Why do so many Americans of average means prefer to see their peers struggle financially?

[howaboutme]

You don't see this predatory type of belief among the financial elite. They tend to work together to keep their caste at the top of the heap. Average Americans do their best to knock down their peers. Where did this culture come from where Americans of average means first blame all the problems on other average Americans, instead of on those who actually shipped jobs overseas and had their banks rob us blind by creating and bursting bubbles.

How many times have we heard our peers complain that average Americans lost their house because they paid too much; they lost their job because they are too lazy; they are too far in debt because they spend too much on frivolities (never health care). It all plays into the brainwashing of Americans by the super financial elite, who btw will never have enough money. The media plays a big part too because they hire the "fire and brimstone" pundits who incite division instead of creating unity. But the same media benefits directly from the hundreds of billions spent on political advertising.

Did this occur by coincidence? Or was the strategy of divide and conquer used to control populations. One of the problems that diversity of cultures always creates is scapegoating and division. Divisiveness and Balkanization of countries is not as apt to occur in homogeneous cultures such as Japan, and they are not as apt to attack economic peers. Our country was created on various cultures that once assimilated as a unit(not necessarily singing Kumbaya but much more than today).

Populations in general believe that they can't be propagandized and manipulated but we are; we're just too hung up on the trivial entertainment that keeps us occupied. Perhaps 280 million Americans will at some time wake up to this orchestrated gig, and then work to change things.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acLW1vFO-2Q

[RKP5637]

1. Americans don't get it, they don't get what's going on, yet they defend what's going on! Really lame

[RandomThoughts]

2. Hopefully.

The lack of justice for some in some groups is not an accident, it is actually a rule they have. No person in a certain group can get in some trouble like prison, unless a secret council decides they must.

Basically it is the Willy Wonka syndrome, you can do what ever you want, as long as you don't tell the secret.

And the secret is they are corrupt, and spend the ill gotten gains to keep you from knowing it by secrecy. And some is spent to make fun of people and without people knowing, hubris.



acdc-tnt lyrics
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QJxtf1hO1k

(Side note, out of the sunset is western divisions.)



"You should have armed yourself if you are going to decorate your bar with my friend."


And I am due beer and travel money and many experiences.

Of coarse I am not like the people in movies. Not like that at all.

Even if it is at the Winchester, or any other bar.

Shaun Of The Dead Trailer HD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfBewQPFdKE&feature=related

[HereSince1628]

3. A flaw in human nature. It's well known. It's called

JEALOUSY.

Insecurity in jobs, housing, food, etc makes some people feel that they need to hoard and personally control the things important to them.

Another word for that is Jealousy. It's a human trait because at some level you've got to take care of your needs to survive. The pathological jealousy we see in t-baggers is a consequence of other things in their thinking that tend to make them frightened and insecure. For them they not only don't want taxes, they insist on carrying a gun--because the jealously guard their right to protect themselves (and I KNOW that some people feel insecure living far away from police, or living in a high crime area where having a gun can for self can be better justified). It's the pathological thing--"I need to carry a gun and SHOW everyone that I have it, because making people around me intimidated adds to my security." And they do it under the guise of being patriotic and supporting the Constitution. Well infact, mnay of the pathologically jealous people want to give nothing to society or to help the government by paying taxes.

It's a very strange thing, because they undermine the things that most of us see as making us secure and giving us better lives. One would think they're trapped in a cycle that will simply make them more and more insecure needing to be more and more jealous.

[eppur_se_muova]

5. Have to repost ... an old Russian joke ...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=503117&mesg_id=508186

[howaboutme]

14. Very applicable

to what has become a pathetic manipulated society. The "media" is an all encompassing term but I do believe that the media plays a huge part in creating this divisiveness and problematic situation that inevitably is negative to the USA, and people.

[DenverDad]

4. In my OPINION

The corporate media has set up a scapegoat system. If the average American is wasting time blaming other average Americans for what is wrong in this country, it distracts them from the real perpetrators.

Also, to blame your neighbor for his ills, means that the same could never happen to you, because you would never behave in such an irresponsible manner. It gives you the illusion that you are in control of your situation. The truth, that we can be at the mercy of banks and corporations, is too unpleasant to comprehend.

[AnneD]

7. To this scape goat system....

just add HS 'see something say something' stoolie campaign and the TSA brown shirts stripping away your dignity and rights and all the FEMA camps around the country....Is it Fascism yet.

[howaboutme]

9. Make sure you watch the Oscars tonight

and do your duty to enrich Hollywood elite with pathetic non informative entertainment and thus keep your mind occupied and diverted from the reality of the USA political scheme.

Entertainment is about creating riches for the few and mind diversions for the masses.

[howaboutme]

11. Ooops - Make that Sunday

[ananda]

6. OK, it's like this.

When people are targeted financially and see others go down, they can get really crazy and become libertarian and racist instead of organizing to make things better.

Not only that, but they get really holier than thou about it, like they walk some kind of sanctimonious high ground for the power of the "individual" and individual rights.

[DenverDad]

8. It's also easier to "root" for your economic peers to fail

if they happen to have darker skin than you. The "you" I'm speaking about are those who are easily "propagandized and manipulated".

[Kat45]

10. I agree with what's being said in this thread but I want to add one more thing.

The OP said you don't see this predatory type of belief among the financial elite, they work together to keep t heir caste at the top. While that may be true, I also think that each individual elite still wants to have more than their elite peers, which is part of what drives the greed to have more and more. Each elite wants the biggest house, the best car, etc. Yes, they look out for themselves as a group, but within that group there is predatory behavior. Some of these people probably do enjoy seeing another elite fall; it means more for them. (When I say 'each' elite, I realize that it may not apply to every single person among the elite, but I think it applies to many of them.)

[Crazy Dave]

12. There's exceptions to every rule but in Germany...

...the majority of people consider themselves as equals and therefore look out for one another and have a much better health care and social safety net system than we do in the states. Want to know why Germany's recession wasn't as bad as ours? There's no such thing as 99'ers there. You are taken care of with government subsidies and education until you can take care or yourself.

I was watching a documentary that was filmed there once and in it they interviewed many different Germans and expats. One thing that stood out is that the CEO of a large German bank considers himself as equal a person as the janitor that cleans his office and while our CEO's persuade and buy off our politicians to give them tax breaks and bailouts, the German upper class use their money and influence to help their fellow countrymen which helps their business in the long term.

[howaboutme]

13. Unlike the USA, Germany has its act together

In Germany there are egalitarian benefits for all and that feeds on itself, compensation at the top is constrained, they are a high wage nation that exports more than they import, health care for all, employees are not tethered to business, and business thus keeps employees. Conversely the USA is tethered to multi-national bankers with boundless genetic based greed and to big business that has never had an employee they wouldn't fire if they could hire another at 25 cents an hour less. Corporate citizenship is dead in the USA.

Why don't our US governments at all levels look at other governments that are successful and emulate them? Instead they refuse to take or heed any advice and instead believe that the politicians in charge be all given credit so that the pol or Party gets reelected.

Many countries around the world emulated the USA when we were successful. That is past tense and it is time we start emulating other countries.

[Crazy Dave]

16. You bring up good points and it was so ridiculous of Obmama...

...to tell Germany how they should get out of their recession by doing the same things he was and telling them how wrong they and most of Europe are for doing what they do.

[Sienna86]

15. I think it's a number of reasons

Perhaps it comes from jealousy, and maybe a feeling that others have been "luckier" than themselves. It's their perception.

[ixion]

17. "You don't see this predatory type of belief among the financial elite. "

Well, that's not really true. It's a shallow, superficial, material world. Everyone is your friend as long as you have money. If you have no money, they want nothing to do with you.

It's cutthroat.

[barb162]

18. Who wants to see peers struggle?

There is a divide and conquer strategy, I believe, that has been put in place by the GOP and billionaires. Then again I have a sister-in-law, who shops until she drops, maxed out 20 credit cards on total hoarder type junk and then had to take a second mortgage on her house to pay off the cards. Instead of paying off the second mortgage she now wants to buy a Cadillac Escalade and a second home in another state. There's no talking sense to the woman. I think most people are not like her and made the mistake of buying in the bubble... but who knew there was a bubble with unsustainable price rise. That's the sad part plus the unemployment.