Everyone needs to understand that the game of economics in the U.S. is indeed rigged. It is not rigged to the benefit of 95+% of the U.S. population. The top 95-99% of the U.S. population receive some benefit from the rigged economy, but the top 1% receive the most benefit from a rigged economy. The rigging of the economy has taken time, understandably given the size of the U.S. economy. For the past 40-50 years, the corporatists have been in an incremental process of rigging the economy. During those 40-50 years, most of the rigging has been done behind the scenes and involves a relatively small number of extremely wealthy people and multinational corporations.
During the 1950s, 60s, and early 70s, the U.S. created the greatest middle class ever through an economic model that shared the wealth. CEO (Chief Executive Officer) pay was not near 200+% of the average worker’s pay in any major corporation. In the 21st century, CEO compensation often exceeds 200%, even 300%, of the average worker’s pay. For the past few decades, income inequality has grown rapidly, greatly expanding the wealth of those already extremely wealthy and relegating most of the population to survive paycheck to paycheck. It is important to note that one of the principal concerns of those wishing to move from a government by, for, and of the people to one focused on a small number of extremely wealthy individuals and multinational corporations was the middle class having too much power. That is why unions were one of the first things attacked. This started in earnest with President Reagan destroying the air traffic controllers’ union in the early 1980s. Unions allowed the middle class to expand in the middle of the 20th century. Unions were by no means perfect and experienced their share of corruption, but for the most part the good outweighed the bad.
It has been noted several times that the purchasing power of minimum wage peaked in 1968. Had the purchasing power of the minimum wage been supported, it would have driven up other wages. The result of a higher overall wage level driven higher by an indexed minimum wage would have had a dramatic positive impact on the US. Social Security and Medicare would have much more money at their disposal, making both more long-term solvent. More tax revenue would have been generated, so our current $40 trillion debt would be much less, and less would have to be spent paying the annual interest on the debt. Conservatively, under the current president, the U.S. has added at least $11.5 trillion of the $40 trillion in the 6 years he has served as president. He was known as the king of debt in New York real estate and often had financial institutions reduce his debt for some unknown reason, whether legitimate or not. Being the king of debt with taxpayer money is much different than the fraud game he played on his real estate financiers.
It is important to stress that the Democrats in Congress are not blameless, but Congressional Republicans are the primary culprits in this rigged economy. The federal tax code is riddled with tax loopholes that helped specific industries or companies avoid taxes that were inserted into the tax code by a congressman or senator doing a favor for big campaign donors. For example, during the peak exodus of manufacturing to overseas locations, there were tax loopholes in the tax code that financially benefited companies moving their manufacturing overseas. That is the result of a rigged economy.
If our economic system is rigged, how do we correct the course we are on from a society where increased wealth is transferred to the extremely wealthy at the expense of everyone else to a more equalized distribution of wealth? The top 1% of Americans have taken $50 trillion from the bottom 90% from 1975 to 2020. Just think how that $50 trillion could have been used by the 99%, which would likely have made for a better overall society and much greater progress, creating a more perfect union as outlined in the US Constitution.
The first step is to choose thoughtful, honest, intelligent, and insightful individuals to strategically work toward achieving the goals outlined in the US Constitution. This requires an informed and knowledgeable electorate to select the best and brightest to serve as their representatives in government. If we allow money to increasingly rule our political process without tempering the influence of the extremely wealthy, things are unlikely to change. This problem is worsened by the fact that Congress cannot act effectively. Congress is the biggest recipient of dark money and increasingly owe their political existence to the money spent by the wealthiest Americans. Getting them to act responsibly will be exceedingly difficult. Lately, Congress acting responsibly is not something we can count on to save the country from control by a few hundred billionaire oligarchs and fascists’ one-party rule.