My Thoughts on the Vanguard Two Americas Documentary Series

I recently watched part of a show on CRNT called Two Americas which compared and contrasted the lives to two families in America; one supposedly middle class family and the other a very wealthy family.  There are several things that struck me about the documentary, and being the cynic that I am, I think that the documentary is pure propaganda designed by the ruling elite to reinforce the notion of the American Dream where you too can be extremely wealthy in America by working hard and playing by the rules. 

 

I'd like to talk about the wealthy family first.  Since I tuned in late, I never did hear what the husband did for a living, but it appeared like he was the main breadwinner that enabled his wife to pursue her art/interior decorating career, which also appeared to be doing well.  They have three mansions in three different cities across the U.S. and a couple of young children.  One thing the documentary kept pointing out was that the wife came from very humble beginnings and that she worked her way up to her current situation, but still felt she "had not made it yet".  Many times she said that she could not believe she was living that life.  One thing that really struck me was the three stuffed lambs heads hanging over a fireplace mantle in one of the mansions.  The lamb heads were modified in some way to allow them to "cry" with the tears dripping down into small earthen vessels sitting on the floor in front of the fireplace.  She was fretting over the watery mess, but said that she would instruct the maid to clean it regularly.  Apparently, they employed many people in their businesses, which was mentioned several times, and they went on to say it was hard to find good workers.  The husband and wife also apparently dined out quite often because of their busy lives.  Finally, one thing that was highlighted throughout the film was that this couple contributed about 500K to charities the year of the film.  In fact, the film covered one of their charity fundraisers that appeared to be quite a success.  So, what I think the filmmaker wants people to take away from this film about this family is that they came from very humble beginnings (welfare, food stamps, etc.), worked very hard to get where they are, played by the rules, employ lots of people, stimulate the economy, donate large sums of money to charities, and are basically normal people.

 

In contrast, the middle class family (husband, wife, two kids) from Texas was not doing very well financially.  In fact, both adults in the household were unemployed for the last several months and looking for work.  Neither had a college degree, but the husband had over 20 years experience in the construction industry and I think the wife previously worked as an office worker.  They were apparently drawing unemployment, food stamps, and whatever else they could from the social safety net just to stay afloat, and it was not enough.  Several things in the film stood out like a sore thumb about this family, which was probably the goal of the film creator.  As this family was being filmed, I could not help but notice they lived in what appeared to be a large two-story house with a nice attached double garage and two new-looking large pickup trucks sitting in the driveway, probably in the 30K to 40K price range each.  There were also a couple of other cars on the side of the house that may have belonged to the kids since the husband and wife were old enough to have teenagers.  As the camera panned around the inside of the house, I could also not help but notice the large screen TV covering a large portion of one wall, very nice interior furnishings and lots of stuff, and at one point I noticed a McDonald's softdrink cup on a coffee table as the husband sat there puffing away on cigarettes with a Bluetooth device on his ear.  Just moments before this scene, the man was on the phone with his mother trying to borrow enough money to pay $250.00 on his electric bill before they turned it off the next day.  The total electric bill they owed was in the mid-$600 range and must not have been paid in several months. Between a local charity that gave the family $75.00 and a loan from his mother, they were able to make the electric payment and keep the power on.  To make matters worse, the wife was also filmed on the phone trying to work out a deal with the cell phone company so they would not turn off their phones for lack of payment.  Finally, unlike the wealthy family, this family seemed to be sitting at home much of the time either on the couch or outside and complaining about how bad their financial situation had become.  They even pointed out several houses in their neighborhood that had also just had their electic turned off for non-payment.

 

As I mentioned earlier, I think this documentary was pure propaganda designed to paint the middle class family as reckless, irresponsible, lazy, greedy, and the cause of their financial difficulty while the wealthy family was portrayed as hard working, philanthropic, and a boon to the economy.  In fact, the wealthy family looked and acted just like the families you see on many commercials on television that are hawking goods and services.  The problem is, this type of propaganda works on most people by playing on their sense of fairness, responsibility, need to place blame, and the illusion of the American dream.  For example, as someone who despises debt and intentionally lives below my means, I get upset when I see this family living in a huge house, driving these expensive vehicles, sporting the latest electronic gadgets, and enjoying expensive vices like eating fast food and smoking...all while they are sucking from the government teat.  Why in the world someone would put themselves and their family in the situation where they can't survive on their own in the worst case scenario is beyond me, and it does make me mad that my tax dollars support this.   Worse yet, it makes many people vote against their interests in national elections if you believe that we actually have a choice.  But is their situation all their fault?  To be sure, some of it is, but certainly not all.  Wouldn't they still be working if the ruling elite (bought and paid for politicians and their corporate masters) had not wrecked the economy?  Wouldn't they have more purchasing power if the Fed would stop intentionally destroying the value of the dollar creating inflation now exceeding 10%?  What about the  lack of regulation and oversight of the banking and mortgage industry that resulted in the collapse of the real estate market and foreclosure crisis, both of which effectively destroyed over a trillion dollars in home equity and caused good people (including this family) to lose their homes, which just so happens to be the biggest investment for most working-class people?  What about the government manipulation of the market resulting in the destruction of trillions of dollars from retirement accounts?  What about the misguided government trade and economic policies that have resulted in millions of jobs being exported overseas?  What about the government policies designed to enrich the few at the expense of the majority?  What about the fact that the American worker is actually earning less in real terms than they were three decades ago and the decline is ongoing while corporate profits soar.  What about the fact that a secretary making $60K per year pays more in federal taxes than a billionaire (Buffett)?  What about the fact that many U.S. corporations pay no taxes (and quite often get a TAX RETURN), yet record billions in profits?  What about the documented greed and corruption that is so common in our political system.  It is truly a world gone mad when the Republican primary leader is a known crook!

 

This propaganda should not work on a thinking and informed person.  Sure, there are many people who milk the system while they should be contributing.  In fact, living here in West Virginia I know dozens of people who are perfectly capable of working and contributing to society, but draw welfare and other forms of government assistance instead.  This does make me mad, and that is exactly what the ruling elite wants you to do...distract you by placing blame with these people for the current state of our country.  The fact is, they are not the problem.  Just like in Roman times, the sad fact his these people are bought off (Bread and Circuses) and have no interest in change or anything political for that matter.  That leaves a small (and shrinking) segment of the population (middle class) that is carrying the water for this country.  By directing our anger at the lower class and immigrants, the ruling elite can continue their wealth extraction of this country unhindered.  Those of us who are carrying the water so to speak should be focusing our attention on the corruption, crony capitalism, and corporate money in our political system that is creating these two Americas.  You can rest assured that there will be no Part Two for this documentary because soon there will only be two classes in the U.S., the rich and everyone else. 

Comments

[barbara]

Hear, hear! --- great post. Liked your analysis of the documentary. My dad taught me some simple ways of looking at politics --read between the lines, follow the paper trail, and put "two and two together" which will awaken one to what is really going on in this country. -- barbara

[Thomas Key]

Hello Barbara:

I hope things are going well for you and your family down in old Kentucky. Sounds like your dad was right on. I would also add that you have to ask yourself the question who stands to make money from this, which is part of the paper trail. Thanks for the comment, take care, and have a great holiday season.

Thomas

[Teri]

Excellent post! Thank you for sharing.

[jenny]

Get your facts straight. Buffet's secretary makes 60K, not 35k!

[Thomas Key]

Hi Jenny:

Thanks for pointing out the error. I had also found out that she made 60K, but somehow recorded 35K. I might have confused that with the tax rate. Anyway, thanks again and I'll be sure to change the figure in the post.