Carnage Of The Middle Class

In President Donald J. Trump’s inaugural address he promised, “This American carnage stops right here and stops right now.” And immediately liberals and the MSM took umbrage to his use of the word carnage, which means the slaughter of a large number of people, claiming it was just too dark a description for America. Maybe so. However, in a recent Bloomberg commentary, Justin Fox cites some sobering statistics that support Trump’s statement.

While the overall murder rate for the nation should end up increasing about 8% year-over-year, the surge within U.S. cities is absolutely staggering. Chicago suffered a 59% increase in homicides during 2016. Murders were up 56% in Memphis, 61% in San Antonio, 44% in Louisville, 36% in Phoenix and 31% in Las Vegas.

There were also 44,193 suicides in the U.S. in 2015, with the percent increase in suicides rising the most for females aged 10–14, and for males aged 45–64. The suicide rate has risen 24% over the past 15 years and is the highest recorded rate in 28 years.

But it isn’t just violent crime that has exploded recently in the U.S.: an incredible 52,404 Americans died from drug overdoses in 2015. More than double the amount experienced in 2002.

These morbid truths reveal the crux of this election. While Washington and the media elites were busy gloating about a falling unemployment rate, the overlooked carnage lay in plain sight. But it wasn’t just the disturbing rise of unnatural deaths. If liberal elites ever bothered to land in flyover country they would have easily found another type of carnage…the evisceration of the middle-class. 

There are two reasons for this decline. The first is a result of the Federal Reserve’s money printing that forced $3.8 trillion into the canyons of Wall Street, leaving just crumbs for the people on Main Street to feed upon. The Federal Reserve’s money flowed mostly into stocks, bonds and real estate, creating asset bubbles and inflation for the rich to enjoy. While the middle class–who don’t own nearly as many assets and spend much more of their disposable income on energy, food and shelter—became even poorer.