class (in)equality

Warning!!!!short rant to follow!!!!

Just read an article about a tampa man that was sentenced to 15 years in prison for scamming customers out of "tens of thousands of dollars"
15 years, tens of thousands....I don't condone his crime, nor do I think he shouldn't be punished, here's what steams me about the whole thing...he getss 15 years for tens of thousands, meanwhile duke energy scams its customers to the tune of 15 billion dollars....15 BILLION DOLLARS...and doesn't even get a slap on the wrist...on top of that they get to keep the money....KEEP THE MONEY....AND they have the stones to ask the state to let them raise our rates...again...

Just goes to show if you're rich you're above the law, and with the right connections you can create, and rewrite the law as you see fit....

End of rant....

RyuJin wrote: Warning!!!!short rant to follow!!!!

Just read an article about a tampa man that was sentenced to 15 years in prison for scamming customers out of "tens of thousands of dollars"
15 years, tens of thousands....I don't condone his crime, nor do I think he shouldn't be punished, here's what steams me about the whole thing...he getss 15 years for tens of thousands, meanwhile duke energy scams its customers to the tune of 15 billion dollars....15 BILLION DOLLARS...and doesn't even get a slap on the wrist...on top of that they get to keep the money....KEEP THE MONEY....AND they have the stones to ask the state to let them raise our rates...again...

Just goes to show if you're rich you're above the law, and with the right connections you can create, and rewrite the law as you see fit....

End of rant....

this is the number one problem of our time in this country. because this is no longer a democracy. its an oligarchy or a plutocracy .

your vote doesnt matter on the national scale. why should it? you didnt contribute to senator or congressman so-and-so's re-election campaign. nor did you promise them a $500,000 a year cushy lobbyist position once they left office. i wrote to all of my elected representatives last year, the same letter, on a relatively non controversial topic, and made it clear i wanted a reply. i got one response out of twenty, and the one i got wasnt even from the elected official, but his chief of staff, and basically commended me on the cleverness of my experiment.

i am beyond jaded with this travesty. i am disgusted that my country and its legislature is so blatantly for sale to the highest bidder. the founding fathers must all be spinning counter-clockwise in their graves over how far we have strayed from their intended path. and whats worse? no one seems to really be doing anything about it. the occupy movement was viciously knocked down and or self destructed, leaving the status quo to rage on. and that was as close as we have come as a nation to meaningfully addressing the widening gap in income inequality which led to the state this country is in.

the rich are indeed getting richer, and the poor of course getting poorer.

We're all too distracted by MTV, Obamacare, and other such meaningless issues.

I've come to accept that things likely aren't going to change for at least another century or so. We're too complacent a society to actually do something about it like stage a coup d'Etat (peaceful or otherwise). Still, I'll keep trying. Maybe we'll wake up sooner.

Yeah, the disparity is definitely widening and much more pronounced....

The biggest challenge is that money talks and b.s. walks as a result those on the benefitting end can do all the talking they want and be heard...while those on the other end that slave away their lives to support those that benefit cannot be heard....

The golden rule for the new america:
He who has the gold, makes the rules
He who has none has no voice

"Money talks and bullshit walks", so they say.

That's OK, "the earf is my turf, where I roam is home.'

Not to mention, rapists usually only get about 7 years or so, if we're lucky...

Life isn't fair.

Everyone needs to vote. Not enough people vote so politicians don't pay attention to us thus they act in their own best interests. If everyone voted they would have listen.

That would probably work if they weren't already taking measures to make it even more difficult for the poor, elderly, and minorities to vote...with all the new "voter id" laws, redistricting, etc...

Why does that not surprise me? People might have problems with Australian citizens having to vote by law or be fined, but at least it prevents stuff like that. They have to make voting easy so everyone can get in there. I mean they usually start letting people vote about a week before the day (at least they did here) just to prevent long lines, and they're making it even easier to do mail in votes for people who have a hard time getting to a voting booth because of distance or disability.

Most of the voter id law changes and redistricting are being initiate by the republicans...