On the bus from the airport to San Pedro Sula, I was reminded again of the ubiquitous displays of force, which are prevalent in so many third world countries. Men (they are all men) with machine guns or shotguns prominently displayed, stand outside of every bank.

     I have seen this many times before, but I always find it disquieting. Some countries are worse than others, and include roadblocks, or even national guardsmen at every other street corner. Honduras is not among the worst, but the gunmen are there outside of every bank, and many wealthy homeowners have razor wire on top of their walled homes.

     There is a reason that these gunmen are so prevalent in third world countries.  There is a vast disparity in power and wealth between the rich and the poor. There is little hope for the poor to improve their circumstances. Educational opportunities are rare, and the societies are highly stratified by class. The gunmen are there to protect the interests of the wealthy.

     In the past, I have tended to be grateful that the United States was not so repressive. On seeing the gunmen on this trip, I am sadly reminded that the United States has moved quite a distance toward the same type of overt threats of violence.

     Every time I enter the courthouse in Anchorage, I am screened for weapons by security guards. The Bush administration has initiated extra-judicial programs to disappear people they deem a threat. Semi-wealthy people in the U.S. live in gated communities with armed guards. Richer people have their own private security guards.

     Terrorism is the excuse for many of these measures, but it is not the true explanation. As in the third world countries, these measures are intended to protect the interests of the wealthy.

     The gap between the haves and the have-nots has increased dramatically since the start of the Reagan revolution. The American middle class has not entirely disappeared, but we are moving rapidly in that direction. The number of poor and middle class Americans who end up better off than their parents has plummeted.

     A very high percentage of young people today believe that they will become rich. In fact, the opposite is true. With the ongoing destruction of the middle class, far more of them will be poor than was the case for their parents. The truly rich already know this, and are preparing for this social transition by creating the security infrastructure that will protect their interests.

     Sometimes we need to see how other people live in order to get a better perspective on the trends in our own society.

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