Disposable Americans : Extreme Capitalism and the Case for a Guaranteed Income

Inequality has dramatically increased in America, with few solutions on the horizon. Serious social inequalities persist. For example, the 14 richest Americans earned enough money from their investments in 2015 to hire two million preschool teachers (while the USA ranks low among developed countries in preschool enrollment). Following the Great Recession, the richest one percent took 116 percent of the new income gains, a statistic caused by so many middle-class Americans moving backward, many losing investments in property and experiencing interruptions in work. Author Paul Buchheit looks hopefully to solutions in a book that vividly portrays the rapidly changing inequality of American society. More Americans have become'disposable'as middle-class jobs have disappeared at an alarming rate. Buchheit presents innovative proposals that could quickly begin to reverse these trends, including a guaranteed basic income drawn from new revenues, such as a Financial Speculation Tax and a Carbon Tax. Discussing the challenges and obstacles to such measures, he finds optimism in past successes in American history. Ideal for classroom assignment, the book uniquely pairs historical events with current, real-life struggles faced by citizens, pointing to measures that can improve personal and social well-being and trust in government. Inequality has dramatically increased in America, with few solutions on the horizon. Serious social inequalities persist. For example, the 14 richest Americans earned enough money from their investments in 2015 to hire two million preschool teachers (while the USA ranks low among developed countries in preschool enrollment). Following the Great Recession, the richest one percent took 116 percent of the new income gains, a statistic caused by so many middle-class Americans moving backward, many losing investments in property and experiencing interruptions in work. Author Paul Buchheit looks hopefully to solutions in a book that vividly portrays the rapidly changing inequality of American society. More Americans have become "disposable" as middle-class jobs have disappeared at an alarming rate. Buchheit presents innovative proposals that could quickly begin to reverse those trends, including a guaranteed basic income drawn from new revenues, such as a financial speculation tax and a carbon tax. Discussing the challenges and obstacles to such measures, he finds optimism in past successes in American history. Ideal for classroom assignment, the book uniquely pairs historical events with current, real-life struggles faced by citizens, pointing to measures that can improve personal and social well-being and trust in government. --Provided by publisher Cover 1 Half Title 4 Title Page 6 Copyright Page 7 Table of Contents 8 Introduction 10 1 Workers 15 The Past: Downtrodden Laborers 15 Workers in the Present Day 22 Personal Stories of the Underemployed 25 2 Why We Need a Guaranteed Income. Soon. 29 3 Children 37 The Past: Pennsylvania Breaker Boys 37 The Present: Disposable Children 40 Children, Personally 44 4 The Poor 50 The Past: The Wrath of Poverty 50 The Present Day: The Living Poor 53 The Poor, Personally 61 5 Everyone Deserves an Income 68 6 African-Americans 72 Our Shameful Past 72 The Present: Economic Lynching 79 Race: Personal 81 7 Racism and Narcissism 85 8 The Sick and the Elderly 89 The Past: Flu and Polio 89 The Present: The Middle Class Getting Sicker 93 Personal Stories 97 9 Extreme Capitalism: Preying on the Sick and Retirees 102 10 Youth 110 The Past: Depression-Era Youth 110 The Present: The Struggles of Young Adults 114 The Personal Stories of Young People 118 11 Guaranteed Jobs 124 12 Women 126 The Past: A War for Gender Equality 126 The Present: Women Still Beaten Down 130 Personal Stories of Women in America 132 13 A Tale of Extremes 138 14 Soldiers 142 The Past: The Horrors of War 143 The Present: Disposable Victims of War 149 Personal: Soldiers 152 15 Americide 157 16 The Case for a Guaranteed Income 162 Index 171