Decent People, Part 2

The innertubes are all abuzz today with Jon Stewart's interview with Jim Cramer. I highly recommend watching it. Stewart is dead serious and he never lets up. This is a man who gets it about ordinary Americans and the economic crimes that have been perpetrated against us, and he is speaking up on our behalf. Furthermore, Stewart does it with such respect. He is not ripping Cramer to shreds, but he is intent on holding his feet to the fire. To Cramer's credit, he submits with grace, and one hopes that this might be a thought-provoking experience for him. One hopes.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! *wipes away tears from ironic laughter*

Anyway, all told it is a little over 20 minutes and well worth the time spent. You won't get your usual Jon Stewart-induced laughs; indeed, you might be moved to tears.

Tax the Speculators!

As far as I can tell, the economic stimulus package that Obama is taking on the road in an attempt to drum up populist support, is another boondoggle for the poor and working people of this country. The cuts that have been made in an effort to appease the Rethuglicans (and I feel like I have to resort to name-calling in this instance, just to make myself feel a little better) are of the very things that everyday people need in order to pull themselves out of this hole that our government has been digging for nearly the last 30 years. (Thanks, Ronald Reagan. You were a saint. Not.) Look at how the cuts that are proposed by [extremely wealthy] "centrists" Susan Collins and Ben Nelson disproportionately affect women and children. Again. They just don't get it, or don't care.

What is the answer? Well it seems as if a lot of people have answers, from Jon Stewart to Paul Krugman to Ralph Nader, the man that progressives love to hate. If only Congress would listen. This is what Nader posted on Wednesday, and it makes good sense:

Let’s start with a fairness point. Why should you pay a 5 to 6 percent sales tax for buying the necessities of life, when tomorrow, some speculator on Wall Street can buy $100 million worth of Exxon derivatives and not pay one penny in sales tax? Let’s further add a point of common sense. The basic premise of taxation should be to first tax what society likes the least or dislikes the most, before it taxes honest labor or human needs. (Read the whole thing here)

Wow -- tax the rich. What a concept! I, for one, am sick and tired of being trickled down on. What would the world look like if we really put the needs of people first?

I try to make a practice of not hating ... anyone. I believe in living by nonviolent principles, and hate is violent. But I come dangerously close to hating the wealthy, corpulent politicians who are where they are today because of a lifetime of privilege, who use their position of power as a bully pulpit to preach "work ethic" to the rest of us. Now, I cannot pretend that I have known poverty. My dad was a doctor -- albeit one who worked in the public sector, so though we were never ridiculously wealthy, we were always well off.

However, I have worked for my entire adult life. We live in a modest house and have always taken modest vacations. We have very little in savings, certainly not enough to guarantee a college education for our children or an easy retirement for us. We may not be poor, but our future is looking anything but certain at this point in time. And how dare they, HOW DARE THEY, give more of our money away to the already fabulously wealthy while wagging their fingers at the general populace and talking about "work ethic"? These people who wear $1,000 shoes, maintain multiple homes, send their children to private schools, and eat out every day -- often on the taxpayers' dime?

This entire stimulus plan should be thrown out and started over. The Rethugs need to be told, "Shut the hell up!" and the Dems (including Barack Obama) asked, "Just who do you think elected you to this office?" I'm pissed off!

"Let them eat cake."

Chances are, you've already seen this. The G8 pigs are at the trough, while much of the rest of the world starves. Why do we allow this?

It reminds me of the book I am currently reading, Human Smoke: The Beginnings of World War II, the End of Civilization. The hubris, the thirst for war, and the absolute cruelty of the world's leaders at that time (and I'm not just talking about Hitler; Churchill and Roosevelt were equally inhuman in their own ways) was shocking. Nothing has changed, the thirst for power and profit rules the planet.

If I Wasn't a Quaker, I'd Be Spitting Bullets!

Warning: This post contains 3 or more kinds of profanity, and some sarcasm. There is a lot happening in the world that breaks my heart, and over which I have little control. When things happen close to home, due only to a kind of ignorance and group-think, that affect children -- mine and others -- it infuriates me. Here's the scoop:

My eleven year old daughter brought a fundraiser catalog home from school. You know the kind: over-priced chocolates and gift wrap, a lot of resin statuary and cheap jewelry made in China ... I looked through it, and said, "You know, honey, I think we'll just make a donation to the PTO. There isn't anything here we need." She turned away, and I could see she was crying.

Well, it turns out that they did a fundraising kick-off and made a huge deal over the fact that kids who sell X number of items get to attend "The Greatest Party Ever To Come To Your School" during the school day. With games, refreshments, music, face painting, and -- I kid you not -- Deal Or No Deal: "Just sell 15 items and you're in the drawing ... you could win up to $100.00!" There are levels of participation in the party, depending upon how many items you sell. One's level will be identified by a color-coded wrist band! (The poor suckers who did not sell enough will remain in their classrooms, presumably reading or playing "Heads Up Seven Up", woo hoo. Or maybe watching inspirational movies from Halliburton, Monsanto, and Archer Daniels Midland, so that next time, they too will be GOOD Americans, and get out there and sell shit, goddammit.)

My elementary school feeds into this middle school. I know for a fact that many of my daughter's classmates are not from families that have disposable income. Some of them are homeless and living in shelter. A lot of them are working poor. Hell, our family was one of the better off at the school for the last 6 years, and that isn't saying much.

I don't hold with reward programs of most kinds, but this is the worst. Children who are required by law to be at school will be excluded from a big fun party not because of their behavior, not because of performance, not because of anything over which they might have a modicum of control ... but because they didn't sell enough FUCKING product. What a set-up.

So I didn't only blog about it. First I wrote an email to the principal, omitting the f-word -- just in case you were worried -- laying out all my points and asking him to rethink this party. I'll see what kind of a response I get from him, before I decide how to proceed. If I am not satisfied, I will contact the school board. Our district makes a very big deal (as they should) about building relationships and community, engaging students, using positive models and being inclusive and equitable. We just had a whole day inservice on those very topics last Tuesday, as we do every year at this time. This party is a contradiction to all of those things.

I also plan to join the PTO. Maybe I can get my favorite Fair Trade Organic coffee, tea, and cheese fundraiser going there. I have nothing against fundraising: it is a necessary activity in this day and age. It's the reward and punishment I object to. The setting kids up to be hurt if their parents don't cough up the cash. That is just plain wrong.

[Tuesday update: The principal just phoned to tell me he got my message, he agrees with me 100%, and is canceling the fundraiser if he can, and definitely putting the kabash on the party. I am relieved.]

That'll Larn 'Em To Get Sick ...

This is the lead story at Huffington Post this morning:

Immigrants' Emergency Care Is Limited By U.S. Rule
The federal government has told New York State health officials that chemotherapy, which had been covered for illegal immigrants under a government-financed program for emergency medical care, does not qualify for coverage. The decision sets the stage for a battle between the state and federal governments over how medical emergencies are defined. Read more and be outraged ...

Whatever one may believe about so-called illegal immigrants and their rights or reasons for being in the U.S., this is just immoral (and remember, it's the policy of the family values spewing Bible thumpers of the Bush Administration.) It effectively imposes a death sentence on illegal immigrants who have the bad fortune to develop cancer. I can extrapolate from there that, Medicare coverage probably would be denied for immigrants' end of life care, including effective pain management.

And hey, I imagine it's not much better for any resident or citizen of the U.S. who doesn't have resources to cover their medical care.

Furthemore, I suspect there are a lot of Americans -- liberal and conservative -- who believe that this is as it should be. ("I pulled myself up by my own bootstraps and why should anyone else blah blah blah woof woof ...")

I'm disgusted by such mean-spiritedness. I'd like to hear a presidential candidate talk about rebuilding the safety net that was dismantled under Ray-gun (the Insane Anglo War Lord) and reinstate welfare as we knew it before Hillary's husband ended it. And then I'd like to see that candidate elected!

Time's A-Gettin' Hard

There's an old Lee Hays song that goes like this:

Time's a gettin' hard, boys, money's gettin' scarce
If times don't get no better, boys, gonna leave this place
Take my true love by the hand, lead her through the town
Sayin' good-bye to everyone, good-bye to everyone

This past weekend I ran into a friend whom I hadn't seen in a while. (The school year makes hermits of all of us.) We have kids the same age and we've socialized over the years. We exchanged pleasantries, "how are yous?" and so forth, and then she told me that their family is moving to another state at the end of the summer. I said something inane like, "Wow. That's big." She went on to tell me that her husband has been unable to find work for over a year, that they have not been able to keep up with bills, that if they stay here they will have to sell their [very modest] house ... her husband got a job in another state and so they feel they have no choice but to go.

This is a family that was pretty settled here, not upwardly mobile or transient the way many younger professionals seem to be. Their kids have grown up here. They've put down roots.

That could very well be us, if not for the fact that I have so many years invested in my school system. My husband was laid off from his job for a good quarter of the last year. He works for a high end custom remodeling company, and clients were simply not signing their contracts, deciding to postpone projects. What does it mean when people who are comfortably well off get cold feet over spending money?

This is what I see when I begin to look around my immediate circle: Two of my siblings either unemployed or under-employed. Significant teacher lay-offs in my district (that's a first in my 20 years with this district). My neighbor unable to find a job.

Granted, this is viewing the world through a very small lens, but I think it implies a much greater problem than anyone seems to be talking about. What is keeping us afloat right now, aside from the "everything's fine" mentality? Is it the flood of cheap crap from Asia? Living on credit?

The jobs are going out the window, as is so articulately described in this article.

Nearly 80 years after the Great Depression, there seems to be a tendency to almost romanticize it, and certainly a lack of awareness as to how bad it really was. I see the signs, and I am frightened and saddened for my children's future.