Gail's Blog

Americans Are Getting Angry

It has taken years for the citizens to rise up and begin the protests to the way things are being run in America.

Revisiting the American Revolution

Revisiting the American Revolution

We see it, of course, in the Donald Trump phenomena but it’s also true of the millennials.  They are rising up against the inept authority where the average student debt upon graduation is $35,000 and the job market luke warm and not really interested in hiring them.  For the middle-aged white male who was let go in the contraction that began in in 2007 and in earnest in 2008 and finds little hope in well-paid positions ever again surfacing.  For the rise in drug overdose fed by fraudulent prescriptions from manufacturers who insisted that the pain-relief medication should be taken every 12 hours when they knew that was not true and that patients would get hooked by needing more during the 12 hours–especially when doctors upped the dosage.

The only thing citizens have left when they have no influence on their government leaders or corporate power is their vote and their angry protests.  Government officials should be nervous about now that this huge movement of anger in the United States has been percolating for at least 20 years.  It will not be going back in the bottle–no matter who gets elected.  In fact, it will get stronger with a larger push back.  Who thought it was ethical and okay to have workers train their foreign replacements after the workers were laid off enmasse to allow corporate profits to soar?  What happened to the workers who really never fully recovered?

What is it about 5% unemployment that implicates more Americans have jobs when they leave out the real truth that most of these jobs are in low-paying service jobs and that individuals can’t support a family or themselves on their salaries.   Of the 160,000 new jobs created in April 38,200 were healthcare/social assistance (aka Obamacare administrators), 22,000 were leisure/hospitality and 9,300 were temporary jobs.  Outplacement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas reported that US companies announced plans to lay off 65,141 workers in April, a 35% increase from March and the highest level since 2009!  In the first four months of 2016, total layoff announcements hit 250,061—-the highest January-to-April total since 2009.

Last off all, GoBankingRates, a national website that tracks interest rates, reported that 28% of Americans have ZERO money in their savings account, 13% had less than $1,000 and 21% don’t even have a savings account. (Connecting the Dots with Tony Sagami).

This digust and anger in the elected officials and their corporate bedfellows will continue through 2023.  It will be getting stronger as more exposure takes place.  Peggy Noonan of the Wall Street Journal mentions that our choice in the fall is between a crazy person and/or a criminal.  What a way to state it!  The structures used to govern us will continue to crack and need replacement.  Our roads and bridges are a metaphor for what is going on deep within.  All of us will need to replace our wornout ideas and self-deceptions.  This journey by Pluto in Capricorn in America’s birth chart has been waiting for us for 240 years.  It’s here, it’s now and it’s unlike what we have ever seen in our lifetime.

 


10 responses to “Americans Are Getting Angry”

  1. Karen says:

    Sharon: Did you mean Bill Maher? His show is on HBO.

    I’m not a fan of Trump because with the way he handles himself and incites people it makes me wonder how he would handle delicate situations with foreign governments. It can’t be “My way or the highway” in those situations. He’s use to ruling his own kingdom but can he negotiate diplomatically when needed, or is he a dictator?

  2. I find it so interesting that people complain about and are bothered by Donald Trump’s confrontational speaking style. I guess it is preferable to have a polite style while lying directly to people? Obama has such a smooth speaking style and demeanor that American’s miss the fact that he is outright lying in order to drive his agenda. From “you can keep your doctors” to “Obamacare will reduce monthly premiums by half (rather than the reality of doubling premiums)” to the “Iranians will comply with the nuclear deal”, we have been lulled into believing Obama (and HRC) lies because they were delivered with a manicured style. I have no illusion that we will get to honest dialog but I’d much rather have a bit of confrontation over the flat out lying while stealing the American public blind.

  3. Chris says:

    What we must lay at “that shaker-up” Trump’s feet is the overriding behavior of confrontation and nastiness that he foments. His supporters have watched his antics and feel that they are now free to also say outrageous things…well, it’s just an echo of Trump’s jingoism and intolerance, after all. Where were all of these “displaced” emotions against the Bush administration as everything they did made everything crumble around us? Now, they are fed up? Now when by increments we are clawing ourselves out of that hole? As a student of history this alarms me. I used to explain the French Revolution to my students this way: Louis the XIV put the water on to boil, indulging himself and the court with greater and greater pulls on France’s resources…then his grandson, Louis XV (after me the deluge…in other words…I don’t care what follows) turned up the heat and basically bankrupted the people…the stooge was Louis XVI, woefully ill-equipped for what was to come as it all boiled over…But people shouldn’t be too gleeful about Americans finally “getting it”…the French Revolution (as one of the revolutionaries stated) will eat its own young. Trump and even the wealthy acolytes of Bernie will all be okay “come the Revolution”…they live in cool, hard-to-reach locations…it’s US, the middle and lower classes who will suffer because we are eminently reachable.
    I have taken to listening to music and pay attention, but avoid being pulled in by the media’s spin…they love and thrive on this discord…”if it bleeds-it leads” has never been more obvious.

  4. Laurie Pollack Donohoo says:

    Ok, I have had it with some anti-Trump statements. He is a brilliant man. Donald is different and he is more one of us than the politians who took down this country.
    We need to strengthen America. I am having a tough time keeping alive like most seniors. Life can be a nightmare. Stop thinking Democrat or Republican,or man or woman. The issue is who is best to make changes and pick up a fragmented country. There are more for him than against.
    Hillary will have Bill back in the whitehouse. They have had their turn. His cheating and their stealing amoung the rest of the evils cannot be tolerated.
    Communism with Saunders, really America please wake up! What more have we got to lose?

  5. Candyce Rusk says:

    I found Gail’s original post about Bernie Sanders’ character a cautionary tale, and by intuition, spot on. Sanders supporters insist Hillary isn’t likeable, ignoring the fact that thousands of voters are frankly creeped out by Bernie, and don’t feel his ‘revolution’ is remotely plausible, or well thought out. Bernie, having been in government longer then Hillary, helped create the establishment he rails against. Oh, he did pass three bills. Two for renaming post offices. And, Sanders has no support from his colleagues, how’s that for likeability?

    Hillary as President will be the precursor in regard to the rise of women’s power in 2024. I’m sure Clinton securing the office will bring out the wrath of misogynists, similar to the racists who have arisen with Obama in the White House.

    Finally, I’m one of the angry Americans, witnessing the fall of the middle class which actually began under the Regan era. There is great need for change, but Bernie, as a leader, is simply put, flawed.

  6. Sharon says:

    One option I like is signing petitions, as that has been effective in some situations depending on the topic.

    In the meantime, I focus and hold the vision for what I want rather than going into fear of a nominee like Trump, who is by far the most unqualified and inexperienced candidate to ever run for president. I wish we still had serious journalists like Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite who would have impact rather than MSM, who gives Trump so much air time on nightly news.

    I wish Bill Moyers still had his TV program, but this is an excellent link published today. http://billmoyers.com/story/donald-trump-and-the-walter-winchell-effect/

  7. Angela says:

    I don’t follow politics very closely and am always skeptical of those who want to “serve” the people. However, I’m pretty disappointed with the reference to Peggy Noonan . The sheer fact that she refers to a candidate as a criminal leads me to believe she is a conservative because that seems to be the way they speak. You have referred to Noonan but don’t make any explanation about the criminal or crazy person remark or that she is a conservative, and as goes with most conservatives these days they spew a lot of hate and lies instead of anything constructive or instructive. It just doesn’t seem very balanced. And before I’m am painted with a broad brush as liberal there are things I’m more conservative about than liberal. Are you inferring that Hillary Clinton is the criminal by using Noonan’s mention of our choice of candidates? Can you cite what is the crime committed? Are you inferring that Trump is the crazy one and it’s OK when he has stirred up the worst in human nature? Sitting back and saying “What a way to state it!” leaves me sort of sad because I usually read your articles and see you as an observer. However, referencing Noonan so smacks of the way the media presents things to the public, somewhat one-sided, and with no regard for truth or explanation or responsibility.

  8. Gail did a revealing analysis of Bernie Sanders a few months ago. It is clear the Democratic bigwigs are beholden to Hillary and could only support Sanders if the unthinkable happens and Clinton is hauled up on criminal charges. Sanders is trustworthy and likeable; Clinton is neither. Polls also suggest that Sanders has a better chance of beating Trump. As an astrologer I am eyeing the entry of Jupiter (opportunity) in Libra ( Justice) right before the election. Should be interesting.

  9. Coleen Lumly says:

    Dear Gail, I always appreciate your articles as they help make sense of the chaos and help me stay out of fear. I attended one of your presentations in Tucson, AZ in the early 2000s, and at that time you said effectively “nothing is going to get better or easier until 2015”. Maybe you said it would start getting better in 2015. After reading this article, it is so disheartening to hear that the status quo will continue until 2023. Why do things keep shifting forward? Also I am sure you know that there is a great deal of information out there now predicting the collapse of our financial/monetary system in July 2016. What can you tell us to minimize the pain? Thank you for everything you do and share!

  10. Nadya Dandurand says:

    These are for sure, volatile, changing times. People are waking up and finally coming out of their media /info-tainment, addictive fake food diets and pharmaceutical stupor. Peggy Noonan’s Wall Street Journal article speaks only of the two Big Money candidates, but fails to mention the People’s Choice candidate, Bernie Sanders, as someone who is offering a REAL ALTERNATIVE for America. I am wondering why you have not even mentioned him in this article. After all, whether or not the Establishment succeeds in preventing his win, he is, nevertheless, offering a valuable service to America (and the world) by educating and uniting people around a broad humanitarian, participatory vision. (And he is a strong advocate of crucial infrastructure rebuilding, to name only one of his areas of dire need of focus.) Why have you left Bernie Sanders out of the picture? It seems to me that his contribution is a rather YUGE one in that he is a very significant catalyst for change. (Just wondering.)

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