Another fact worth keeping in mind, from Collins: “The after-tax income of the top 1 percent more than tripled since 1979, while the bottom-dwellers barely moved an inch.” And there’s the crux of it. We have spent the last thirty years enriching the very highest caste in this country at the expense of everyone else, even the relatively wealthy who are now so upset that some money may wind up in the hands of poor black people. We’ve been fed a steady diet of vitriol and fear regarding the terrible manipulation of labor unions, which are ostensibly running this country into the ground with their all-powerful grip on the government when, really, they cannot even organize their own offices. We always hear about the pension obligations that are draining our budgets, but there are rarely any discussions of the various subsidies and tax breaks given to major corporations which find ways to effectively avoid contributing altogether. But, yes, by all means, let’s let a bunch of angry older folks with good incomes and decent educations set the tone of the debate. It’s probably the last chance they have to raise their voices in protest before we’re living in a socialist Islamic dictatorship.