America is a Nation of the Oligarchs

A former Walmart executive blows the whistle on Walmart's mistreatment of workers. He recounts how he would watch "associates" sit in the break room during their lunch hour without eating because they couldn't afford food. Walmart banned management from offering their rank-and-file employees any money to buy lunch.

Walmart's corporate philosophy is to "do more with less" — meaning, they want the associates to do more, while Walmart pays them less. Employees have been required to work "off the clock" — shaving minutes from worker's timecards was a common way to steal wages to keep Walmart's labor costs under control.

Employees would be fired just for mere SUSPICION of discussing unionization. Workers were terminated for the slightest offenses to create a culture of fear. To Walmart, their employees ("associates") are nothing more than disposable people.

The wealth accumulated by the richest one percent will exceed that of the other 99 percent in 2016, according to a study by Oxfam.

Another study from last year shows America might already be an oligarchy (via the Daily Kos):

"Our analyses suggest that majorities of the American public actually have little influence over the policies our government adopts. Americans do enjoy many features central to democratic governance, such as regular elections, freedom of speech and association, and a wide-spread (if still contested) franchise. But we believe that if policymaking is dominated by powerful business organizations and a small number of affluent Americans, then America’s claims to being a democratic society are seriously threatened."

Robert B. Reich was once the Secretary of Labor under President Bill Clinton. In his new book, Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few, he reveals how power and influence have created a new American oligarchy — and exposes the falsehoods that have been bolstered by the corruption of our democracy by huge corporations and the revolving door between Washington and Wall Street.

In a recent book review, the economist and Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman reviews Robert Reich's book in an article titled: Challenging the Oligarchy, writes: "Saving Capitalism is a very good guide to the state we’re in."

Here's an example of the media black-out on Senator Bernie Sanders — a typical day in TV news — when Bernie attempts to spread this message to the American people...