Trickle Down Politics

Companies like JP Morgan & Chase have contributed to perhaps, what will be, the most blurred election of our current generation; for the first time conservatives and progressives alike are having controversial feelings regarding the “Trickle Down” economic ideology/practice. The middle class may have more to say on the time honored idea of “Reaganomics” and “Don’t fix what isn’t broken.” The real issue is that there has been a consistent state of disrepair that has not been assessed (properly). In this post I would like to discuss and identify what I feel is the middle class of politics, though ironically there is not much of a middle class economically.

I had an opportunity to speak with a team member of JP Morgan & Chase, almost immediately thoughts of animosity, misplaced resentment, and other caustic thoughts swirled through my head. Banks, my first thought is the credit default swap system failing, though ardently supported until the AIG Fallout of 2008. The person I spoke with was neither top or bottom tier associate, he was your average nine to five white guy, had kids, suits, hopes, and vacations to save up for. He is a member of the middle class, a near extinct social species.

The following are his thoughts:

Myself: “I would like to ask, as controversial now its nature more than ever, your thoughts on the upcoming election? The left, the right, and what it’s all for.”

Anonymous: “Well I’ve always found myself voting conservative, though I realize now that I once used to support "Trickle Down" economics. Trickle down to whom? Most certainly not me, I'm not hiring anyone, despite lacking the manpower to get anything done."

Myself: "Could you go into further detail?"

Anonymous: "Sure, for instance I'm really just a supervisor in my department so I obviously have limited sway in the direction and immediate resources available from Chase; though interestingly enough they're taking us in a new direction. That new direction was supposed to streamline and make the company more efficient, some parts were good but nothing really changed up or down, just different not better."

Myself: "In what sense?"

Anonymous: "Well, I can't really go into specifics but to give you an idea of the bad I would lose people, and would be forced to work with what I have even though there's demand for labor power. With that in mind, we have money so why not hire? Hell with the tax cuts, this is what Trickle Down is for!"

Myself: "Agreed."

Anonymous: "Funny, I used to support this idea and now I can't even justify making less than 8% to calculate for inflation over five to seven years."

Myself: "The average American has received 11% for inflation so you're not far off, though the highest, and smallest, percentile has received over 100% increases in wages to adjust for inflation." (This directly relates from my previous post regarding US Department of Labor Statistics.)

Anonymous: "The problem is none of that money has come down yet, hell I haven't seen a dime I won't lie to you on that, outside of the raises to adjust for inflation. Still, life isn't bad persay just I see where Trickle Down economics fails, and how it's primarily politics curtailed to the highest economic percentile."

Myself: "Thank you for your insight, if I may ask would you feel that either candidate in this upcoming election has something to offer on the table in terms of the declining middle class?"

Anonymous: "Well, considering Trickle Down doesn't work that initial platform is not going to convince very many voters, so that's out."

At this point the interview was cut short due to time constraints and we parted our ways.