An answer to this would explain why such crap has been going on. I can't see any sensible group destroying a stable, if imperfect, system. Just for some idea of socialist equality for the "masses" while the few oligarchs hold all the strings? That is a recipe for bloody revolution. So why is this happening?
I've racked my brain and can't figure it out.
You've heard the old expression that "power is an aphrodesiac".
I think there are some people in this world who have an almost insatiable appetite for power, and for being able to manipulate and control other people. It's often even more powerful than the craving for wealth, especially when the person has already obtained more wealth than he'll ever need. This small privileged clique that dreams of controlling the world no doubt views the solid American middle class as a tough nut to crack, a threat, and a general pain in the ass.
I'm not sure there really is a rational explanation for it. I personally think it's a mental disorder of some sort.
That makes sense to me. However, the good old US middle class provides the wealth, pays the taxes, and provides sons (and now daughters) to fight the wars that sustain these oligarchs.
When outsourcing first started, we were regaled with tales of how third world people were eager to buy US products. At that time, I asked, "OK, if the per capita income of Lower Slobbovia is $ 250, and we can triple their income through this scheme, just how many Chevys can they buy?" No answer ever came.
As I read this thread, I became acquainted with this "Agenda 21" concept and, quite frankly, we are even starting to see "planning" becoming a fetish in rural Georgia. Our commissioners hire these six-figure "managers" and we're off to the races with regulations, rules, money-spending, and empire building.
"I've racked my brain and can't figure it out."
I'm coming close to concluding that the reason for all this, is that the "middle class" in the US is just about tapped out, as far as any future upside in profitability. Women entered the workforce en masse beginning about thirty or so years ago, which upped the level of consumption and debt, as well as substantially slowing wage growth. This was such a boon to the bottom line, that additional efforts were introduced into the mix, to keep the party going. Which leads to ... "diversity," again upping the level of consumption and debt among yet another underutilized class of consumer, which slows the rate of wage growth, as well as paving the way for acceptance of huge increases in immigration, legal and otherwise. Illegal immigration, on the other hand, ups the level of consumption and decreases real wages, while exporting capital, which in turn encourages consumption outside of the US, and offloads a great deal of labor costs upon various tax supported entities.
It's a classic "follow the money" scenario. Looks like they've thrown in the towel on the US middle class, and moved on to develop other consumers with greater potential ROI, like so much cattle.
So, go fend for yourselves, you greedy, overpaid, lazy American cretins. /sarc