Bitter voters

Most of us here are just extras in this big show

Obama took a lot of criticism for calling voters bitter. The solution to the financial crisis created by the financial industry demonstrates the utter lack of economic and political power of the average American. While bread prices have gone up quite a bit in the past year, which affects everyone who earns a median wage or lower, pundits scream about the high interest banks have to pay for overnight loans. The bank bailout may prevent some businesses from going under and it may allow for states and municipalities to keep their finances flowing to public works, but it will not lower the price of bread for the bottom half of society.

Many argue the bottom half of society will be much worse off if the wealthy's demand for a bailout of their bad investments is not met, and they are probably correct. Being blackmailed by the wealthy should be a source of bitterness to those who have not benefitted from the finance industry's past decades of success. They have few ways of making their discontent with the political economy manifest. They have no savings accounts to pull from the banks. They have wage jobs and no way to stop paying income taxes. The media limits their political choices between Republican and Republican lite. Labor organizing has been stifled by Congress for the corporations. The proletariat has been politically trivialized and economically exploited, and their bitterness will be a greater threat to society than the financial crisis.