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{"id":10887,"date":"2011-08-16T09:00:47","date_gmt":"2011-08-16T14:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.occasionalplanet.org\/?p=10887"},"modified":"2013-02-01T15:38:49","modified_gmt":"2013-02-01T21:38:49","slug":"michael-moore-remembering-the-day-the-middle-class-died","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/2011\/08\/16\/michael-moore-remembering-the-day-the-middle-class-died\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Moore: Remembering the day the middle class died"},"content":{"rendered":"

Michael Moore says he\u2019s often asked by younger people, \u201cWhen did America\u2019s downward slide begin?\u201d\u00a0 And he is able to give them an exact date: August 5, 1981. That\u2019s exactly thirty years ago from August 5, 2011, the day Moore wrote a moving blog entry commemorating the day when President Reagan fired every member of the air traffic controllers union <\/a>who defied his order to return to work. He not only fired them (after being on strike a mere two days), he outlawed their union, PATCO. According to Michael Moore, this event marked the beginning of the dismantling of the middle class in America. He gives us the backstory to the event:<\/p>\n

Reagan had been backed by Wall Street in his run for the White House and they, along with right-wing Christians, wanted to restructure America and turn back the tide that President Franklin D. Roosevelt started\u2014a tide that was intended to make life better for the average working person. The rich hated paying better wages and providing benefits. They hated paying taxes even more. And they despised unions. The right-wing Christians hated anything that sounded like socialism or holding out a helping hand to minorities or women.<\/p>\n

Reagan promised to end all that. So when the air traffic controllers went on strike, he seized the moment. In getting rid of every single last one of them and outlawing their union, he sent a clear and strong message: The days of everyone having a comfortable middle class life were over.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Michael wants those of us who are older to remember how it was before the corporate\/Wall Street takeover of America. And he wants younger people, born after 1981, to know that things don\u2019t have to be how they are now. Even though I was an adult at the time, to me his description of life in America before August 5, 1981, reads like a utopian novel or a fairy tale. I had forgotten how painful and deep the losses have been, because, like others, I’ve just adapted to new realities and a more stress filled life. According to Michael, before the PATCO firings:<\/p>\n