A Voice For All Unpeople

Thursday, July 23, 2015

Thursday, July 16, 2015

Saturday, July 4, 2015

Let's look beyond the flag waiving a little shall we? Think beyond the obligatory fireworks, military hero worship and sales events to what this day should and could mean. Our democracy has been reduced to an illusionary choice between two political parties who are bound completely to the whims and wishes of multinational corporations of all stripes. By law, these same corporations have just one interest; their bottom line. Hint- this may or may not be in line with yours or my best interests. I think, more often than not, people's interests conflict with bottom lines of ledgers. Somewhere, somehow we have handed over our responsibility as citizens to banks too big to fail, oil giants, insurance companies and those who see healthcare not as a way to help people live better but to make money. We are now mere consumers of products. I cannot give you a date for when this happened. It may have always been this way "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss" as the old song goes. So my question to you on this Independence Day is, can there be any other way?

Yes, in fact there has to be and there will be one way or another. Let's look at the hard way first. We simply keep screaming down the tracks business as usual. Remember no one is driving the train and it is rapidly accelerating into a fog of ever more dangerous wars (the wars of this century may make the wars of the last look like a quiet day at the beach), catastrophic climate change, utter despair for millions (billions?) crammed into ghettos ans shanty towns the size of states. (Bottom Billion anyone- exists already) Presiding over this chaos will be a tiny group living in relative luxury and security. If history is any judge, this will last only so long. Basically, everything sill be smashed to pieces and we'll start all over (if any of us survive that is). Then there is the easier way.

We start using the last bits of freedom we have to take control of our government(s). Remember of the people, by the people and for the people? Now is is of the corporations, by the big banks for the billionaires. This cannot end well. People get all hung up when I say not to vote. I've explained before having no real choice renders voting all but meaningless. VOTE but VOTE with meaning. Voting for candidate A because candidate B is even worse is what we've been doing for my whole lifetime. It has not worked. For too many things are worse. We can and must find a way to get money out of our political system. Otherwise, even a guy like Bernie Sanders will be little more effective than Obama. We have to find a way to get politicians who are accountable to people and not monied interests. So how can we make it so?

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Wage Inequality

Steamy Bullshit Alert

On social media I've seen the crazy comparisons between fast food workers, soldiers and other professionals. The argument being do you think you minimum wage earners are worth the same as these professionals? This misses the point. Wages at all levels (except the top) here in the USA have been stagnant for three decades. Meanwhile, the wealth gap has increased dramatically. The old saying, "the rich just get richer" has never been more true than now. It can work up to a point. But there comes a time when it breaks down. The end game can be ugly, very ugly. If you don't know what I'm talking about, refer to a few history books on revolutions. Yeah, get some different perspectives. Then think about what that could look like in the modern age with modern weapons in a country over flowing with small arms. Consider what's going on. More and more people have come to the conclusion that government no longer works for them but rather multinational conglomerations who pay for the whole circus we call an election cycle. It's early but consider Bushes and Clintons who both support the neo-liberal world view are leading candidates for president. Yet, somehow, this is democracy. If you still believe in trickle down economics, I'd like to talk to you about some investment opportunities in some Utah beach-front casinos or ski resorts in Honduras. Even the IMF has admitted this is farce. The splendid isolation of the super-rich, think-tankers and almost all of our political elites is dangerous. The notion of a $20 crisis is as removed from their reality as asteroids to dinosaurs. Much less, people who live on less than a dollar a day, the bottom BILLION! And if we are not careful, the result may be the same. The picture is gloomy but far from hopeless.

Consider Iceland. They seemed to have thrown out the minions of neo-liberalism and jailed many of the leading fraudsters. The planet still turns. Greece may be headed in a similar direction. We have to break the cycle of soul-sucking loans to countries which keep them owing for generations to entities who's interest is only the bottom line. The TPP has been stopped at least temporarily but I doubt we have seen the last of it. The conglomerations that want it have an uncanny way of getting what they want. It is not all that hard when among their assets are national governments. Slowly, ever so slowly, the word is getting out and the tired old myths that perpetuate the current power structure are starting to unravel. Artificial divisions are still a big barrier. Labels like "Liberal" and "Conservative" need to be recognized for what they really are- a false dichotomy serving as a powerful tool of control. These seemingly harmless facebook posts are an important reminder of our powerlessness to change anything.

How dare we think a burger flipper is worth as much as a paramedic or any other professional! No, let's not use our heads. Let's just accept wage stagnation of the last several decades is just how things are (and always will be). Don't join in on the crab bucket mentality. Pull others up! If you see someone trying to get fair wages via protest or other means, don't do the bidding of their over lords by mocking them. It just makes YOU look like an asshole and an ill informed asshole at that. Besides, do you really think their bosses give a damn about you? Rather, ask yourself who benefits from this message? HINT: it is not you (unless you are a millionaire or billionaire).

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Religious Freedom?

Just when ya think it could not get any worse, we have finally hit the bottom, bam! "Religious Freedom Laws." In a nutshell, this gives businesses the right to discriminate for religious reasons. This in now the law in two states and counting. Really terrible, right? Just think of the money wasted keeping a few dark age dead-enders (yeah a Rumsfield word) happy. Well, there is a way to view this in a positive light. This is one of the last gasps of a tired old right fading into the twilight. Anyone with just a few brain cells to rub together knows the courts will shoot down this insanity. I wonder who will be the first to step up and refuse service others based on this lunacy? Talk about an easy way to spot the bigots! How can that be a recipe for business success? And then there's history. She will not be kind to these fools. But this is the legacy they think they want to leave. This will back fire in all kinds of ways. Most people can only look on in horror as these small -minded state legislatures bought and paid for by so-called "conservative" business interests enshrine religious insanity into state law. Keep in mind the only way these groups cling to power is via endless fear mongering driven by bottomless wells of money. Most people don't want to return to the dark ages. The backlash is coming soon. Those in power never study history.