We have had a fiction rammed down our throats for decades. Since the time of Ronnie Reagan, who has not been told that a rising tide lifts all boats, or that there would be salvation for our way of life by letting the wealthy keep more of their income? It is all crap. The real fact is that when you are at the end of your rope, a rising tide takes you off your mooring. If your boat has holes in it and is foundering, the rising tide cannot even be perceived, because you are so busy bailing. We have known for decades that the rich do not invest money in creating jobs, they do not invest in making the lives of others better, in fact, their donations are usually strategic, supporting things that help with tax avoidance, not improving the lives of common folk. No, their extra money goes to off shore tax havens, founding shell companies to get even more tax breaks and to prop up their own public image and/or portfolios. We have been sold a bill of goods. Economists have warned for decades about the risky nature of tax breaks for the ultrawealthy and the last few decades are proving them right.
I am not bitter, just confused at why we let the stupidity and lies of long-past generations rule our thinking over the recent ones. In fact, when you turn on your tee vee today, in 2016, you will see the vitriolic hate and lies that led to the whole tax reduction strategy, the lack of regulatory agencies reigning in greed. We see directly the weight of the world coming down on the poor and what is left of the middle class in favor of even more tax cuts and freedom from regulation for the oligarchs.
What you will not see is the militarized "police" forces clashing with water protectors, you will not see the fact that a single drop of oil can contaminate a million drops of water, you will not see the flagrant takings of the uber-wealthy classes that come directly out of the pockets of the poor. The closest you will come to seeing that the average American is worse off now than they were in the sixties and seventies is when you actually walk through virtually any neighborhood in our formerly great nation. Lest I sidle up a little too close to the flaming hemorrhoid's campaign slogan, let me make clear that the former greatness was not built on a single raving multi-millionaire's lunatic ramblings, but on a series of fortunate events such as the highest number of union employees in our nation's history. The residual effects of the WPA (Works Progress Administration), the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps), and a host of New Deal programs that made life for the average American better over the course of decades. We also have documented benefits that have come from many of the social programs that are not so easy to see, because they raise the floor under the most vulnerable in our society instead of exploiting them...medicare, medicaid, pensions, legalized abortion and AFDC. Instead, we have languished under the unbridled capitalism and what you will also not see on the tee vee is the daily robbing of the poor to help feed the uber-wealthy.
The pain is what trickles down, the poverty, the poison of ecological destruction and the erosion of our property values.
One case in point is the recent raising of the speed limits here in Wisconsin. This draconian measure was the idea of a very small group of very wealthy individuals who can easily afford to pay fifteen percent more for their fuel. The average fuel economy drops significantly when we travel at more than fifty-five miles per hour. The exponential increase of wind pressure as we travel faster and faster is undeniable if you are a physicist, however, we let people who only want the extra money that decreased fuel efficiency for all cars driven on the highway will shift to the fossil fuel giants. On a typical hour-long commute, about half the driving distance is in town, so there are no time savings realized with the higher highway speeds, my own commute, from Near downtown Green Bay to downtown Appleton (exactly 33.3 miles) increases by less than four minutes. Time savings has nothing to do with the increased speed limits. The risks are borne by us all. The costs as well accrue to us, shifting more money to giant corporations. Every ten miles per hour faster that we travel doubles the probability of death when there is a collision. Welcome to the basic boring bullshit of thinking as opposed to bailing out the uberwealthy. If we travel 70 MPH the increased risk of death if we do crash is 150% higher than if we were only going 55. As anyone who has driven lately knows, the speeds that some people drive ranges up to and over eighty MPH! These folks are increasing the risk of death if there is an accident by 250%!
Interestingly, I continue to drive 55, because I cannot afford 15% more for fuel, even if it is cheaper than it was ten years ago. My own experience has taught me that if I cannot arrive at my destination relaxed and alive, I probably don't want to be there anyway. I'm sure that more than eight minutes a day are squandered doing less important things than getting to work. If you hate your commute that much that you can't afford eight minutes a day to do it safely, move closer to your work, telecommute or try a different job. I'm sure that your skill set is more broad than you even realize. The petrochemical giants only do one thing and it is poison the planet. Invest wisely. It has a direct effect on our collective future.
Stay tuned for part two of this post, I've got to invest some time into feeding myself. Digging potatoes that are the tenth generation of a small handful of free tiny spuds that I have cared for, invested in and enjoyed eating for a decade...the finest things in life cannot ever become "commodities". As a great musician, Greg Brown, has sung thousands of times, there's only two things money can't buy...true love and homegrown tomatoes! I would add to that list, homegrown anything (today it is potatoes).
I am not bitter, just confused at why we let the stupidity and lies of long-past generations rule our thinking over the recent ones. In fact, when you turn on your tee vee today, in 2016, you will see the vitriolic hate and lies that led to the whole tax reduction strategy, the lack of regulatory agencies reigning in greed. We see directly the weight of the world coming down on the poor and what is left of the middle class in favor of even more tax cuts and freedom from regulation for the oligarchs.
What you will not see is the militarized "police" forces clashing with water protectors, you will not see the fact that a single drop of oil can contaminate a million drops of water, you will not see the flagrant takings of the uber-wealthy classes that come directly out of the pockets of the poor. The closest you will come to seeing that the average American is worse off now than they were in the sixties and seventies is when you actually walk through virtually any neighborhood in our formerly great nation. Lest I sidle up a little too close to the flaming hemorrhoid's campaign slogan, let me make clear that the former greatness was not built on a single raving multi-millionaire's lunatic ramblings, but on a series of fortunate events such as the highest number of union employees in our nation's history. The residual effects of the WPA (Works Progress Administration), the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps), and a host of New Deal programs that made life for the average American better over the course of decades. We also have documented benefits that have come from many of the social programs that are not so easy to see, because they raise the floor under the most vulnerable in our society instead of exploiting them...medicare, medicaid, pensions, legalized abortion and AFDC. Instead, we have languished under the unbridled capitalism and what you will also not see on the tee vee is the daily robbing of the poor to help feed the uber-wealthy.
The pain is what trickles down, the poverty, the poison of ecological destruction and the erosion of our property values.
One case in point is the recent raising of the speed limits here in Wisconsin. This draconian measure was the idea of a very small group of very wealthy individuals who can easily afford to pay fifteen percent more for their fuel. The average fuel economy drops significantly when we travel at more than fifty-five miles per hour. The exponential increase of wind pressure as we travel faster and faster is undeniable if you are a physicist, however, we let people who only want the extra money that decreased fuel efficiency for all cars driven on the highway will shift to the fossil fuel giants. On a typical hour-long commute, about half the driving distance is in town, so there are no time savings realized with the higher highway speeds, my own commute, from Near downtown Green Bay to downtown Appleton (exactly 33.3 miles) increases by less than four minutes. Time savings has nothing to do with the increased speed limits. The risks are borne by us all. The costs as well accrue to us, shifting more money to giant corporations. Every ten miles per hour faster that we travel doubles the probability of death when there is a collision. Welcome to the basic boring bullshit of thinking as opposed to bailing out the uberwealthy. If we travel 70 MPH the increased risk of death if we do crash is 150% higher than if we were only going 55. As anyone who has driven lately knows, the speeds that some people drive ranges up to and over eighty MPH! These folks are increasing the risk of death if there is an accident by 250%!
Interestingly, I continue to drive 55, because I cannot afford 15% more for fuel, even if it is cheaper than it was ten years ago. My own experience has taught me that if I cannot arrive at my destination relaxed and alive, I probably don't want to be there anyway. I'm sure that more than eight minutes a day are squandered doing less important things than getting to work. If you hate your commute that much that you can't afford eight minutes a day to do it safely, move closer to your work, telecommute or try a different job. I'm sure that your skill set is more broad than you even realize. The petrochemical giants only do one thing and it is poison the planet. Invest wisely. It has a direct effect on our collective future.
Stay tuned for part two of this post, I've got to invest some time into feeding myself. Digging potatoes that are the tenth generation of a small handful of free tiny spuds that I have cared for, invested in and enjoyed eating for a decade...the finest things in life cannot ever become "commodities". As a great musician, Greg Brown, has sung thousands of times, there's only two things money can't buy...true love and homegrown tomatoes! I would add to that list, homegrown anything (today it is potatoes).
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