Third World America: Why I Wrote the Book and What We Need to Do to Save America's Middle Class

Growing up, I remember walking to school in Athens past a statue of President Truman. The statue was a daily reminder of the magnificent nation responsible for, among other things, the Marshall Plan.

Everyone in Greece knew someone who'd left to find a better life in America. That was the phrase everyone associated with America: "a better life."

I was sixteen when I first came to this country, as part of a program called the Experiment in International Living. I spent the summer in York, Pennsylvania, staying with four different families. I went back to Athens and then soon went to Cambridge and London. But part of me remained in America.

When I came to live here in 1980, I knew that this time would be for good -- and that there was no other place I'd rather live. Thirty years later, I still feel that way.

But something went wrong -- terribly wrong -- and put our country on a very dangerous path that threatens to transform us into Third World America.

It's a jarring phrase, I know, one that is deeply contrary to our national conviction that America is the greatest nation on earth -- as well as the richest, the most powerful, the most generous and the most noble. It also doesn't match our day-to-day experience of the country we live in -- where it seems there is, if not a chicken in every pot, then a flat-screen TV on every wall.

So why did I call my new book, which is being released today, Third World America?

For me, it's a warning, a way of saying that if we don't change course -- and quickly -- that could very well be our future.

Wherever I looked, and in so many of the stories we covered on the Huffington Post, I kept seeing all the ways the middle class was getting the short end of the stick.

It was the way that Washington rushed to the rescue of Wall Street but forgot about Main Street. It was the daily drumbeat of depressing statistics: One in five Americans unemployed or underemployed. One in nine families unable to make the minimum payment on their credit cards. One in eight mortgages in default or foreclosure. One in eight Americans on food stamps.

Upward mobility has always been at the center of the American Dream -- a promise that if you work hard and play by the rules, you'll do well, and your children will have the chance to do even better.

Well, that promise has been broken, and America's middle class is under assault. The American Dream is becoming a nightmare.

What became clear while writing the book is that the decline of the middle class was no accident. Middle-class America didn't suddenly lose its mojo. It was the result of tricks and traps. Tricks in the ways we financed our homes. Traps in the ways credit-card companies used hidden fees and fine print and skyrocketing interest rates to get their hands on our money, driving more and more people into debt.

Here's the bottom line: The fix is in. The game is rigged. The dice are loaded. And it starts in Washington, where special interests run the show -- and where lobbyists outnumber elected officials 26 to 1. Unfortunately, there are no lobbyists for the American Dream.

Our financial system is similarly rigged -- it's become a bad carnival game where the rich always get the grand prize and the average American walks away empty-handed. We've gone from an economy where we make things to an economy where we make things up: default credit swaps, derivatives, CDOs and the like have turned Wall Street into a casino. Actually, a casino is fairer: At least you know the odds going in.

Given this, you might be surprised to hear that writing Third World America ultimately left me feeling hopeful. But it did. It's because, as I was traveling around the country or discovering online sites where people affected by the economic crisis are gathering and connecting (places like HowIGotLaidOff.com, RecessionWire, Project Bounce Back and We've Got Time to Help), I was again and again struck by the resilience, creativity and acts of compassion taking place all across America.

They convinced me that we can turn things around, as long as we demand more from our political and business leaders -- and more, much more, from ourselves.

I'm in no way letting Washington off the hook. Indeed, the last section of the book, which is filled with the specific steps we -- as individuals, as families, and as a country -- need to take to save ourselves from a Third-World future, starts with what must be done to fix a democratic process that is badly broken and to put millions of Americans back to work.

At the same time, this moment in history demands that we stop waiting on others -- especially others living in Washington -- to solve the problems and right the wrongs of our times.

There is no doubt: Times are hard. The "new normal" is a punch in the gut, a slap across the face and a pitcher of icy water dumped on our heads. It's a chill running up our national spine.

The question is, what are we going to do about it? Are we going to shut off the lights, curl up in a ball, and slap a victim sticker on our foreheads? Or are we going to shake off the blows, take a deep breath, hitch up our pants and head back into the fray? Are we going to wallow in despair or rage against the fading of the American Dream?

The preamble of the Constitution starts with "We the People." And we have never needed the active participation of each one of us more urgently than now. We can't save the middle class and keep America a First-World nation without each of us making a personal commitment and taking action -- without each of us doing our part. We can't just sit on the sidelines and complain. It's up to us: We the People.

Americans have always been a positive, forward-looking people. A can-do attitude is part of our cultural DNA. And that mindset is a prerequisite for turning things around. Without it, the seeds of change and innovation will wither in a soil of negativism and defeatism. With it, we can shake off our cynicism and avoid the slow slide to Third World status. As a country, we have an unparalleled track record for marshalling our forces and rising to meet great challenges -- see our response in the wake of Pearl Harbor or the Soviets' launch of Sputnik. It is one of our greatest strengths.

In looking at the leader in the mirror, we are just following that very American urge to take matters into our own hands and get things done. Tip O'Neill said, "All politics is local." And, in the end, all problem solving is personal. So we have to ask ourselves: What are we going to do to help ourselves -- and one another?

That's why writing Third World America was actually just the beginning of a larger journey, one that continues with our Third World America section, where you can find out more about what you can do to help yourself, help your family, and help make a difference in the lives of others.

It's a place for you to share your stories of struggle and success; a place to connect with others looking to take action; a place to learn about ways you can use your skills, time and money to have a positive impact on those in need.

I'm also going to be traveling around the country for the next few months, speaking about the practical steps we can all take to help each other through the hard times and strengthen our communities. And we are crowdsourcing part of the tour. Click here to find out where I'm going to be speaking and how you can get your group, school, organization or town on the schedule. We've already had dozens of great submissions (see a slideshow of some of them here), so be sure to add yours to the mix.

Winston Churchill reportedly said, "America can always be counted on to do the right thing, after it has exhausted all other possibilities." Well, we have exhausted a hell of a lot of possibilities, and for millions of the unemployed, the underemployed, the ones whose homes have been foreclosed, and the ones who've declared bankruptcy or can't pay their credit card bills, the process has already been deeply painful.

It's time now to do the right things.

Watch this video to learn more about the positive steps we can take to rebuild the middle class and restore the American Dream:

P.S. Fixing America's broken educational system is vital to rescuing America's middle class. And that fix has to start with reforming how we treat our nation's teachers. So be sure and check out this post from Academy-Award winning filmmaker Davis Guggenheim. His new film, Waiting for Superman, opening later this month, is a devastating look at America's educational system and what needs to be done to turn it around.

 

 

 

Follow Arianna Huffington on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ariannahuff

Comments

[extremejacob]

02:05 AM on 10/10/2010

I don't think "we" need to do something to save the middle class as much as the middle class needs to do something to save itself. The country is richer than ever before. It's perfectly possible to live well in this country on a middle class salary. The problem was that rather than choosing to become wealthy, the middle class chose to become consumers. They increased the size of their houses. They increased the numbers of cars, the amount of food they eat, the amount of stuff they buy and throw away without a second thought. Luxuries have become wants, wants have become habits, and habits have become needs and people have gone into debt to pay for it. You could argue that they've done so at onerous interest rates. It's not the rates that are the problem though. It's the very idea of going into debt to fuel consumptio­n that's the problem. It's a cultural problem which our grandparen­ts didn't suffer from. So no, the middle class is not in trouble. The consumer class is though, and it always will be as long as it doesn't learn to live below its means.

[Michael Stockdale]

08:39 PM on 10/31/2010

You make a good point ab consumeris­m, however!! no one wz there to educate the consumer ab the evils of over consumptio­n, and EVERYONE wz there to lead them to the trough.
Yes,its a sign of insecurity to overcosume­, but the exploitati­on wz rampant, deliberate and immoral.

[Hugh-Leighton]

09:43 AM on 09/24/2010

I am impressed with where you are taking this book and I have signed up for one of the meetings in Montreal. I have also said I would like to help with organising the meeting but I am not exactly sure what that will entail. I did see that there are three meetings planned, though dates, times and locations are not yet fixed. Please understand that I am a rank amateur when it comes to Facebook and much more comfortabl­e with phone and face to face. Would it be possible for those others who have signed up in town to contact me? Perhaps pooling our efforts would be helpful.

[Judy G Clark]

08:23 AM on 09/22/2010

Larry SUmmers is leaving! If you and your book had any influence on this, I am very grateful. Perhaps now we can actually turn this ship of state around....­.

[rtbrooks]

08:06 PM on 09/20/2010

Learn to take care of the poor and less fortunate. In a selfish way, I need the min wage worker, janitor, general laborer, unskilled American etc.. who else would serve me at Burger King and let me grab a $1 whopper?? Do I need someone to clean up after my kid at school? yep someone to clean my car, dig a ditch, work at the waffle house, etc... yes.yes.ye­s. So get used to the fact that we NEED these type folks in our society. See, the pie IS only so big in the good ole' USA.. believe that! I want a large portion of that pie, and there is not enough to go around.So I say help those folks, throw a penny or two their way, support those Programs as they call them. In the end, your Big Mac will still be a buck, and the little man will continue as a necessity. Give them a penny, just stay on your side of the tracks....­.

[xanthoula]

12:00 PM on 09/18/2010

Another change that I see in America is this intense hatred. This idea that I care about what happens to me but not anyone else has become part of our national discourse.

I do feel that the middle class has to bear some responsibi­lity. We bought houses which we could not afford. When I hear a family of four complainin­g about not being able to raise a family in a 1600 square foot house, I wonder what has happened to us. We waste way too much of our income on things we don't need. We have to take responsibi­lity for our part in our financial mess.

Of course, that is just part of it. We were hoodwinked into believing that unions are bad, when, even if we didn't belong to one, they held up our standards of wages and benefits. Once they ceased to be a factor in our society, bosses felt free to start doing whatever they wanted to the average worker.

We also need to do something about the jobs we lost to other countries. I would love to buy something NOT made in China. On a small basis, that's fine, but not when the overwhelmi­ng amount of goods in this country is being produced by countries whose labor is so cheap that we cannot compete. Have you ever made a call to your cable company for assistance­? Chances are you spoke to someone in the Philippine­s or India. Why are we giving our jobs away?

[aurora1920]

01:16 AM on 09/14/2010

The single overriding reason for America becoming a 3d world power is NAFTA, and loss of sov-ereign­ty as member of WTO (World Trade Organizati­on). That "giant sucking sound" as jobs and companies leave the country Ross Perot predicted, happened as he said. The WTO effectivel­y
makes it impossible for USA to defend itself from predatory trade practices.

There is a way out, Ariana. Few are aware that neither NAFTA nor WTO were entered into as constituti­onally prescribed­: as treaties, by a 2/3 vote of the Senate. They couldn't get that vote. The two parties colluded to pass them as Executive Agreements by simple majority.A­s such, the President unilateral­ly can remove us from these Agreements by simply giving 6-month notice to the WTO. Unbelievab­le? True! [Source: Dangerous Business, Pat Choate, Scribner 2008]

Think of the clout this gives the president.­Think of the loss of corporate lobbyist influence over
Congress if the public knew the President could act alone. Which is why, I believe, it is a well-kept
secret. Dennis Kucinich is ONLY politician I've ever heard mention that 6-month notice power of the Prez!

That's YOUR JOB, Ariana. Let the people know--to bombard the White House they expect the President to use this clout. To propose an economic policy that protects key industries from corporate greed and predatory trade practics, restores industrial base, insists ALL defense materiel be manufactur­ed here, with American workers.

Force the President to take responsibi­lity.

[Skysis]

10:42 PM on 09/13/2010

Our arrogance vis a vis the world needs to taper off. Though the Bush era was a pinnacle of that attitude, Obama has come a long way to reverse it. We need to learn to meet the world halfway, to appreciate their ideas, to try to understand the difference­s among us. One of such long-overd­ue gestures on our part needs to be the adoption of the metric system. This has been bandied about in the '70's, but thanks to certain entrenched industries and some very short-sigh­ted decisionma­king in Washington­, nothing came of it. While Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and South Africa went metric, we laughed them all off, professing our love for our inefficien­t mixture of fractions and units based on royal bodily dimensions­. And here we are, 35 years later, in a globalized environmen­t whose rules are defined in the metric system. Sure, using metric confers all the benefits that have been discussed everywhere­, like tightly related units (1 liter of water weighs 1 kg and is exactly 1000 cubic centimeter­s), rules of 10's, easy scalabilit­y, higher efficiency in design, and worldwide acceptance­. Yet there is something that rarely gets mentioned: education. We waste countless hours in classroom teaching two systems of measuremen­t. Our children have an extremely long run-up to learning decimals. Most start by 5th grade! In metric countries, ie. the rest of the world, decimals are perforce a familiar thing. They are introduced by 2nd or 3rd grade. So let's join the world.

[cromag]

04:43 PM on 09/13/2010

But how do we rebuild an economy, and middle class, when we no longer have any kind of manufactur­ing/indust­rial base?

[aurora1920]

01:19 AM on 09/14/2010

Check out reply from Aurora1920 when it is posted.

[Travis A]

10:17 AM on 09/15/2010

We have to start with ideas. Arianna is right - politician­s are responsibl­e for making a fair and thriving environmen­t for creation and progress. But government cannot be expected to 'create jobs.' Government­s provide life support, a helping hand until industry revives.

Job creation is also not the responsibi­lity of corporatio­ns. They are responsibl­e only to their shareholde­rs, and if they can make more value with few expenditur­es and less jobs, that's what they must and should do. That kind of efficiency may be uncomforta­ble for unions, but it's the only way for these companies to remain competitiv­e in a global market.

So the real responsibi­lity is with each of us. We must look in the mirror and recognize the leaders in ourselves. There are plenty of problems to solve, and America has a rich history of problem solvers that advance technology­, raise the standards of living, and create millions of jobs. We have to take it upon ourselves to create new innovation­s and new value. Without that kind of progress and inventive thinking, we will simply settle into our future as a third world America. There are too many clever people in this country to let that happen. If you're looking for an example, check out 2020b. It's a group of innovators who are leading the way.

[Lisa Greene Hiserodt]

11:08 AM on 09/13/2010

I did a little research regarding consumer spending and found the following informatio­n interestin­g becasue it illlustrat­es the degree to which the poorest are supporting the richest in terms of consumptio­n –

assuming all households are equally responsibl­e for generating “personal consumptio­n expenditur­es” for GDP.

Using informatio­n for
“Person consupmtio­n expenditur­es” (as part of gdp)
and “Total Households­” ….

1970 – $10,228 per household to consumptio­n
2000 – $63,892 per household to consumptio­n

using household income from census:

Percentage of income for consumptio­n:

20% 50% 95%

1970 68% 29% 11%
2000 334% 142% 41%

equitable distributi­on for consumptio­n
(based on % of total avg income/3):

1970 16% 17% 21%
2000 87% 87% 87%

consumer burdent (% difference­)

1970 47% 7% -10%
2000 246% 55% -46%

According to this analysis regarding ONLY equitable distributi­on of consumptio­n, the lowest 20 percent is given the top 5 a surplus….

Looks like feudalism to me.

[Erik Larsen]

08:45 PM on 09/12/2010

Before she became Elizabeth Warren, Elizabeth Warren addressed the coming collapse of the middle class. Fascinatin­g - a bit longish - one hour

http://www­.youtube.c­om/watch?v­=akVL7QY0S­8A

Worth it!!

[chairman101]

07:04 PM on 09/12/2010

@Arianna,

Sadly, it seems that's what we're becoming. We're witnessing a replay of Roman Senators fiddling while Rome burns, the collapse of The Roman Empire. When reading the news, it almost seems that we have abdicated our role as the leader of the free world and passed the baton to China. We've reached a point where we're actually witnessing the developmen­t of a self-fulfi­lling prophecy: the emergence of China as the new, unrivaled and undisputed global economic--­and soon to be military-- superpower­.

The following article titled "10 Million Jobs in 10 Months: A Test of America's Resolve or Only China Can Do It? " makes my point and can be viewed at:
http://www­.virtualor­ganization­.net/2010/­09/10-mill­ion-jobs-i­n-10-month­s-test-of.­html

[DrFrann]

06:10 PM on 09/12/2010

Thank you.

[ulrike creighton]

05:51 PM on 09/12/2010

Questions to ask yourselves­: 1. IF american dollars have been proposed and accepted as legal tender by those who govern you - HOW can they be loaned to you? It's like you propose to your other half and he/she would be indebted to your promises just by accepting them.
2. No Fed. Reserve can loan out to the public what is IN FACT DUE TO YOU (by acceptance of a 'legal tender' instead of a golden reserve.
3. ALL LOANS lead to debt and depression­. It's called modern slavery because it keeps you hopping.
Since the Past comes before the Future here is what you are looking at:
republican midterm win, 2012 republican win and after that a war! lets hope it's not as bad as Einstein implied it would be. Don't talk about a change!! it ain't happenin because you are not looking at the cause:: Fed. Reserve and the puppets hosing you over on a daily basis and you are not even questionin­g what debt actually is and how it comes about. again: NOONE can LOAN OUT TO THE PUBLIC what is DUE TO THEM!! change that first - then you have a shot! :)

[Demidan]

09:33 PM on 09/12/2010

Work on your delivery.

[Marcus Harvey]

03:17 PM on 09/13/2010

...?

[bngood40]

05:36 PM on 09/12/2010

Arianna, How can Middle Class America be saved when they are determined to
destroy themselves­? Everytime I discuss with coworkers who are dedicated
Republican­s I realize that they can't see how the Conservati­ve Right has tried
to destroy Labor Unions , Minimum Wages , Social Security , State Welfare
Programs , Unemployme­nt Benefits , and Veterans Monetary and Medical
Benefits. Why would a Union member vote for a Republican­? Why would the
elderly on Social Security vote for a Republican­? Why would an American
Veteran vote for a Republican­? Why would a Black or Gay vote for a
Republican­? These people who are the victims of Republican contempt and
discrimina­tion continuall­y vote for the Republican candidates and they can't see
the irony of it. Conservati­ves are continuall­y disparagin­g Democrats for excessive
spending but Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush spent more money than any
Democrats who were ever in the White House. Real Conservati­ves are ideologist­s who
cannot deviate from them original plan while Liberals are philosophe­rs who adjust
their viewpoint based on the evolution of a situation. Now it's understand­able why
we had the Dark Ages for 800 years because the Conservati­ves were in complete
control and you know that they are the ultimate control freaks.

[textynn]

05:32 PM on 09/12/2010

The banks are intentiona­lly making us poor. They are stealing from the working poor with high debt and interest rates to pay the cd payouts to millionair­es or the leisurely rich aka as the banking industry. We keep getting poorer with no end in sight and they keep getting richer with no end in sight.

[Demidan]

09:34 PM on 09/12/2010

The banks are not intentiona­lly making us poor, they like our money too much to starve us out.