Adjusted for inflation, the median hourly wage in the USA was  lower in 2011 than it was a decade earlier.  Good benefits are harder to come by, and people are staying longer in jobs they would like to leave, afraid that they won’t find a better job.  The USA has moved from once having the most mobile workforce in the world to a situation of dire immobility.  There have been three decades of wage stagnation, while the rich have hoovered up wealth as if was going out of style.

Half of the respondents in a recent poll said they expected the next generation of Americans will be worse off than they;  only a quarter expected otherwise.  Even a college degree is not the answer.  While the situation is worse for those without degrees, even reasonably well-educated people are having difficulties finding jobs.

The good news for the advocates of lower taxes for the rich is that the propaganda about job creation (what job creation?) has been so clever and effective that the struggling middle classes still vote for more money for the rich, as if the very rich care about their country of birth.  No, their eyes are on China, Brazil and India, on tax loopholes and offshore sanctuaries, and the antics of the other super-millionaires.

Why does this have anything to do with Epicurus?  Because Epicurus believed in moderation and cooperation between classes.  He thought that a calm and peaceful life could best be created if everyone was reasonably satisfied with their lot.  A no-brainer?  Of course.  But you tell that to the geniuses in the Heritage Foundation and similar think-tanks!

Human beings do best when they work to mutual advantage.