Is This What Class War Looks Like?

Would most of us know what class warfare looked like if we saw it?

One of the cherished myths many of the people of the United States have held is that we are a “classless society.” “Class warfare” was a reality in other countries, but not ours. At least that is what I was taught in school. Okay, so it was school and college in Texas, and it was many years ago. You probably never held the notion.

For many, publication of Howard Zinn’s A Peoples’ History of the United States: 1492 - Present, in 1980, forever disabused them of that myth. That's a book I really wished had been available when I was in school. Zinn was fond of saying, “We have had class warfare for a very long time,” and an honest reading of our history demonstrates it.

More recently, Warren Buffett said without pride, "There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning."

Donna Cooper has prepared “Infographic: Tax Breaks vs. Budget Cuts” that may give us a graphic picture of class warfare in real time. The chart above compares the 10 safety-net programs slated for deep cuts with the cost of the tax breaks that should also be considered for reduction or elimination to bring the budget into balance. The column on the left is a list of safety-net programs that have already been targets of the House leadership’s budget ax. The column on the right is the cost to specified tax breaks (see end of her article for her sources).

According to greywolf359 this charge mirrors what we're seeing in Wisconsin,

where Governor Walker (R-Koch) claims that ordinary public sector workers need to fork over at least $137 million to save the budget. Problem is, he just gave away $117 million in tax breaks for his corporate pals. This is out and out class warfare. The big corporations in America have decided that they can get even richer by raiding the public treasury. It's time for the middle class to stand up and defend itself!

If I were to look class warfare in the face now, I could imagine it would look a lot like this. What do you think?

- Milo