Religious Extremism, Racism, and Support for a Plutocracy

Three Issues Are the Most Problematic in America: Religious Extremism, Racism, and Plutocracy

These three issues began the demise of the dreams of our Founding Fathers. Religious extremism, racism, and plutocracy: Three issues which began the decline and maybe the end of America 42 years ago. Although support for all three is clearly forbidden by the Bill of Rights, right-wing politicians consider these the basis for their current platform. The Constitution means nothing to today’s fake Republicans.

“Religious Freedom” and “Freedom from Religion” are of Equal Importance

Let’s begin with America in the 21st century and the choices you have to make. Are you willing to live in a nation dominated by anger, fear, hatred, and the inevitable violence when emotions take control of our lives? Equally important, are you willing to be slaves to the wealthiest five percent of our nation’s people?

I hope you answered, “hell no!” If you did not, you should probably stop reading immediately.

In 1981 a Republican Administration was led by a man who was a Christian religious extremist. He firmly believed that Christianity was the only true religion. I have no doubt that he was a descendant of King George III. He encouraged the creation of the Christian Religious Right which is currently in control of all right-wing politicians. Few of them are true Christians. However, they bow to the demands of those who claim to be Christian leaders.

You are likely unaware that the leaders of all major religions, and some which are lesser-known, own mansions, luxury cars, private airplanes, and pay zero dollars in taxes. They are members of the “financial elite” of all American citizens. They deny and defile the precepts and teachings of Jesus Christ in the New Testament. America’s religious leaders have become the enemies of democracy and equality.

For them, women are third-class citizens and are undeserving of the rights guaranteed by the First, Fourth, and Fourteenth Amendments.

When all women were denied the right to care for their own mental and physical health on June 24, 2022, one of the darkest days in American history was the result of a politically biased Supreme Court and subservience to the Christian Religious Right.

From its Beginnings through 2023, Racism Remains our Nation’s Biggest Problem and its Biggest Shame

During the same time, racism, or more accurately white supremacy, became a renewed problem for our nation’s future. The war on the working class was a thinly disguised effort by a backward administration between 2017 and 2021 to remove the advances of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The efforts of Dr. Martin Luther King and other non-violent leaders were tossed aside in favor of a growing Neo-Nazi resurgence.

On January 6, 2021, it was Trump’s Neo-Nazi supporters who executed the insurrection with the intent of ending democracy in America once and for all. As diversity grows more quickly than expected, pure whites fear the fact that they will soon be the minority.

One of the primary factors, pervasive racism, remains a serious problem is a fact that our country has moved away from a capitalistic society and is currently a plutocracy.

Religious Extremism: The Death of Capitalism and the Rise of a Plutocracy

By definition, plutocracy is:

Plutocracy: government by the wealthy.

“the attack on the Bank of England was a gesture against the very symbol of plutocracy.”

a country or society governed by the wealthy.

plural noun: plutocracies

“no one can accept public policies which turn a democracy into a plutocracy.”

an elite or ruling class of people whose power derives from their wealth.

“officials were drawn from the new plutocracy.”

The population of America is about 331 million. Ten percent of all America’s citizens control more than 90 percent of the wealth. More importantly, this 10 percent controls every member of what was once the Grand Old Party. They rule America with control of our money and the power given to them by our federal government.

The latest “Greedflation” is a perfect example of the truth. Prices are no longer controlled by “supply and demand.” In several situations, corporate America created the illusion of a short supply of necessary commodities to justify huge price increases, including gasoline, our food supply, and both over-the-counter and prescription medication.

Corporate greed will destroy our nation’s economy. When consumers no longer have the ability to purchase items produced by big businesses, our nation’s financial superiority will crash forever.

Religious Extremism: When it All Began

It is an undeniable fact that all three of these issues began to expand under the Reagan Administration between 1981 and 1989. All three of his Republican successors adopted the same failed economic policy of trickle-down economics. Giving more money to the super-rich through tax breaks and other incentives is the reason for today’s expanding income inequality.

The controversial presidencies of Reagan, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump offered irrefutable proof that Republicans are incapable of governing the United States of America. Most of the years in the presidencies of Bill Clinton, Barrack Obama, and Joe Biden were focused on repairing the economic and moral damage to our nation. The truth lives here.

Op-ed by James Turnage — The Wise Old Fart

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Sources:

Pew Research Center: Americans Have Positive Views About Religion’s Role in Society, but Want It Out of Politics
Apha: Racism is a Public Health Crisis
Our World: Opinion: The World Has Reached Peak Plutocracy

Top and Featured Image Courtesy of katesometimes‘ Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inset Image Courtesy of Occupy Miami Photos‘ Flickr Page – Creative Commons License