We won't recognize the true struggle

There should be one thing, beyond supporting Ukraine, that most Americans should agree about: corporations are using the pandemic and the Russian invasion to pad profits.

Starbucks is planning to raise prices, despite its profits increasing by 22 percent over the past couple years. Tyson's nearly doubled its prices as meat prices quickly rise. And Exxon had its highest earnings in seven years... and those gas prices are not reflecting any of that.

I'm not exactly anti-capitalist, and not every business or corporation is gouging consumers, but there are enough to remind us that the real divide in the world is between those who own the businesses and hoard the power and those who spend most of their income on necessities and who have little power.

Greed is one of our species' least attractive qualities, though it is certainly understandable. Why not grab a larger profit when people are clamoring to buy? 

The ugly side of that choice is that some goods and services are too essential for people to skip or ignore. Think concert tickets are too high? Fine, don't go. Think ballplayers are overpaid? Duh, but you don't really have to attend games or buy merchandise.

But gas and milk and break and assorted groceries? Sure, they're too high but the options to simply not buy are not attractive.

Even in the survey showing Americans' skepticism about corporations, our political divide was clear. Over 70 percent of Democrats favored the view that companies are padding profits, while only about 52 percent of Republicans agreed. When asked, most of those Republicans said they thought inflation was mostly due to the government and national policies.

Oh, those poor corporations.

I will simply add, "Oh, those poor Republicans." It's easy to see why corporations donate heavily to R candidates when they can rely on a large number of ill-informed voters to keep those profits ringing.

Many of those Republican who continue to believe that businesses are on their side, somehow, are among those suffering the most from artificial inflation, which is some percentage of real rising prices.

But the rich have always been able to rely upon the ignorance and apathy of the "lower classes." 

Russia is trying to exercise raw power in Ukraine, but we have our own battles in America, with corporations exercising their raw power over most citizens.

But let's continue to fight about critical race theory and tax rates. Just don't look behind the curtain.