Media, In-Group Collectivism, Feeding American Denial On Inequality, Wage Theft, And More

Denial is a powerful force, and in a representative democracy, mass denial is incredibly dangerous. Combine mass denial with in-group collectivism packaged by a handful of self-serving elites, and we call it conservative media. And leading the charge is the ideological solidarity sold by Fox News for conservative consumption, a force assisting in transmuting our representative democracy into something much more closely resembling a representative oligarchy.

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Hey Republicans, There’s Always Benghazi To Fall Back On

When you lose the economy and Obamacare as reliable talking points, there’s always Benghazi to fall back on. Sure Republican legislators, why not continue to exploit the deaths of four Americans for political gain, because you were so good at it when you dragged us into two wars, ending in even more American deaths, not to mention the foreign death toll. Death and destruction goes hand and hand with the politics of the GOP. Just ask the people who have lost loved-ones because of the “conservative” states denying access to the Medicaid expansion.

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An Indefensible Economic System

Someone needs to explain to me why there are so many Americans making average or even substandard wages who continue to defend the capitalistic status quo. I think this is where Robert Reich is correct, that people are simply afraid. In a labor market where employers have all the power, people just feel lucky to have a job.

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CHART: Minimum Wage vs. Unemployment Rate, 1948 – 2012

Most Americans believe the minimum wage should be increased. It would make good economic sense, and it would help pull people out of poverty. But many Republicans in Washington say this is a non-starter because raising the minimum wage would be a job killer. But how do we know this is true? Should we just take their word for it? And come to think of it, calling something a job killer seems to be the boilerplate Republican response to just about anything these days, including Obamacare and raising taxes. Republicans aren’t lying to us, are they?

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Tyranny Of Self-Interested Wealth

If you are not a card-carrying member of the wealthy elite, and if you see yourself as middle class, or even if you are honest enough to admit you might not quite be middle class, and there’s nothing wrong with that, I have a simple message for you. —

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