This Labor Day weekend, Joe Biden came through Green Bay and spoke at the National Railroad Museum. As happens every four years, I was able to get to work on his campaign stop as a hand. In addition to seeing a bit of the behind the scenes work that goes on before the cameras roll and seeing the relatively smooth transition from a train exhibition hall into a political venue was both enlightening and somewhat comforting. See, last election cycle, we had stagehands who said that they were going to base their vote on how efficiently the campaigns ran their events. When I heard this, it sounded odd, slightly simplistic and perhaps a bit risky as well. Although having an efficient and well-prepared staff working on your behalf might be a sign of political competence, it could also be a cover for ineptitude. I have been a stagehand for nearly half a dozen election cycles now and as I see repeatedly, there is a huge difference between the parties and the way they run their campaigns.
I only saw a few minutes of coverage from the event that took over twelve hours to set up and tear down, but it was some of the best footage I have seen on the campaign trail thus far. Joe had a calm and clear way of speaking and the points that he made were insightful and astute. We are truly up against big money, not only in America, but around the world. The thousands of people who worked diligently to recall the Governor of Wisconsin this past Spring would have overcome the hurdles easily and put a new governor in place of the crook who is there now but for the money spent on electing the man of the monied interests. Outspent five to one, even truth has a hard time rising to the level of public awareness that is required to make change happen. We often overlook the need for our involvement in the political process. At the Railroad Museum, the dozens of individuals who threw their talents into this one event had to have come away feeling pretty good about the long day's work.
In contrast, the party of the monied interests has a complete and utter lack of understanding of what it takes to put on an event, how to interface with local talent and an utter disregard for the reality that presents itself at each and every venue. One of my first political rallies was to be at a baseball field, newly constructed in a marshy area near here. Light rain had soaked everything and water was pooling where they wanted to put the stage. Seeing that getting semis full of equipment near the spot would be impossible, they built a two-layer-thick plywood "road" nearly 1,000 feet long to gain access to the field. Once this was accomplished, we went to work building access and egress ramps so that the Presidential candidate would not get his feet wet. Just a couple miles away were other locations that would hols just as many people in comfort, but the organizers were wed to the fact that baseball is the "American" game and the idea of baseball, apple pie and mom was worth whatever hazard or damage might threaten. Safety, comfort and reality had no place in the campaign, but they got their man into office. Spending wildly to secure a job worth 400K per year.
Holding their wealth against them would be wrong, I completely understand that. The part that I despise is that the ultra-wealthy control not only the terms of our political discussion but the process of electing our leaders. The groundswell of new voters is a testament to the fact that the wealthy elites that have had their way with our nation for over twenty years are making life for the middle and lower classes much less tenable. It has been pointed out that the number of empty homes that have come about because of the greedy banks far outnumber the homeless in our country. One has to question what kinds of corporate welfare is required to build houses when no one can afford to buy them. It is not the wealth that is detestable, it is what the ultra-wealthy decide to do with it that stinks. Years ago I lived aboard a large pleasure yacht. The owner was not wealthy, he came by the vessel as a great deal and had marginal success in a business that allowed him to buy it as a business expense, for entertaining. I guess, indirectly, I benefited from a little corporate welfare myself in those days. What we saw at every marina we ever pulled into were behemoth hulks of garbage, expensive pleasure yachts that had been purchased by folks with more money than brains. Typically these had been laid up pon rocks or crashed into the dock on their maiden voyage, put into dry dock for repairs that were far more expensive than their owners ever imagined, then left to rot in the elements.
The political season is rife with similar examples, especially now that unlimited money can flow into campaigns, even from overseas. Just look at the new cadre of Rethuglican legislators that have been sent to the House of Representatives. Their campaign promises to change Washington sounded pretty good. Like the neuvo riche' dream of buying a boat, it sounds great, on the surface. However, no organization likes being hijacked by a bunch of young idealists who refuse to work with anyone in a substantive way to create positive change. The largest part of diplomacy is to recognize the fact that we all want what is best and the fact that we differ on how to make the world better will, by definition, be different. Whenever we get into discussion, it requires being able to look critically at our own opinions as well as those of the others involved in the conversation. The ultra wealthy are loathe to ask anyone for advice or opinions because the economic system has blessed them with proof, in dollars, that their ideas are golden and everyone else's are crap. I harp on Calvinism more often than I probably should, but I speak from direct experience.
Many years ago, I was profoundly poor and a local group of professionals, a marketing firm as I recall, decided to "help" us to have a better Christmas. They contacted us through the social worker that the state had assigned to us. We lived on about six thousand dollars per year and our needs were simple. Our rent was over 50% of our income, my domestic partner was a student and working part time and I was working for two different not-for-profit organizations, caring for developmentally disabled people and for the environment as a community organizer. We asked for a pizza cutter, because we made our own pizzas and thought it would be easier to use than our big old kitchen knife. We asked for a cutting board, a few new towels and I think we asked for a winter jacket for our baby daughter. The people who shopped for us were not in the least practical. The cutting board was big, but thin and cracked in half within a month, leaving us with two cutting boards smaller than the one we had sought to replace. The pizza cutter was made so poorly that the cutting wheel broke off the handle before it made the first pass across the pizza and the towels were so cheap that the threadbare ones we had before worked better for drying off after a shower. The jacket was much more of a fashion statement than a winter coat. I think we passed it on to Goodwill. The reason that I mention these issues and "presents" that we received is because that is the experience that I have with charity.
I do not ask for charity any more. I do not want what the ultra wealthy have and I certainly don't want them to give me what they think I need. The campaign season is a time for asking ourselves what do we need and finding out how to get it. The in-between times are just as important. No matter who holds the offices, we need to keep on them like flies on shit to do the right things for us and for our nation. just voting every four years is not enough and just listening to what the big money tells us and thinking that we have been educated is a sign of the end of Democracy. Perhaps there will be a change in the ways we do politics. I truly hope that there is. Even a few of the billionaires are beginning to wake up. wiser men than I have pointed out that the best way to measure a culture is by looking at the way we treat the least amongst us. The elderly, the children and the disabled are as much a part of our world as the billionaires. The baubles and material things that distract the wealthy also inhibit their ability to see what is needed for the vast majority of the rest of us. Next time you ask for help, be careful who you ask. We may all live to regret the handouts that come our way if we neglect our responsibility as world citizens.
I only saw a few minutes of coverage from the event that took over twelve hours to set up and tear down, but it was some of the best footage I have seen on the campaign trail thus far. Joe had a calm and clear way of speaking and the points that he made were insightful and astute. We are truly up against big money, not only in America, but around the world. The thousands of people who worked diligently to recall the Governor of Wisconsin this past Spring would have overcome the hurdles easily and put a new governor in place of the crook who is there now but for the money spent on electing the man of the monied interests. Outspent five to one, even truth has a hard time rising to the level of public awareness that is required to make change happen. We often overlook the need for our involvement in the political process. At the Railroad Museum, the dozens of individuals who threw their talents into this one event had to have come away feeling pretty good about the long day's work.
In contrast, the party of the monied interests has a complete and utter lack of understanding of what it takes to put on an event, how to interface with local talent and an utter disregard for the reality that presents itself at each and every venue. One of my first political rallies was to be at a baseball field, newly constructed in a marshy area near here. Light rain had soaked everything and water was pooling where they wanted to put the stage. Seeing that getting semis full of equipment near the spot would be impossible, they built a two-layer-thick plywood "road" nearly 1,000 feet long to gain access to the field. Once this was accomplished, we went to work building access and egress ramps so that the Presidential candidate would not get his feet wet. Just a couple miles away were other locations that would hols just as many people in comfort, but the organizers were wed to the fact that baseball is the "American" game and the idea of baseball, apple pie and mom was worth whatever hazard or damage might threaten. Safety, comfort and reality had no place in the campaign, but they got their man into office. Spending wildly to secure a job worth 400K per year.
Holding their wealth against them would be wrong, I completely understand that. The part that I despise is that the ultra-wealthy control not only the terms of our political discussion but the process of electing our leaders. The groundswell of new voters is a testament to the fact that the wealthy elites that have had their way with our nation for over twenty years are making life for the middle and lower classes much less tenable. It has been pointed out that the number of empty homes that have come about because of the greedy banks far outnumber the homeless in our country. One has to question what kinds of corporate welfare is required to build houses when no one can afford to buy them. It is not the wealth that is detestable, it is what the ultra-wealthy decide to do with it that stinks. Years ago I lived aboard a large pleasure yacht. The owner was not wealthy, he came by the vessel as a great deal and had marginal success in a business that allowed him to buy it as a business expense, for entertaining. I guess, indirectly, I benefited from a little corporate welfare myself in those days. What we saw at every marina we ever pulled into were behemoth hulks of garbage, expensive pleasure yachts that had been purchased by folks with more money than brains. Typically these had been laid up pon rocks or crashed into the dock on their maiden voyage, put into dry dock for repairs that were far more expensive than their owners ever imagined, then left to rot in the elements.
The political season is rife with similar examples, especially now that unlimited money can flow into campaigns, even from overseas. Just look at the new cadre of Rethuglican legislators that have been sent to the House of Representatives. Their campaign promises to change Washington sounded pretty good. Like the neuvo riche' dream of buying a boat, it sounds great, on the surface. However, no organization likes being hijacked by a bunch of young idealists who refuse to work with anyone in a substantive way to create positive change. The largest part of diplomacy is to recognize the fact that we all want what is best and the fact that we differ on how to make the world better will, by definition, be different. Whenever we get into discussion, it requires being able to look critically at our own opinions as well as those of the others involved in the conversation. The ultra wealthy are loathe to ask anyone for advice or opinions because the economic system has blessed them with proof, in dollars, that their ideas are golden and everyone else's are crap. I harp on Calvinism more often than I probably should, but I speak from direct experience.
Many years ago, I was profoundly poor and a local group of professionals, a marketing firm as I recall, decided to "help" us to have a better Christmas. They contacted us through the social worker that the state had assigned to us. We lived on about six thousand dollars per year and our needs were simple. Our rent was over 50% of our income, my domestic partner was a student and working part time and I was working for two different not-for-profit organizations, caring for developmentally disabled people and for the environment as a community organizer. We asked for a pizza cutter, because we made our own pizzas and thought it would be easier to use than our big old kitchen knife. We asked for a cutting board, a few new towels and I think we asked for a winter jacket for our baby daughter. The people who shopped for us were not in the least practical. The cutting board was big, but thin and cracked in half within a month, leaving us with two cutting boards smaller than the one we had sought to replace. The pizza cutter was made so poorly that the cutting wheel broke off the handle before it made the first pass across the pizza and the towels were so cheap that the threadbare ones we had before worked better for drying off after a shower. The jacket was much more of a fashion statement than a winter coat. I think we passed it on to Goodwill. The reason that I mention these issues and "presents" that we received is because that is the experience that I have with charity.
I do not ask for charity any more. I do not want what the ultra wealthy have and I certainly don't want them to give me what they think I need. The campaign season is a time for asking ourselves what do we need and finding out how to get it. The in-between times are just as important. No matter who holds the offices, we need to keep on them like flies on shit to do the right things for us and for our nation. just voting every four years is not enough and just listening to what the big money tells us and thinking that we have been educated is a sign of the end of Democracy. Perhaps there will be a change in the ways we do politics. I truly hope that there is. Even a few of the billionaires are beginning to wake up. wiser men than I have pointed out that the best way to measure a culture is by looking at the way we treat the least amongst us. The elderly, the children and the disabled are as much a part of our world as the billionaires. The baubles and material things that distract the wealthy also inhibit their ability to see what is needed for the vast majority of the rest of us. Next time you ask for help, be careful who you ask. We may all live to regret the handouts that come our way if we neglect our responsibility as world citizens.
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