Having survived the "Reagan Revolution", and the ensuing decades of republican inertia has taught me a few things about education, politics, economics and our social fabric generally. We have been duped into thinking that the richest individuals are benevolent. The sickening refrain often spewed by those in power, "A rising tide lifts all boats." only applies to those wealthy enough to have a boat. Just this week I saw several things that drove home the idea that the only thing that has trickled down due to the enacted Republican Agenda has been desperation. We have seen the failed policies play out in nearly every field. Our schools, having suffered from endemic underfunding over the past generation are crumbling, poorly maintained and often nothing more than warehouses for our youth. Gone are the days of hope springing from educational institutions. Just yesterday I heard a story from a teacher that her Principal told her not to worry too much about a certain pupil. "You can't expect much from him he said."
"Why not?" she asked.
"Because he is black." responded the Principal.
I'm sad to have to relay this story on Martin's Birthday, but the truth is sometimes unsavory, and needs to be accepted and understood as fact to help us to move beyond the shackles of hatred and the tyrannical chains of oppression. No person is unable to develop, unless we prevent them from accessing the tools that they need to better themselves. The way we develop is often a response to factors that we do not see or understand. What we do see and make sense of is frequently the result of actions that remain hidden from view or misunderstood because the driving forces behind our lives know that they can be just as effective keepers of the wage slaves while remaining out of sight, or hidden behind the corporate shells that we think are in charge.
The many lies perpetrated upon the American People have no basis in fact, but repeated often enough, they have led to a total abandonment of good sense and decorum. We have been taught that there are "two sides" to every story. Truth has become a malleable term to be debated by the most reactionary people that the media can get their hands on. Now, we are able to distort fact and fiction until they not only represent one another but supplant one another when that becomes necessary.
Terms like "too big to fail" fly in the face of free market economics, but the same people who decry the need for massive bail outs also confer the laurel wreath of respectability to corporate raiders and the gambling house we call the stock market. Corporate welfare is class warfare, but the only time that the media uses the term is when the poor begin to fight back.
Late last week I saw a neighboring property with a gigantic heap of trash our front. The poor woman who lived there moved away, but her things were piled as tall as a person and both twice as high and three times as wide. More than a dozen people came and went from the pile, hoping to find something of value. One took every electrical cord they could find, another took a broken toy, still others took musty clothing and pots with missing lids. One fellow came early, before the pile had formed and removed every metal object this lady had amassed in the year and a half that she had lived there. In spite of all the rifling through the pile, it never seemed to get any smaller. The density of the pile was something to be amazed at. The density of crap that has been injected into the public debate is similarly dense.
Two decades ago, there were two old men who had junk pickers licenses in Green Bay, now there are several dozen people and many are young families with their children in tow. No longer are there other opportunities to make a living for these folks of meager means.
While I watched the endless parade of folks digging through the trash, another neighbor came home with a truckload of pressure treated wood that he will feed into his wood burner. In spite of the fact that he knows that toxic materials will be released when he burns it, the warmth is worth the cost in his mind. Ashes laden with poison will make their way into his garden and onto his dinner plate, but he needs the warmth to survive the coming cold weather. Life is preferable to the alternative, but he should not have to poison himself, his family or the neighbors just to get by.
What is necessary now is a reemergence of what we used to call good old common sense. The fact that we must lead, so that the leaders will follow has never been more critical than today. Ask those in charge any questions and there is a good chance that they will respond with canned answers that have been regurgitated for the better part of two decades. The same people who claim that they stand for "life" will let babies cry themselves to sleep from lack of food. Those who are opposed to sex ed. will blame young mothers for their difficult position and claim that somehow telling them what their sex organs are for made them use them. The same people who claim that government should not provide a safety net for those who fall through the cracks of capitalism wouldn't give a dime to help others whether it would be for education, homeless shelters, food programs or through a church. The crowd who focuses on "liberty" understand that word to mean that whatever they want should be theirs for the taking, whether or not it harms another or leads them to not have their own needs met. The "pursuit of happiness" crowd is similarly attentive to their own desires for freedom but without responsibility for fellow humans, future generations or the world around them. These ideals that have formed the basis of our culture for over two hundred years have never been as misunderstood as they are today and the ability of our schools to counteract the debilitating claims made by the media about what we are to make of the lies are both underfunded and under attack.
I continue to harp on the rampant beliefs of Calvinism, only because many believe them without even knowing where the ideas come from. The problem with common sense is that it has become far too uncommon. I heard an excellent saying today. The only thing that the poor lack is money. In the world that we have allowed to develop, this alone is enough for those in power to judge them as thugs, criminals and people who lack morals. Actually, the opposite is more often true. The oppressed under the current system are often the most benevolent. It has been proven time and time again that the poor give a greater percentage of their meager income to charity. The white collar crime that goes unpunished creates a level of mayhem and dislocation that far outweighs the petty theft and property crimes that poor people engage in to help them survive in our capitalist society. Rather than try to defend moral choices that people make, I will resist the urge to share what I believe and try to stick to what I know. wealthy or poor makes no significant difference in many moral choices, but the privileged classes seem to think that they have the right to justify any action whereas the poor often blame themselves for the bad behaviors of others.
Much as we might like to turn our heads away from salient facts, we are living in a time characterized by the lowest crime rates America has seen in thirty years, not because the criminals have all been locked up, but because no one thinks that they can get ahead through criminality. As desperate as we have all become, we know that stepping out of line will only rain more shit down on our heads. an entire generation of black youth has been imprisoned and the wealthy thieves are receiving bailouts paid for by the taxpayers whose children go to bed hungry, are failing in school and ready to pump out the next generation of folks who will have even less chance of their needs being met. What has worked along the way has been the deep and inspired outpouring of love that is not part of any party. The sense of community responsibility that many outsiders share. The thousands and hundreds of thousands of humble servants who operate homeless shelters, food pantries, after school programs and not-for-profits picking up the slkack that government feels is necessary to balance their books.
Anyone who studies the matter will tell you that governments are not like families or business. Austerity in hard times never works for governments, unless you are seeking to force dislocation and social break down on the populace. Austerity on the level of the household makes sense. We all need to survive until next month, so cutting expenses to pay the bills only makes sense. Government relies on deficit spending always. They are doing the work of improving infrastructure and services that pay off dozens and hundreds of years later, you have to borrow to do that kind of work. The far right, anti-tax crowd are cutting public good off at the roots. Without teaching our children, we will surely handicap our hope for the future. Cutting social programs hurts many more people than it could possibly help. By amassing more and more capital in fewer and fewer hands, we assure the continued exploitation of the greatest number of people. If we looked at taxes as the price we pay to live in a civil society rather than a penalty for working, things could change overnight. The nature of the debate could include issues such as caring for one another, the difference between wants and needs and how to find abundance through making sustainable choices. Changing minds is easier than one might think, the best place to start is by seriously questioning who is being served by the lies that are foisted upon us.
"Why not?" she asked.
"Because he is black." responded the Principal.
I'm sad to have to relay this story on Martin's Birthday, but the truth is sometimes unsavory, and needs to be accepted and understood as fact to help us to move beyond the shackles of hatred and the tyrannical chains of oppression. No person is unable to develop, unless we prevent them from accessing the tools that they need to better themselves. The way we develop is often a response to factors that we do not see or understand. What we do see and make sense of is frequently the result of actions that remain hidden from view or misunderstood because the driving forces behind our lives know that they can be just as effective keepers of the wage slaves while remaining out of sight, or hidden behind the corporate shells that we think are in charge.
The many lies perpetrated upon the American People have no basis in fact, but repeated often enough, they have led to a total abandonment of good sense and decorum. We have been taught that there are "two sides" to every story. Truth has become a malleable term to be debated by the most reactionary people that the media can get their hands on. Now, we are able to distort fact and fiction until they not only represent one another but supplant one another when that becomes necessary.
Terms like "too big to fail" fly in the face of free market economics, but the same people who decry the need for massive bail outs also confer the laurel wreath of respectability to corporate raiders and the gambling house we call the stock market. Corporate welfare is class warfare, but the only time that the media uses the term is when the poor begin to fight back.
Late last week I saw a neighboring property with a gigantic heap of trash our front. The poor woman who lived there moved away, but her things were piled as tall as a person and both twice as high and three times as wide. More than a dozen people came and went from the pile, hoping to find something of value. One took every electrical cord they could find, another took a broken toy, still others took musty clothing and pots with missing lids. One fellow came early, before the pile had formed and removed every metal object this lady had amassed in the year and a half that she had lived there. In spite of all the rifling through the pile, it never seemed to get any smaller. The density of the pile was something to be amazed at. The density of crap that has been injected into the public debate is similarly dense.
Two decades ago, there were two old men who had junk pickers licenses in Green Bay, now there are several dozen people and many are young families with their children in tow. No longer are there other opportunities to make a living for these folks of meager means.
While I watched the endless parade of folks digging through the trash, another neighbor came home with a truckload of pressure treated wood that he will feed into his wood burner. In spite of the fact that he knows that toxic materials will be released when he burns it, the warmth is worth the cost in his mind. Ashes laden with poison will make their way into his garden and onto his dinner plate, but he needs the warmth to survive the coming cold weather. Life is preferable to the alternative, but he should not have to poison himself, his family or the neighbors just to get by.
What is necessary now is a reemergence of what we used to call good old common sense. The fact that we must lead, so that the leaders will follow has never been more critical than today. Ask those in charge any questions and there is a good chance that they will respond with canned answers that have been regurgitated for the better part of two decades. The same people who claim that they stand for "life" will let babies cry themselves to sleep from lack of food. Those who are opposed to sex ed. will blame young mothers for their difficult position and claim that somehow telling them what their sex organs are for made them use them. The same people who claim that government should not provide a safety net for those who fall through the cracks of capitalism wouldn't give a dime to help others whether it would be for education, homeless shelters, food programs or through a church. The crowd who focuses on "liberty" understand that word to mean that whatever they want should be theirs for the taking, whether or not it harms another or leads them to not have their own needs met. The "pursuit of happiness" crowd is similarly attentive to their own desires for freedom but without responsibility for fellow humans, future generations or the world around them. These ideals that have formed the basis of our culture for over two hundred years have never been as misunderstood as they are today and the ability of our schools to counteract the debilitating claims made by the media about what we are to make of the lies are both underfunded and under attack.
I continue to harp on the rampant beliefs of Calvinism, only because many believe them without even knowing where the ideas come from. The problem with common sense is that it has become far too uncommon. I heard an excellent saying today. The only thing that the poor lack is money. In the world that we have allowed to develop, this alone is enough for those in power to judge them as thugs, criminals and people who lack morals. Actually, the opposite is more often true. The oppressed under the current system are often the most benevolent. It has been proven time and time again that the poor give a greater percentage of their meager income to charity. The white collar crime that goes unpunished creates a level of mayhem and dislocation that far outweighs the petty theft and property crimes that poor people engage in to help them survive in our capitalist society. Rather than try to defend moral choices that people make, I will resist the urge to share what I believe and try to stick to what I know. wealthy or poor makes no significant difference in many moral choices, but the privileged classes seem to think that they have the right to justify any action whereas the poor often blame themselves for the bad behaviors of others.
Much as we might like to turn our heads away from salient facts, we are living in a time characterized by the lowest crime rates America has seen in thirty years, not because the criminals have all been locked up, but because no one thinks that they can get ahead through criminality. As desperate as we have all become, we know that stepping out of line will only rain more shit down on our heads. an entire generation of black youth has been imprisoned and the wealthy thieves are receiving bailouts paid for by the taxpayers whose children go to bed hungry, are failing in school and ready to pump out the next generation of folks who will have even less chance of their needs being met. What has worked along the way has been the deep and inspired outpouring of love that is not part of any party. The sense of community responsibility that many outsiders share. The thousands and hundreds of thousands of humble servants who operate homeless shelters, food pantries, after school programs and not-for-profits picking up the slkack that government feels is necessary to balance their books.
Anyone who studies the matter will tell you that governments are not like families or business. Austerity in hard times never works for governments, unless you are seeking to force dislocation and social break down on the populace. Austerity on the level of the household makes sense. We all need to survive until next month, so cutting expenses to pay the bills only makes sense. Government relies on deficit spending always. They are doing the work of improving infrastructure and services that pay off dozens and hundreds of years later, you have to borrow to do that kind of work. The far right, anti-tax crowd are cutting public good off at the roots. Without teaching our children, we will surely handicap our hope for the future. Cutting social programs hurts many more people than it could possibly help. By amassing more and more capital in fewer and fewer hands, we assure the continued exploitation of the greatest number of people. If we looked at taxes as the price we pay to live in a civil society rather than a penalty for working, things could change overnight. The nature of the debate could include issues such as caring for one another, the difference between wants and needs and how to find abundance through making sustainable choices. Changing minds is easier than one might think, the best place to start is by seriously questioning who is being served by the lies that are foisted upon us.
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