Written by George Kennedy   

Economic inequities in America today are so profound, they are the new standard, a hallmark of who we have become. Only a firewall offers a measure of protection against a very dark future due to a deepening economic and social crisis. I shall define what I mean by firewall: organized and engaged citizen leadership throughout society.

That leadership must be rooted among 70 million Millennials (those born between 1979 and the mid-90's), an embattled, multi-generational middle class, and dispirited elements of the political Left. They, too, have a role to play. In this latter category, I would include concerned elected officials – of whatever political affiliation – at local, state, and national levels.

The real problem is the growing likelihood of inter-generational conflict over the lack of employment opportunities and the resulting impact on the social contract that has been a cornerstone of American life.

Conflict is inevitable with: 50-plus million without health insurance; 20-million who lost their jobs; and 46-million living in poverty. And, for the past two-weeks, a multi-generational group of demonstrators on Wall Street trying to reclaim their futures. A second aspect of the problem is the extent to which massive youth unemployment has widened a generational rift. Record numbers of college graduates, unable to find employment, have returned home.

Let's be clear.

The economic inequities we see today are the result of class warfare waged over three decades by three Republican presidents, conservatives, the Republican Party, corporate leadership, and the wealthy – without apology and with an insatiable sense of entitlement. This chapter in our evolution as a country cannot end without massive push back.

The most powerful weapons in a democracy are not in the hands of its leadership but in the hands of its citizens. Therein is the basis for the firewall.

It is just a matter of timing and urgency. History has shown the power of a) organized demonstrations in major urban centers across America;
b) recall petitions;
c) massive voter registration and Get-Out-The-Vote drives – Republican obstruction notwithstanding;
d) increased activities to strengthen the right to bargain collectively;
e) more town hall meetings with elected officials;
f) ballot initiatives;
g) fundraisers; and,
h) telephone campaigns to elected officials.

America's middle class became unwitting pawns in a game to weaken itself by electing officials they believed were their advocates for a more fair and just society. Destroying the social safety net that knit this country together was always the conservatives' ultimate target.

They told us their purposes in elected office were to remove restraints against American enterprise, increase American productivity, get the federal government out of our lives, strengthen States' Rights by returning control to the local level; and, lower the cost of local and federal government (break up the public sector unions).

We bought it, and deregulation and public sector union-busting followed, on the heels of more repressive and divisive social legislation. The rest is history.

The net result is Americans now earn less and pay more for it. Their share of America's wealth has declined for over a decade and they are told the economic pie cannot be re-sized. Their share, although vastly diminished, is their share. To advocate for a larger portion is class warfare; an assault on the success of others. Moreover, the beneficiaries of this restructured America insist this outcome is moral, just, and incontestable.

Recently, Americans saw the future because they live it today. A new generation of twenty-and-thirty-some things is currently debating their response to the tomorrow they are being advised to accept. A tomorrow that includes an America now ranked 49th in the world on life expectancy and medical costs are double those of other Western nations.

I have vivid memories of a generation that rose up against this country's involvement in a titanic struggle waged in a small country in Southeast Asia. One of the rallying cries of that generation was “Hell No, We Won't Go!” That was the catalyst for a presidential strategic review of our national security policy options. Without massive, nationwide protests, that review may not have been initiated.

That conflict may have been prolonged until we had achieved “victory with honor” at a cost of more lives and national treasure. An aroused citizenry strikes fear in the hearts of those who would socially and politically divide and, then, economically enslave a nation. The inevitable outcome is a nation against itself. People will not quietly accept being relegated to economic and financial oblivion.

An engaged citizenry can demand that our national discourse must expand beyond debate and remedies limited to austerity measures alone. Our national agenda has to include specific initiatives to create jobs, expand opportunities for an emerging generation, and to maintain the sanctity of our social contract for future generations without privatization.

Our current political and corporate leadership will not go quickly or surrender quietly. They will employ every device available; perhaps even create a few, to retain the status quo. The Tea Party and their Republican front men in the Congress will be expected to fall on the swords.

Wall Street barons would plunge us further into recession to hold harmless their compensation structure, and the current President, with regard to the financial sector, subscribed to the Larry Summers-Tim Geithner principle of “First, do no harm.” We may not see the level of government response to citizen unrest directed at demonstrators in the Middle East today, but, the behavior of some members of the New York City police could serve as a guide.

My point is, this is a nation of people that consents to be governed, not ruled, and certainly not exploited. Americans demand the freedom to express themselves when laws, policies, and practices increase the gap between the haves and the have-nots. This is an invitation to rebellion.

A citizen firewall may be the last hope against economic tyranny. It cannot be that a few rise while the majority falls. We have to rediscover and recommit to a spirit of community – the sense that we are all in a common enterprise called the United States of America.