Last night was my 19th year of attending the Holiday Party. When I moved here, I was shocked at my new job, the low pay, the lack of holiday and sick time, the expensive health insurance and the attitude that management had towards the employees.
But the party made up for some of that. What a blast! $5 a ticket, with great food, an open bar and a disc jockey for dancing the night away.
New management (with a WAY worse attitude toward labor) came a few years ago. First, the party stopped serving any alcohol except beer and wine. They changed the disc jockey.
But this year, they announced that the entire system would combine their parties. And instead of being held in the college ballrooms, it was held in an aluminum pole barn (the "convention center") in a town 12 miles away.
No alcohol for the first two hours, and then one free drink, followed by a cash bar.
We got there a 6pm. I walked in, and it took me a minute to realize that the droning voice over the microphone was praying, which explained all the bowed heads. We never had a prayer at the old party. I was looking for the food. After the prayer, the food line formed and it was incredibly long. But gone were the platters of shrimp, fresh vegetables and dip, chicken wings and other tasty finger foods, lavish desserts, and white coated men carving roast and ham. There were two casseroles, one with chicken and one without. There were green beans, carrots and potatoes au gratin. The food was served on plastic plates which quickly burned your fingers, so you had to leave a space to hold it, instead of piling it with food. There were no desserts, just another long line for the candy bar, where you took a little box, and they filled it with leftover Halloween candy bars.
The first two hours were supposed to have a video on Hospital Heroes, followed by dancing at 8pm.
My husband and I left out of boredom, planning to return after the corporate propaganda. But when we came back at 8, it was still(?) going on. Or maybe it started then. I was afraid to ask, because there was no one there that I knew, and I didn't want to get fired for asking. One of the announcers of the Hospital Heroes asked who was sexier, the CEO or the Human Relations head, and someone yelled out "Neither". The announcer said "You just lost your job". How funny was that? At least, I assume it was a joke.
My husband pointed out that this was a lot like the US economy. You still had a party, but the food was worse, you had to pay for things that used to be free, and you had to listen to religion and propaganda that you never heard before. It was austerity in action. Sadly, the new employees didn't know the difference. I've never had the experience of seeing passenger pigeons fill the sky, and they have never been to a fun holiday party.
I said, it's worse than that. You see all these people? We are all paid to keep people alive who the ruling class doesn't really see any value in. When Obamacare kicks in, and Medicare and Medicaid are cut, so are these people's jobs. Liberals made fun of the guy holding the sign that said, "Keep your hands off my Medicare", but he was inadvertently right. They are taking funds that went to Medicare and giving it to private insurance companies.
The money that went to Medicare actually goes to me and my co-workers, not to the elderly or poor themselves. They are the cardholders that enable us to bill the government.
So, although I deplored the austerity of this party, I know that there probably won't be any more parties in future years. Or, if there are, there won't be as many people attending.
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
America Under Attack
200 year old towns in New England washed away, Joplin blown away, New Orleans drowned. East St Louis, Detroit and many more looking like Dresden after the firebombing of WW2.
Entire mountains blown to bits. Toxic lakes that kill any birds landing on them. A massive dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico, even before the BP/Halliburton oil spill. Ranchers who live near fracking operations with water that catches fire, and a plan to do the same for the millions of people who live on the East Coast. Massive amounts of farmland depleted of topsoil and poisoned with herbicides and pesticides. Plans to drill for oil in the last great remaining wilderness of Alaska.
The Bill of Rights gone. Police breaking down doors, killing dogs, arresting citizens and confiscating four billion dollars worth of personal property a year. Police tasing, pepper spraying, and beating protesters. People being sentenced to decades-long sentences for small crimes, while rich criminals roam free. Americans subjected to ID checks, porno scanners and gropings. Every American treated as a potential criminal and terrorist.
One out of five American children living in poverty. Millions of homes empty, while millions of people are thrown out of their homes. People living on the streets, in their cars, in the woods. Food stamps cut.
TV talking heads whipping up hysteria at potential enemies overseas while our country is destroyed by those who profit.
What enemy can destroy land, water, air, the atmosphere, communities, civil rights, and living conditions and go unopposed by the majority of Americans?
Parts of America look as if they've been bombed. Thousands of Americans are internal refugees.
Yet the class war continues. And most Americans don't even notice.
Entire mountains blown to bits. Toxic lakes that kill any birds landing on them. A massive dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico, even before the BP/Halliburton oil spill. Ranchers who live near fracking operations with water that catches fire, and a plan to do the same for the millions of people who live on the East Coast. Massive amounts of farmland depleted of topsoil and poisoned with herbicides and pesticides. Plans to drill for oil in the last great remaining wilderness of Alaska.
The Bill of Rights gone. Police breaking down doors, killing dogs, arresting citizens and confiscating four billion dollars worth of personal property a year. Police tasing, pepper spraying, and beating protesters. People being sentenced to decades-long sentences for small crimes, while rich criminals roam free. Americans subjected to ID checks, porno scanners and gropings. Every American treated as a potential criminal and terrorist.
One out of five American children living in poverty. Millions of homes empty, while millions of people are thrown out of their homes. People living on the streets, in their cars, in the woods. Food stamps cut.
TV talking heads whipping up hysteria at potential enemies overseas while our country is destroyed by those who profit.
What enemy can destroy land, water, air, the atmosphere, communities, civil rights, and living conditions and go unopposed by the majority of Americans?
Parts of America look as if they've been bombed. Thousands of Americans are internal refugees.
Yet the class war continues. And most Americans don't even notice.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
The End of Consumerism
I know that I just wrote about Americans and their stuff, and my Facebook friends are divided between those decrying consumerism and pushing for Buy Nothing Day, and those ready to spend Thanksgiving night in the parking lot at Best Buy, but, actually, the decision to decrease American consumerism has been taken out of our hands. Or our consciences.
I read an interesting Citibank prospectus, from a few years ago, telling investors that there was no money to be made in selling to so-called "middle class" (actually workers with higher wages or salaries) anymore. They're calling it the hourglass theory, with the very rich able to afford goods and services, and the very poor able to afford only a little, and no one really left in the middle.
It's like the old joke where the kid is selling lemonade for $100 a glass, and someone tells him "You're not going to sell much lemonade that way, son". And the kid says "I only have to sell one!"
Luxury items are selling well. Cruise lines are advertising to the rich now, and not so much catering to the buffet-eating masses. On the bottom part of the hourglass, Dollar General is doing well. One woman was quoted as saying how much she preferred Dollar General to WalMart, because she didn't have to dress up to go there.
And now Time magazine has made it official. I quote from the Oct. 31, 2011 edition, which lays it out in Time's usual cheery fashion - "If successful, the shift to consumer spending will take a good chunk of the weight of the global economy off the shoulders of American consumers and make China a gotta-be-there market for everything from video games to surgical tools to potato chips".
Let me translate that. Americans no longer make enough money to interest capitalists looking to sell consumer goods. Or health care items. As if the insurance companies we're going to be forced to pay tribute to are actually going to pay for surgery! No, out of 7 billion people on this planet, there are enough elsewhere to keep profits flowing without the participation of US consumers. So, bye buy!
And if we all switched to a simpler lifestyle, the way my family has been doing for years, (Live simply, so others may simply live), it wouldn't be so bad.
I mean, shoes that light up when you walk? Cards that sing when you open them? Four-wheelers? Disposable everything? All ending up in the landfills, polluting the water supplies?
But, as usual, the cutbacks are spread unequally. More and more people are living in tent cities, students are preyed upon to put them into eternal debt, and 21% of American children live in poverty. (Because we're a child loving nation!)
I'm hoping that the OWSers don't start petitioning the 1% for a return of a wider section of the US population to the resource wasting consumption of the past.
We live on a finite planet, with finite resources, much of which we've already wasted. We need to move forward, not back to the US version of the late 20th century.
Forward to a sustainable population living in harmony with each other, and the ecosystem on which we depend.
I read an interesting Citibank prospectus, from a few years ago, telling investors that there was no money to be made in selling to so-called "middle class" (actually workers with higher wages or salaries) anymore. They're calling it the hourglass theory, with the very rich able to afford goods and services, and the very poor able to afford only a little, and no one really left in the middle.
It's like the old joke where the kid is selling lemonade for $100 a glass, and someone tells him "You're not going to sell much lemonade that way, son". And the kid says "I only have to sell one!"
Luxury items are selling well. Cruise lines are advertising to the rich now, and not so much catering to the buffet-eating masses. On the bottom part of the hourglass, Dollar General is doing well. One woman was quoted as saying how much she preferred Dollar General to WalMart, because she didn't have to dress up to go there.
And now Time magazine has made it official. I quote from the Oct. 31, 2011 edition, which lays it out in Time's usual cheery fashion - "If successful, the shift to consumer spending will take a good chunk of the weight of the global economy off the shoulders of American consumers and make China a gotta-be-there market for everything from video games to surgical tools to potato chips".
Let me translate that. Americans no longer make enough money to interest capitalists looking to sell consumer goods. Or health care items. As if the insurance companies we're going to be forced to pay tribute to are actually going to pay for surgery! No, out of 7 billion people on this planet, there are enough elsewhere to keep profits flowing without the participation of US consumers. So, bye buy!
And if we all switched to a simpler lifestyle, the way my family has been doing for years, (Live simply, so others may simply live), it wouldn't be so bad.
I mean, shoes that light up when you walk? Cards that sing when you open them? Four-wheelers? Disposable everything? All ending up in the landfills, polluting the water supplies?
But, as usual, the cutbacks are spread unequally. More and more people are living in tent cities, students are preyed upon to put them into eternal debt, and 21% of American children live in poverty. (Because we're a child loving nation!)
I'm hoping that the OWSers don't start petitioning the 1% for a return of a wider section of the US population to the resource wasting consumption of the past.
We live on a finite planet, with finite resources, much of which we've already wasted. We need to move forward, not back to the US version of the late 20th century.
Forward to a sustainable population living in harmony with each other, and the ecosystem on which we depend.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Private Property
Americans love their stuff. We think of ourselves as a consumption based society. McMansions, fancy cars, tricked-out phones, shoes that light up, trinkets and baubles galore. We have shopping channels, and malls, and credit cards, to make sure that we can always get more stuff.
Without mention or notice, however, this is changing. Many Americans have lost their big stuff, like houses, and are reduced to hoarding the little they have left in shopping carts, or stashed under a tarp in a corner of a vacant lot. Still, the things they have left mean a lot to them, and it devastates them when cops come in and destroy or discard their possessions.
The protesters in Zucotti Park were outraged when cops came in and destroyed their encampment, trashing tents, sleeping bags, books, and whatever else they could get their hands on.
US cops confiscate four BILLION dollars a year in US citizens' cars, real estate and cash.
Americans lose their land to road widenings, and the Supreme Court has upheld the taking of private personal land for private corporate profits.
But when I bring up the idea of the corporate death penalty, people are appalled! Take away property from the rich, even if they've killed people? This is considered unthinkable by the average American.
Before the Civil War, people who advocated abolishing slavery were considered radical. The economic worth of four million slaves was a lot. To just take all that money away from slaveholders seemed outrageous to some.
But abolitionists kept on. Interestingly, there were a lot of people who were also fighting corporate power before the Civil War.
But now, most people consider slavery to be outrageous, and corporate power untouchable.
Sure, corporations are laying millions of people off, control our governments, and most other countries' governments, kill people with their processes and their products, and are destroying the planets' ecosystem.
But even aware people who realize all of this are afraid to advocate the abolition of corporations. They want to end corporate personhood, or use taxpayer moneys to fund elections (i.e., use public money to pay corporate media for attack ads), or some other wimpy solution that falls short of the needed transformation of our society.
If a corporation commits a criminal act, it should get the death penalty and its assets turned over to its workers, to be owned and controlled by the workers, with responsibility for its actions.
A country that throws citizens, (real human beings) into prison for stealing bicycles or pizza slices should not flinch at rescinding corporate charters for poisoning of water supplies or murder.
Mass hysteria is whipped up at "terrorists" who ponder the feasibility of putting arsenic in a town's water supply, but a corporation that poisons the water supply of millions is allowed to continue.
Without mention or notice, however, this is changing. Many Americans have lost their big stuff, like houses, and are reduced to hoarding the little they have left in shopping carts, or stashed under a tarp in a corner of a vacant lot. Still, the things they have left mean a lot to them, and it devastates them when cops come in and destroy or discard their possessions.
The protesters in Zucotti Park were outraged when cops came in and destroyed their encampment, trashing tents, sleeping bags, books, and whatever else they could get their hands on.
US cops confiscate four BILLION dollars a year in US citizens' cars, real estate and cash.
Americans lose their land to road widenings, and the Supreme Court has upheld the taking of private personal land for private corporate profits.
But when I bring up the idea of the corporate death penalty, people are appalled! Take away property from the rich, even if they've killed people? This is considered unthinkable by the average American.
Before the Civil War, people who advocated abolishing slavery were considered radical. The economic worth of four million slaves was a lot. To just take all that money away from slaveholders seemed outrageous to some.
But abolitionists kept on. Interestingly, there were a lot of people who were also fighting corporate power before the Civil War.
But now, most people consider slavery to be outrageous, and corporate power untouchable.
Sure, corporations are laying millions of people off, control our governments, and most other countries' governments, kill people with their processes and their products, and are destroying the planets' ecosystem.
But even aware people who realize all of this are afraid to advocate the abolition of corporations. They want to end corporate personhood, or use taxpayer moneys to fund elections (i.e., use public money to pay corporate media for attack ads), or some other wimpy solution that falls short of the needed transformation of our society.
If a corporation commits a criminal act, it should get the death penalty and its assets turned over to its workers, to be owned and controlled by the workers, with responsibility for its actions.
A country that throws citizens, (real human beings) into prison for stealing bicycles or pizza slices should not flinch at rescinding corporate charters for poisoning of water supplies or murder.
Mass hysteria is whipped up at "terrorists" who ponder the feasibility of putting arsenic in a town's water supply, but a corporation that poisons the water supply of millions is allowed to continue.
Friday, November 18, 2011
USS Titanic
The greed of the 1% baffles most people. The 400 richest Americans own more than the bottom 150 million combined, yet most of the bottom 150 million Americans would be happy with economic security. While they may dream of winning the lottery, a good-paying job with a house and a car are all they really aspire to.
But multiple mansions and cars and private jets and private islands don't seem to be enough for the insatiable rich. What character defect drives them? How can they justify taking from people who have almost nothing, in order to add to their inventory of expensive belongings?
The USA is sinking,like the Titanic, but in very slow motion. We have been sinking for 30 years, but even the people in steerage have managed to stay alive. Sure, they had to tread water, but the leavings from those above them have kept them alive.
But now those in the cabins above steerage are starting to sink. They are outraged! Why are they being treated like steerage? This is wrong! They always thought that they were right up there with the first class people, just not paid quite as much.
But the first class people are cutting off the crumbs for all, causing so much turmoil that even the corporate media remarks on the surges.
What keeps the Titanic afloat? The inflated bubble, they tell us.
So the rich are using the last bits of wealth that the steerage has to keep their parts inflated. They must keep taking from those below them, or they will sink with us. It's as if our drowning screams are the air they need.
They position the police and the military between us and them, enforcing their power to take.
Even some of the police and military are starting to realize that they will be cut loose when their usefulness is through, but, like everyone else, they're hanging on to the sides of the lifeboats as long as they can.
But, as George Bush said, this sucker is going down.
But multiple mansions and cars and private jets and private islands don't seem to be enough for the insatiable rich. What character defect drives them? How can they justify taking from people who have almost nothing, in order to add to their inventory of expensive belongings?
The USA is sinking,like the Titanic, but in very slow motion. We have been sinking for 30 years, but even the people in steerage have managed to stay alive. Sure, they had to tread water, but the leavings from those above them have kept them alive.
But now those in the cabins above steerage are starting to sink. They are outraged! Why are they being treated like steerage? This is wrong! They always thought that they were right up there with the first class people, just not paid quite as much.
But the first class people are cutting off the crumbs for all, causing so much turmoil that even the corporate media remarks on the surges.
What keeps the Titanic afloat? The inflated bubble, they tell us.
So the rich are using the last bits of wealth that the steerage has to keep their parts inflated. They must keep taking from those below them, or they will sink with us. It's as if our drowning screams are the air they need.
They position the police and the military between us and them, enforcing their power to take.
Even some of the police and military are starting to realize that they will be cut loose when their usefulness is through, but, like everyone else, they're hanging on to the sides of the lifeboats as long as they can.
But, as George Bush said, this sucker is going down.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
The Cradle of Democracy
Greece's Parliament has voted in more austerity measures, so that the workers may pay off the loans the ruling class took out. Greeks are striking and rioting, while their police attack them.
The US has multiple cities with Wall St. protesters occupying public spaces. Some are allowed to stay, while police attack others. With no trace of embarrassment, Hilary Clinton lectures Syria on the importance of allowing free speech and public assembly.
Meanwhile, the corporate media desperately tries to interest people in next year's election, giving endless airtime to the Republican candidates for the Presidential race in 2012. Just who will get the Chief Puppet position nomination? How exciting!
And Hilary Clinton gives a press conference sternly lecturing the Libyan people on how to have a democracy, while warning that some voices will not be tolerated.
The majority of Americans want out of Iraq and Afghanistan, want to raise taxes on the rich, want to keep Social Security and Medicare, want to more on education and less on war, want a single payer health care system, and more.
What do we get, in this shining example of democracy?
War, homeland repression, unemployment, evictions and bank bailouts.
It is now obvious that millions of Americans don't believe that pushing a button every 2 years has anything to do with democracy, defined as self-rule.
Apparently, neither do the Greeks, the British, the Portuguese, or many others.
Poor Libyans. After going from the poorest country in Africa to the richest, raising their life expectancy, having food, housing and education readily available, they now get "democracy". No, not the people's councils that Qaddafi pushed, the purple-fingered variety that they get until they are all properly processed, fingerprints and DNA collected for their IDs. Then they can show their papers before they vote for NATO approved candidates, and their democracy will be complete.
On to Iran!
The US has multiple cities with Wall St. protesters occupying public spaces. Some are allowed to stay, while police attack others. With no trace of embarrassment, Hilary Clinton lectures Syria on the importance of allowing free speech and public assembly.
Meanwhile, the corporate media desperately tries to interest people in next year's election, giving endless airtime to the Republican candidates for the Presidential race in 2012. Just who will get the Chief Puppet position nomination? How exciting!
And Hilary Clinton gives a press conference sternly lecturing the Libyan people on how to have a democracy, while warning that some voices will not be tolerated.
The majority of Americans want out of Iraq and Afghanistan, want to raise taxes on the rich, want to keep Social Security and Medicare, want to more on education and less on war, want a single payer health care system, and more.
What do we get, in this shining example of democracy?
War, homeland repression, unemployment, evictions and bank bailouts.
It is now obvious that millions of Americans don't believe that pushing a button every 2 years has anything to do with democracy, defined as self-rule.
Apparently, neither do the Greeks, the British, the Portuguese, or many others.
Poor Libyans. After going from the poorest country in Africa to the richest, raising their life expectancy, having food, housing and education readily available, they now get "democracy". No, not the people's councils that Qaddafi pushed, the purple-fingered variety that they get until they are all properly processed, fingerprints and DNA collected for their IDs. Then they can show their papers before they vote for NATO approved candidates, and their democracy will be complete.
On to Iran!
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
We, the people of the US, have just been through the most over-the-top exercise in self pity imaginable. Perhaps we could be excused for the days after September 11, 2001, for indulging in grief and righteous indignation. The horror of watching people die in New York City upset even Americans who usually pour abuse onto New York. The blowing up of the buildings was a spectacular show, and very few people questioned just how that show was produced, at the time.
But now, after 10 years of the US bombing, maiming, ethnically cleansing, murdering, terrorizing, blowing up buildings, driving into exile, deforming the babies and killing the livestock of the people of Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and others we don't yet know about (as Rumsfield would say, the known unknowns), now we have the nerve to indulge in an mass orgy ofbathos, complete with light shows and solemn speeches and monuments. To remember one day? Ten years of murder and destruction versus one day? 3 buildings versus thousands? 3,000 people versus over 1,000,000?
Jeez, can any people be more clueless or lacking in perspective or empathy?
And, to explain how the original show was produced, watch this video from Architects and Engineers for 9-11 Truth.
But now, after 10 years of the US bombing, maiming, ethnically cleansing, murdering, terrorizing, blowing up buildings, driving into exile, deforming the babies and killing the livestock of the people of Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and others we don't yet know about (as Rumsfield would say, the known unknowns), now we have the nerve to indulge in an mass orgy ofbathos, complete with light shows and solemn speeches and monuments. To remember one day? Ten years of murder and destruction versus one day? 3 buildings versus thousands? 3,000 people versus over 1,000,000?
Jeez, can any people be more clueless or lacking in perspective or empathy?
And, to explain how the original show was produced, watch this video from Architects and Engineers for 9-11 Truth.
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