No seat anymore at the ruling table

No seat anymore at the ruling table

With the upcoming presidential election in full swing, I am in awe just how out of touch both candidates are on our nation’s problems.

To think that such inane issues as abortion, gay marriage and right to own a gun would trump the advent of our collapsing economy and the loss of millions of jobs to outsourcing and corporate downsizing is incredulous at best. And while politicians continue to wave the moral flag about social and religious issues, the simple question is: Where are the jobs?

The introduction of high-tech communications has allowed corporations to ferry employment costs to Third World countries for a pittance, eating away at the middle-class structure that was once the envy of the world.

It pains me greatly to think our elected officials do not equate outsourcing jobs to the four corners of the world as the main deterrent to the American dream. Moreover, the insidious trickledown effect of every job sent abroad deprives federal programs like Social Security and Medicare of necessary funds to stay solvent.

But because our nation is run by an oligarchy of ultrawealthy Wall Street corporations, any attempt to place a tax on those jobs lost overseas has been thwarted.

Still, those same corporations that received almost a trillion dollars of taxpayer money for a jaded promise to create more jobs, has, in fact, done the opposite by downsizing employment and accelerating the exploration of foreign labor as the ultimate answer to higher quarterly dividends.

So go ahead, outsource our jobs, take our pensions, raise our taxes, feed us nefarious dribble about moral and character issues until we hemorrhage as a society. All we ask in return is a few remaining crumbs left over from the American dream. After all, we no longer have a seat at the ruling table.

Gary Lukens

Downers Grove