“The Richest Country in the World:” Tell that to One-Half of Our Nation’s People

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart

Every politician’s biggest lie: “America is the greatest country in the world.” A study including 15 nations places the United States in 15^th place when studying the quality of life for the average citizen.

Politician’s second biggest lie is: “America is the richest nation in the world.” I have no idea which of our American people they are speaking about. One-half of all Americans live in the low-income level or below the poverty line.

More than 500,000 Americans are homeless. However, Republicans on the Supreme Court just told us, “it’s not our problem.”

COMPASSION HAS BEEN REPLACED WITH AVARICE AND A DESIRE FOR CONTROL OVER ANYONE WHO IS NOT EXTREMELY WEALTHY

The number of Americans having no permanent place to live is on the rise. Very few cities have a sufficient number of buildings which offer low-income housing. As home prices continue to increase nationwide, and apartment rents skyrocket, the only choice for many of our nation’s people is to sleep in parks, alleys, literally anywhere they can find.

A number of cities whose year-round temperatures offer more pleasant, less dangerous environments passed laws forbidding “encampments,” and sleeping in public areas. This Court upheld their laws with a vote along party lines, 6-3. This is a growing trend in the most corrupt Court in our nation’s history.

Neil Gorsuch wrote the opinion for the majority, citing the Eighth Amendment. The six radical right-wing justices offered the following “bullshit:” [The Supreme Court ruled today that the cruel and unusual punishment clause of the Eighth Amendment does not prohibit cities from punishing unhoused people for sleeping in public, even if they have nowhere else to go.]

If America was “the richest country in the world,” there would be a safe place to sleep for everyone.

IF TRUMP IS ELECTED, MY AMERICA WILL SOON CEASE TO EXIST

The very existence of the nation, the dream, of our Founding Fathers is in peril. With the Court corrupted and our rights and freedoms disappearing daily, another illegitimate Trump presidency would put an end to the United States of America. Once the Constitution is placed in a shredder, all laws will be null and void, and “the great experiment” will become nothing but a fading memory.

For several years our government has been dysfunctional. For example, in 2023 only 54 bills made their way into law. The average number is between 200-600.

With the end of the Supreme Court, our government is shattered into very small pieces and will never be fully repaired. Putin will have won elections in both Russia and the United States.

My advice is “trust no one possessing great wealth or great power.” These men and women are driven to have more of what they already have. You and I are on earth to serve them.

America is currently a Plutocracy, and if Trump remakes our country into a fascist society, this Plutocracy will become permanent.

I will be 78 next week and it is highly possible that I will not live to see the worst. However, my daughter and her family will suffer from the demise of what could have been the “greatest country in the world.”

Op-ed by James Turnage

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Source: https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-homeless-camping-bans-506ac68dc069e3bf456c10fcedfa6bee