They operate at a level beyond the reach of even the active citizen. More and more Americans drop out of voting. They assume that Washington is accountable not to the people but to special interests, meaning the rich and the corporations. The resulting corruption erodes hope, and feeds cynicism. America now witnesses an inequality not seen since the Gilded Age.
Billionaires proliferate, but one in five children grows up in poverty.
Gated communities protect the affluent from the growing despair that surrounds them. Private schools tutor the children of affluence while Congress blocks funds to rebuild 50 year old public schools. Multinationals profits soar as they close jobs down here and ship them to cheap labor markets abroad and gain a tax break when they do. If not for the ability of labor unions to accumulate small contributions from millions of their members, working and poor people would be virtually without a voice in the process. In Congress, Republicans are using every trick in the book to block even token reforms, but Democrats are not, in truth, very avid either.