The imbalances in our country these days, are staggering. I don't mind someone becoming wealthy, if they built a better mousetrap. More power to them.

If, however, they manipulated the law (the rules for all of us), then I have questions. Our tax code remains a dark maze that almost no one can figure out, except armies of tax lawyers. That's a clue right there, that lawyers choose to specialize in tax law.

How well off are we as a nation, when the richest one percent control the power to change our laws, control who our teachers and professors are, and the versions of what they teach, and how, from K-16 and beyond? This is NOT what we were taught, nor is it what we are teaching now, about how govt works.

The moderate mindset for a couple of decades now has been, " I got mine."

Our national infrastructure is crumbling.
State-wise, many of our states are operating in the red and are near bankruptcy (see Il).
Locally, is there a wealthy school district in the state? Safe school busses, good brick and mortars, well-paid teachers, non-hungry student bodies, well-supplied classrooms not funded out of teacher paychecks?

Imagine how much better off the country would be as a whole, if employee salaries were living-wage, and CEO salaries were set in the Real World, compensation for work actually performed?

Our housing market is making another bubble, already. Using the rule of thumb that one can afford a home costing three times one's salary, it appears few in-state daily working residents can afford to live here (SC), rent here, much much less buy here. All homes are grossly over-valued, due only to a shortage. No effort to build affordable housing seems near.

The greater Charleston median income is reported to be about $53k. Times 3 = $159k. That is the recommended housing cost, $159k. This paper doesn't even bother publishing the sales of homes under $200k. Reviewing the real estate listings in this paper reveals a handful, maybe, of homes available for under $200k. We read this week that about, what, 105k more homes are scheduled to be built? Who, exactly, is going to afford them? Folks making $12 hr, roughly the national poverty level, don't even have a bus system to get back and forth to work. If their job is in downtown Charleston, hip boots and wading gear are a requirement. Forget using a bicycle. Few paths, lanes, or bridge routes, and bikes don't pedal well when water is over the wheels.

The out of balance economic conditions in our country are right up near the top of the national priority list. Yet, we continue to wage war in Afghanistan (commander #17 just took over in June, year 17 of our involvement, with no end in sight). All that is in sight, are flag-draped coffins returning home. We don't address the national debt. We don't address fixing any part of our infrastructure: a national electrical grid from 1930; an interstate hwy. system from the 1950s; a non-existent national rail system that once functioned beautifully. We abhor education as a nation. We refuse to fund it properly. We let our homeless sleep under bridges, the better to be out of sight and thus out of mind. Our mentally ill roam the streets, and sometimes the only meal our children get, is from schools when they're in session. Yet we turn around and laud athletes for outrageous contracts, and sit back in shock as golden CEO parachutes billow down around us, the execs laughing all the way to rich get-aways.

We have a president not working with Congress or the media, instead content to issue Executive Orders, the act and mindset of a monarch and a dictator, a ruler, not a leader. We can fix all this, if we get involved, vote, and stop bickering at each other.