Our country is rich with history. Some good, some bad. We fought for our freedom during the American Revolution demanding the rights our new nation's people deserved. Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery in 1865. The long winded Woman's Suffrage Movement came to an end on August 20th 1920 and women were granted the right to VOTE. Dr. Martin Luther King marched for Civil Rights in the 50's and 60's and eventually won those long deserved rights in 1964. I'm not sure why it took so long for some of these issues to pass, but better late than never I guess. On December 7th 1941, Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japanese. During the Civil Rights Movement people were hosed down and beaten by police. On September 11th 2001 the World Trade Center was brought to rubble during a terrorist attack. Another plane hit the Pentagon and another crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. As a result of these attacks on 9/11/2001, 2,973 American lives were lost. In August of 2005, Hurricane KATRINA demolished the great city of New Orleans and 1,836 people died and it took days and weeks for the proper help to arrive. Why some of these things happened, I'll never know... but I can take a guess... Mother Nature. Money. Greed. Power.
I was raised CATHOLIC in a MIDDLE CLASS and LIBERAL family. My father was a UNION worker. He drove a truck for well over 30 years, probably 40. He was an officer of the Teamsters Union with Local 478. I still remember some of the Teamsters getting together at my house to discuss sanitary working conditions, wages, and fighting for the respect they deserved. Those men worked ridiculously hard to stay afloat. They refused to allow their lack of education or where they came from hold them back. All they wanted was to keep a decent roof over their heads and food on the table for their families.
The Middle Class used to make up a great deal of our country. Unions kept people paid and paid decently. Then wealthy people took over. We elected a few puppets for Presidents and the Middle Class was fading. So many people lost their jobs in the 80's and why you ask? So BANKS could profit. Cut jobs, profits increase, stocks stay up. Move plants to different countries, cheaper labor, more product, stocks stay up. It was really sad. I don't even know what's made in this country anymore. I know a few American Apparel T-shirts I have are, but I'm sure the hat on my head was made in Taiwan, the car I drive in Japan, and the slippers on my feet were definitely made in India.
So what happened to the Middle Class? I'll tell you... It's almost nonexistent. Assholes like RONALD REAGAN destroyed the Unions (who were made up of a major percentage of the Middle Class) and forced millions of jobs to disappear right before our eyes. As a result, people were encouraged to live on this fictional currency called CREDIT. This set up up Americans to be in DEBT for LIFE. Who profited on this encouragement? BANKS. And who Runs the banks? RICH PEOPLE. Who ran the rich people? The government? Nope. The government, the banks, and the rich folks were all one in the same... Since at the time the government was made up of Bankers from Goldman Sachs, the rich people were running IT. Ronald Reagan took direction much better as a President (too bad it was from the wrong fucking people). He was a shitty actor... and an even worse PRESIDENT. Great job deconstructing the class of people that made this country what it is, douchebag.
Today people are struggling more than ever. I realize there are problems in other countries and I do believe we should send aid immediately, but we need to get our priorities straight and take care of our own. Every other person you meet is without HEALTHCARE. Every third person you meet is out of work (and I'm not talking about actors). What the fuck is going on?
We need to open our eyes people. Those earning in the top 1% of our country are running this place. The government has kept the wealthy at their side so they can get even richer. It's sickening. Back in the day (1940's or so) the wealthiest people in our nation were taxed at a much greater rate than those in the middle class. Now those same dickheads making all that money have arranged it so everyone is taxed almost equally. It's not fair. I know life isn't fair, but come the fuck on. Should we watch our own people die because they can't afford healthcare? Should we just stand by while people we know and love get pushed out of their homes? I think not.
I don't consider myself an avid follower of politics, but I often find a way into heated discussions about some topics. One of my best friends comes from a similar background as I do, yet we have completely different political views. He's a Wall Street guy; I'm a Main Street guy. This confuses me, since we both come from Main Street. I just don't understand the REPUBLICAN way of thinking. How can you be educated and NOT LIBERAL? How can you not believe in Gay Marriage? How can you not believe in a woman's right to choose? How can you not believe in tax breaks for the middle and lower classes? How can you not believe laborers have a right to form unions to protect themselves? I don't get it. Are you like one of those assholes that didn't believe in Civil Rights? Should women not be allowed to vote? You may be thinking I sound stupid, but if you disagree with me you're bred from the same cloth as the haters that came before you. It saddens me to know many of the people I love have opposing views.
Most families of wealth dislike unions (which are predominantly made up of laborers). These are the people who fix your cars, teach your children, build your houses, fly our planes, and more oft than not are the men and women fighting YOUR WARS. How can we not pay them sufficiently? And somehow we pay the people who handle rich people's money and other's who hand out bullshit loans to those that can't really afford to pay them back so much more. Are they more important? No. They're actually less important. The rich want to overwork people and pay them shit to make their products. It's ludicrous. This isn't some 3rd world country. This is our home. We need to take care of the people that inhabit this great land. We need to treat them like human beings, not rats. People that work hard for a living deserve the right to an education, a safe home, healthcare, and sufficient food to eat no matter what class you come from.
We're supposed to be living in a prosperous land built upon equal opportunity. This couldn't be further from the truth. Remember a little thing called THE CONSTITUTION? It's "WE THE PEOPLE of the United States, in order to form a more perfect UNION..." not "We the Rich People of the US, in order to destroy the Unions..."
If you start from the bottom, it's very hard to climb, but it is possible. That's what's great about this country. It's really hard though. Now if you come from a wealthy family; it's a cake walk to success. It's unsettling. The people are supposed to be running this country, not banks and big businesses. I'm disgusted when I think about GREED standing in the forefront. We're veering in the wrong direction. Being greedy doesn't make you happy. It doesn't mean you're motivated. It means you're an asshole. So go ahead and work hard. Make all the money you can. Get a respectable job. One that allows you to sleep well at night. Don't take advantage of other human beings. Don't thrive on someone else's misfortune. Provide for your family and don't be a scumbag. You may be doing really well, but that doesn't mean you need 12 cars, 20 TVs, a $30,000 purse and $2,000 shoes. If you have earned the right to afford these luxuries, think about giving back. Give back to your community. Realize you're privileged enough to make a difference... And make a difference in somebody else's life, not just your own. Be selfless, not selfish. And make sure you think twice when you're voting. Make sure you think about the people who are protecting your freedoms (firemen, police officers, soldiers) because they're the people we're fucking over.
I love this country. I love the beautiful people in it. I love its diversity. I love the freedom. I'd hate to see it destroyed to make a profit at the expense of its people. We have a new idealistic Sheriff in town and he has some stack of papers on his desk. In the past year and change he's probably gotten through about 3 pages, but let's hope he gets it done... And remembers the people that built the house he's living in. To change... and having a country to be proud of.
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ReplyDeleteWell said Keadly! Our own people are our responsibility! I have hope.
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