Russian “Caste” System: Is This Where We’re Heading?

Russia is becoming more and more of a two-tiered society. There’s a small group of VIPs who have incredible luxury and power; everybody else is scraping and struggling just to get by. These are the conditions that led to the Bolshevik revolution nearly a century ago.

A recent incident has brought everything to a head. A car was rearended by a speeding Mercedes while the driver was slowing down for a turn. The rearended driver and his wife were injured; all three occupants of the out-of-control Mercedes were killed.

The Mercedes belonged to a high-ranking politician. Therefore the accident was the fault of the driver (not a VIP) who was rearended. He was sentenced to four years in a labor camp.

Now, America doesn’t YET have such a deep division between the Haves and Have-Nots, the elite and the masses; but there are red flags everywhere:

Billions of dollars in tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, while vital services are being cut to the bone;

Millions of Americans have been incarcerated for victimless “crimes,” while corporate leeches who’ve stolen millions of dollars and wrecked thousands of lives get a slap on the wrist (if they’re even prosecuted at all);

The Bush Administration operates in total secrecy and unaccountability; for the rest of us, our entire lives and histories are an open book for government snoops.

Cheney’s little accident over the weekend is a perfect example. It took nearly 24 hours for this incident to be reported to the media. Bush (among others) was aware of the incident long before it was made public. And Scott McClellan got all blustery and defensive when reporters asked about it.

Could YOU get away with something like this? If you accidentally shot somebody, would a bunch of VIPs build a wall of secrecy to protect you and keep everything hush-hush?

Is this the direction we want for our country?