The Cost of the Conservative Vision of Freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeedom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is what billionaire entrepreneur Nick Hanauer was talking about when he said that the oligarchs had seriously better begin to think about changing their greedy ways or it will be just a matter of time before the pitchfork wielding masses come spoiling for them, at which point unrepentant contrition will no longer be an option.

Observe:

The Great Recession and Not-So-Great Recovery have been bad news for most Americans, but some people have suffered more than others. We call those people "Southerners."

North Carolina and a handful of other Southern U.S. states saw the biggest increases in the number of people living in what are known as "poverty areas" between 2000 and 2010, according to a new Census Bureau report. Poverty areas are places where more than 20 percent of the people live below the federal poverty line, which varies by family size. For a family of four, the poverty line in most states is an annual income of $23,850.

Today, 25.7 percent of all Americans live in such areas, up from 18.1 percent in 2000, according to the report. Having a quarter of the nation living this way is a problem: Poverty areas are typically marked by "higher crime rates, poor housing conditions, and fewer job opportunities," the report points out.

Here's the map -- please tell The Gadfly what factor it is that appears to be the common denominator here:

[ click to enlarge ]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/02/poverty-increase-map_n_5548577.html



That's right - the states with 30% or more (dark teal color) of their populace living in poverty are the deepest red, southern conservative states.

This is what 40 years of Reagan's trickle down economics combined with slashing taxes for the wealthy and mega corporations and deregulating the chicanery of the con artists on Wall Street has accomplished.

Basically, the objective that Osama Bin Laden failed to accomplish, namely the obliteration of the American way of life, has been co-opted by the American conservative movement, and by the look of things, their economic policies and governing ass-hattery appears to be entirely on track to turn the country in to the world's wealthiest, third-world shithole.

And yet people still vote them in to office, and The Gadfly, for the life of his dirty old fucking hippie ass, cannot fathom the sense of it, considering the reality of the conservative's massive and epic failure at governing and economics is directly and negatively impacting the lives of most of their adherents.

Good job America.  And keep up the good work -- for the ancient Roman and Greek socioeconomic dynasties of yesteryear eagerly await your imminent enshrinement in to the pantheon of history's impressively failed empires.



----TFG