Musings of an American Refugee in New Zealand

Despite my unusual name, I happen to be a woman. I am also an American child and adolescent psychiatrist with more than 30 years of practice under my belt. Seven years ago I emigrated from the US to New Zealand, mainly for political reasons. I describe the unusual events leading up to this momentous decision in my upcoming book - The Most Revolutionary Act: Memoir of an American Refugee.

Obviously a lot has happened in seven years. I have learned I am not alone in deciding to emigrate out of frustration with the Bush administration. It turns out tens of thousands of Americans emigrated between 2000 and 2008. Polls show most of them were liberals and progressives. In November 2003 expatriate Americans led the London demonstrations protesting Bush's London visit and the war in Iraq. Expatriates also formed major voting blocs for Kerry in 2004 and for Obama in 2008. An unexpected result of creating a new life for myself as an expatriate is the unique perspective it has provided on my former life in the US.

An Awakening: Militarism is the US Government's Number One Priority

Ironically it is only in coming to a remote South Pacific nation, whose population has just exceeded four million, that I can fully appreciate the way military domination and control of the third world takes precedence over all other US foreign and domestic policy. Owing to vigorous censorship that occurs in the corporate controlled media, much of this information isn't readily available to US residents. Prior to the mid-nineties the US relied on economic dominance over smaller countries to extract a continuous supply of cheap resources they couldn't produce domestically - such as gasoline, coffee, sugar, chocolate, nitrogen and phosphate fertilizers and platinum, nickel, chromium, cobalt and other strategic metals. With the decline in US economic strength over the past 15 years, the government has come to rely on its military might to acquire the resources it needs to guarantee Americans' continued high standard of living. It seems to be common knowledge among many New Zealand intellectuals that this is the primary US government agenda.

An Awakening: the News Media Keeps Americans in the Dark about Their Government

It was only on leaving the US that I recognized how successfully the US media monopoly censors and sanitizes public information about international events and government activities. Although Rupert Murdoch's News Corp controls much of New Zealand's access to international news, we still have independent media outlets that regularly challenge and embarrass our government. Presently this type of investigative reporting is extremely rare in the American mainstream media.

An Awakening: the Price Americans Pay for Global Domination

The first thing that hit me on waking up in a new country was the enormous personal cost, in terms of quality life, that Americans pay as citizens of a regime intent on establishing and maintaining a global military empire. For example, although New Zealand ranks as one of the poorer countries in the OECD (22nd out of 30), Kiwis take for granted that their government will use their hard earned tax dollars to provide free health care for all New Zealand residents, a program the public considers essential for the long term well being and sustainability of their country.

In New Zealand it is fairly easy to support universal health care and the taxes that fund it, because this country doesn't invade or occupy other countries and bans the use of nuclear materials as weapons or for energy production. In the US, on the other hand, reaching consensus on joining the rest of the developed world in providing universal government sponsored health care is next to impossible. There is enormous resistance to increasing federal tax to pay for such a program, given that Americans are so heavily taxed already to pay for wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan and to maintain a US military presence in more than 50 foreign countries it considers strategic to its interests. In the past five years the number of overseas military bases has increased from 700 to 1,000, as the US military expands into Eastern Europe, Pakistan, North and West Africa (owing to the strategic importance of African oil reserves) and Columbia (owing to the threat posed by left leaning governments in Venezuela, Ecuador and Bolivia).

An Awakening: the US is Less Democratic than Other Developed Countries

More importantly Americans seem to have no say in the decisions resulting in the allocation of nearly 50 cents of every tax dollar for military related spending. In fact in many ways the US is far less democratic than other developed countries. Although polling shows Americans don't want to spend their tax dollars spent on escalating the war in Afghanistan - that they want to spend them on government sponsored health care - the Obama administration does just the opposite. Obama sends 35,000 additional troops to Afghanistan and persuades congressional Democrats to drop the public option and Medicare expansion from his health care reform bill.

The New Zealand government would face massive street protests for enacting legislation opposed by the majority of New Zealanders. Yet for some reason Americans seem to take for granted that they have no say in decisions that are fundamental, not only to their own personal welfare, but to the long term economic viability and sustainability of their country. It is only in living abroad that I have become aware of this a deep resignation and apathy in the American public. It's a mindset I believe stems from deep and pervasive political repression - which is essential to maintain order in a society dedicated to global military dominance.

An Awakening: the Planet's Newest Third World Country

Obviously there are other important reasons why the US doesn't have publicly sponsored health care like Zealand and all other industrialized countries. The channeling of hundreds of billions of tax dollars into military expansion is only part of the problem. There happen to be other powerful corporate interests - led by the insurance and pharmaceutical lobbies - who invested billions of dollars in the 2008 election to ensure that the Democrats and Obama refrained from enacting publicly sponsored health care. However the prioritization of the military conquest and occupation over the all domestic spending and the secrecy and deliberate misinformation over the phenomenal cost of war - an extremely unpopular public policy to begin with - make it very difficult for Americans to understand much less have a voice in how their tax dollars are spent.

The reality is that exponential increases in US military spending over the past thirty years have resulted in deep cuts in domestic spending for education and important social programs. Most of the developed world understands and accepts that unmet social problems, such as homelessness, mental illness and drug and alcohol abuse, illiteracy, unemployment, child poverty and child abuse seriously compromise the quality of life for the entire society. Yet here, too, the US is more like a third world country than an advanced industrialized society. I only saw this clearly after moving abroad.

As the military budget has increased exponentially over the past thirty years, the commitment to universal education, job training, housing and full employment as essential to meaningful participation in an advanced industrial democracy has vanished from public consciousness. The only "antipoverty" programs that persist are federal and state prisons. The US now exceeds China in its incarceration rate. Which represents an extremely uneconomical use of government funds in a recession. At an average cost of $29,000 each (totaling nearly 100 billion dollars annually), there is no question that locking people up is the most expensive way to address social problems that lead to criminal behavior.

An Awakening: the Loss of Civil Liberties in the US

The negative effect of our government's drive for global military domination is not limited to negative economic consequences - namely our inability to meet basic health, education, housing and social welfare needs. The loss of civil liberties over the last eight years is also more typical of a third world military dictatorship than the participatory democracies enjoyed by most of the developed world. This, too, was something I only fully appreciated after moving abroad.

Most of the covert activities I describe in my book - the monitoring of my calls, emails and financial transactions, the theft of business and personal mail and even the clandestine break-ins - was illegal in the late eighties. However the US government engages in all these activities legally now, thanks to successive versions of the Patriot Act.

Worse still Obama has left most of these laws, which violate basic Constitutional rights, essentially intact. He has also preserved the right of police and federal authorities to arrest and hold US citizens without charge - a violation of the right of habeas corpus guaranteed in the Bill of Rights - an fundamental feature of civilized society dating back to the 1215 Magna Carta.

This loss of civil liberties also occurred in Rome, when its leaders were forced to abandon their democratic form of government to pursue the wars of conquest that resulted in the formation of a vast Roman Empire. In most cases, military conquest and occupation of foreign territory only benefits a tiny elite at the highest level of society. Ordinary people are naturally repulsed by the idea of war and almost universally expect their hard earned tax dollars to be spent on public programs that directly benefit them.

If allowed any meaningful input, they rarely willingly agree to squander government funds on military expansion. This is why a campaign of military expansion can only succeed if the government is effective at suppressing dissent in the ruling country.

An Awakening: How US Militarism Affects the Way Americans Think

The most alarming discovery I made in acculturating myself to a new country was the extent to which I unconsciously bought into all the brainwashing and propaganda I was exposed to as a child in school and as an adult via the mainstream media. When I first arrived in New Zealand I genuinely believed that the US was not only the strongest military and economic power in the world - it was also the best at nearly everything else.

I write about this discovery in my book. Obviously New Zealand has no military ambitions, and Kiwis would feel pretty silly about promoting their country as the most democratic, productive, efficient, cleanest, healthiest, transparent, just and scientifically advanced nation in the world.

I myself feel pretty silly that as a committed leftist I continued to believe - as recently as five years ago - that the US was way ahead of other countries in these areas, as well as in military and economic strength. At some level I have known for at least 20 years that the US was less democratic than other industrialized countries. I also knew that US corporations had significantly weakened American economic influence by moving its industrial base to sweat shops overseas. Likewise I knew that air and water are seriously polluted in the US and its food supply one of the most contaminated in the world - with its reliance on toxic sludge fertilizers, as well as infestation with Mad Cow, E Coli and other illness-causing organisms that the powerful food lobby prevents the government from regulating.

I knew from my own research into alternative AIDS treatments that the US lags far behind other industrialized countries in scientific research. Mainly because it gives powerful corporations the power to dictate most of research Americans scientists engage in and to suppress any negative findings that might impact corporate profitability.

Ironically the US can no longer claim to be the most powerful economic force in the world, a fact rarely acknowledged by the US media. Although they still represent the world's largest economy, the US has less and less sway over the Asian economic powerhouse represented by China, India, Japan and South Korea. The world media frequently reports on examples of the US government caving in to China and India during trade and climate change negotiations.

The loss of American economic influence should be obvious from the steady drop in the US dollar in relation to international currencies. However because the mainstream media never makes this connection, it is rare for most Americans to make it. It never occurs to them that the main reason for the surge in the price of gasoline, food and other imported commodities is the dollar's loss in value on the world markets.

Dr Bramhall is a child and adolescent psychiatrist who emigrated to New Zealand in October 2002 for political reasons. She currently works for the New Zealand National Health Service. She is a long time activist and serves on the National Executive of the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand. She blogs at http://stuartbramhall.aegauthorblogs.com

Real, Uglier American Unemployment

Can you trust national averages? As bad as the jobless data you hear are, you have not been told the whole truth. If you think the terrible impact of America's Great Recession is shown by an official unemployment rate of about 10 percent, think again.

Economic inequality and the myth of Reagan trickle down logic are shown by new data from the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston. The report noted: "What has been missing from the public debate over the labor market crisis is an honest and detailed analysis of which American workers have been most adversely affected by the deep deterioration in labor markets." The researchers found a correlation between household income and unemployment rate in the last quarter of 2009: Look carefully at these numbers and see how unemployment rises as income drops:

$150,000 or more, 3.2 percent

$100,000 to 149,999, 8 percent

$75,000 to $99,999, 5 percent

$60,000 to $75,000, 6.4 percent

$50,000 to $59,000, 7.8 percent

$40,000 to $49,000, 9 percent

$30,000 to $39,999, 12.2 percent

$20,000 to $29,999, 19.7 percent

$12,500 to $20,000, 19.1 percent

$12,499 or less, 30.8 percent

Ten times worse unemployment in the lowest class than in the highest class! Truly amazing and disheartening, don't you think? And you can also infer that in some hard hit geographical areas the poorest people and people of color are being even more adversely impacted. And don't think for a minute that things have really improved in 2010.

The report summed up the situation: "A true labor market depression faced those in the bottom... of the income distribution; a deep labor market recession prevailed among those in the middle of the distribution, and close to a full employment environment prevailed at the top." People at the top remain winners no matter how bad the whole economy. Why? The wealthy Upper Class controls so much of the political system and benefit from countless government policies. They may lose something in an economic meltdown but not enough to suffer significantly.

Conversely, those at the bottom of the economic system with no political power are experiencing something as bad as the Great Depression, with no end in sight.

What pundits don't emphasize is that government policies that do not target lower income groups are a failure and disgrace. Worse than destroying the middle class, we are creating a Lower Class like that found in third world countries. Indeed, compared to places like China and European nations, America's poor are suffering about as badly as anyone on the planet, except for a few dismal places like Haiti. Needing food handouts, losing homes, missing health insurance, and lacking jobs mock the American Dream.

Wait; there is even more bad news. When underemployment is factored in - part time workers that want to work full time, and those who have stopped looking but want a job - the picture gets even worse. In the lowest group, the underemployment rate was 20.6 percent, compared with just 1.6 percent in the highest group. So the total in the lowest class is 51.4 percent (3.7 million people) compared to 4.8 percent in the wealthy class (530,000 people). Also consider that last November nearly 20 percent of all men between 25 and 54 did not have jobs, the highest figure since the labor bureau began counting in 1948.

Now you know why the constantly noted official jobless rate for the nation of 10 percent and 17 percent when underemployment is counted are a joke, or is it a purposeful deception, like a truth bubble?

How can jobs be created for the lower economic classes? You hear very, very few new ideas from politicians. It comes down to federal spending that better targets job creation to the lower income groups, and waiting for more general consumer spending, especially by the more affluent, to create more low level jobs, mostly in service areas. But we need specifics and better legislation.

Consider this green energy fiasco. A huge amount of federal stimulus money provided for building wind farms. It is creating jobs in Chine to build wind turbines, not in America. In fact, 80 percent of such federal funding is going overseas. All because Congress and the White House did not ensure a made-in-America requirement. Was a backroom deal made to keep China happy so that they would keep loaning us money?

When the poorest people suffer so disproportionately as compared to the wealthiest, perhaps only violent revolution will fix America's dysfunctional, broken and delusional democracy. Will President Obama cite the above frightening data in any public forum to make the case for stronger federal efforts? What do you think?

The high numbers for the lower income people mean that no amount of government action, in even five years or more, will solve jobless problem, because no amount of economic growth can possibly create enough new jobs. The US would have to produce 10 million new jobs just to get back to the unemployment levels of 2007 - impossible for many years. So, politicians will keep making things look better by citing the national average.

American Democracy: A Brutal Dictatorship in Disguise

The US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton stated recently that the Chinese government is "scared" of the Arab Spring. They're worried, and they are trying to stop history which is a fool's errand."[1]. Shouldn't we also, for the same reason, be worried and scared of uprising of our own people demanding a just and fair societal system?

It is time to have a serious look into the reality of our undemocratic situation and problems facing our technological society in order to find a way to rescue our troubled system and move toward a democratic economy and to its corresponding social order.

The more we look into the history of American Revolution and the formation of its constitutional government, the more we become astonished about the depth of knowledge, dedication, and sincerity of the few men who led this nation from colonialism to independence and beyond. The Federalist Papers alone are indicative of tremendous wealth of knowledge, wisdom, an intelligence of those who laid down, so carefully and so wisely, such a radically liberal foundation for the political system of this country. It is further astonishing how, after over 200 years of advancement, leaders with the caliber and philosophical influence of the founding fathers have disappeared from our society and narrow-minded specialists and uncivilized, socio-politically ignorant business executives and bureaucrats have taken their place. Those individual rights and liberties for which the founders so persistently preached and violently fought for, have been overshadowed today by authoritarian and undemocratic economic processes and capitalistic norms imposed by monopolies and oligopolies of the economic elite. However, there is a consolation. What the revolutionaries did fight for has not been banished but only suppressed. It is at the foundation of American society, at the grassroots, that we find honesty and integrity still strong and prevalent. It has been molested but not destroyed. Erosion and corruption have moved in and firmly established themselves primarily in the upper echelon of our society, fostered by unethical norms taken root by what is variously known as "corporate state," or "military-industrial complex." Our representatives and leading bureaucrats are mostly a part of, or heavily influenced by this cooperative power of financial giants, industry and military. None of these dominating economic factors existed in the early years of our independence, nor were they imaginable to this extraordinary dominant extent until after the World War Two.

President Eisenhower was the first president to warn the American people, in his farewell address, of the dangers of the military-industrial complex to our society. The result has been the suppression of individual rights and freedoms, particularly since 1960s, and extraordinary privileges granted to big business, and effective control of our socio-economic and political system by this very small privileged economic group consisting of only 0.4 of one percent of American household.[2]

From all the investment assets, 1% is owned by the $5,000-$9,999 income group, 7% by the $10,000-$24,999 group, 11% by the $25.000-$49,000 group, 15% by the 50,000-$99,999, or 34% in all. The rest, 66% is controlled by a small elite.[3] Another study shows that in 2007, of all personally held assets the top 1% owned 34.6%, the next 19% owned 50.55% and the bottom 80% owned only 15.05%. Even worse and more disturbing, from all financial wealth owned by the American households, the ratio was 42.7%, 50.3% and for the bottom 80% it was only 7.05% In 2009, the bottom 60% of American income earners received only 4% of the total subsidies while the top 20% received 84% of the $400 billion subsidies. And in 2005, the top 1% paid 27.7 of tax share while receiving 45% of the subsidies. These facts, with no doubt illustrate that there is much that is wrong with American democracy. The events of the past four decades have demonstrated the enormity and variety of the problems that plague this society and its economy. These problems take different forms for different people. Some people suffer much more than others and no one remains unaffected.

Corruption, hypocrisy, suppression, alienation, racism, crime, destruction of the environment, waste, exploitation of our natural resources, foreign wars, and extreme brutality toward other people are just a few of our major problems. They are the result of our neglect and lack of interest in developing a just social and political system, in contrast to our zeal and drive in developing our economic system and accumulation of individual wealth. Thus, we have created an imbalanced society - highly developed scientifically and economically, remaining quite backward and outmoded socially and politically.[3] The combined effect has been not only to oppress a great many people at home and abroad, but to generate a widespread sense of anxiety among those who do not perceive themselves to be oppressed.

America outside its borders is perceived to be a democratic society, and because of this perception it is admired and desired by many foreigners. American citizens, a majority of them, also think of the system as being democratic. But the reality is that what both foreigners and Americans see is a facade of democracy. The foreigners have no opportunity to understand the real autocratic operation of the system behind this facade, and what the citizens see, they are conditioned to think so by continuous propaganda supported and orchestrated by the capitalist elite and being conditioned and indoctrinated as such from the childhood.

American democracy has been carefully designed, in an evolutionary process of some 200 years, by the economic elite, to satisfy, provide for, maintain and protect the capitalist needs for an stable, delicately but firmly controlled, and economically productive society. In this regard, the American society has three basic, complex and perplexing components, quite difficult to be understood by ordinary citizens or outsiders except for some experts in the fields of social sciences. These three components are individuals, private organizations, and public institutions within a highly materialistic society.

Individual

As an individual, an American has two standards: ideal and real. He believes in equality of opportunity for everyone, with incredible 90%, but nearly always desires to be considered more equal than others. It seems that this reality is the result of keen competition for materialistic success which is the basic ingredient of the American daily life. In reality, everything is evaluated in terms of dollars and cents. The other important but non-material aspects of life become marginal in this process of evaluation. This feeling is often so intense that it becomes difficult for an American to stop, truly relax and enjoy the life. In general, an American works very hard not only to achieve economic security but to accumulate wealth. As a result of this strained lifestyle he encounters all kinds of dangerous ailments, ulcers, heart problems, blood pressure, depression and other mental illnesses. In his drive for a better life and accumulation of wealth an American never stops. He always think of enjoying life sometime in the future, a dream which rarely materializes. Then one day he has a stroke or heart attack and dies. The strange observation in American psychology is that those who take over the accumulated wealth don't learn the lesson but follow exactly the same course of action of the deceased from whom they had inherited the wealth. This seems to be the main characteristic of the lower middle class, middle and upper middle class Americans which constitute some 70% of the population. The bottom 30% who suffer at the expense of the rest, sincerely believe in equality of opportunity but find nearly all the doors shut on their face. The elite considers them as social garbage yet among these we may find the best "humane" Americans. There is always a growing discontent among this group as well as the lower middle class work force. The worsening situation is carefully watched by the elite elements. When it approaches the point of uprising and violence then certain welfare legislation is passed to stabilize the situation.

Individualism is another ideal belief of ordinary Americans, yet, every day more and more they want the government to take care of the social and economic ills and discomforts. As a result of this demand the United States has, gradually, become an expanded welfare state spending hundreds of billions of dollars in an array of welfare programs. The money for these exuberant expenditures, does not come from the rich elite class but through revenues received by heavily taxing the middle class. So, in America the middle class, constituting the majority, supplies expert knowledge and technology to the elite through the production process and pays to quiet the lower class in order to stabilize the environment for steady production and maximization of profits. Consequently, the American capitalism has persisted in its dynamic operation because of special arrangements by the elite, when necessary, through the passage of special welfare legislation tending to stabilize the society.

A third peculiar characteristic of the Americans is their ideal thoughts about democracy on the one hand, and their lack of interest in putting it into effect by a democratic process on the other. It might be quite surprising to outsiders, who have a rosy picture of the American democracy, and a great many Americans themselves, that only a little over 50% of eligible Americans participate in presidential elections; 30 to 40% participate in congressional elections which is the major policy-making body of the nation; and 10 to 20% vote in local elections where most of the regulations affecting their daily life are decided. Thus, ideally, Americans strongly favor political equality, freedom of political expression, and democratic electoral process, yet overall, the majority of them do not bother to vote nor actively participate in democratization of highly corrupt and abused electoral system.

Americans believe in free market economy, yet, they strongly resent its consequences such as the concentration of wealth and power in a few corporations ruled by the super rich elite and the huge amount of profits made by them. Overwhelmingly believing in equality of opportunity, they witness the rich getting richer while the poor getting poorer. They want both equality of opportunity and capitalistic prosperity despite the tensions and incompatibilities that exist between these two concepts. Capitalistic opportunities lead to unequal economic rewards causing ever expanding class stratification. Economic rewards and resources accumulated by the wealthy are then converted into political resources creating political disparities destructive of democratic electoral process and unrivaled opportunity to shape public policies.

However, there is one strong positive factor in favor of the individual and American public as a whole. Social consciousness about the basic ideal of equality of opportunity carries comparatively heavier weight than the public perception of the capitalistic economy and resulting social and political inequalities. But capitalistic indoctrination through childhood education and continuing blitz of propaganda has left very few unaffected in holding their social consciousness and the ideal of equality of opportunity. There are, however, indications of a slow but steady increase in their number.

Private organizations

Let's now proceed with consideration of the private organizations and the public institutions, the other two components of our society. Economic organizations are the subject of our main consideration. This is where the heart of problem rests as far as it relates to democracy and equality of opportunity. Under the domain of monopoly and oligopoly capitalism, which is the main feature of American economy, as concluded by one reliable study, a few thousand super rich (a little over 7,000) control or at least highly influence not only the economy of the country but also its essential political and social institutions such as the media, education, and health care.

Control of information system is vital to the economic elite in order to control or influence public attitude about justification of capitalism as well as major domestic and foreign policies. Freedom of thought and speech is essential to a democratic system. There must be a free expression and competition of ideas and symbols. This essential freedom is guaranteed to Americans by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

In modern society the interchange of information and expression of ideas is to be achieved through the mass media. The American mass media constitutes of about 19,000 radio and television stations, 1,700 daily newspapers, 7,000 other newspapers, 9,000 periodicals, over 4,300 film producers and distributors, and 1,300 publishing companies.[4] But, the elite, through a few business and financial firms controls the three major television and radio networks - ABC, NBC, CBS - and 34 subsidiary stations, 201 cable television systems, 62 major radio stations, 59 magazines, including Newsweek and Times, 58 major newspapers, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and The Los Angeles Times, and 41 publishing companies. 75% of the stocks of the three major television networks, where the American public receives most of its information, are owned by five major banks. According to another study, in the long run, the mass media cater to elite individuals and elite institutions upholding their actions and policies. Besides the information system, the elite group, consisting only of 0.4% of one percent of households, controls the economy and government This control is effectuated through the top one-fifth of the population who are the supporters of the elite family and its beneficiaries.

Consequently, the richest one-fifth of the population owns about 77% of all personally held wealth and have control over 97% of privately owned corporate stocks. Thus, the richest one-fifth has three times as much wealth as the remaining 80% of the population and full control of all major business and economic institutions. Through the control of the governmental process the elite rips off the American taxpayers by the means of government subsidies and subsidy-like aid, much of it hidden or disguised. The cost of tax subsidies alone to big business in 2010 was $363billion

The government's outstanding loans to private business- direct, guaranteed, and insured- came to about $250 billion in 1973, and $713.4 billion in 2010, six times the outstanding credit advanced to business by all commercial banks. The figures may go much higher at the present. The big business gets the big bite mostly away from public attention. The exploitive benefits appropriated by the economic elite amounts to about $380 billion a year or an annual rip-off of $1,700 from every man, woman and child in the country. Many rich people, thanks to laws passed to protect their income, either don't pay any tax or pay a very nominal amount compared to the size of their annual income. To show just an example, according to an Internal Revenue Service report, of 529,460 couples and individuals who reported total annual income above $200,000 on their tax returns, 595 paid no taxes while their income averaged $600,000 and two out of every three had capital gains averaging 490,000. Another 33,805 having incomes over $200,000 paid only 15% tax, typically less than a middle class family, and 3,000 paid less than 10%..

Public Institutions

The third component of a democratic society is its public institutions. The United States is praised and admired by the foreigners as well as most of its citizens for its political democracy. This perception is not the result of a true representative democracy but the effect of propaganda and conditioning of Americans through the mass media and educational systems influenced and controlled by the elite. A few who are expert in American political system and process and have impartially studied the system would find this claim of democracy far from the truth. They will attest that there is no democracy in the United States consciously supported by the majority of the voting population. The so called "democracy" a facade, a pretentious process created by the elite to sustain its status as well as the stability for its authoritarian capitalistic operation and maximization of profits.

To elaborate on this statement we may start, first, with the two major political parties which control all the national and state governments. Both parties are strong supporters of capitalism and are controlled by the capitalist elite. Apparent differences are only cosmetic. Through the control of state governments both parties together have been able to establish harsh conditions for development and success of any third party; and by establishment of single, rather than proportional, representation districts, they have been able to monopolize the electoral system excluding any hope of success for any minor third party. In any case that these protective devices do not work, the parties uniting their governmental authority act to outlaw the upcoming third party and officially destroy it. This is what exactly happened in the1920s when the Socialist Party developing strong, was able to capture the government of many cities and gain representation in state legislatures. The party was declared illegal, its leaders were arrested, its offices were destroyed and its funds in banks were frozen. It was not until the 1970s that under the Freedom of Information Act the party had access to government archives, sued the government and was granted damages.

Second, mainly because of the control of the two major parties by the elite and their commitment to the capitalistic economic system, people have moved away from these parties ever increasing the size of independent voters, doubling its size during the last 30 years. Presently, more than one-third of the eligible voters consider themselves as independent and the electoral success of any of the two major parties depends on each party's ability to attract more independent voter. Neither of the two parties has a long range objective and philosophically both are strongly capitalistic oriented. For this reason there is no ideological loyalty to the party, only 5% of the membership take active part in party operation, and members of one party voting for the candidate of another during different elections in not unusual.

Third, whether a party member or not, masses of voters do not bother to participate in the elections. The result has become the takeover of the electoral system and ensuing governmental functions by the elite and major interest groups supporting it. In actual sense, in the United States we do not have majority representation either at the national or state level.

Candidates are selected by a small minority of the eligible voters. For example, if a presidential candidate received 54% of popular vote, when only 52% of the eligible voters actually voted, he becomes elected by only 28.6% of the total eligible voters. He represents a small minority and not the majority of the voting population. For example, in 1980 Reagan received 51.6 % of the popular vote where only 54% of the eligible population voted. It was proper to assume that he received only 27% votes of the total eligible voters. For his second term, he received 59% of the popular vote amounting only to 29% of the total voting population. For the same token, in the 1988 election Bush received 54% or 27% of the total voting population. In 2000 and 2004 elections Bush received 25% and 26% of the total eligible voters respectively. The situation is more tragic in the case of congressional members and local officials.

Fourth, constitutionally, states have control over the electoral process including those pertaining to the national offices. Therefore, states are where all antidemocratic activities rest. Financing the elections, particularly the campaign expenditures by the candidates is mainly controlled by the elite through direct or institutional contributions. In general this is handled by each party in a way that ordinarily over 95% of the House representatives and 86% of senators are continually reelected. Nearly all of them serve the elite family. At the time of any social unrest this Congress passes appropriate welfare legislation by which a few billion dollars is distributed among the poor and lower working class or small farm operators in order to quiet down the situation and maintain stability for the proper operation of the elite institutions. Another serious problem relates to the process of voter registration which is more or less and at times highly corrupt in favor of one party or the other. The money for such programs, presently amounting to hundreds of billions of dollars, does not come out from the elite pocket but mainly from those of the middle and working class in the form of additional taxation. Another serious electoral problem relates to the process of voter registration in each state which is regularly abused in some states and manipulated in favor of one party or another. During a presidential elections this abuse is estimated to be in excess of two million votes. For example, the studies show that in 2000 presidential elections in Florida alone, tens of thousands of Afro-American voters, 90% of them expected to vote Democrat, were deprived from voting through registration abuses.

With all these factual observations, one can easily conclude that there is no real democracy in the United States, at the national level in particular. The effect of such lack of democracy has placed the nation in over thirteen trillion dollars in debt the major beneficiary of which has been as always the economic elite, for which over $250 billion a year is paid in interest by taxpayers money. Realistically speaking, the U.S. President and Congress are both strong supporters and protectors of the economic elite and major interest groups which contribute to their electoral campaigns. The U.S. foreign policies are not based on international law or mutual respect to sovereignty of other nations, but to protect the U.S. capitalistic interests abroad. Any system not sympathetic to capitalistic values is not considered democratic. Such countries are considered not friendly to American policies, therefore, subject to pressure and change. For example, U.S. seceded Panama territory from Colombia in 1903 to build the Canal because of the Colombian government's rejection of the project. It has controlled the politics and economy of the country since. When General Noriega disobeyed, Panama was invaded in December 1989 and an "appropriate" obedient government was installed. Noriega, the head of a foreign country was captured, brought to the United States, tried, convicted and jailed. Granada was invaded in October 1983 to oust a Marxist oriented socialist government. An acceptable government was established under the U.S. occupation. Dominican Republic was invaded in April 1965. It was also occupied from 1916 to 1924. Troops were sent to Mexico in April 1914 to block arms shipments to Mexican revolutionaries. They stayed in Mexico for eight months. Haiti was invaded in 1915 and it remained under occupation til 1934. U.S. Marines were sent to Nicaragua in 1912 to protect the friendly government. Some Marines stayed there for 13 years. They were sent again in 1927 and stayed till 1933 when Samosa was established as the ruler. The Samosa family ruled until the Sandinista revolution in1979. U.S. troops landed in Honduras in three separate occasion, between 1912 and 1926, to protect American business interests. Starting in 1980 U.S. troops were regularly stationed in Honduras in order to protect Contra rebellion forces and impose pressure on Nicaraguan Sandinista government. Between 1898 and 1921 Marines were landed in Cuba on four occasions and remained there for a total of 12 years. U.S. established its present naval base at Guantanamo Bay in 1903. In early 1970s Chile democratically elected a Marxist government and chose Dr. Allende as President. This tended to destroy the U.S. government's theory of associating Marxism with dictatorship which was the basis of the Cold War policies. The Chilean government had to be overthrown. It was done by the CIA and millions of American taxpayers money.

This is just a regional example. The U.S. foreign policy has followed the same lawless, often utterly brutal and destructive of thousands of lives and properties, through overt and covert actions, in other parts of the world particularly in the Far East and the Middle East, anytime the American elite has shown a substantial economic or ideological interest. For example, the U.S. government efforts, in 1960s, to change the Marxist oriented socialist government of Indonesia, ruled since 1945 by Sukarno, and establish a new friendly system under the rule of Suharto caused a genocide by the new government of over 800,000 mostly innocent lives of men women and children. In just a few months in 1965 more than 200,000 people allegedly associated with Communist Party were slaughtered.[5] Since 2001, tens of thousands have died in Afghanistan War and, in Iraq, a small country with a population of about 30 million, according to new estimates, over one million have been killed as a result of war, over 95% innocent men, women and children, and 4.5 million have been displaced one half of them escaping to the neighboring countries and the rest becoming refugees in their own land.

Some decades ago in April 25, 1935, in the Journal of Philosophy, the great American Philosopher John Dewey, discussing the future of liberalim,, described the American system as follows: "the reactionaries are in possession of force, in not only the army and police, but in the press and the schools. The only reason they do not advocate the use of force is the fact that they are already in possession of it, so their policy is to cover up its insistence with idealistic phrases- of which their present use of individual initiative and liberty is a striking example.... It is absurd to conceive liberty as that of the business entrepreneur and ignore the imminent regimentation to which workers are subjugated, intellectual as well as manual workers.", The American political democracy is not a true one. It is used carefully and skillfully as a facade to cover the ills of capitalism and actual control of the system by a very small elite. In reality, as evidenced by the facts presented aboveand many other scolarly writings, it is a disguised brutal dictatorship,

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REFERENCES:

[1]. Newsweek, May 23, 2011, p.68.

[2]. Richard Edwards, et al, The Capitalist System, 1972, p.173 -174..

[ 3]. Edwin knoll, et al. American Militarism, 1969, p. 2.

[ 4]. James Burns, et al. Government by the People, 14th ed., 1990, p.279.and 302.

[5} World Book, 2001, vol. 10,p. 238. For full documentation of this article see www.democracywhere.com

Professor Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin System,and a Fulbright scholar, a multi-disciplinary, multi-cultural, and multi-lingual scholar with background in Mechanical Engineering (B.S.M.E.), Continental and Islamic Law (Licenciate), J.D. in American Jurisprudenxce, LL.M. in International Law and International Economics, Ph.D. in Political Science, Economics and Administration, and Doctor of the Science of Law (S.J.D.) the highest law degree offered in U.S. Fluent in five languages: English, French, Spanish, Persian, Azeri-Turkish. Elementary knowledge of Arabic, Urdu, Russian and Italian. Patented inventions; an artist, a poet (oil and pastel), a musician (violin), with over 35 years of academic background in teaching, reseasrch and administration, research and cultural studies in many countries in Europe including USSR, Middle East, Central Asia, Northe africa, Central and South America. Author of 8 books and many scholarly articles listed in his website http://www.democracywhere.com

6 Steps to Destroy the American Infidels

The United States has enemies, which call the country the land of infidels. They have been plotting ways to attack. Some of their plans are quite ingenious using the system against us. But the best way to kill the Americans is to destroy their economy. So how would they best do this? I will give you a step-by-step plan on how to destroy America, it can be used to bring down any nation. Once the tactics are refined in the destruction of the US you can take this plan to other nations too.

First introduce Sarbaines Oxley and attack American businesses. Make the Corporations jump through impossible hoops in over regulation and hire lawyers and accountants to lead companies and call all the shots, prevent them from the inherent efficiencies possible in business. Get corporations to dismiss any sense of value, quality or price to the consumer only following incessant rules, which you make up as you go and enforce selectively on whims. Honor people like Elliot Spitzer and promote them to governorships so junior regulators and lawyers will attempt to emulate. This will insure making the perception of all innovators and entrepreneurs into Satan like characters of greed. Thus they can be used as examples of evil so they will stop producing. This is a key ingredient of the plan to destroy America. These folks bring everything we see, everywhere we go in America to the point of abundance, this level of quality of life is an atrocity.

Second any plans made against America by International Terrorists must be sure not to attack any State Capital City where the most lawyers and politicians are. Especially Washington DC because they are doing more to make the United States of America an economic wasteland than any International Terrorist ever could dream of. The politicians and lawyers are on the team of the International Terrorists and should be kept safe from harm they are helping the cause of America's decline and eminent fall. As a matter of fact if theses lawyers and politicians are allowed to stay in power there is no need for any International Terrorists in the first place, because at the current rate the infidel nation will implode on its own.

Third introduce a society of tattle tales, whistle blowers and crybabies who will not own up to their own incompetence, lack or productivity or personal commitment. Enlist misfits of society to run around and complain about everything and everybody, reward them and put them on a pedestal. Find regulators, politicians and whistleblowers and promote them to the highest levels of society. Then get those who are up and coming to emulate them. Hitler knew he could count on the next generation to serve his will.

Forth make sure to elect lawyers to office who have never had to make a payroll. Who argue over semantics and words and never get anything done. Give them worthless and ridiculous controversies to argue over. The more ridiculous the better, it keeps them busy doing nothing and causing more minutia to slow any efficiencies or progress.

Fifth stifle innovation and preach hate and divide the nation, making each person take sides. Prevent forward progression of the nation with complicated laws and rules. Attempt to protect people from having to be responsible for their actions and regulate morality at every possible chance. This is best to be done through religion or government. Both will be best to destroy America.

Sixth attack anyone who attempts to alert everyone of your secret plan to divide the nation and cause its crash through these tactics.

Sound familiar? We have spent a trillion dollars on Department of Homeland Security; are we better off, safer or protected? We have volunteers patrolling our leaking borders. What are we really protecting? Or are we helping in our own demise? Think on this, the media is warping your reality.

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is an online writer in retirement.

Religion and American Government

Normally, twelve to eighteen months before a presidential election, politicians begin to jockey for position. And at times it can become an embarrassing fiasco that probably leaves people in other nations wondering if all Americans are crazy.

The topic of religion always seems to be high on the list of candidate qualifications and I have found myself asking if this should be a deciding factor?

America is a nation that was founded on the freedom of religion, which is guaranteed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. So should the religious affiliation of a presidential candidate make a difference?

Setting out to find the answer to this question, I found that there are misconceptions which are held by a great number of American citizens. I would like to address a few of these ideas and lay some of the mistaken beliefs to rest.

By large, the greatest misunderstanding that seems to be held by the general public is that the United States is a Christian Nation. This is a fallacy and I will explain why.

The United States was not founded upon Christianity; the predominant religion in America is Christianity. This is demonstrated by the First Amendment to the Constitution which reads as follows:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

This is not the only example which demonstrates that the nation was not founded on Christianity. Actually there is another example that does not leave room for interpretation.

The Barbary Treaties 1786-1816

Treaty of Peace and Friendship, Signed at Tripoli November 4, 1796

ARTICLE 11

"As the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion,-as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of Musselmen,-and as the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mehomitan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries."

Now that we have established that the United States was not founded on Christianity. We should look at the religious beliefs of the Founding Fathers.

Thomas Jefferson wrote: "The God of the Old Testament -- the God which Christians worship - Jefferson pronounces "a being of terrific character - cruel, vindictive, capricious, and unjust" (Works Vol. IV. page 325).

"The day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the Supreme Being as his father, in the womb of a virgin will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter." (Works Vol. IV. page 365).

Jefferson was not the only founding father to hold a religious view known as Deism. The list is to include George Washington, James Monroe, Benjamin Franklin and James Madison.

This is not to say that these men did not attend church at all or even that they despised Christianity. On the contrary, George Washington accompanied his wife to church quite often according to historical record. But Washington would leave before communion and there is no record of him ever participating in the ceremony.

Knowing that the Founding Fathers worked diligently to insure that there was a wall built between church and state. I believe that they would hang their heads in shame if they could see that we have not maintained that barrier very well.

Today we have politicians that hold prayer meetings during their campaign for election. Mingling their interpretations of biblical doctrine with what they feel public policies should be.

There are groups that accuse the current president of being Muslim, as if he does not have that right, if he so chooses. As long as he separates his religious beliefs from his governmental duties this should not be an issue.

We have Christian and Jewish groups that lobby our government on a daily basis. Most of which are demanding that the U.S. Government give full and unwavering support to the government of Israel. While the government in question works hard to maintain an Ethnic Democracy in that country. This is a form of government that treats people of other religions as second class citizens.

I do not believe that the Founding Fathers of our nation would support or assist any foreign nation's government in establishing an ethnic democracy, based on Old Testament ideologies. This would go against the principles that they put forth and undermine the idea of the separation between church and state.

This wall that our forefathers built between the church and government should not be viewed in the same light as the wall which once stood in Berlin. This wall is something that we should embrace and reinforce on every possible occasion. Tearing it down will not unite a people but rather it will destroy a nation.

The thirteenth president of the United States offered some words of wisdom that perhaps we should reflect upon.

"I am tolerant of all creeds. Yet if any sect suffered itself to be used for political objects I would meet it by political opposition. In my view church and state should be separate, not only in form, but fact. Religion and politics should not be mingled." Millard Fillmore (1809-1865)

So to the great nation of America I say, enjoy the freedoms that you have. Worship the God of your choosing, in the manner you see fit. But please honor our Founding Fathers and check your religion at the door before you enter the arena of our government.

For articles of similar content, please visit: http://subtledeceit.com/

Backward America - The Plight of the American People

You may not know what kind of difficulty you are in due to the political and social circumstances that affect your life in this country.

Let me get real personal ... Our infant mortality rate ranks 37th in the world. It used to be 15th in the world. That's a disgrace for a nation that seems so pumped up by its egotistical nature.

Many of the so-called lesser nations of the world have as their populations, people who live longer than you and your American neighbors. That's a disgrace!

We have no universal healthcare and we pay exorbitant amounts of money for healthcare, while many of our citizens can't get treated properly.

Insurance companies are in business to deny you the funds when you need to get adequate medical treatment. That's a disgrace and a ripoff.

The fat cats get richer and you get exploited.

Your politicians scream about the evils of socialism. Your education system is socialism up and through high school.Yet your children will be up to their necks in debt from borrowing money to get a higher education.

That's a ripoff and it's a disgrace. Higher education should be free and could be free like it is in other countries.

Working mothers are being ripped off by exorbitant day care costs, while they bust their chops trying to support themselves and their children. We need a free day care system, where the working mother can feel safe and secure that her children are being taken care of properly and that she's not going to go into the crapper because of lack of money. Let's end this disgrace and start to love our neighbor as ourselves as it says in the good old book.

There is a huge discrimination in the workforce towards senior citizens. They can't get jobs because employers don't want to have to pay health insurance for their high risk older seniors. Let's put the cream of our crop back to work if that's what they want to do and give them the support and health care that they need.

When Jesus was asked by a rich man how he could find the kingdom of heaven, Jesus told him to "sell all of your goods and give the money to the poor and then follow me".

If we are to be a true nation of people caring for and loving one another, then those of us who are richer and more fortunate have a duty and obligation to help the less fortunate. Our system needs to learn how to share the burden for taking care of the least of us.

The nursing home situation in this country is an absolute disgrace. Caretaking aging children are over burdened with enormous costs for finding proper care for their aging parents who need a lot of help. We need an entire reformulation and reshaping of our healthcare system for people who are on the final edge of their journey. There is no need for them to suffer because of lack of money and services. This is an absolute disgrace and our country should be ashamed of itself for the way it treats its extreme elderly people.

Did you know that emergency rooms and hospitals can't afford to provide services due to a lack of money? Drug companies get richer and many treatments are denied to people who need those treatments. The patient needs the money, not the executive who gets bonuses for increasing profits.

Your political dictators try to convince you that they care. But, that's bullshit! You'll notice that their pensions and health care is fully provided to them through your tax dollars. But you don't get the same benefits and privileges.

Your police and fire departments are socialistic institutions and because of government institutionalization, these needed departments have not let us down the hoary path of socialism. So, why are 2 million Americans in jail with excessive sentences and for behavior that may be sinful but not deserving of long term incarceration? Do you know that local governments harass ordinary citizens with exorbitant fines, where warnings would have been just as effective? You wonder why Americans don't fully trust politcians and law enforcement.

If we are to be a true democracy, we need to take care of our people and not have all of the wealth go to the fat cats, while a majority of citizens are struggling just to stay one step ahead of total fiscal collapse. Everybody is concerned about the so-called myth of the welfare state. Is anybody complaining about the warfare state? Do we need another super carrier? We are being practically defeated by homemade bombs and poor people. Why spend billions on the latest military tank and the most sophisticated airplanes, while our senior citizens and their caretakers are sweating their tails off trying to provide proper care.

It's a disgrace! Charity is not going to cover all of our basic needs. What we need is a total revamping of our political and social ideology. The Europeans are way ahead of us when it comes to taking care of their citizens. No wonder they live longer and happier and are free of many of the anxieties that plague Americans. It's time to come out of the haze that our political pundits have saturated us with. We need to start revamping our system, modern-izing it and spreading our wealth equitably and beneficially to those who need it the most.

You may think this newsletter is a little unusual coming from a psychotherapist. But my mental health training also includes social psychology and group dynamics. We are on the verge of seeing the collapse of our system. Our way of life must include an equitable sharing of the wealth and resources of this country and distributing it for the benefit of all of our citizens. This can only be done by learning from other countries who are way ahead of us.

We don't have to worry about a foreign enemy. The enemy is here at home and it is us and our blindness to our fellow citizens. Please don't send me any of your rants telling me if I don't like this country, I should go to one of those other countries that cares more for its citizens. There is nothing new on the face of the earth and we owe it to ourselves to improve our system and become the Golden City on the hill. We can do it ...

There has been a flood of information coming in from the media about the green movement. Meanwhile, a very expensive trash truck is picking up my garbage in the back alley. It makes sense to me that if you want to conserve energy, we can invent a way to turn our waste materials into recyclable energy right in our own homes.

In the meantime, I'm going to watch some homeless person dive into the trash dumpster in the back of McDonald's. Somewhere along the line, that person lost his dignity and he had to resort to trash picking just to eat. Why not have a section at a restaurant for indigent and homeless people to come and sit down and eat properly from the excesses that America is so fond of producing and throwing away. That's a great start!

In my own personal psychotherapy practice, if I don't keep up with inflation, I can't afford to support my family. Many potential clients come to me and want my services but they can't afford it. In some European countries, the government pays you to provide more (not less) treatment for those who need it. So if I treat more people who can't afford American prices, the government would reimburse me and I can help alleviate much of the suffering of our population. Oh ... So why can't these people go to a public mental health facility for low-cost treatment. I won't get into that. It makes sense that every American should have access and free choice as to who they wish to be their physician.

There is a part of me that says let the fat cats and their institutions fall apart and let's send our tax dollar bailout money where it is really needed ... to our healthcare system, day care system, medical facilities, infrastructure, and senior citizens.

Let's put love back to work and shove self-interest and greed into the pit where it belongs. I see a new day and a new age dawning. We have to come out of our own dark ages and see a new enlightenment coming over the horizon.

As a people, we need to go beyond the beyond that is beyond all beyondness!

If you can read between the lines of this article, you can see that I am trying to deal with the struggles that most people on this planet confront on a daily basis. Collectively, if we use our common sense, creativity and intuition we can effectively solve these problems and diminish many of these struggles. Let's take the burden of struggle out of individual hands and spread the burden further out collectively. That way, we can diminish anxiety and reduce suffering and pain.

I know many of you may feel powerless ...

But a change in one person's consciousness can start a flow that may reach a critical mass, at that point we may come to the realization of the messianic age, where true brother/sisterhood/mother/fatherhood sings from the mountaintops of Sinai to the rivers of Jordan to the oceans of Hawaii, the plains of Texas and the skyscrapers of Philadelphia.

Paul J. Hannig, PH.D. MFT is a licensed California Marriage and Family Therapist offering innovative and in-depth individual and group therapy. His expertise includes Deep Feeling Therapy, core identity work, psycho-spiritual therapy, hypnotherapy, marriage/relationship counseling, and his "Abstain Now" program for addictions. He is the author of "Feeling People", "Sizzling Relationships: the 401(k) of Love", and "Coping with the Disorder" along with profiles on mood and personality disorders. His office is located in Chatsworth, CA. Telephone Therapy is available as well. Visit PsychotherapyHELP (http://www.nvo.com/psych_help) for personal growth, relationship and therapy information, along with free articles to download, resources, and books and media to purchase. Watch his extraordinary video, "Deep Feeing Therapy: Healing Emotional Pain", at http://www.nvo.com/psych_help/feelingtherapy/. With the creation of PsychotherapyHELP, Dr. Paul brings over thirty years of his knowledge and expertise to all who search for answers to deep emotional pain and interpersonal problems.

5 Reasons For the American Physician Shortage-Didn't Know There Was One?

Wake up, America! What is it about the pending demise of the traditional medical profession that you don't understand? You may have been attentive enough to notice in the broader sense that as the percentage of American doctors decreases it becomes camouflaged by the increase in foreign doctors practicing here.

If that's not enough of a concern, then why are the American medical schools having a problem recruiting American doctors, the AMA is promoting re-entry programs for physicians in its February 2009 issue of AMA Voice, a Bulletin September 2008 is asking "Where Have All The Doctors Gone?," and why the U.S. Congress, now trying to revamp the health care system, is having to consider what language to publish the new Health Care Legislation in.

Every physician in this country can see how desperate the situation is, but can't seem to do much about it, at least that's obvious to those of us kept out of the committee room conferences where strategies are born. Physicians also see the problems from the inside of the profession and already know the reasons a medical doctor shortage is moving like an avalanche. So, who's doing anything to prevent it, or at least slow it down? But to do that you need to understand the causes.

Open your eyes to these 5 reasons why we have an American physician shortage: It is vividly clear to every medical doctor in order to survive in the medical profession today, must create a series of defenses against the economic, political, and legal-social barriers which are shredding the medical profession. Who in their right mind would want to become a physician, only to understand that for the rest of their career they will be fighting against the divisive tactics of governmental restrictions?

1. The economic barriers:

If you knew that doctor's incomes have dropped almost 10% over the last 10 years and are continuing to drop by all national surveys, that medical practice business expenses have risen steadily over that same period, and governmental medical fee restrictions are to be increased soon as they are each year, would you consider there was a real problem brewing?

And, even worse, there's no halt to the process over the foreseeable future.

When a physician recognizes that high school dropouts are making more income on the Internet and as managers of a fast food restaurant than he is earning after 20 plus years of education, why not get out quick? And, that's not even figuring in their incurring an educational debt of over $200,000 to pay back as soon as they finish medical school.

Might a doctor seriously consider changing to another career? Or, while in college decide that becoming a medical doctor isn't worth the risks, education, and money spent. Why then, do any of them do it anyway? Who knows?

You, may believe that this information is biased, inaccurate, and deliberately misleading. Check it out for yourself and let me know what you find out from any legitimate sources.

2. The political barriers:

Other than having to deal with fee regulations, which no other profession suffers from, the malpractice issue rises up like a monster in the sea. Why would any college student choose to become a medical doctor, expose themselves to devastating medical malpractice litigation over and over throughout their medical career in practice, and possibly wind up losing their medical practice and medical license (often blackballed in their profession)?

The fact that attorneys compose the majority of the legislative bodies in this country should be a clue as to the cause. They vote in or out medical malpractice laws within each state. Only a small minority of states have been able to establish legislation capping the outrageously high jury verdicts handed down for plaintiffs (patients).

California became the first state to suffer from the results of these run-away verdicts in the 1970s. It was the first to establish a cap on the verdicts. You and I know that lawyers will do all they can do to keep their cash cow producing income.

Understand, the cap on jury awards has to do only with that part of the verdicts called "for pain and suffering"----not for the primary segment of the award to cover the injured patient's future medical bills and care.

There is no national consensus as to how to resolve the issue of legitimacy of a malpractice suit. Some states (like Nevada) have a review panel of several individuals who offer an opinion as to whether the case should go to trial or be dropped. The attorneys are not obligated to take the panel's advice.

With the stagnation of protective medical malpractice legislation progress, doctors will continue to live with the high risk if they choose to become a doctor.

3. Medical Malpractice barrier:

For 2 years in the 1970s in California there were no insurance companies who would write medical malpractice policies for doctors at any premium price. Doctors either left to practice in another state (like has happened in Pennsylvania recently), or went "bare" (no insurance).

With no insurance, doctors took on the high risk of loss or their medical practice, bankruptcy, or worse. The doctors responded by forming their own malpractice insurance organizations which have served them well.

Nevada physicians, especially high risk specialties such a Obstetrics, has recently faced the same problem of unaffordable medical malpractice insurance premiums---and the state still hasn't learned the lesson. Large numbers of Obstetricians left the state leaving patients without care and forcing them to drive out of state to get care.

It's a repeated scenario. No cap on the jury verdicts (the cause)-malpractice insurance companies skyrocket their premiums-doctors can't afford to pay premiums-doctors leave the state to practice elsewhere-patients lose their doctors and doctors become scarce.

Any physician, no matter what kind of specialty they practice, has to learn to live with the risk of a medical malpractice suit.

Also know, doctors live daily with the possibility that any patient can file a medical malpractice suit against them anytime, even years after the event. Even then, the physician becomes "labeled" whether they are guilty of malpractice or not. Further, the mental anguish of court investigation and trial takes a permanent and huge toll on the doctor-win or lose.

Would you be willing to work every day under that threat? Retiring early, changing professions, moving to medical administrative jobs, and trimming medical practices to low risk patients is what is going on now in the medical profession. The prediction is that it will get much worse in the near future.

4. Legal barriers:

Medical licensure has become a political toy. Medical Boards are normally composed of physicians along with a few non-physicians appointed by the state governor. Members often have conflicts of interest which reflect on their management of physicians who are brought before the board.

So it's an arcane topic in most circles. When a physician is reprimanded or punished by the medical board, the action is spread throughout the country to all other medical boards.

If punishment of renegade physicians is not harsh enough, pressure is put on the board to be tougher-or else. Any black mark placed against a physician follows him or her wherever they go to practice. Simply another reason to quit the profession when the board is unduly unfair.

An example of unfairness by a medical board: An experienced and respected physician, board certified, 15 years in practice with a clean record was brought before the board for a legal issue completely outside the medical profession. He was brought before a trial judge, who had just completed her own vicious divorce from a physician husband in the same specialty as the doctor involved.

She proceeded to disregard any defense issues and wrote a 3 page order to the medical board insisting on putting this doctor back through a residency training program for his specialty among several other practice destroying requirements. The medical board ruled exactly the way she wanted.

The real story of the bad treatment was magnified by the fact that no direct contact was made with the doctor by the board other than a letter. He was never interviewed by any member of the board, as is the standard procedure, nor was he ever permitted a hearing in front of the board to present his own rebuttal, evidence, and defense.

Be aware, this was what was done to a physician of quality for a problem that had nothing to do with his medical practice. And, yes, there is more to the story than this which revolved around poor judgment by the board.

Physicians are often unaware of how other physicians view their actions and judgments. They have to live with that.

5. Social barriers:

Physicians have their own clicks they work with, socialize with, and refer to. It's normal and friendly interaction. However, within that physician community are many areas of quicksand which directly affect their medical practice and income. Offending one doctor can lead to 20 others stopping all referrals to that doctor. Peer review of practice mistakes or blunders which are unintended and accidental can turn a doctor's future practice associations into dead ends.

Normally one would expect a professional to act in a mature professional manner-sometimes they do. Often it is more devious and crude when the battles occur. Physicians are very unforgiving of those others who don't meet their own expertise and ability standards. That's what all doctors have to live with to survive.

These five factors have a profound and direct effect on why the physician population is dwindling. The other factors are less extreme. Face it! Doctors are sick and tired of being stomped on and dragged around by those who seem to believe that doctors aren't practicing up to expected standards. There lies the problem.

Expectations for a profession which yet doesn't understand everything in medicine are beyond reality. Medical practice functions on basic medical principles that constantly must be modified depending on the circumstances, and judgment calls which unintentionally lead them astray.

The bottom line is.........what's going to be done about it.......if anything?

The author, Curt Graham, is a medical doctor, marketer, copywriter, author, speaker who has written extensively over his 35 plus years in active medical practice. He is a published author in Modern Physician, and is credited as an expert author by web article directories and self help websites including selfgrowth.com.

If you want to know how physician shortages affects your own healthcare....Go Here Now! http://www.healthcaresecretsrevealed-finally.com

Please feel free to copy, send, or distribute this article as long as the article is not changed, and the resource box is included as written.

© Copyright 2008 L & C Internet Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

The author, Curt Graham, is a retired medical doctor who has written extensively on many topics over his 35 plus years in active medical practice as a specialist in OB-GYN. He has been published in Modern Physician, and is credited as an Expert Author by EzineArticles.com directory. Go to his website for more detailed and expanded articles concerning obtaining better health care, among others:

http://www.HealthCare-Toolbox.com

Please feel free to copy, send, or distribute this article as long as the article is not changed, and the author bio resource box is included with the article as written.

Copyright 2005, L & C Internet Enterprises, Inc., Curt Graham, All Rights Reserved.

The Simpsons - A Commentary on American Culture

No one could have predicted that the crude drawings of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie Simpson on the sketch comedy program, "The Tracey Ullman Show" would become an enormously popular cult hit among viewers of all ages and backgrounds. As the longest running animated series in the history of television, it is also one of the most beloved. "The Simpsons" episodes are usually themed around current events – even controversial topics such as gay marriage and religion in public schools. There is no such thing as taboo subject matter on "The Simpsons." Topics on the show are handled with humor that is evenly aimed at all ages, races, genders and religions.

Credits

Creator and executive producer, Matt Groening is credited with bringing the animation comedy back to prime time television with the introduction of "The Simpson's" series on Fox in 1989. Executive producer James L. Brooks is an Emmy and Academy award winning writer and producer of films that include Terms of Endearment and As Good as it Gets. Al Jean is the third executive producer and also head writer (Simpsons, 2006). As an interesting little fact, staff writer, Daniel Chun is the younger brother of a boy this author dated in high school. Al Jean and Mike Scully are also two primary writers.

In addition to the hundreds of celebrity guest stars who have voiced various colorful characters on the show, it is the voices of the main characters that are irreplaceable and integral to the show’s continued success. Best known for dishing out the well timed “D’oh!” as Homer Simpson, Dan Castallaneta former Tracey Ullman cast member, is also Mayor Quimby, Grandpa Simpson and Groundskeeper Willie among others. Also a Tracey Ullman alumna, Julie Kavner lends her voice to Marge Simpson and her two surly Homer-hating, MacGyver obsessed, chain smoking sisters Patty and Selma. Nancy Cartwright is the voice of 10 year old Bart Simpson, plus Ralph Wiggum, Nelson Muntz and Todd Flanders. Middle child, eight year old Lisa Simpson is portrayed by Yeardley Smith. Both Hank Azaria and Harry Shearer provide voices for dozens of Springfield’s memorable characters (Simpsons, 2006).

The Simpsons’ Lucrative Heyday

In its early to mid-‘90s glory days, "The Simpsons" was not only at the height of popularity and ratings, but the show was raking in hundreds of millions in licensed product sales. Audiences couldn’t get enough plush Homers that drooled “Mmmm… doughnuts” or battery operated Barts exclaiming “Aye carumba!” at the push of his belly, plus video games, apparel, home furnishings and so much more. Bart’s catch phrases which included “Don’t have a cow man!” and “Eat my shorts” were heard everywhere. Along with the ratings, sales of Simpsons licensed items have declined in recent years, but the writers’ and producers’ efforts to keep the show fresh and funny have not gone unnoticed by many viewers who have remained loyal to the residents of Springfield, USA.

A Window into Our Nation

The fact that the show is set in an unknown state indicates an effort on the part of the writers to reflect American society overall in each episode. This has enabled the show to draw viewers from all over the country. For instance, a show like "Sex and the City" may have an especially large following of New York viewers, while "The Simpsons" with its unidentified setting can appeal to all Americans. The two-story Simpson home on Evergreen Terrace closely resembles a typical home in an American suburb – minus the circus-like bold colors.

The Main Characters – the Simpson family

The show is based around the Simpson nuclear family model of two parents, 2.5 children (Maggie could be considered the .5 because of her inability to talk) plus cats, Snowball I, II and III and rescued greyhound, Santa’s Little Helper. The family structure and character personalities reflect traditional American norms. While the Simpsons are rather dysfunctional, (as evidenced by one of the earlier episodes where the family went through shock therapy with Dr. Marvin Monroe to get through their issues), ultimately, we all have problems, but at the end of the day, there is much love and solidarity in most families. This is of course, if you ignore the frequent displays of child abuse where Homer chokes Bart until his eyes bulge out of his head and the fact that baby Maggie seems to be frequently left home alone.

Devoted wife and mother Marge is a tribute to hard working American moms. She is the heart, soul and glue of the Simpson family. Unlike her husband, Marge does not have any friends or time to be social as she is too busy tending to her husband and kids. Homer, who has plenty of loser friends, is the bumbling fool of a husband and father. What he lacks in intellect, he makes up in beer consumption at his favorite watering hole, Moe’s Tavern. He is not always completely devoted to his family and is often selfish and careless, but at the close of most episodes, he does the right thing – and that is where we see the spirit of the American father.

Bart is the mischievous, free spirited oldest child who stumbles on trouble everywhere, but, like his father, usually finds redemption and a life lesson by the end of an episode. Lisa is the living, breathing conscience of the Simpson family. A well read, caring little girl who follows Buddhism and current events, Lisa can also laugh with Bart at the especially gruesome episodes of the cat and mouse adversaries, Itchy and Scratchy. Baby Maggie, while the smallest and quietest character, speaks volumes with the sucking of her pacifier. Writers have always given Maggie an obvious wisdom and awareness that supersedes her young age. She even has a uni-browed baby nemesis.

Social Commentary

In addition to the Simpson family central characters, the show features dozens and dozens of Springfield residents with unique life stories and memorable personalities, all of which represent the typical personalities most of us will encounter in our lifetimes. For instance, our country is fraught with crooked politicians and Mayor Quimby represents the ultimate sleazy political figure. He is often caught in compromising positions selling out Springfield and cavorting with young women, yet he remains in power and no one in the town seems to bat an eye. Once he even addresses the townspeople as “stupid hicks” and they are not phased by it.

Poking fun of the police system, The Simpsons features Police Chief Clancy Wiggum, perhaps the second biggest buffoon on the show next to Homer. He is in charge of Springfield’s safety and well-being with his two side-kicks who surpass Wiggum in intelligence. His stupidity is legendary and the town would be better off turned over to terrorist cannibals with access to weapons of mass destruction. Any police chief who says “Aww, can’t anybody in this town take the law into their own hands?” may not be the most qualified candidate for the job (Simpsons, 2006).

Value of the Elderly

The show also makes light of the serious issue of elderly neglect. Homer’s father, Grandpa Simpson, lives in the Springfield Retirement Castle. A retired war hero, Grandpa was very hard on Homer in his youth. As perhaps a kind of subconscious revenge, Homer put Grandpa in a home where his quality of life is poor. It is clear that Grandpa and the other residents are treated badly. His neglect is apparent when in one instance, Grandpa refuses to let Homer answer the phone so that he can “savor the rings.” Yet Grandpa appears in many episodes as a vibrant, interesting character who lends his unique, crotchety humor to the show. Perhaps the writers are trying to illustrate that many elderly still have much to contribute and should not be disposed of as nuisances.

Phil Hartman

The late Phil Hartman of Saturday Night Live fame lent his voice to two very stereotypical Simpsons characters: sleazy lawyer Lionel Hutz and informational film star, Troy McClure. Troy McClure would usually make his entrance by saying something like “Hi, I'm Troy McClure! You may remember me from such public service videos as ‘Designated Drivers, the Lifesaving Nerds’ and ‘Phony Tornado Alarms Reduce Readiness’” (Troymcclurepage, 2006). Troy was an exaggeration of a character many of us saw in our youth in perhaps hundreds of public school films that rarely held any educational value.

Lawyer Lionel Hutz was an unethical, ambulance chasing, opportunist who often suddenly appeared in a situation where his legal “expertise” may have helped him profit somehow. His legal practice was named “I Can’t Believe it’s a Law Firm!” and offered clients incentives such as a free pizza if their settlements were not handled in 30 minutes or less (Lionel Hutz, 2006). Lionel’s character humorously embodied the stereotype of the greedy, money grubbing lawyer.

Education

Many American teachers are not fairly compensated for the important work they do. Edna Krabappel represents this notion as Bart’s cynical, underpaid, underappreciated, overstressed fourth grade teacher. Bart is the bane of Edna’s existence typically, but occasionally the two adversaries see eye to eye. Janitors and maintenance staff can also be overlooked for their work in keeping schools running smoothly. Groundkeeper Willie is the rambunctious Scotsman who is often made fun of by the kids of Springfield Elementary and given the worst, most disgusting tasks imaginable to do. They even keep him holed up in a tiny, filthy shack. He is treated as a sub-par human being not worthy of better and Willie’s bitterness is obvious. School bus driver and resident stoner, Otto, is responsible for the lives of the students at Springfield Elementary. He represents every parent’s worst nightmare.

American Medicine and Insurance

Poking fun at the American medical and insurance system, the writers created Dr. Hibbert who likes to make inappropriate jokes about his patients even when they are in very bad shape. In a 2005 episode he tells Homer, “The insurance company says you’re as well as they’re gonna pay for.” This is always followed by his trademark better-you-than-me chuckle. The audience gets the sense that he really has little to no concern about his patients, but he certainly profits from their misery. Another recent episode dealt with the medical coverage crisis when Mr. Burns cut out prescription drug benefits for his employees and everyone was forced to get their drugs in Canada.

Corporate Greed

Springfield Nuclear Power Plant owner, Mr. Burns represents corporate greed and evil. He does not care about his employees, the environment that he is destroying (he is responsible for the existence of the Springfield mascot Blinky, the three-eyed fish) or even his loyal and love-struck assistant, Waylon Smithers. Utterly thoughtless, and completely self-involved, he never remembers Homer Simpson’s name or who he is, despite their numerous encounters. Though he is technically the most powerful man in town, physically he is the weakest, most frail character in all of Springfield and relies on the thankless efforts of Smithers to keep him going. So selfish and ruthless, in one episode he tried to block out the sun so that everyone would be dependent solely on his power. This is perhaps akin to oil companies blocking the development and sale of a cleaner, safer energy source for their own gain.

Bitter Child Entertainer

Child entertainer, Krusty the Clown is beloved by the children of Springfield. He is the surly, raspy voiced star of his own television show and owner of the heart attack inducing fast food chain, Krusty Burger. One of his featured menu items is called the “Whatchamacarcass” burger which pokes fun at the sub-standard mystery meat served at nearly all fast food chains. He is also the face behind Krusty Flakes cereal which boasts “It’s like a birthday cake for breakfast.”

Though he Krusty is wealthy and successful as a result of peddling unhealthy, obesity promoting food and entertaining children, he is constantly miserable. Krusty can be compared to Pee-Wee Herman, another child entertainer with adult-type issues. He seemingly dislikes children and puts on a fake smile in their presence. He typically is not concerned about the well-being of his youthful followers – he is only about the money, which is perhaps why he is usually so miserable. That and the fact that his rabbi father rejects him.

Religion/Morality

Ned Flanders, the Simpsons’ next door neighbor and champion of all things Christian is inarguably the most moral man in Springfield. Even Preacher Reverend Lovejoy does not compare to Ned. Homer often ridicules and takes advantage of Ned, yet he always turns the other cheek and is always unrealistically cheerful. In an episode from the most recent season that addressed religion in public schools, Ned and Lisa clash over whether Darwin’s theory of evolution or “creationism” should be taught in school. In the end they come to a peaceful agreement.

In light of the Janet Jackson Super Bowl incident a few years ago, The Simpsons featured a show where Ned and Homer teamed up to create their own Super Bowl halftime show. Their show acted out scenes from the bible. The crowd booed and jeered. It seemed as though the writers were saying that the Super Bowl audience would not have been satisfied with anything – be it Jackson’ exposed breast or on the opposite end, a religious display. Moral of the story, Americans are never happy.

And All the other Issues…

One could write a novel on the other social situations and current events the show so humorously addresses: gay relationships, childhood obesity, ridiculous oversized SUVs, school bullying, child neglect/abuse, alcoholism and so much more. The genius of "The Simpsons" is it tackles serious issues with a humor that transcends the viewer’s urge to feel offended. In other words, it helps Americans take themselves a little less seriously.

It is this author’s opinion that as long as the writers continue to satirize the ridiculous world events so brilliantly as they have for over 18 years, then The Simpsons still has many years of Homer’s moronic antics ahead.

References

Lionel Hutz. Retrieved August 1, 2006 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionel_Hutz.

The Simpsons.com Actor/Creator/Executive Producer Bios. Retrieved July 30, 2006 from

http://www.thesimpsons.com/actors/actors_index.htm.

Troymcclurepage. Retrieved August 1, 2006 from [http://troymcclurepage.tripod.com/troysounds.html].

Michelle Geary is a communications professional with over seven years of experience - particularly writing and editing. She has worked in various industries including, government, tourism/recreation and academia. Ms. Geary holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from East Stroudsburg University and has recently completed a Masters of Arts degree in Communications from Marywood University. A goal oriented individual with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge, Ms. Geary has a passion for health/wellness topics and pop culture.

Sanborn Maps - A Detailed Source Of American History

In 1867 the Sanborn Company began to make fire insurance maps. The company was founded by a Somerville, Massachusetts surveyor named Daniel Alfred Sanborn.

Within a couple of decades the Sanborn Company had become the biggest and most successful map company in the United States. Now Sanborn Maps publishes historical as well as current maps of towns and cities in the U.S. The maps the company publishes are critical for Phase I environmental research and are also used for restoration and preservation efforts.

Between 1867 and 2007 the Sanborn Company produced maps that detailed pertinent information about 12,000 cities and towns throughout the United Sates. These maps are highly regarded as a source for historical research, sociological studies, genealogical research and urban geography.

Author Kim Keister said, "Stated simply, the Sanborn maps survive as a guide to American urbanization that is unrivaled by other cartography and, for that matter, by few documentary resources of any kind."

Mapping for fire insurance purposes began in the late 1700s in London. The Sanborn Map Company continued that legacy in the United States.

The need for maps mirrored the growth of our nation. In the U.S. the fire insurance mapping industry rapidly grew shortly after the Civil War had ended. At that time the South was being rebuilt and seemingly countless people were moving to the West. It's been said that during that point in time insurance agents and insurance companies, "relied on them with almost blind faith."

The insurance industry used the Sanborn maps to determine the liability of buildings whose owners wanted insurance coverage. Their determination was based on the materials used to construct the building, how close it was to fire departments and to gas lines, how close it was to other buildings, et cetera. Often decisions were made by the insurance companies based solely on the information that was provided by a Sanborn map.

When you factor in the Industrial Revolution, the construction of railroads, the Homestead Act and the huge numbers of immigrants that came to the United States you can see why our population grew so rapidly - especially in urban areas. The need for accurate, detailed maps grew hand in hand with our nation's rapid growth.

The Sanborn maps are drawn at a scale of 1:600, where one inch represents 50 feet. They are large lithographed maps that are printed on twenty one inch by twenty five inch pieces of paper.

Currently a number of companies on the Internet offer digitized versions of the Sanborn Map collection. This offers individuals and corporations the ability to quickly search and retrieve the maps that they need.

The only company that searches the complete holdings of the original Sanborn library - close to 1.3 million maps - is EDR. To find Sanborn Maps at EDR go to http://www.edrnet.com/environmental-services/sanborn-maps

Does American Manufacturing Really Matter?

The "Post-Industrial"Theory

It has recently become fashionable to talk about the U.S. as a "post-industrial" economy. The essential argument is that as national economies mature they move from making things (i.e. industrial economy) to designing things and providing the services necessary to support the making of things (i.e. post-industrial economy). Any pain felt in the older sectors of the economy, so the theory holds, is only temporary, as capital moves to newer economic sectors, and older workers are retrained and likewise moved into growth sectors. Under this theory, the economy's wealth never disappears, it just changes from one form into another (e.g. like energy).

Not All Economic Sectors Are Created Equal

Historical trends show that manufacturing is the economic engine. Since the advent of the first industrial revolution in the late 18th century, begun in England and driven largely by coal, the wealth of a nation has been determined by the vigor and competitiveness of its manufacturing sector. And since the time of the second industrial revolution, in the mid-19th century, driven largely by steam and other emerging energy technologies, the U.S. has been the leader in manufacturing technologies and production. History has clearly shown that nations which export manufactured products tend to generate higher rates of growth in GDP which supports higher individual incomes and produces the tax revenue necessary to produce a better quality of life for a nation's citizens.

Trends of American Manufacturing Under Fire

As a manufacturing engineer, I have come to discover that much of America's manufacturing sector has moved abroad to foreign markets. But I am not just talking about the making of products. I'm talking about the ability* to make products. Industrial equipment needed for manufacturing production, such as CNC Laser Cutters (used to process sheet metal) are now made in other countries and imported. What happens when America's economy depends on other nations for its manufacturing infrastructure? For starters, foreigners begin directing warnings to America's president, protesting Protectionist activities. They do not want America to "Buy American." They want America to buy European or Chinese products. That's because they know that the engine of an economy is manufacturing. And they want America's manufacturing sector to remain in their country rather than here.

Wealth Producing and Wealth Consuming Sectors

A national economy begins to decline as its wealth-producing sector shrinks. Wealth-producing sectors of the economy include manufacturing, agriculture, and mining. Manufacturing is traditionally defined as the process of transforming raw materials into new products by the application of physical, chemical, or mechanical processes, and includes many separate industries: aerospace, textile, computers, automobiles, pharmaceuticals, steel, printing, etc. When it comes to investing in the American economy, a distinction must be made between wealth-producing and wealth-consuming sectors of the economy, such as government, banking (yes, banking), information services, hospitality, education, insurance, health care, and consumer services. These sectors maintain and use physical wealth, but they do not create it. They depend on manufacturing and other wealth-producing sectors of the economy for their growth.[i]

Conclusion

American manufacturing is historically responsible for the relatively higher standard of living enjoyed by Americans compared to other countries, and a thriving manufacturing sector is necessary to allow that trend to continue. Manufacturing drives the engine of the US economy: this sector is responsible for 90% of new patent applications, annually. Manufacturing drives growth and innovation, investment in technology, new products and processes, and provides Americans with some of the best consumer products ever created.

If the manufacturing sector continues to move overseas, so also will the wealth previously enjoyed by Americans.

[i]. See David Friedman, "No Light at the End of the Tunnel, "Los Angeles Times, June 15, 2002; reprinted on New America Foundation web site.

Joel Barrett is a Manager and AutoCAD Engineer for a metal fabricating company in Buchanan, MI.
Berrien Metal Products, Inc.
Phone: 800-978-5300
Fax: 269-695-5300
Email: joel@metalfabrications.com
Website: http://www.metalfabrications.com