I and my wife are part of the 99 percent; working class Americans who live in a different country than the one percent. In October of 2017 there were 563 billionaires and 10.1 million millionaires. The most recent statistics reveal 704 billionaires in America today, and 18.6 million millionaires. The gap in income inequality widens every day. Trump has proven to be the leader of the party of the rich and refuses to represent all 330 million Americans. Those of us who are not billionaires and millionaires do not trust the super-rich; and why should we? The American people are involved in a class struggle and a war to guarantee the Constitutional rights of every man, woman, and child in America.

Trump claims to be a member of the one percent, although his refusal to reveal his financial records to the American people is a red flag. I, and millions of Americans believe that he is a fraud and lives off other people’s money and now the national treasury. Either way, real Americans find the orange bully reprehensible and disgusting. His support of all things un-American and immoral make him the most hated man in the world.

Why do I and most Americans dislike and refuse to trust the wealthiest members of our society, and those like Trump who pretend to be? A simple, multi-pronged reason. The one percent believes they are superior to those who are not super-rich, and they have no interest in our sharing in their financial success, although we are the people who aided them in their quest for financial abundance.

Trump and his “guests” at Mar-a-Lago believe they are deserving of the lives they lead and fail to appreciate the fact that it is the working class who made them successful.

Here’s a fact the right-wing doesn’t want Republican voters to know. Fox News is a propaganda machine for Republican politicians and their owners; the super-rich. The millions of Americans who listen to the manufactured ‘alternative facts’ regurgitated by Fox personalities are brainwashed. They believe a single fallacious ‘source’ for all their information. Fox viewers are as uninformed and ignorant as the current resident of the White House, but don’t pity them, they choose to be uninformed. The truth would void their prejudices.

Today’s America can only be described as a huge mess. The truth is of little importance to millions of Americans. They do not understand that their ability to buy the latest wireless phones and enjoy the luxuries paid for by their parent’s credit cards could, and likely will come crashing down in the very near future.

The final part of my story is the fallacy of Christian religious dominance in America.

First, a fact. The United States of America was not founded on religion. The truth is the opposite and more important to our founding fathers. The first amendment and article one of the Constitution guarantees that a single religion will never be the only religion of our country, and that there will never be a monarchy in America.

The Republican Party bows to the Christian Religious Right, and therefore violates the first amendment every day. Trump and the Trump Party recently protected the orange bully’s belief that he is indeed an autocrat and above the Law of the Land; the Constitution. His impeachment trial in the senate was the greatest farce in American history.

Although the wealthy claim to be Christians for personal benefit, the truth is their only god is money. The teachings of Jesus Christ mean nothing to them. For the most part they live lives of privilege and luxury which include waste and debauchery. Take a close and honest look at the history of the Trump Klan and you will witness the validity of my assertion.

The truth is that the wealthy and powerful have hidden behind the sham of religious belief for centuries. They are liars and support racism and bigotry to guarantee their continued dominance and existence in society.

This is the reality of the constant battle between the wealthy and the men and women who struggle to support their families every day.

A final fact. Very few men and women have achieved their wealth through honest efforts. Most have inherited wealth and its accompanying privileges from their relatives. Many of the richest men and women have committed crimes great and small which allowed them to achieve riches they do not deserve. The final truth is that the wealthy are treated differently than the working class in society, and our nation’s judicial system. In 2020 America is a country enjoyed by the rich and powerful, not for the working class.

One last thing. When I was a young man in the 1960’s, a corporation which made an annual profit of 30 percent was praised for its success. Employees of these companies were appreciated and rewarded for their efforts to enhance the success of the companies which employed them.

Today corporate greed ignores the contributions of the men and women who labor for them and are the reasons for the success of overpaid CEOs and boards of directors. Profits of 300, 400, and 500 percent are not unusual because today’s major corporations refuse to share their successes with the men and women who work for them. Greed and personal gain have replaced the original concept of capitalism and the reason why capitalism has failed and can no longer be the basis for our economy’s future success. What was once the greatest reason for America’s becoming the richest nation in the world has become the greatest failure for the future of the majority.

Beginning with the Reagan administration major corporations have been protected by the federal government. The truth is that the policy of “trickle down economics” has failed the American worker since the early 1980’s, and continues to do so.

The recent changes under Trump’s destructive administration may be irreparable. In three years, Trump has accomplished more efforts designed to destroy the American way of life than any foreign entity in nearly 244 years.

The Truth Lives Here

Op-ed by James Turnage

My eight novels, including “A Brother’s Revenge,” are now available on Amazon; CLICK HERE; the Kindle app is a free download