> I've found that America makes a lot more sense when you think of it as a country run by rich people, with a whole lot of workers. For the rich, this place is amazing.

That's an excellent insight, and it agrees with my experience. When I lived there I was earning minimum wage, as were all my (local) friends and I was not impressed. Friends who needed surgery could not afford it, could not afford car insurance, etc. etc.

A few years later I met an Aussie working in a very high paying Engineering job and he loved the country because when you have money, you can own and do anything you want. You are a god.

>We don't have a cultural respect for human life here. We have business.

It blows my mind that masses have not voted to do something about this to better their lot.

I think there are often several candidates in the primary election for any given office (not just president) that would like to, but it only takes one stalking horse funded by the rich in either party to ad-bomb the election, fragment the vote between the better alternatives, and rake in a plurality of the votes for the win.

There are probably several ways around that, but why change it, since the system is "working"?

>It blows my mind that masses have not voted to do something about this to better their lot.

The media is very powerful here.

You missed one thing about the poor: they are useful as slaves--which is still legal in America. So America spends billions, maybe trillions over the last four to five decades to incarcerate people for anything, especially normal everyday human endeavors so they can be enslaved, provide free labor, and provide a base for others to profit off their pain. Most of these people are, of course, people of color, whom America has enslaved since before it even existed as America, so there is an additional benefit of removing them off the white-controlled streets. No analysis of American poverty is complete without acknowledging this fundamental factor: race and slavery.

So then the slaves can cut corners (all in the name of profits, of course) and make unsafe helmets for our soldiers to defend all of this which we stand for: http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/08/18/pentagon-priso...

It's profiteering all the way down.

I wholeheartedly agree.

I read a book last year I think you would enjoy. The Culture of Make Believe by Derek Jensen. If you've got time I highly recommend it.

It would only make sense if the poor also believe they are "temporarily embarrassed millionaires." It is amazing how many are opposed to policies that would benefit them the most.