Our Never Ending War on Illegal Immigration: A Brief History

Immigration has been an important issue in the United States since at least the middle 19^th century when the U.S. began considering the creation of immigration laws. During the post-Civil War period, the United States experienced an economic boom, and we were expanding westward at breakneck speed. We needed people able and willing to meet this boom head on. Men and women were needed to fill the ranks in factories, lay railroad tracks, bend rivers to our will, level mountains, build cities, work farms, raise cattle and sheep, and provide back breaking labor. The war had laid bare our "Manifest Destiny".

Starting in 1917, President Woodrow Wilson signed the first immigration law. The law included a literacy test, established a tax to be paid by new immigrants, and allowed officials a wide berth in deciding who could be admitted or excluded. The law also contained a “Asiatic Barred Zone”, which was a quota system to limit individuals from certain country entrance into the U.S.

Nevertheless, it paved the way for the Immigration Act of 1924. Originally, the laws were created with the purpose of keeping track of and limiting who was entering the country, their skill level or occupation, level of education, did they have the means provide for themselves until they got established, and country of origin. Eventually other statistics came along and asked questions about age, religion, overall health, or ethnic group to gain a more complete picture of our changing national demographics. America was, after all, a melting pot.

Today, we continue to regulate and monitor who comes and goes from our country, as does every other nation on the planet. Governments worldwide have a duty to secure their borders and an obligation to protect their citizens. It’s the central component to the legal concept of national sovereignty. Without a defined and secure border, it's not truly a nation. It's merely a territory.

America is facing a national crisis. Some even refer to it as a non-violent “invasion" similar to what Europe is currently experiencing (although that situation has become more violent due to an increase in physical assaults, murders, robberies, and rape gangs). While illegal entry into this nation (mainly along our southern border) has been going on in drips and drabs for decades, it’s been since the late 1970’s and early 1980’s that it has evolved into the serious problem is it is now. 

The primary reason for the influx of immigrants, legal and illegal, at least initially, was the social and economic upheavals happening in Latin America (some at our instigation), such as militarily in places like El Salvador, Panama and Nicaragua, or were due to violent hurricanes and tropical storms  hitting nations like Haiti and the Dominican Republic. President Ronald Reagan was the first post-Watergate president to address the issue of illegal immigration.

In 1986, Reagan signed into law the Immigration Reform and Control Act (aka "IRCA"). The law set new minimum guidelines for arriving immigrants and streamlined immigration policy.  It promised tighter border security and established strict penalties for employers who knowingly hired someone here illegally. In addition, Reagan granted amnesty to some 3 million, mostly Hispanic, individuals illegally residing in the U.S. 

In signing the bill, President Reagan made it clear that this was “one and done” and that the U.S. would crackdown hard on illegal immigrants and there would be no further amnesties offered or given. However, what would-be migrants apparently heard was that if they could illegally enter the U.S. and evade authorities long enough, they’d eventually be granted amnesty too. As a result, the flow of migrants crossing the border illegally increased over previous years.

During George H. W. Bush's administration in 1990, Congress modified and expanded the Immigration Act of 1965, which increased immigration levels by 40% and included a provision for allowing family members to join those already here. It also doubled the number of work-related visas and increased the number of applications available to “underrepresented” nations.

 In 1994, under Bill Clinton’s presidency, Congress also pardoned roughly 548,000 illegal immigrates living the U.S. while fining them $1000 (which was waived). This amnesty was renewed in 1997 and again in 2000. Also in 1997, Congress passed the Nicaraguan Adjustment Central American Relief Act (“NACARA”) which give legal status to over one million illegal residents (most form Latin America) who had lived here since 1995. Facing claims of discrimination, NACARA was amended in 1998 to include an undisclosed number of Haitians illegally living here since 1995.

However, President Clinton signed the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (“IIRAIRA”). Critics thought the bill went too far.  Under the bill, immigrants, regardless of the legal status, could be deported if they were convicted of having committed a felony. The new law would also remove anyone who overstayed their vistas, by so much as a day, could be deported and would automatically be ineligible to apply for a new non-immigrant visa. From 1996 through early 2000, deportations went from 50,000 to more than 200,000.

In 2000, the Legal Immigration Family Equity Act (“LIFE”) was passed, giving amnesty to illegal immigrants attempting to obtain permits (aka “green cards”) to work here legally and had married legal or natural citizens. This allowed them to jump to the head of line, thus bypassing millions of other would-be immigrants waiting to gain legal entry into the United States. And who says crime doesn’t pay?

Despite promises to crack down on illegal immigration while running for office, President Barack Obama signed an executive order called the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (“DACA”). This allowed some allowed some 700,000 individuals who had come here illegally while under the age of 18, de facto U.S. citizenship in the form of renewable grants.

In 2013 and 2014 two efforts were made to allow illegal immigrants a path to remain in the U.S. The first was the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013. The bill would also dramatically increase the number of work visa programs from 65,000 to 180,000. In 2014, President Obama attempted to get Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (“DARPA”) into law but failed. This was another efforts to provide a pathway for approximately 3.6 million illegal immigrants to become citizens.

During this same period, dozens of American communities opted to ignore federal immigration laws by declaring “sanctuary” status. What this meant was that they would not cooperate with federal immigration officials is identifying, apprehending, or detaining any non-resident, illegal or otherwise. Not unexpectedly, there were massive increases in illegal migrants which brought huge jumps in demand for government services.

As a result, local taxes were dramatically increased along with demands for more state and federal money. Can you imagine refusing to cooperate with federal authorities while demanding they send more money to help them in breaking the law? Talk about a sense of entitlement!

Under President Donald Trump’s first term, there were several attempts made to curtail the tidal wave of illegal immigrants coming from our southern border, but from Asia (including China), Africa, the Caribbean (many of whom were fleeing areas hard hit by storms and corrupt governments), and the Middle East, which included not just refugees from Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan, but unfortunately members of Al Qaeda, ISIS, and other terrorists as well.

Trump went so far as to try to contain the influx of migrants attempting to cross illegally by beginning to be a massive wall along the southern border. While nationally, many people supported the concept, which was also locally popular, Trump face widespread criticism from Democrats and some Republicans, various pro-immigration groups (many of whom had strong church ties), and even foreign governments.  In addition, Trump was urged to suspend all border crossings under Title 24 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Starting on day one, President Joe Biden sat about dismantling as much of Trump’s immigration policy as he could by signing the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021. He ended Trump’s travel ban which prohibited unrestricted travel from known terrorist countries like Iran and Libya, started tearing down the border wall, and reaffirmed the legal status of DACA recipients. 

 In June 2024 he signed legislation to shut down the border in illegal crossings that surpassed 2500 a day.  Between January 2021 and January 2024, ICE encountered 7.2 million illegal immigrants attempting to enter the U.S. In 2023, there were a record 2.5 million occurrences.  The bill also suspended protection from deportation to anyone unable to provide proof of need for asylum.

It's also worth mentioning that international law states individuals seeking asylum may do so if they are being persecuted due to their race, religion, gender, or ethnic status. Seeking asylum for economic purposes is not recognized as a legitimate reason to be granted asylum. Secondly, the individual seeking asylum must apply to the next closest country, not the country of their choice.

Now that Trump is again president, he has hit the ground running on the immigration issue as promised. With nearly 11 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. and decades of bipartisan blunders to correct,  thousands of illegal immigrants have already been deported to their home country, despite a lot of gnashing of teeth by their respective leaders.  Apparently, they think that the United States is somehow obligated to accept and provide for these individuals. Ironically, if this happens there, the outcome wouldn’t be so amicable. Individuals caught in their country illegally face an automatic prison sentence as does anyone who aids them in any way.

Some leaders of foreign countries have been openly critical of the United States efforts to exercise this most basic of national rights, while at the same time exercising their right to secure their national borders and protect their national sovereignty.  The media makes sure you see migrants carrying signs which read "We're Human" and "No One is Illegal". No one is doubting their humanity or that people aren't illegal. However, sometimes their actions are. That's why we have laws and courts to enforce those laws. It's the price we pay for a civil society. 

Clearly there needs to be a single universal law regarding the disposition and repatriation of individuals seeking to enter a country illegally which protects the right of a country to secure national borders and maintain its national sovereignty.  It should also include guidelines for dealing with individuals, groups, or associations (and private or religious) who promote the breaking of international and national laws concerning immigration. It should be up to each nation to provide for any exceptions such as a natural or manmade disaster.  

 

Thank you for reading "Another Opinion", the Op/Ed blog page for the "militant middle".  Here at "A/O" we truly value our readers. At A/O we seek the facts as they exist, not partisan talking points.  We hope you find our articles informative and engaging. Comments are welcome, provided they are not vulgar, insulting or demeaning.  Another Opinion is offered without charge and is directed toward all independent and free-thinking individuals. We do ask, however, that you be sure to "like" us on whatever site you found us on in order to keep our articles available for others, and that you please pass our post along. Below you will find links to the sources we used in writing this article. Thank you. 

 

 Historical Overview of Immigration Policy

The Immigration Act of 1924 (The Johnson-Reed Act)

 

Immigration and Immigrants: Anti-Immigration Sentiment

Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Actof 1996

Immigration policy under the Joe Biden administration

Pardon Me! President Joe Biden's January 19th Presidential Pardons

I can understand the need to grant a pardon. Sometimes the Justice system makes mistakes. Perhaps the sentence doesn't fit the crime or there was really no crime committed at all. Maybe the individual convicted have sufficiently reformed to earn special consideration to reenter society ahead of completing  their sentence. What I don't understand are certain politically motivated pardons. 

However, some pardons have nothing to do with clemency. Instead of empathy, they are based on purely political motives. Maybe someone is calling in a favor or the right palms were greased. Pardons are sometimes issued for purely personal reasons like bailing out a friend of family member. 

Regardless of the reason, I think most of us would agree that before a pardon is issued, especially a Executive Grant of Clemency by the President of the United States, there has to be some form of guilt involved. In most cases, the individual has already been arrested, convicted, and sentenced. But, in the absence of a conviction and sentencing, is there any reason for a pre-emptive pardon? Should someone be given a de facto "Get Out of Jail Free" card? 

To me, this seems to imply some measure of guilt of a crime. Maybe it's fraud, theft, or or some other possible criminal act which has yet to be discovered. President Gerald Ford (the only president never to have been elected) granted outgoing President Richard Nixon, a full and unconditional pardon following his resignation. Why? 

Some will argue that it all politics. After all, after Vice President Spiro Agnew was forced to resigned after facing charges of financial fraud while he was Governor of Maryland, Nixon reached over the heads of numerous senior members of Congress to select the junior Congressman from Michigan, Gerald "Jerry" Ford to replace Agnew. Ford had already voiced his support of Nixon and faith in the integrity in the office of the presidency. But, maybe it had nothing to do with ideological reasons and everything to do with personal ambition.  Others said it was Ford's deep belief on the American system and that he was just trying to protect the presidency from a imperial Congress and pettiness.

Richard Nixon was long known for being a very astute of political chess. He was nothing if not Machiavellian. There's no doubt that as the Watergate hearing wore on, Nixon was weighing all his options in light of some serious circumstantial evidence of criminal behavior. Many in his own party, trying to save their own political skin, were increasing turning against him, and then along comes Jerry. For Ford, here's an opportunity of a lifetime, to become President of the United States without paying decades of political dues. It was a Machiavellian match made in political heaven. 

So now comes along President Joe Biden. As his term came to an end, Biden embarked on a record breaking pardon spree. Where these justified, righting some judicial wrong, or were they an attempt at using the presidential prerogative to cover up some undiscovered crime like some crime boss?  Let's look at who Joe Biden pardoned on his final day as President and as he ended 54 years in politics. 

On January 19th, 2025, President Joe Biden granted a full and unconditional pardon to members of Congress who served on the Select Committee to investigate the January 6th protest, which included the former and now incoming president, Donald Trump.  The unconditional pardon included their staff and all those who had testified or provided evidence as to the events of January 6th. Did Biden inadvertently establish as precedent to exempt all elected officials and appointed staff, witnesses, and so forth from personal attacks ("character assassination") made under the guise of official business?   

That same day, Biden issued a full and unconditional pardon to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former head of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Chief medical Advisor to the President. Fauci, as you will remember, was the central character behind the COVID-19 pandemic scare and for promoting "the jab" campaign, which involved using a series of mostly minimally tested vaccinations aimed at stopping the virus and bringing the so-called pandemic to an end

President Biden also issued another full and unconditional pardon to General Mark Miley for any and all supposed "offences" committed from January 1, 2014 under January 19, including any violations committed under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) in his role as Chief of Staff of the Army and his role as Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff.. What the heck did this guy do?  

Apparently, Miley and Trump simply didn't hit it off. They had several very loud and vocal disagreements on a wide number of issues, including his refusal in 2020 to deploy troops to protect against violent protestors. He went over President trump's head by telling Chinese officials that Trump would be prevented from taking any actions against China. Miley often called Trump "fascist to the core" and a "wannabe dictator". 

Next to be pardoned was the whole Biden family clan! Listed are James B. Biden, Sara Jones Biden, Valeria Biden Owens John T. Owens, and Francis W. Biden. Is Joe Biden expecting some sort of political St. Valentine's Day Massacre? It sounds like something some Mafia don might do. 

Of course, we shouldn't forget that on December 1, 2024, President Joe Biden pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, for any and all crimes he may have committed. No conflict of interest there! Hunter has been accused of all sorts of crimes from possession and use of cocaine, to money laundering, his involvement in Ukrainian politics which may have been a trigger point for the war between Ukraine and Russia, among other allegations.  

Varying from the theme slightly, Biden pardons former Kentucky Democratic party boss, Gerald "Jerry" Lundergan, whose daughter, Kentucky Secretary of State, Alison Lundergan Grimes, attempted to unseat Senator Mitch McConnell's in 2014 and got clobbered. Lundergan was also Kentucky State Chairman of the 2008 Hillary Clinton Presidential Campaign.  The former head of the Kentucky Democratic Party, Jerry had been charged and convicted on several counts of fraud. 

Specifically, Lundergan was found guilty of making more than $200,000 in secret contributions to his daughter's 2014 campaign, and then committed fraud by trying cover up the evidence, including falsification of documentation and intent to obstruct. As a result, he was required to pay a $150,000 fine and serve 21 months behind bars in a federal prison. He was released in 2023 without completing his full sentence.

The next beneficiary of Biden's Executive Grant of Clemency was Ernest William  ("E.W") Cromartie for "offenses against the United States". What were those "offenses"? Cromartie was a  powerful black councilman from Columbia, South Carolina who had been found guilty of several counts of income tax fraud. 

The Columbia powerbroker had plead guilty in April 2010 of tax evasion and structuring bank deposits in such as way as to avoid federal income tax reporting. He admitted to intentionally avoiding paying more than $25,000 in federal income tax. As a result, he was required to pay $58,000 in fines as well as serve a 366 day prison sentence. He also had to surrender his law license. 

Finally, President Biden signed a pardon for Daryll Chambers, Leonard Scott, Jr., Ravidath Ragbir, Kembia Smith Pradia, and the late Civil Rights leaders, Marcus Mosiah Garvey.  In 1998, Daryll "Wolfie" Chambers of Wilmington Delaware was sentenced to 17 years in prison on non-violent drug related charges. After getting out, Chambers became a activist against gun violence. He is now the founder and Executive Director of The Center for Structural Equity, which is a foundation for the promotion of youth development and creating positive change in "Brown and Black Communities" according to their website. 

The Trinidad born Ravidath "Ravi" Ragbir is a advocate for immigration reform and immigrant rights. Ragbir, who had lives in New York City since immigrating in 1991, was convicted of a "nonviolent offense" (mortgage fraud) in 2001 and sentenced to 30 months imprisonment. Despite becoming a permanent resident of U.S. in 1994, his felony conviction placed him on the list for possible deportation since his release.  In 2006, a federal immigration judge issued a deportation order without a hearing, which many immigration rights advocates called unduly harsh.  In 2016, Ragbir first filed his request for clemency. 

Since 2007, Ragbir has been the executive director of the New Sanctuary Coalition ("NSC") which, in partnership with the Greenwich Village based Judson Memorial Church, provides assistance to new arrivals, most of whom are here illegally, and accompanies them to their appointments to Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE") offices as needed.  NSC also strives to educate immigrants on their rights  and helps to navigate them through the Justice system and provides a bond fund to help with bail in the event of arrest. 

Don Scott is the current Virginia Speaker of the House who, in 1994, had been convicted on nonviolent drug related charges and served seven years. Scott, a Texas native,  graduated from Texas A&M, graduating in 1987 with  BA in Agriculture. After gradating, he joined the U.S. Navy and served as an officer on the USS John Hancock (DD 981) until his honorable discharge in 1991.

After leaving military service, Scott attended Louisiana State University's law school where he obtained his law degree in 1994. That same year, Scott was busted for drug possession and sentenced to seven years in federal prison  In 2019, Scott was elected to the Virginia House of Representatives, representing the 80th District. The following year, Scott endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden at the 2020 Democratic Party Primary. By 2023, after Democrats  took control of the state legislature, Don Scott was elected as the first black Speaker of the House. 

The next to be pardoned was Kemba Smith-Pradia. In 1994, Kemba was convicted on nonviolent drug related charges and sentenced to 24 years in federal prison, of which she only served 6.5 years. According to court records, Ms. Smith-Pradia had been involved in a volatile relationship with a reputed drug dealer by the name of Peter Hall while she was attending college. 

Although she claimed to have never used or been directly involved with drugs, in 1994 she was caught up in a police sting operation and charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine after she was allegedly present during some of Hall's drug dealings. Despite this being her first conviction, federal drug laws at the time mandated her lengthy prison sentence without parole (she was also seven months pregnant at the time of her conviction).  

Given the circumstances of her case, President Bill Clinton granted her a pardon in 2000 after serving 6 1/2 years of her sentence. After being released, Ms. Smith-Pradia became a criminal justice reform advocate. She has written a book ("Poster Child") about her experiences and founded a non-profit foundation, the Kemba Smith Foundation, which deals with domestic violence, racial equality, and justice reform. Her book was also turned into a BET produced movie, "Kemba". 

So, if President Clinton granted her clemency, why did outgoing President Joe Biden need to grant her a second presidential pardon? Well, apparently her first pardon didn't totally erased her convection charges. It just got her a early release. According to Ms. Smith-Pradia, she has been unable to go back to school and earn a law degree because the federal charges were still on her record. Biden's pardon is "full and unconditionally", meaning that it's as if it never happened as far as the courts are concerned. As a result, Ms. Smith-Pradia is how free to pursue her law degree if she still desires to do so. 

Our last recipient of President Biden's January 19th Executive Clemency Declarations is Marcus Mosiah Garvey. Of the five pardons, Garvey's is perhaps the most intriguing. In 1923 the Jamaican born Marcus Garvey was convicted of mail fraud (attempting to illegal sell company stock), a felony, and sentenced to five years in a federal prison. So, why did it take over a hundred years since his convection for Garvey to receive a presidential pardon? Who was Marcus Garvey? 

Born in 1887 in St. Ann's Bay Jamacia, Marcus Mosiah Garvey, better known as the "Black Moses", was a black nationalist leader and credited of organizing and leading the largest race based economic and social movement is U.S. history. Led by his son, Dr. Julius Garvey, a retired surgeon and executive director of The Marcus Garvey Institute for Human Development, has worked tirelessly for decades to rehabilitate his father legacy which included the founding of the Black Star Line, a black owned shipping company, and the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL). 

His ideology, known as Garveyism, has influenced such diverse civil rights leaders as Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Supporting him in his efforts has been the Congressional Black Caucus, led by Congresswoman Yvette Clark (NY-D), members of the Jamaican community, and various African-centric organizations and educational programs as well as by Ms. Mia Mottley, the Prime Minister of Barbados and current chairwoman of the 15 member association of Caribbean nations known as "CARICOM". The pardon was additionally supported by former President Barack Obama. 

Garvey has been called a revolutionary and proponent a Pan-Africanism and a "back to Africa" movement, as well as known for being the first person "of color" to lead a mass movement in the United States and one of the few in the Western Hemisphere at that time. Even after 85 years since his death, the teachings of Marcus Garvey, which embraces racial separatism, continues to find a willing ear in the African centric Rastafari movement to the Nation of Islam and the Black Power Movement. 

In reviewing all of President Biden's pardons, I found it interesting that Biden issued 19 pardons related to the use, possession, and distribution of cocaine related charges from April 25, 2022 until the time he left office in addition to ten other pardons for individuals serving time on meth, marijuana, or other drug related charges. There were three pardons related to attempts to provide a foreign power (including Iran) with U.S. government secret technology. Additionally, Biden set a record of sorts by reducing the sentences of roughly 2500 individuals. 

Why is that?  Why were nearly all of Joe Biden's drug related pardons related to individuals who had been convicted on cocaine charges? Cocaine and its derivatives like crack, is pretty serious. Could it be because of  Hunter's use and abuse of the drug and there was some sympathy for its users? 

In wrapping this up, it should come as no surprise to anyone that those involved with politics who were granted clemency were all Democrats. No Republicans, Independents, or third party individuals were granted a pardon. Biden excused three individuals convicted of providing state secrets to a foreign power, including Iran. We used to call that treason, and those found guilty were rarely ever released, yet here's three. 

Then there's Dr. Fauci, who, as far as I know, has never been charged or convicted of anything except of being unpopular, which isn't a crime. Then you have a former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who was guilty of not getting along with his boss. If that was a crime, I think most of us would be serving life sentences. 

Then we come to the members of the Select Committee who investigated the January 6th protests, their staffs, and all those who gave evidence. Why do they warrant a "full and unconditional" presidential pardon?  There's nothing unusual about a Select (or "special") Committee unless it could be proven that the committee was convened solely as a political weapon to be used to intimidate or manufacture evidence. If so, then the actions of the committee becomes possibly subject to censure or contempt of Congress charges (a misdemeanor). Regardless, that would ultimately be a matter for the Department of Justice to determine.  So, why issue a pre-emptive pardon when there's been no hint of impropriety? 

Most curiously, why would President Biden feel the need to pardon his immediate family? What possible federal crime could they be guilty of? Does it in some way related to the attempted political or character assassination of Donald Trump, members of his family or friends? If that's the case, then Biden needed to pardon just about everyone in the mainstream media! 

Of course, I think most of us can understand why he pardoned Hunter. There's no telling what federal crimes he may have committed. It's like how some families try to cover for that alcoholic uncle or crazy aunt. In this case, a father trying to protect a troubled son.  Nevertheless, the blanket pardon of Hunter Biden goes to show that there are some who are above the law as well as the fact that we have a two tier justice system in this country. One for the rich and connected, and another for the rest us! 

I think President's Biden's mass pardons, especially those done for obvious political reasons or to coverup unethical behavior, helps to demonstrate why the president's unlimited ability to issue pardons for virtually any reason, whether there's been a conviction or not,  needs to be limited in scope and subject to review and approval.

 Thank you for reading "Another Opinion", the Op/Ed blog page for the "militant middle".  Here at "A/O" we truly value our readers. At A/O we seek the facts as they exist, not partisan talking points.  We hope you found our articles informative and engaging. Comments are welcome, provided they are not vulgar, insulting or demeaning.  Another Opinion is offered without charge and is directed toward all independent and free thinking individuals. We do ask, however, that you be sure to "like" us on whatever site you found us on in order to keep our articles available for others, and that you please pass our post along. Below you will find links to the sources we used in writing this article. Thank you. 

Office of the Pardon Attorney (DOJ: Pardons Granted by President Joseph Biden (2021 - Present)

The Center For Structural Equity

New Sanctuary Coalition

Faith-based immigration rights advocate faces threat of deportation

Don Scott (Virginia politician) 

President Biden Pardons Criminal Justice Advocate 24 Years After Her Release From Prison

More than a century after mail fraud convection Marcus Garvey gets presidential pardon

Marcus Garvey

Why Biden pardoned  Mark Miley ahead of Trump taking office

Jerry Lundergan

A Nation Out of Balance: Wealth Inequality in America

Did you know that the top 400 richest individuals in America are worth a combined $4.5 trillion dollars? Of those, the top four are worth about $1.9 trillion dollars. Do you think you have what it takes? Just to make it into the top 400 you'll need a minimum net worth of $300 billion dollars. In addition, the top 20 are worth 30% more than they were this time last year. So, who are these modern day descendents of King Midas?

The top five wealthiest individuals are Elon Musk ($180b) at the top, followed by Jeff Bezos ($114b), Bill Gates (135.8b), Larry Ellison ($119.5b), and Mark Zuckerberg ($117.5). Zuckerberg is also the youngest at 39. Warren Buffet is the 7th richest person and Charles Koch ($54.2b), the villain of liberals everywhere, is 17th. Julia Koch ($54.2b), widow of Charles' brother, David, is 18th, making her one of the wealthiest women in the world.  

As an aside, these are the richest individuals in America. Globally, Bernard Arnault of France is the second wealthiest person, behind Musk with a net worth of roughly $174 billion. The balance of the list is the same, making the top 9 out of 10 richest Americans.

Meanwhile, Michael Bloomberg ($69b), the bane of conservatives, is actually much richer, clocking in at 10th place.  Of course, these figures are approximate. By the time it took just to type the figures, they already grew several hundred thousands of dollars. And for those who like to gloat, former President, Donald Trump, is no longer among the top 400 wealthiest. According to Forbes, "The Donald's" wealth has dropped from $3.2 billion to $2.6 billion. While that puts him about $300 million dollars shy of the top 400, I doubt Melania is having to clip coupons.

But what about us ordinary Americans? How do we stack up? As of 2022, the "official" poverty rate in the United States was 11.5% or around 37.9 million people. The number of children living in poverty as of 2022 was 12.4%, up from 5.2% in 2021. However, the actual poverty rate of Americans is much higher, especially when you consider that 49% of Americans are dependent in some matter on government services. That translates to roughly $1.19 trillion dollars or 20% of the federal budget.   

Historically it's been the middle class which has provided the economic and social structure to society. The middle class provides the overall stability which keeps capitalist democracies afloat. Ideally, a society should have a relatively small upper class and a small lower class with a large center. However, that's not the case anymore.

In 1971, 61% of Americans were middle class. By 2021, it was just over 49%.  To make matters worse, those in the upper third of the middle class dropped significantly to middle income while many of those previously in middle portion either remained the same or dropped into the lower middle class, thus making the lower middle class the largest of all the economic classes.

Minorities, which had struggled for decades to reach a middle or upper middle class lifestyle (reaching their zenith in the 1980's) have dropped to middle or lower middle income. The decline of the middle class coincided with the closure of factories and exportation of good paying, and mostly union jobs overseas in the name of improving shareholder profitability and staving off corporate raiders.  

The decline of the middle also coincided with growth of the lower class which increased to 25% of the population (some studies put the figure closer to 29%). Of that 13% were classified as "working poor" while 12% were defined as "underclass". Note that none of this takes into consideration those who are under employed or have simply given up looking for employment.

I should also mention that the rate of homelessness has also grown along with the decline of the middle class. Currently 22% of the homeless are categorized as "chronic", meaning they are unable to be find regular shelter. 5% of the homeless have children with them (defined as those under age 25).  6% of the homeless are veterans. The majority of homeless, 21.5%, are men. 13.3% are women.  

When we take a look at wages, the situation becomes more dire. As of 2022, the average company CEO made a whooping 670 times more than the average employee---not the lowest paid employee mind you, but the middle income earning employee. That means for every dollar the average employee earns, the CEO gets $670. In 2021, that ratio was 399-to-1. By 1989, it was 59-to-1, and in 1965 CEO's made $29 dollars for every dollar the average employee made. 

Between 1979 and 2022, the pay of senior company executives went up 1209.02% while the average worker's compensation went up 15.3%. It's worth noting that since 1975, prices overall have increased by 361.41%, or to rephrase it by saying that it would take $5.72 in 2022 to buy the same amount a dollar in 1975 would. Thus when adjusted for inflation, the purchasing power of a dollar relative the rise in wages, which helps to explain, at least partially, the decline of the middle class.

When we look at the situation globally, the picture is much the same. The upper 10% take home 52% of the income while the poorest 50% has just 8%. In terms of overall wealth, the top 10% control 85% of all wealth while the bottom 90% control 15% with the poorest segment owning a mere 2%. The top 1% control 50% of the world's wealth.  

Compare that with the U.S. where, according to the Federal Reserve, as of 2021, the top 1% controlled 32.3% of the total wealth while the bottom 50% controlled just 2.5%. As of the end of the second quarter of 2023, the Federal Reserve said that the top 10% control 69% of the total wealth while the lowest 50% had just 2.5%. The top 1% controlled just over 1/4 of the total wealth in the U.S..  

Globally speaking, the United States has the fifth worse level of income inequality out of the top 35 industrialized nations. Only Bulgaria, Turkey, Mexico, and Costa Rica were worse off. The U.S. also still had the highest disparity between CEOs and workers by a large margin. The next closest was Switzerland where the wage disparity between CEO's and workers was 148%, followed by Germany at 147% and Spain at 127%.

As an aside, it should be pointed out that the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to the growing wage disparity since senior executives continued to receive their full compensation while the majority of the workforce was at home receiving next to nothing beyond unemployment and a couple of small government handouts (aka "stimulus checks").  

Also don't forget about their considerable investments in pharmaceuticals,  healthcare, and medical research. During the pandemic, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, and six other billionaires made $360 billion dollars during the deadly outbreak. 

From March 5, 2020 through March 5, 2021, the height of the pandemic, Elon Musk's wealth increased by $118 billion dollars. Jeff Bezos saw an increase of $58 billion while Larry Paige and Sergey Brin saw their wealth grow by $33 and $32 billion dollars respectively. Mark Zuckerberg's portfolio increased by $29 billion, while Larry Ellison's grew by $28 billion. Bill Gate's financial worth blossomed by $24 billion. Two other billionaires, Steve Ballmer and Michael Dell saw their wealth grow by $23 billion and $18 billion. Money begets money, and they have a lot of money to beget! 

The ever expanding wealth inequality has effectively created a two tier society both in the United States and abroad. The middle class has historically been the glue which held capitalist democracies together. Even during feudal times, it was the well-to-do peasant class which helped prop up the monarchies. The middle class has provided an incentive for the lower classes to try to achieve economically and socially while providing a social barrier for the upper classes.

It has been said that the middle class is the only thing protecting the rich from being murdered by the poor. However, if the middle class no longer has as much to protect, then there is no reason it shouldn't make common cause with the lower class which has happened previously in history. If that should occur, there would be a complete upheaval in society.

The choice, therefore, that we all must accept is either fundamental and real change in how society functions economically and politically, including possibly a defacto cap on individual wealth and a minimum corporate tax, or face a real threat of more radical changes at home and globally.

There is no longer a middle ground. Attempts by politicians or the corporate media to divert our attention with another "crisis de jure" or even their blatant refusal to protect their financial interests just aren't going to cut it anymore. It's past time that we took charge of this country again.  

In addition to the links below which explain the statistics mentioned above in greater detail, I've also include two short videos below which illustrate what we've discussed more entertainingly. We hope you enjoy them and will let us know what you think about the decline of the middle class and bifurcation of society politically and economically.

 

Video: Wealth Inequality in America: Visualizedfor 2023 (13:19)

Humphrey Yang

Video: Wealth Inequality in America (6;23)

politizane

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List of wealthiest Americans by net worth

 

Donald Trump drops from the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans. Here's what changed

For most U.S. workers, real wages have barely budged fordecades

Wage gap between CEOs and US workers jumped 670-to-1 lastyear, study finds

These charts show the growing income inequality between the world's richest and poorest

OCED: Income Inequality

State of Homelessness: 2023 Edition

Title 42: A 'Catch 22' for Ending Illegal Immigration?

 

With the end of Title 42, the U.S. Border Patrol has reported  1.33 million encounters with migrants attempting to cross from Mexico into the U.S. illegally in FY 2023. The total number of encounters nationwide was a record 1.8 million. The total number just in April 2023 was 211,401 individuals, which included over 28,738 Cubans, Haitians, Venezuelans, and Nicaraguans, all of which were from countries suffering severe economic hardship.

 What is Title 42?  Title 42 was made part of the Public Health Service Act of 1944 as a means of dealing with the anticipated mass immigration coming with the end of World War II. Its purpose was to restrict and expel immigrant individuals from the United States who presented as health risk to the public at large.

It originally came about in 1893 when Congress passed the National Quarantine Law in response to the Cholera epidemic (the fifth since 1817) and as a means to combat other communicable diseases that often accompanied new arrivals. Prior to 2020, Title 42 had only been applied nationally in 1929 when U.S. ports were closed to ships from China and Philippines due to an outbreak of meningitis.

In March of 2020, President Donald Trump applied the law once again, this time in response to COVID-19 upon recommendation from the Director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Dr. Robert Redfield. It allowed the U.S. Border Patrol to detain and remove all new arrivals from United States who tested positive and to take appropriate steps to reduce the spread of the disease in detention centers.

Opponents of the law (many of whom also happen to favor open borders or easier access into the U.S.) claimed that President Trump was, in fact, using the law as a means to expel immigrants claiming asylum status in violation of U.S. and international immigration laws. They also like to claim that "no one is illegal", which is true. However, their actions may be. That's why we have laws.

They also cited the law and its application as violation of human rights despite being proclaimed a global crisis by countries throughout the world (according to the World Health Organization, as of December 31, 2020, some 1,813,188 individuals had died of COVID related causes. The U.S. experienced approximately 350,831 deaths).  Under Title 42, the U.S. evicted some 2.8 million individuals since 2020.  

Nevertheless, with the COVID crisis having been declared over, Title 42 was allowed to expire on May 11, 2023. In anticipation of the Title 42 ending, Biden stated that he would do nothing to prevent the law from expiring while also adding that he would aid the U.S. Border Patrol by providing more border agents---1,500 more to be exact, but will that be enough?

Biden commented in a interview with NBC News on May 8, that while the Border Patrol needed more personnel to help combat the expected onslaught of immigrants, he added that he wanted to see substantial reform in our existing immigration laws.

Biden said that he wanted to see a quicker path for individuals who came here illegally as children to become U.S. citizens under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and added that U.S. corporations were pressuring the White House and Congress for continuing and expanding the DACA program. Of note was Biden's comment that we needed more farm workers.

The agricultural industry, which includes farming, fishing, and forestry contributes some $175 billion dollars to the nation's economy. The farm industry employs less than one percent of the total number of workers in the United States, or about 2.5 million individuals on private and corporate farms and ranches. Migrants of the sort Biden mentioned comprise roughly 450,000 of that number.  

Currently there is a shortage of around 141,800 farm workers annually on U.S. farms, which represents a decline of about 75% in recent years. As a result, American consumers are finding higher prices, fewer choices, and shortages at the grocery store.

Meanwhile, many small family farms, faced with higher operating costs, are going out of business, leaving the average consumer more dependent than ever on corporate giants like Cargill, Archer-Daniels-Midlands, Monsanto/Bayer and on foreign imports. 

In fact, the U.S. imports 2/3 of all its fresh fruit and 1/3 of its fresh vegetables from Latin America and China. In 2021, fresh fruits and vegetables accounted for nearly 24% of all agricultural imports into the U.S. which amounted to $39 billion dollars. In February 2023, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said that fresh and frozen fruits rose by 10% in 2022 to $19.3 billion dollars. Good news for China and Latin America!

The trouble with corporations like Cargill and Monsanto/Bayer, who control over 50% of the market, is that they are highly automated and need fewer workers.   High operating costs and lower profit margins have forced many family farms to cut back on hiring farm workers, not to mention that the 60 - 100 thousand migrants waiting to cross over into the United States might not have any interest in working on farms or being employed in low wage service or construction jobs for that matter.  

Opponents of Title 42 argued that President Trump's use of the law was less about controlling the outbreak of COVID as much as it was about providing a legal means to close down the southern border and remove immigrants despite Trump closing the borders with Mexico and Canada. Truth or politics?

The truth is that 189 countries, home to 65% of the world's population, had a complete ban on travel. Another 193 had a partial ban restricting movement into or out of their country (many imposed lengthy quarantine periods). 98 of these countries imposed bans on individuals from specific countries including China, which is believed to have been the origin point of the COVID virus.

As a result, around 91% of the world's population was under some sort of travel restriction.  Thus, Trump's action in activating Title 42 was in keeping with the majority of other nations in order to protect their citizens. It's worth nothing that while Trump closed the border with Canada and Mexico, Mexico was one of the very few countries which refused to close its borders or restrict travel.

The lifting of the Title 42 ban will undoubtedly open yet another floodgate of individuals seeking a new life in America as so many others have before them. The problem isn't individuals wanting to come to America legally. The problem is those who refuse to follow the law like thousands of others do every year. Instead, they want to "cut the line" and bypass all the gates designed to protect them and those already here. Why should they be an exception?  Is there anything we can do to control this, and what about the 11.3 million or so illegal immigrants now living in the United States? 

There will, no doubt, be ample numbers of unscrupulous businesses willing to hire those who slip thorough illegally, employing them in dismal sweat shop conditions for less than poverty level wages. There will also be those organizations (mostly religious) who will defiantly break U.S. immigration law to smuggle people across the border, even if it means working with criminal drug cartels to do so, not to mention hiding them and assisting in "playing the system" at taxpayer expense  because they don't believe the law should apply to them.

While adding more agents on the border is a step in the right direction, ultimately they will continue to come as long as there is a demand. Thus, the most effective way to stifle illegal immigration is to crack down on those hiring, aiding, and sheltering them.

American and Mexican efforts at curtailing the corruptive influence of the drug cartels has been, at most, ineffective. Many remain just as powerful and just as ruthless as they've ever been despite the absence of colorful characters like Pablo Escobar and Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. Some operate with near impunity within the United States either directly or through various gangs.

They use their assorted drug related connections to smuggle individuals across the border and into the U.S. at $3000 or more a head (no refunds). Others bypass the cartels and come on their own. Some link up with religious or similar groups who provide hideouts from law enforcement. They also help to find safe places to live, work, and ways to work around the system, which includes getting taxpayer based assistance for nearly everything from daycare or school for their children to healthcare and utility assistance.

Unscrupulous employers often take advantage of the situation and the individuals with offers of a job. These jobs are typically very low paying "piece" work in miserable work conditions. They receive few amenities most everyone is used to such as restroom or lunch breaks, and of course, no benefits. The places they work in are often unsafe and miserably hot or cold. As an aside, organized crime is often associated with these type of operations, especially in large cities.

Of course, being here illegally, it's not like they can complain to a union or OSHA.  A few, however, may be lucky enough to find work at legitimate employers willing to look the other way or maybe they can lie their way into a job, but they'll forever be looking over their shoulder out of fear of the authorities.

One key way to cut back on demand is by actively going after these low life employers and imposing hefty fines on each illegal immigrant they employ and suspending their business licenses beginning with their first offense.  Repeat offenses should bring longer and longer automatic jail time along with increasing fines. The goal is to make it unprofitable to engage in this sort of work.

The same should apply to religious and other organizations as well. In addition, their tax exempt status should also be revoked. The fines and suspension of business licenses should extend to companies who employ any of these individuals. Fines should also be imposed on those assisting in any way.

Cities and other municipalities who harbor illegal immigrants under the euphemism of "sanctuary cities" should automatically lose any federal dollars and other assistance. Several have instructed their law enforcement agencies not to cooperate with federal authorities in the arrest or re-arrest of illegal immigrants suspected of a crime. We currently have cities who not only openly defy federal immigration laws, but have actually asked for more federal assistance to deal with the influx of illegal immigrants! Now, that's brazen!

When it comes to labor shortage on farms, there are several things that can be done. First, make it easier for would be workers to apply for a work visa (aka "green card"). We want to make it easier on both the employer and potential employee.

Next, extend the length of employment at the discretion of the employer based on industry. Some jobs, like dairy, poultry, or beef are year around work while others, like fruit or vegetables, are seasonal. Allowing tax credit for hiring seasonal workers (migrant or not) to small farms is another way to help keep the family farm going.   

Additionally, provide for a English languages classes. It benefits no one if they can't be understood. In   Czarist Russia during the 1860's and 70's, student intellectuals called the "Narodniks" would go to the countryside to teach the peasants how to read and write. Colleges and universities could offer similar programs to help migrants learn to read and speak English in exchange for class credit hours.

The next thing that can be done is offset the cost of hiring workers. In many cases, these individuals lack transportation, so the employer has to pick up the cost. The creation of co-ops and working with unions such as the United Farm Workers could be a way to cut down on the expense of transportation.  Lastly, open up avenues for these individuals to stay and become citizens if that's what they want to do. If they want to work, so why not let them stay?

Lastly, of course, is reforming existing immigration laws. President Ronald Reagan was the first to offer amnesty in 1986 to the estimate 5 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. The result? More came in the hopes of another amnesty program, and they will keep coming. Amnesty isn't the answer. 

The U.S. must make it clear in as many way as possible (including the use of commercials on Latin American radio or TV) that illegal immigration is not acceptable and they will be deported. If they want to immigrate, contact the nearest U.S. embassy to do it correctly. Return immigrants at the expense of their native country by offsetting the foreign aid we send them. Require new immigrants to speak, read, and write a minimal amount of English as well as have a basic understanding of our laws. It will only make their life easier.

Secondly, we need to stop meddling in the internal affairs of other nations. Many of the immigrants on our southern border are there due to sanctions or embargoes imposed by the U.S. Government. Stop it. Not everyone wants to be like us or even do business with us. The sanctions and embargoes only makes their lives unbearable (not the government's) and forces them to come here.  

We also need to stop installing or propping up corrupt governments. Many of these tinpot dictators take the aid we send and use it as bribery or sell it. Their corruption contributes to immigrants fleeing to our border. We also mustn't forget that 60% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck or that we have the widest wage inequality of any industrialized nation in the world. Why?

COVID may be over, but there will be others like it. Illegal immigration and the problems it brings aren't going to go away.  As Albert Einstein once said, "insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result". If that's the case, we're being led by the insane..   

 

If you want to know more about this article's topic, please check out the links below. If you enjoyed the article, please consider passing it along to others and don't forget to subscribe. It's free! Lastly please be sure to "like" us on whatever platform you use to read anotheropinionblog.com. It helps with the algorithms and keeps our articles in circulation. Thank you! 

 

As Title 42 lifts, Biden says border authorities 'need more agents'

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Closed borders, travel bans, and halted immigration....

How Title 42's expiration reshapes immigration policy at the U.S.-Mexican border

U.S. imports of fruit and vegetables up in 2019, USDAreports

A Retrospective of Another Opinion's Top Articles for 2022

Starting with our first article on Another Opinion, published back in 2005, we have done a year end review of our most popular top articles. It's an opportunity to review what was trending at the time and what you, our dear readers, was most interested in.  In keeping with that tradition, we will start with number five.

COVID has been with us for what seems an eternity, and with it Dr. Anthony Fauci, the CDC, and the never ending vaccines. Also tied to Dr. Fauci and COVID was whether was (or is) any relationship between the Chinese and the origin of the COVID virus, as well as its possible weaponization against the West. 

We also took a look at the profits being made off the vaccines by Pfizer, Moderna, and BioNTech which equated to a total of $93.5 million dollars every single day (or to put it in perspective, $65,000 every minute of every day). Lastly, we examined the possibility that these vaccines would morph into some kind of government control along the lines of new form of police state (no vaccination card no admission to grocery store or no job).

Our fourth article covered similar ground except the focus was on the obscene profits Big Pharma was making, not just on the COVID vaccines, but on ordinary prescriptions and healthcare in general. As we just covered in our most recent article, the U.S. healthcare system is ranked among the worst of all the developed nations in the world. We have the fewest available hospital beds, the highest medical costs, highest infant mortality rates, and lowest life expectancy of any industrialized nation.   

If that wasn't bad enough, nearly 2/3 of Congress (that's the House and Senate) gets money from Big Pharma. $7.1 million went to Republicans while Democrats received $6.6 million. Meanwhile, in 2021 Big Pharma spent an additional $263 million dollars to lobby Congress!  Also, because of cutbacks in government funding, Big Pharma now provides the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) with 75% of its drug review funding.

So what did they get for their money? How about no capping of drug prices, more control over what your physician prescribes, limiting the time your doctor gets to spend with you, and higher hospital bills for shorter stays. They also got more restrictions on converting higher cost "name brand" drugs into cheaper generic counterparts (under federal law, lower cost prescription medication has to be issued over the more expensive brand names unless there is a medical reason that would prevent a substitute).

Finally, Big Pharma has continued to step up its marketing of many drugs directly to public in order to encourage potential patients to request specific medication and boost sales. Big Pharma also expanded its all out offensive against holistic healthcare (common in Asia, Africa and Latin America).

This also includes preventative treatments and homeopathic healthcare which is an accepted practice in Europe and most of the world.  The outcome would be to make an already dependent and overmedicated population ever more dependent on what some call "controlled poisons" when discussing most prescriptions.

Our third most popular article was about Cancel Culture and the fight against freedom of expression and speech (among others).  Talk show host Joe Rogan made a comment on one of his podcast about disapproving of Biden's call for mandatory mask usage and requiring everyone to get COVID vaccines. It was just his personal opinion. Well that started a "firestorm" of protests from the Left. Apparently Rogan's comments weren't "politically correct". 

The Cancel Culture tries its level best to shame, bully, or intimidate anyone who says or does something which happens to offend them that day. Unfortunately they've been somewhat successful, causing individuals, groups, or even occasionally a corporation to back off. A few have even hired "consultants" to help them make sure that they're content is "PC"!

Nevertheless, the ultimate result has been to make individuals and others hesitant about what they say or do out of fear of backlash. It has caused people to measure everything they say or do. Libraries and bookstores have stopped carrying certain books or carry sanitized version of them. Same goes for movies.

Some TV stations will air censored version of movies or not broadcast older movies because of how some groups were portrayed or because all the actors were white; there were no individuals "of color". No so-called "diversity". But, at the same time, certain radio stations will play songs which encourages rape, violence, murder (especially of police officers) and just about every other depravity you can imagine and call it creative "entertainment" or racial expression. Heck, they even give out awards for this garbage!

It's reminiscent of Nazi Germany, Stalinist Russia or China's "Culture Revolution" in 1966 under Mao Zedong. Whatever the state or party disapproved of was deemed as not socially acceptable (ie: not "politically correct"). As a result, certain books and movies were forbidden or destroyed while radio stations and newspapers were ransacked or shut down with thousands beaten, jailed, or murdered.  

Businesses were boycotted and many were fired from their jobs for holding "contrary" ideological positions. Some individuals were labeled "social misfits" or a threat to the state and sent to "reeducation camps" (a euphemism used for concentration camps). The horror of Kristallnacht (or "Night of Broken Glass") was borne out of this mentality. 

There are lots of things I don't like, disagree with, or disapprove of, be it movies, books, music, or media content. However, in a truly free society, each of us have the right to freedom of speech and expression. If I have an issue with it, I simply walk away, turn the channel, or don't buy what they're selling. It's me exercising my freedom of association and using the power of the marketplace.

Our second most popular article for 2022 was the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. Our focus was on why President Putin invaded his southern neighbor. There's been a long history between Russia and Ukraine dating back to the Kievan Rus in 832, but that didn't spark the invasion.

Following the end of WWII, Soviet Russia created a buffer state composed of Eastern European nations it had liberated from the Nazis and pro-Nazis. It was Stalin's intention that Russia would never again be threatened by the West (Sweden's King Charles XII in 1707, Napoleon had invaded in 1812 and Hitler in 1941). However, with the USSR's implosion starting in 1989, these states were left to their destinies.

In 1990 then President Mikhail Gorbachev was assured by U.S. Secretary of State James Baker that NATO would "not advance one inch eastward", and yet by the end of the 20th Century, all of them belonged to NATO. This meant the Russia faced NATO tanks, troops, ships, and missiles all along its western frontier. The one exception was Ukraine, which at the time included the valuable Crimea with Russia's second largest military and naval bases at Sevastopol on the Black Sea.  It also had something else. Vast oil and gas resources.

The United States and some EU countries helped orchestrate a coup to remove President Petro Poroshenko and his pro-Moscow government with pro-Western Volodymyr Zelenskyy (to help "spread democracy" no doubt).  Some claim that in exchange for Western support a deal was made for access to the oil and gas rich Black Sea.

Almost immediately Zelenskyy began saber rattling about full membership in NATO, which, if granted, would completely surround Russia on the west and put Sevastopol not only in danger, but would threaten Russia's access to the Mediterranean Sea.  Putin continued to warn Ukraine, the West, and the United States that NATO in Ukraine would not be tolerated.

When it became apparent that NATO would approve Ukraine's application for full admission, Russia moved to secure the Crimea and protect its military installations, as well as its control of its oil and gas reserves. When that failed to make Ukraine back off, Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Since then, the world has turned against Putin (with one lone exception, the Belarus).

Meanwhile, despite a full court press, Russian troops have failed to fully subjacent Ukraine which has militarily exhausted the former Super Power. As a result, Russian troops have focused on securing the pro-Russian Donbas provinces in Eastern Ukraine.  How this war will turn out is anybody's guess.

Some are predicting an eventual chemical, biological, or tactical nuclear strike, which seems unlikely. Others suggest a coup against Putin, which is possibility. There have been massive protests throughout Russia and a growing unrest among senior officers in the Russian military while in Ukraine, thanks to Western media and U.S. public relations and marketing firms, Zelenskyy has achieved near mythic status. Meanwhile, Western (mostly U.S.) energy companies are keeping a close eye on events.

Finally, our most viewed article for 2022 was, in part, about the sudden and dramatic rise in food and gas prices, but at its core it was about the growing power of the Corporatocracy and ruling Oligarchy which has seized control of America.

We pointed out how just five corporations control over 95% of everything you read, watch, or hear. It even controls your entertainment, from music and movies to video games. We discussed how four companies control practically everything (65%) we buy at the store, from clothes and electronics to food. 

We told you that four corporations own 85% of all meat processed in America while three controlled 66% of all pork.  just 15 cent of every dollar spent went to the farmer (most food production, however, comes from giant corporate farms owned by mega corporations, which are heavily subsided by the government.  When it comes to fertilizers, 65.8% of the market is owned by four companies.

Take a look at technology. Only five companies own 80% of the market. When it comes to energy---oil and gas mainly---a relatively small group runs it all, while suppressing alternative energy sources such as wind and solar.  Meanwhile, there's only about 30 companies which totally dominate the our financial markets.  Globally, they are about a dozen. Most of them are Chinese owned.

These companies are part of (indeed the core of) the global Corporatocracy which runs the world. They certainly run the government of the United States. It's senior board members are part of ruling oligarchy (or as some prefer, kleptocracy) that call the shots in Congress, the White House, and the Judicial system. Their lobbyists write our laws that we are told to obey.  It has nothing to do with "socialism" or "communism", although those names are bandied about to make us fear them. Why? Because they fear the people---us.

We've provided a link to these articles below so you can re-read them or perhaps read them for the first time in the same order as above.  We hope you found these, as well as our others articles informative and useful. Ever since our first article was published in July of 2005, we've tried our best to provide you, our dear readers, with accurate non-partisan information. No slant. Just facts. We even include links to our sources in case you want to delve deeper.

If you enjoy our work, please pass it along. We don't have a marketing department and therefore depend on you to help spread the word. We also ask that you "like" us on whatever platform you're using so our articles can stay in front of people. A lot of these platforms don't like what we have to say since it goes against their corporate line (toeing the line has never been one of my strong suits).

Finally, we would like to thank each and every one of you for taking the time to read Another Opinion. We sincerely couldn't do it without your help. Have a happy, healthy, and safe New Year in 2023. Take care everyone.

 

If you want to know more about this article's topic, please check out the links below. If you enjoyed the article, please consider passing it along to others and don't forget to subscribe. It's free! Lastly please be sure to "like" us on whatever platform you use to read anotheropinionblog.com. It helps with the algorithms and keeps our articles in circulation. Thank you! 

 

Dr. Fauci: The Man, Myth,Legend...and Schemer?

Big Pharma: A Monopoly in Need of a Cure

Joe Rogan and Cancel Culture: Freedom For Some But Not All

Understanding the Real Reason Why Russia Invaded the Ukraine

 

Who Wants to Play Monopoly?