XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.politics.republicans, talk.politics.guns   
   XPost: alt.survival   
   From: NOT-SURE@idiocracy.gov   
      
   On 7/14/22 7:00 AM, Jan 6 Marxist Recruiting Show wrote:   
   > In article    
   > forging asshole  wrote:   
   >>   
   >   
   > The New York Times treated its readership to a piece of fiction   
   > on Tuesday when it ran a front-page, above-the-fold article by   
   > David Streitfeld entitled “For tens of millions of Americans,   
   > the good times are right now.”   
   >   
   > In the article, the Times paints a fantastic picture of social   
   > and economic conditions in the contemporary United States. The   
   > recent period “has been a time of great financial reward for a   
   > large number of Americans,” the Times declares.   
   >   
   > According to the Times, America is a land where “bosses are   
   > eager to please,” where the working class benefits from   
   > “widespread wealth” and where everyone is enjoying the fruits of   
   > an economic “boom.” The Times appears to be confusing   
   > contemporary America with the Big Rock Candy Mountains, the   
   > mythical hobo’s paradise that features a lake of stew and   
   > whiskey too and you can paddle all around them in a big canoe.   
   >   
   > The Times assures its readers that workers are grateful and   
   > rightfully so: “For the 158 million who are employed, prospects   
   > haven’t been this bright since men landed on the moon,” writes   
   > Steitfeld.   
   >   
   > The moon, incidentally, is where one would have to live to   
   > believe the Times’ presentation of social and economic life. The   
   > Times laments the fact that their fantasy version “does not get   
   > celebrated much,” something they chalk-up to the fact that the   
   > population’s “fascination with the schemes of the truly wealthy”   
   > makes them think about inequality too much.   
   >   
   > In truth, the 90 percent of the population that comprises the   
   > working class confronts hardship on an unprecedented scale, and   
   > that life has never been more difficult.   
   >   
   > Consider the following headlines that appeared in the Times   
   > within 24 hours of the publication of Streitfeld’s piece:   
   >   
   > “Overdose deaths continue rising, with fentanyl and meth key   
   > culprits.”   
   >   
   > Over 108,000 people died of drug overdoses in the US in 2021, a   
   > 15 percent increase from 2020, when the figure rose by 30   
   > percent from 2019. The rise in deaths is due at least in part to   
   > “social isolation and economic dislocation,” the Times article   
   > notes. “The number of drug overdose deaths has increased every   
   > year but 2018 since the 1970s.”   
   >   
   > “Hundreds of suicidal teens sleep in emergency rooms. Every   
   > night.”   
   >   
   > The brutal reality of American social and economic life has   
   > driven a substantial portion of the country’s young people to   
   > suicide. “Mental health disorders are surging among   
   > adolescents,” the Times writes. “In 2019, 13 percent of   
   > adolescents reported having a major depressive episode, a 60   
   > percent increase from 2007. Suicide rates, stable from 2000 to   
   > 2007, leaped nearly 60 percent in 2018.” So many young Americans   
   > want to kill themselves that the hospitals are overflowing.   
   >   
   > “Inflation pressures remain strong; consumer prices rise   
   > sharply.”   
   >   
   > Wages are collapsing and the majority of American families are   
   > finding it difficult to pay for food, let alone gas and shelter.   
   > Inflation “is still running at about the fastest rate in four   
   > decades,” the Times writes. The price of food rose 9.4 percent   
   > from April 2021, and “an index for meats, poultry, fish and eggs   
   > rose 14.3 percent from the previous year, the largest annual   
   > increase since 1979.”   
   >   
   > “War and weather sent food prices soaring. Now, China’s harvest   
   > is uncertain.”   
   >   
   > The war and US-imposed sanctions on Russia have caused a global   
   > food crisis that is causing immense economic hardship all over   
   > the globe. Combined with a climate catastrophe that the ruling   
   > class is unwilling to address, “global food prices have already   
   > climbed sharply” this year, “with wheat up nearly 80 percent   
   > since July 2021. The World Food Program warned last Friday, ‘44   
   > million people around the world are marching toward starvation.’”   
   >   
   > “A baby formula shortage leaves desperate parents looking for   
   > food.”   
   >   
   > Breakdowns in global supply chains exacerbated by the war in   
   > Ukraine and US sanctions have forced working class mothers to   
   > scramble to find enough food for their babies, with “some   
   > parents driving hours at a time in search of supplies.” The   
   > “national out-of-stock rate for baby formula reached 43 percent   
   > for the week ending Sunday, up 10 percent from last month’s   
   > average.” The specter of malnourished infants in the world’s   
   > “wealthiest country” looms large.   
   >   
   > These headlines provide only glimpses of the harsh reality. The   
   > numerical indices of social suffering are equally devastating.   
   >   
   > One million people have died in the United States alone of COVID-   
   > 19. Millions who caught the virus and lived still suffer from   
   > Long-COVID. Over 1,000 children have died of the virus, and   
   > hundreds of thousands of children have lost parents. While   
   > millions were laid off or lost their jobs, the government bailed   
   > out the banks to the tune of trillions of dollars.   
   >   
   > Seventy percent of the US population is concerned that the   
   > US/NATO proxy war against Russia in Ukraine will develop into a   
   > nuclear war.   
   >   
   > Sixty-four percent of the population lived paycheck to paycheck   
   > in January 2022, up from 61 percent in December 2021. Real wages   
   > declined 2.6 percent in February 2022 as price increases ate up   
   > nominal wage gains. Average rent alone rose 15 percent over the   
   > same period.   
   >   
   > The Times article produced a deluge of angry comments in the   
   > online edition, exposing the article’s premise as false. The   
   > most popular comments include:   
   >   
   > “Why would we celebrate a ‘boom’ that consists of housing   
   > becoming unaffordable for most Americans to the benefit of the   
   > minority who are currently homeowners?” “I’m so tired of NYT   
   > articles saying how great so many people are doing.” “What   
   > America is the author writing about?” “What a tone-deaf piece.”   
   > “This is one of the most out-of-touch articles I've read in   
   > years. The average American feels like they are caught in an   
   > economic slough and are about to be pulled under. To depict this   
   > era as a golden age is sheer fantasy.”   
   >   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)