Faux good news

The S & P 500 set a new milestone this week, breaking 2000 for the first time in its history.

For the vast majority of working class Americans, this means nothing.

Beginning with the stock market explosion during the Clinton years, it's become pretty much a habit for me to check the numbers for the stock market each day, but I don't know why.  I think we've become conditioned to believe that if the stock market numbers are good, the economy is good--it is, but not for anyone but those at the top.  As the above link notes, wages are at 65 year lows, unemployment remains high, and 16% of Americans live in poverty.  Only 14% of Americans say that the record highs in the stock market are helping them financially.  Seventy percent of us (preceding link) believe that the downturn of the Great Recession is permanent--basically that financially we will never improve.  It's hard to see how the lower 80% of us economically ever will.

But for the 1% and Corporate America (profits breaking records, too) life is oh, so good.

At least until the walls come down.

Peace,
emaycee