has brought him well- deserved attention. Bernie, unlike his peers, does not shy away from revealing the inconvenient reality of where most of America’s money is going and that is unfortunately to the top one percent of billionaires. Even more astounding was that these same billionaires are the same people and corporations that receive tax breaks. How is such an imbalance tolerated?

    I think a lot of the inequality has to do with this secrecy surrounding this issue because if the public was made more aware of the fact that the richest people in the America are the same ones that don’t have to give a penny in taxes I do not think they would permit it. The issue is valuable and I understand why it’s at the top of Bernie’s list, why it only ranks somewhere 9th or 10th on other candidates list I do not understand. The problems regarding the economy directly give way to others. Connections cannot be denied. When there is asymmetry regarding money and the richest people keep getting richer and the poorest people stay stagnate, a formula for social uproar is created and so the snowball rolls. 

     Even if everyone isn’t aware of why there is cause for action, Americans can sense the imbalance because the root of the problem is guarded, but other issues sprout up that cannot be ignored. Those with money most often pull the strings, though this seems to be common sense we have to especially consider that when listening to the debates. Why aren’t the tax breaks for the billionaires coming up in the debates? Well, consider who is funding the campaign. So if the man or woman with all the money has a stance on a certain issue or won’t discuss global warming because it may hurt their oil companies profits, the candidate they “donate” to will most likely have those same stances. 

     Bigger issues are being left out or remain to much in the limelight because those who wield money and are only interested in protecting their fortunes. The fact that they have such a fortune thus have such power, directly relates to the economy America has created.