June 6, 2016
Not many people will deny that this current presidential election cycle is wilder than most. And I’m not just talking about the number of candidates and their varied backgrounds, but also about the violence unfolding at rallies around the country.
To say there’s unrest is an understatement. But why is it happening? While I’m borrowing the concept, I think it’s because we’ve been split into two main groups.
One is The Protected – those with power (or access to it), money and insulation from the rules they create. I’m talking about the elite here – those in high levels of government, media, banking and such. Their private homes and planes are two prominent examples of being buffered from “normal” life.
The other group is The Unprotected – basically everyone without those perks. They live in a world created for them by The Protected and it seems they’ve had enough.
The Unprotected are realizing how they suffered from illegal immigration (they lost jobs), while The Protected benefited via more low-wage workers for their businesses. The Unprotected also saw their retirement nest eggs decrease because The Protected made horrendous decisions that rippled worldwide. And those are just two examples.
There used to be an understanding or acceptance that leaders of our national institutions were looking out for the “little guy.” Well that is no more.
The Unprotected now feel they owe The Protected (or “the establishment”) nothing, and that is largely due to The Protected being so far removed from the reality of their decision making. In other words, The Protected aren’t on the factory floor when their decision to outsource work plays out in reality.
Neither group feels loyalty to the other. And make no mistake, that’s a recipe for social instability and economic turmoil.