God bless America!… Well, someone should… If not God, then whom?

Whew, that last blog was a mangled mess of verbiage: words tossed together and plopped haphazardly onto a blog like some sort of twisted verbal salad, or like the mishmash on your daddy’s supper plate. “It’s all goin’ in the same stomach,” he used to say as you watched in awe…

Eating that mess is one thing. But having to read it? Well, sorry. Might just go ahead and delete it till I have time to rewrite the darn thing.

I promise you, I wasn’t drunk when I wrote it, nor was I insane. I was, however, mad. Mad as heck…  But that’s a given. Just look at this blog’s title.  But ya’ know…

“…the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow, roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars, and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop, and everyone goes, “Awww!”    –Jack Kerouac (No one would write anything like that today and become successful, and that’s fodder for a future blog. He died in 1969, just as freedom as we knew it was on its slow, demoralized way out.)

Anyhow, the previous blog entry does need some serious editing, and perhaps one day I’ll get to it. But, as you’ve probably noticed, the time to edit just isn’t there.  (The time to do just about anything that we aren’t paid for isn’t there for most of us overworked and underpaid Americans these days, is it? Leisure time is virtually nonexistent for most of us these days. And frankly, I think that’s a part of the plan–no leisure time to think, to blog, to write, to ponder the mysteries of the universe or just to hone our typing skills. Certainly, there’s little time for political action, involvement or protest. Everything we do spend time on needs to bring us back some money, or else it just isn’t worth anything, as far as our falling society is concerned (and as far as our landlords, mortgage bankers, bosses, social service workers,  bill collectors, politicians and next-door neighbors are concerned.)

Perhaps what we need is a blessing. Which brings me to this latest blog entry. Is there a God? And would He, could He, please bless us, America? If there were a God, a Higher Power, a force of all that is good, a universal Creator, would he, could he (or she?!) bless the USA?

Uh, no. Apparently not.  And the answer, my friends, comes from a surprising source: Bobcat Goldthwait. A friend of mine once said that she never met a comedian who was not some sort of genius. Goldthwait seems to prove the point.  This oddball comedian  has come out of the closet, as it were, to reveal the  genius behind the weirdness. Who knew?

To wit:

“My name is Frank, but that’s not important. The important question is, ‘Who  are you?’ America has become a cruel and vicious place. We reward the shallowest, dumbest, the meanest and the loudest. We no longer have any common sense of decency, no sense of shame. There’s no right and wrong. The worst qualities in people are looked up to and celebrated. Lying and spreading fear are fine, as long as you make money doing it. We’ve become a nation of slogan-saying, vile-spewing hate mongers. We’ve lost our kindness. We’ve lost our soul.

What have we become? We take the weakest in our society and we hold them up to be ridiculed, laughed at for our sport and entertainment, laughed at to the point where they would literally rather kill themselves than live with us anymore…”

And with that said, Frank goes on a killing spree, slaughtering all the rude, discourteous, ugly Americans he can find.  Oh yeah. He’s a nice guy who does something that’s very much not nice, i.e., killing people who aren’t nice. So his dissatisfaction with the way things are corrupts him. He becomes, in a sense, meaner than the mean people he destroys. But perhaps he’s not really killing them for being mean. Perhaps it’s the stupidity, the dumbed-downedness that really irritates him. In that sense, he is triumphant. He succeeds in killing off some of the dumbest and most irritating people in our society–reality show stars, spoiled, rich brats, etc.

I admit, I didn’t enjoy the violence or the blood and gore but I think it was fitting nevertheless.

In fact, it is ingenious:  a movie about the decline of American culture that uses violence, blood and gore to make its statement, thus reeling in the ugly Americans who thrive on such titillation who will want to see this film but who probably won’t recognize themselves in it.

Actor Joel Murray nailed the role of the soft-spoken, polite, mild-mannered everyman Frank so well that I nearly cried when he beseeched his neighbor to please move his car. (His neighbor has repeatedly blocked Frank’s car.) Far from apologetic, the neighbor replies using what has become commonplace American “logic” these days:  “it’s your own fault if you’re a victim of my selfishness and greed.”

“You blocked yourself in, bro’” he says to Frank. Meanwhile, the neighbor’s wife is overheard in the background saying, “Tell him to park his car away from us.”

Frank is already late for work. He likes to park his car in front of his apartment. Finally, the neighbor reluctantly walks toward his car with the intention of moving it but he takes his time, looking over his car to see if there are any scratches on it before moving it out of Frank’s way. He’s also careful to reprimand Frank with, “Dude, you need to leave yourself more room.”  An American flag proudly displays in the man’s front window, just above the a/c and a bumper sticker remembering 911 is on the back of his car. He’s patriotic, proud of his country and the mean-spirited selfishness and greed that have become so much a part of it.

There is, however, some brilliant, thought-provoking dialogue here (Bobcat Goldthwait wrote this?), and that makes me think this movie could never possibly become a hit in the US, though it may develop a loyal cult following. As the film itself suggests, Americans don’t like intellectual discourse. They/We prefer cheap titillation. Instant gratification. Or whatever brings in a buck. Violence, explicit sex, blood and gore, yes. But thought-provoking dialogue? Where’s the remote? Next!

“It’s not nice to laugh at someone who’s not all there. It’s the same type of freak show distraction that comes along every time a mighty empire starts collapsing. I’m done, really. Everything is so cruel now. I just want it all to stop…”

“Nobody talks about anything anymore. They just regurgitate everything they see on TV or hear on the radio, or watch on the web. When was the last time you had a real conversation with someone without somebody texting or looking at a screen or monitor over your head? You know, a conversation about something that wasn’t celebrities, gossips, sports or pop politics? Somethin’ important or somethin’ personal?…”

“Oh I get it, and I am offended, not because I got a problem with bitter, predictable, whiney, millionaire disc jockeys complaining about celebrities or how tough their life is, while I live in an apartment with paper-thin walls next to a couple of Neanderthals who, instead of a baby, decided to give birth to some kind of nocturnal civil defense air raid siren that goes off every f—‘in night like it’s Pearl Harbor. I’m not offended that they act like it’s my responsibility to protect their rights to pick on the weak like pack animals or that we’re supposed to support their freedom of speech when they don’t give a f— about yours or mine.”

Frank is speaking to his coworker who completely misses the intriguing points just raised. Fancying himself as the intellectual know-it-all, the coworker responds to Frank: “So you’re against freedom of speech now? It’s in the Bill of Rights, man.”

Frank patiently takes a moment to restrain himself then begins with:

“I would defend their freedom of speech, if I thought it was in jeopardy. I would defend their freedom of speech to tell uninspired, bigoted, blow job, gay-bashing, racist and rape jokes all under the guise of being edgy, but that’s not the edge. That’s what sells. They couldn’t possibly pander any harder or be more commercially mainstream because this is the ‘Oh no, you didn’t say that!’ generation where a shocking comment has more wit than the truth.

No one has any shame anymore, and we’re supposed to celebrate it. I saw a woman throw a used tampon at another woman last night on network television—a network that bills itself as ‘today’s woman’s channel.’ Kids beat each other blind and post it on youtube. I mean, do you remember when eating rats and maggots on Survivor was shocking? It all seems so quaint now. I’m sure the girls from Two Girls, One cup are gonna have their own dating show on VH1 any day now. I mean, why have a civilization anymore if we are no longer interested in being civilized?”

Oh yes, indeed. Why have a civilization anymore when we are no longer interested (or perhaps capable of) being civilized?

Indeed. Indeed..he film is the scene in which Frank loses his job when a coworker accuses him of possible sexual harassment.  (He’d bought her flowers then sent them to her house. She hadn’t given him her address.) I appreciate the moral statement behind the scene. Yes, we as a society are too paranoid. Yes, we need to be more friendly, more loving toward one another. Yes, we need to be free to connect with each other again and not be so afraid of others who are trying to connect with us.

Yes, yes, yes!

However…

Sexual harassment is a reality that mostly women experience. (I wish more men had empathy for women!) I can point to specific situations in my own life when certain men have made the workplace uncomfortable for those of us they found attractive but unwilling to reciprocate the desire, so to speak. Basically, if you’re not interested in sleeping with them, those guys get vindictive. They’re bullies essentially, and they expect to get what they want. Or else. It’s one more glass ceiling women hit in the workplace. Sleep with that guy! Or at least respond favorable to his advances. Or else.

But as usual, I have my own take on everything I see. Yep, this is why I have no money. I think for myself. I express my own personal opinions. I think outside the box. And, sadly, I live in the USSA, er, the USSR, uh, I mean, the USA. And American society doesn’t like that sort of thing, especially when the thinking comes from us ladies.

No, no, no!

Are you with me, women? If you’re a woman and others think you’re “pretty” or (heavens to Betsy!) “sexy,” some men expect you to be available to them. If you don’t play the role of sex object; if you insist on keeping those clothes on and developing your intellect and/or talent rather than keeping the focus on your, uh, endowments, then you’ll hit that glass ceiling so fast you won’t even know it hit you. (And ouch! That really hurts!) This is especially true if you try to get men to see you as a person and show no interest whatsoever in ever, EVER sleeping with them.

Point is, the receptionist at Frank’s place of work had reason to be a bit standoffish and concerned. Women do deal with stalkers, unfortunately, and violence against women is a reality and a part of our society’s problem.

But the ruthless reaction of Frank’s boss doesn’t make sense. No one talks anything over. There’s no diplomacy nor no due process for Frank. He is accused of something and then he’s out–just like that. His coworkers seem happy that he’s being taken away. Dog-eat-doggedness and unhealthy competition is common in most offices these days. Americans have learned to compete with each other, to fight with each other, to fear each other, while at the same time displaying that flag and that ‘Remember 911′ bumper sticker as though the meanness we show each other is somehow negated by those superficial attempts at being a whole, cohesive society of people who truly love and support each other.

Well, I didn’t intend on writing a movie review, but here it is. Great film (except for the violence, though I understand why it is there.) Well-written. Great dialogue. Intriguing. Glad I got to see it. Maybe you will too?

And here’s hoping Goldthwait will continue to be successful in this country, in spite of his pesky habit of thinking. Perhaps he needs therapy? Ah, but don’t we all…

“god bless america” (lowercase?) was written and directed by Bobcat Goldthwait and presented by Darko Entertainment in association with Jerkschool Productions.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/16/bobcat-goldthwait-god-bless-america-movie_n_1519387.html

Here’s an UNEDITED comment I just posted on Facebook (of all places) in response to critics of the occupy movement. Again, I don’t have time to edit, so it is what it is….on my way to work again… (at my low-paying, stressful, dead-end job for which I am way overqualified, mind you…)  But I”m so lucky to have a job in this economy. Woo-hoo!

XXX contends that public camping is not a protected right by the US Constitution. S/he refers to a US Supreme court decision. The decision of the court reflects an interpretation only (and interpretations can be wrong) of the US Constitution and, I believe, it is misguided

Second, if you read the Constitution, it does state that the rights not specifically spelled out by the Constitution automatically revert back to the people. Since the Constitution does not specifically state that people cannot camp out in public places then it is up to us, the people, to decide whether or not we should have that right.

And we’ve decided.

Third, the colonists camped out on land that was owned by the Native Americans (Indians), so they couldn’t possibly advocate laws forbidding camping out in public spaces. (Otherwise, what they were doing in coming to this land and taking it over would have been illegal.  Wait a minute…it was illegal…)

Fourth, many Americans are losing their jobs and homes and are having no choice but to camp out somewhere as homeless shelters are overwhelmed with the increasing need (and are often dangerous and unpleasant places to stay anyhow.) Those of us who are suffering greatly in this economy need to confront those in power with our poverty. “Look at what you’ve done to us,” is what we are saying to them when we camp out in front of their luxury office buildings and add some discomfort to their luxurious lifestyles.

Living in their gated communities in affluent areas and traveling in their limos and private planes, it is easy for them to ignore us. (They’ve been ignoring us for decades. Read Barbara Ehrenreich’s “Nickeled and Dimed.” It was written over ten years ago!)

But when we’re camped out in front of their well-manicured faces, they can’t ignore us! That’s why the occupies are so important. We need to take back public spaces.

Ironically, we Americans have become a lot like the Indians or the illegal immigrants we claim so much disdain for in our own country and in direct result of this very system we have set up. We are now suffering, in part, due to our own unjust laws and policies. We need to take responsibility for our mistakes now and be the change we seek in the world.

Occupy is our big chance to do just that!

Fifth, the great thing about Occupy encampments is that they give us that chance to learn to live together, to share and cooperate with each other again. Camping out together, we have the opportunity to formulate a new system that truly is democratic. It’s not easy and there have been lots of problems and conflicts at the Occupy in my own city (as I’ve written about in previous blog entries), but those conflicts exist because we have all been influenced by this corporate-controlled society. We’ve been conditioned to think dog-eat-dog and fight with each other. The Occupy movement is our chance to work on ourselves and create a new way of living and looking at the world and each other.

My question to the anti-occupiers is this: why are you so against the encampments? Is it because it forces you to confront what you’d prefer to ignore, i.e., the suffering of others and the real truth about the US–that we are NOT democratic, NOT free, and most certainly NOT the land of opportunity?

Protect the Rich and Famous! …Er…Protect IP ACT, PIPA/SOPA This is urgent!

What are PIPA/SOPA? Well, the letters stand for Protect IP Act (PIPA) and Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA).  (Interesting Orwellian terminology, non? PIPA gives the impression that our IP addresses are somehow in danger and they need protection. Sounds like one of those feminine hygiene commercials we used to laugh at when I was a kid. SOPA’s terminology gives the impression that there is some sort of violence online–pirates that need to be stopped, riding online the wireless waves, their swords pointed toward wifi towers as they shout, “Arrgh, arrgh, I’ll surf the web, matey!”) Yes, there’s fear in the words chosen. We need to protect our IPs and stop those pirates just as we need to defend ourselves nationally (with the National Defense Authorization Act) and be more patriotic, or else (Patriot Act.)

Essentially, our Congress will be voting on January 24th (yep, it’s comin’ up quick. That’s why, even though it’s 2a.m., I felt compelled to write about this. No, I won’t have time to write about everything or to proofread anything, but if I’m able to inform even one more person of the importance of this then I’ve done my job!) Please, everyone, write, call, email your congressperson and let him/her know you are against this bill. Even if you learn about this after January 24th–it’s never too late! I believe that Jan. 2th’s vote is a “test vote,” whatever that means. But we must let those…uh…people in congress know that we’re paying attention and we won’t just sit back and let this draconian law be passed against us. And it is very much against us, against Americans and everything this country stands for. Just remember how television and radio were once free and available to everyone. The reason for this is that we are supposed to have access to information in a democratic society. It is necessary for people to have easy access to information. In order for people to participate adequately in a democracy, people must be well-informed. In a fascist or tyrannical society, however, it is necessary that the people are kept ignorant. Otherwise,  they might protest against injustice and unfairness.

This bill will greatly restrict our creativity and freedom to use the Internet. As a musican/writer/filmmaker, I can tell you that the people who will be harmed the most are us artists! Of course, in its Orwellian fashion, our government is doing the usual and trying to convince us that we are “stealing” from artists when we watch their films or listen to their music on the Internet. Nothing could be further than the truth! Do you think I spend hours writing these blogs free of charge because I’m hoping to get some money out of you? Certainly, we artists would like to get paid for our work but we give away our creations freely and we hope that if our work is of value that, eventually, the money will come. Of course, the money, recognition and appreciation will never come to us if we are not allowed to display our work publicly. This is even true of the wealthy, famous, celebrity artists (yes, the only few who will benefit from this USSR-like law.) They too must give away some of their work in order to get noticed. This is why there is radio and television. But I don’t care about them. I care about the starving artists, those who aren’t famous or rich yet who rely on the Internet as a platform that has helped democratize the Arts & Entertainment industry (an industry that’s notorious for NOT being democratic but for relying on nepotism, on people using other people as stepping stones.) But don’t even get me started on that one. Point is, this bill (SOPA/PIPA) will damage art, creativity, innovation and freedom of speech. Do we need to do more damage to our Constitution and Bill of Rights than has already been done by the Patriot Act and the NDAA?

From www.FightFortheFuture.org and www.AmericanCensorship.org as well as our very own WordPress.org I was led to a petition that began as follows. Beneath the quotes, you’ll see what I added to my own petition. I urge you to please write, email or call your senator or representative (or both) and let them know you’re against SOPA/PIPA

“I am writing to you as a voter in your district. I urge you to vote “no” on cloture for S. 968, the PROTECT IP Act, on Jan. 24th. The PROTECT IP Act is dangerous, ineffective, and short-sighted. It does not deserve floor consideration.  I urge my representative to vote “no” on SOPA, the corresponding House bill.

Over the next coming days, you’ll be hearing from the many businesses, advocacy organizations, and ordinary Americans who oppose this legislation because of the myriad ways in which it will stifle free speech and innovation.  We hope you’ll take our concerns to heart and oppose this legislation by voting “no” on cloture. “

(my words added to the petition are below:)

By the way, I myself am a musician, filmmaker and writer. My work has been available for people to view for free on the Internet for several years. Most of us artists want our work to be seen and are grateful for the chance to present our work to the world via the Internet. Creative people of all types, musicians, photographers, fine artists, actors and filmmakers who are not yet wealthy and famous will suffer as a result of PIPA and SOPA. Only a tiny percentage of people (perhaps the 1%?) will benefit from this fascist, undemocratic and unAmerican bill. Many of us Americans have gotten the impression that you folks in Congress do not care about us at all. Please show us that you do not support draconian or tyrannical laws such as this one. What had made America great was our freedom of expression. This time in history (if future historians have the freedom to accurately record it) will be reported as a dark time in which there was very little innovation or creativity thanks to draconian laws such as PIPA/SOPA.

But maybe you don’t care about that, nor do you care about the many artists and creative people who’ll be harmed by this Soviet-like bill. Nor do you seem to care about the Constitution or Bill of Rights and the fact that the US is beginning to resemble the USSR. My guess is, though, that you do care a great deal about yourself and your money. So how about this:

This bill will not help you (or your wealthy donors) to make more money. It will not make you happy. Most Americans, particularly young people, spend a lot of time on the Internet. Americans will notice this censorship. This bill will cause tremendous discontent among Americans. Americans will not ignore this attack on their civil liberties.

We cannot afford to pay for everything. This will prevent people from listening to music, watching films, reading literature.  As someone who has spent years writing books, producing films, creating music, I know how much hard work artists put into our work. We don’t want to prevent others from having access to our creations. We just want to get credit for our work. Most of us don’t get paid for our work. Only a wealthy, privileged few typically earn a living as artists. Obviously, this bill is targeted toward helping those wealthy few to greedily attempt to get more.

It will only backfire, as most Americans are struggling financially right now. We cannot afford to buy all the movies and CDs you want us to buy. The mean-spirited greed and selfishness behind SOPA/PIPA will result in more dissatisfaction with the government and corporate America, less buying of CDs and DVDs, less innovation and artistic expression and less freedom and democracy and more tyranny, more resemblance to the USSR. This is both scary and sad.

An Open Letter to Occupy My City

I don’t know what is happening within other Occupies across the US and the world, but in my town there have been ego clashes, fighting, people being “kicked out” or just discouraged from participating. Many people who support the Occupiers’ alleged goals have felt unwelcome and have chosen not to get involved, as the environment has become so negative. Some have branched off and started their own Occupy. This has angered the original Occupiers who are now arguing back and forth, primarily via the Internet, about whose movement is better.  Seriously, people? Do you expect to be taken seriously?

To be fair, the winter season does factor in on this somewhat. As the weather gets stormy, cold and unpleasant, we’ve seen fewer activists and more people who just have no choice but to camp out at Occupy. They join, not necessarily because they want to make the world a better place, but because they are seeking a safe place where they can remain homeless. (I’m not criticizing the homeless either. This entire blog is written from the point of view of a formerly homeless and currently financially struggling working class person–and a  real, bonafide 99 percenter!) But I think the point of camping out in front of government buildings was to address the government with our grievances, not to solicit free food donations from the community. Sadly, our government isn’t listening to us. Writing/calling Congress doesn’t seem to make a difference, but if we camp out in tents in front of their offices…well, how can they ignore us then? That was, I think, the original point. But now the encampment in my town has turned into something else, something ugly, something I can’t support. A sort of “group think” has set in as campers versus those who don’t camp, original protestors vs. newbies, meeting attendees vs. those who don’t have time to attend, and men who want to dominate versus women who feel disenfranchised vs. women who don’t feel that other women should complain about sexism compete with each other as to who and what this supposedly democratic movement is about!

And time and time again, I’ve approached this Occupy and seen an increase in people gathering for the free food and tent setting. (I’m a democratic-socialist type, not a conservative Republican, mind you, yet I can’t help but see the lack of desire to give back to one’s community.) When I engage them in political discourse, they know nothing or very little and seem rather unconcerned about current events or changing the system. (But we need donations, please!) Pointing out these and other problems, i.e., that the organization appears to be white-male dominated in a region with a large African-American community, causes people to be censored, yes, censored! And this Occupy even voted at a General Assembly to block certain people from expressing certain opinions they deem “harmful” on their web site. And would-be Occupiers are chastised or threatened with the possibility of being disassociated from Occupy should they “harm” the movement by pointing out problems within it.

It’s a sad, sorry thing to admit to, but I’ve been treated with more warmth and welcome by activist groups with whom I’ve strongly disagreed. Yep, I’m talking about activists not supportive of my political beliefs but who were friendly and welcoming. They understand the importance of speaking with people who disagree on many things but might be able to rally toward a common cause for the greater good.

(By the way, one such “common cause” can be the move to eliminate corporate funding of our politicians. Many activists, Tea Party and Occupy alike could agree on that one. We aren’t going to agree on everything, but we can agree to disagree on some issues then move on to the more important topics at hand. Occupy, are you listening?)

Ah, the irony. This blog was set up to critique corporate America, Wall Street tycoons, the greedy and selfish oppressors. Who would have thought that those protesting those evils would take on the very characteristics they claimed to denigrate?  Who knew? Never, ever in a million years did I expect to find myself criticizing a group such as Occupy. And, in fact, I’m not criticizing the overall movement. I am criticizing an Occupy that happens to exist in my hometown.

Many people have branched off and started their own occupy and are choosing to disassociate themselves with the egomaniacs who’ve decided to command occupy. And it’s become an odd sort of competition. (Reminds me of an old Monty Python sketch of the philosophers’ soccer match. Kant and Nietzsche vs. Plato and Socrates; the Germans vs. the Greeks.) Which smart, thoughtful person who wants to make the world a better place can run faster? Can kick the ball harder?

Who’s the best activist? Will the activist who runs the fastest to the finish line please stand up? Sad really. Because I’m not interested in competing. I’m not seeking the limelight as an activist. This may be difficult to believe, but I dislike politics. I don’t want to wield power over the people, but I do want to see power to the people–as long as the people are taking on that tremendous responsibility by reading about history, reading the Constitution and Bill of Rights, and taking their role as co-governors of their country seriously. But to the extent people shirk responsibility, refuse to be educated, refuse to read and study and learn and think for themselves; to the extent that the people choose to just sit back lazily and vote for others to just make decisions for them because they don’t feel like taking the time to think carefully about or study the issues or get involved themselves, then we the people simply aren’t competent or qualified for the job. And that, my friends, is the common argument against democracy. People vote against their own interests. People vote for corrupt dictators. People, “we” the people, can be just as corrupt, just as greedy and selfish as corporate America and politicians.

And that is what I learned from the Occupy in my city. Cronyism, nepotism, corruption, censorship, sexism, racism, etc.–it’s all there at Occupy. When some of us protested on behalf of a member who was kicked out, we were censored. Yep, our comments, were removed.

Ah well. This bag lady has been cynical and jaded from the beginning. (So that’s why she’s mad!) As much as she’d hoped, she couldn’t believe that true change was possible in a country that has embraced corrupt, crony politics for so long. After all, Americans voted for Reagan then Bush. Where was Occupy then? Reagan made a HUGE cut in affordable housing for the poor. Why weren’t Americans upset about that? He spread propaganda that poor people were to blame for their situation, that this was the land of opportunity, so if you weren’t rich there truly was something wrong with you. Americans didn’t say a word on that, except to thank Reagan for being one of our “greatest” presidents. Yep, many Americans love that guy, to this day.

Did Americans really need to wait until they lost their own jobs, their homes, and their dreams before they could care about others less fortunate? If so, then that is a serious character flaw in us as a people that needs to be addressed.  We voted against social safety nets to help the poor get back on their feet because we blamed the poor (and because we ourselves weren’t poor.) They choose to be poor, after all. But then when we lose our own jobs and find it impossible to replace them with new ones, how will we pay the rent? How will we pay for groceries?

Now there is no one to speak for us.  We allowed education to become outrageously expensive so that only the rich can go to college. No more going back to school to learn a marketable skill. Education is off the table. We allowed unlimited freedom for large, multinational businesses to outsource labor, tax-free to third-world countries because we insist on maintaining a “free marketplace.” For them. But not for us. If I want to sell my hand-made jewelry on a public sidewalk, I’m forbidden.

Point is, we the people allowed this corruption to be fruitful and multiply. Why? We watched silently as others suffered and swallowed the kool-aid that it’s their own fault anyway. Until now. Until we find ourselves suffering from our own mean-spirited policies.

And that takes us back to Occupy, doesn’t it? The question is, are the Occupiers truly seeking social change or are they just using the movement to achieve their own selfish goals?

Considering that the Occupiers claim to represent 99% of the people, who are they to “kick out” people who are non-violent and who are trying to support what they claim to be fighting for? Who are they to censor their members and to intimidate them out of speaking?

Now here it is, the moment you haven’t been waiting for, my grievance, as published and viewed by at least four people so far. I had to publish it on a web site that opposes the Occupy movement, a web site I wouldn’t have even known existed if it weren’t for the attempts Occupy made to censor the opinions of several of us who disagreed with decisions made by a clique at Occupy who gathered a small number of people, labeled it a General Assembly and made decisions without the consent of the majority of us involved in the movement…

An open letter to Occupy  (the one that practices censorship and exclusivity.) Yep, I know some of you are gonna read this… :

I’d just like to say that I think it is very interesting indeed that people like myself who were once your strongest supporters are now having to go on other web sites like this one, or perhaps meet with other activists not affiliated with Occupy Buffalo, because we are unable to get our voices heard at Occupy Buffalo.  Are you trying to drive us over to the other side? No wonder the police/government aren’t harassing you and have agreed to let you stay in the square–you yourselves are doing so much damage to the Occupy movement that they don’t need to take you down. In fact, they love seeing you there as you are proving the negative stereotypes of Occupy to be true.

Like the US govt, you disallow dissent and refuse to allow opinions w/which you disagree. And so, like the US government, you are now facing rebellion from the people within your own organization.  Do you not see the irony?

This is true even in the business world. When managers start to see their strongest employees quitting or getting fired, that is a warning sign that a business is failing.

You are, as they say, “shooting yourselves in the foot.” If you really cared about the issues, making things better for the 99%, etc., you’d want to include 99% of people in your community. Once you start accusing people of “harming” your organization by expressing opinions you don’t like, you lose credibility. Your Facebook site is not a privately-owned site, as you suggest, but a site that represents an organization that proclaims to be publicly owned, i.e., 99% “owned.”

I’ve been reading about the 60s and, ironically, that movement failed for the same reason. Women were disenfranchised by the “progressives” and hippies who claimed they wanted to form a more democratic society! Seriously, read about it. It’s in the history books. That’s how the women’s movement started. Women branched off and started their own movement. Then the 60s movement became more and more about a bunch of spoiled rich kids, “limousine liberals,” who’d never faced social injustice but claimed to be against it. The poor and working class had no place in that movement–just as women and other groups were displaced.

When people are criticizing you and branching off to start their own movement, that should be a clue that you need to take a closer look at your group and ask yourself the question: What can we do for our community so that people will see the value in our work? How can we show people that we are doing good work for our community? Instead, the Occupy in my town has chosen the same fascist, ruthless tactics corporate America uses time and time again: prevent people we don’t agree with from speaking, keep out dissent, but let’s keep asking the community to support us and give to us. Sorry, people, but it doesn’t work that way. Remember JFK’s famous words? “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.” We as a society need to learn to give, to stop asking others to give to us but to focus on what we can give to others.

Occupy Yourself! Be yourself. Don’t ask permission from a movement, mover, or anyone. Just stand up for what you believe in!

As enthusiastic and motivated as I am about these issues (class division, poverty, etc.) I have, regretfully, fallen behind in updating this blog.  Primarily this has been due to my support for my local Occupy Wall Street movement.  I think it would be obvious to anyone reading these posts that I am supportive of that movement toward creating a democratic, egalitarian, inclusive system in which there is room for all of us–except, of course, the tiny minority of sociopaths who are, sadly, incapable of caring about others and the greater good.)  However, I believe our type of unregulated (or perhaps one could say improperly regulated) capitalism helps to produce those sociopathic individuals. We currently live under a “dog eat dog” system that encourages people to compete with each other in a negative and self-defeating way. A healthy, functional, sustainable, egalitarian society would rarely find a true sociopath within its communities.

When I first heard of the Occupy movement I was inspired and enthused, to say the least. Finally, people have woken up. Finally, Americans are learning the value of community, of supporting rather than competing with one another. But can we do it? Can those of us who’ve been indoctrinated into this divisive corporate culture find a way to come together, to cooperate, to work together despite racial, gender, religious, socioeconomic and political differences?

I’d like to think that we can. However, after spending a great deal of my own time showing support for and attempting to get involved in the Occupy in my city I was faced with the sad conclusion that already, within a few short weeks, the demonstration in my area has formed its own establishment, its own heirarchy, its own elite. Certain people have been using the organization to fulfill their own needs and are reluctant to allow other people to get involved. In other words, a leadership, primarily consisting of white males (just like Wall Street) has emerged. I discovered that other people like myself have become disenchanted with the organization because of it.

Yet as angry as I became with some of these self-appointed “leaders” within a movement that is not supposed to allow leaders to take over this experience has reacquainted me with a fact I’ve long known about human nature: we’re flawed. Our egos make us vulnerable to thinking we know better, that we’re right, that others would be better off if we’d be in charge. As humans, we’re all vulnerable to this flaw and this flaw can be fatal to an otherwise hopeful and earnest movement.

However, I’ve also taken a look at myself, at my own flaw as a human. How has my own ego created this angst I now feel? I went out and shot some great footage of the Occupation, put it up on the Internet and informed people that it was up there for all to see. Let people see what this movement is really about. It is a real, honest and earnest struggle to make things better for all of us. In fact, there are some highly intelligent, capable people involved who are doing some wonderful things! But there’s always a dark side. In any movement, there are always those who’ll use the movement to achieve their own personal ends. When a diverse community comes together then, inevitably, there will always be those who disagree, who don’t like each other. We can’t expect that everyone within a movement will get along all the time. That just isn’t human nature. Sometimes disagreements and moments of conflict are actually good because they wake us up, get us thinking about old ideas in new ways, keep us on our toes, keep us alert.

I approached Occupy with my videography and also my idea to set up a podcast to enable demonstrators to voice their political opinions. Since many complain that the corporate-controlled media has given Occupy little coverage and negative coverage, if any, I thought this would be a positive contribution on my part. I really think I’ve helped the movement by shooting the video and broadcasting it in on the Internet. I think the podcast also helps the movement.  However, I discovered that the Occupy in my city has a “media department” that is run by a clique of people who weren’t very open to my involvement. I found myself very offended by this. Don’t they know how much time and trouble I spent producing those videos? Do they have any idea how many countless hours I spent creating the podcast? No, of course, they don’t as they aren’t very media savvy.  But why do I care? Why does my own ego need their support and encouragement when I can continue advocating without joining the Occupy movement at all.

I guess I care because I have been advocating for a movement like this for many years–on my own. I’m tired of being the “Lone Ranger” as one career counselor once described me. I was hoping to be a part of something. Like most humans, I wanted a pat on the back, wanted my opinions to be heard, wanted to feel like I could contribute and be recognized for my contribution by other people.  Certainly, I can–and will-continue to be active on my own. But isn’t this part of our problem as a society? That so many of us are on our own? Disconnected? Disenfranchised? Isn’t there a strength in numbers more powerful than one finds when an individual or several individuals just go out and act on their own? Perhaps the concept of working together as a community is just too difficult for those of us already brainwashed, indoctrinated into the corporate mindset of rugged-individualism that’s taken over our society. Perhaps the Occupation will grow out of this thinking and become more inclusive in the years to come. (I say “years” because the wealthy bureaucrats seemed determined to run this country to the ground, so I think it might be a long, bloody fight to make any real changes. The elite just won’t bend nor budge, even to placate the masses, if only temporarily. Frankly, that surprises me. I thought the powers that be would have made some conciliatory attempt to temporarily placate the protesters in hopes of reconditioning us back into complacency, into believing that our current system is actually okay, just had some glitches to work out. Sort of how allowing Obama into office placated many “liberals” who decided racism, sexism, classism & every other social problem magically went away once a black man and democrat became president.)

Also I’ve been struggling as a direct result of our former president’s policies (GW Bush, in case you don’t remember), and getting involved has offered a catharsis for me. I was ready to immerse myself in the Occupy movement. Our society is highly dysfunctional and unsustainable. We have to find an alternative or we’ll all suffer–rich and poor (except for the ultra-rich, the mega-elite 1%, but that doesn’t include all wealthy people; I’m speaking of only the extremists at the very top.) After all, wealthy people are exposed to the cancer-causing agents in our air, food and water. They too are harmed by the mass production of food, the dumping of chemicals in our environment, etc., that effect all of us as a result of corporate domination of our government and our society.

And I suppose my own ego has taken a beating here. Am I disrespected by the movement because I’m female? The Occupy in my city is very much white-male-dominated, and I think many female (and male members alike) feel somewhat disenfranchised by an elite clique that seems to be running things.  But more than that, I have faced so much disenfranchisement from corporate America and what I refer to as our current “Capitalism-Gone Wild” system that I was hoping that this movement would prove itself to be democratic, egalitarian, inclusive, nonsexist, nonracist, etc. I trusted that my own talents and gifts would be appreciated and that my contributions would be accepted. So perhaps that is how has my own ego interferes with my ability to participate in this movement. Like most humans, I like knowing I’m recognized and appreciated for what I do. Not that I’m looking for a medal, of course. But after years of writing blogs like this one, getting into political debates with others, screening my documentaries and getting attacked by people who don’t like what I do and what I have to say, it is nice to have some people say, “Thanks, I appreciate what you’re trying to do.” I think there are some people who don’t realize how difficult it can be to be an activist sometimes. Do you think I like getting hate mail from ignorant, self-serving, bigoted neo-cons? Do you think I enjoy debating with people who insist that homeless people “like” being homeless, that those collecting welfare or unemployment benefits enjoy getting a “free” ride? I’ve even had homeless people (and it was a minority of homeless people, but still…) attack me for making a documentary about homelessness. “Don’t you know that homeless people are lazy and don’t want to work,” they’ve asked me. Yep, homeless people have said that to me. When I respond with, “You’re homeless. Do you consider yourself to be lazy and not wanting to work?” I get the response that “I’m different. I’m trying to find a job. But those OTHER homeless people…”

That is, by the way, the psychology of oppression. Oppressed people tend to hate each other and to worship the “oppressor.” This is why women get catty and competitive with each other, and this is why homeless people, and poor people in general, attack each other rather than come together and support each other. This is also why there is so much crime in poor neighborhoods. Poor people attack each other, keep each other down.

Imagine if that weren’t true. Imagine if poor people stood up for each other. Imagine if, instead of joining street gangs and intimidating their neighbors, poor, inner city youth got together and marched to the White House demainding high-paying jobs and equal opportunity for all. Imagine if all that anger were channeled toward something positive. I hope that, ultimately, the Occupy movement does become about achieving that positive goal and not about a few elitists who have hijacked the movement to serve their own ends.

In addition to shooting video, I also set up a podcast in which Occupiers can engage in intelligent political discussion. I believe this is something our society needs. We’ve been conditioned to seek out pure entertainment, titillation, instant gratification. I think people need to be thinking about politics, about our society and ways to create a better society. If some people within my local Occupy feel threatened by my ability to engage others in healthy political discussion or to produce videos or podcasts that can encourage others to get involved in this movement, well, that’s a shame.

My question to them is this: Why are you involved in the Occupy movement? Why do you want to censor or silence others? Why are you afraid of open dialogue? Why does my uploading videos that educate and inform others of what this movement is all about threaten you? You say you’re afraid I might protray this movement badly, so you’re not sure you’d like to involve me in your “media department,” that you’d like me to take some of your “classes” in which I can “learn” what to say and how to say it when referring to YOUR organization. (And I say YOUR because obviously this is not about us, the 99%, anymore. This is about YOU who think you know what people should and shouldn’t say about OccupyCityUndisclosed.)

Really? Are you seriously worried I’ll portray you badly? I’ve seen the poor quality videos you’ve uploaded onto your web site that don’t include intelligent political dialogue and that appear to have been set up by students who are still learning how to make videos, how to set up a web site, how to write properly, and how to communicate with other people. But you’re afraid that including people like me (who have experience doing such things!?) will risk your organization being portrayed badly to the general public.

Well, don’t worry about that, my friends. You’ve already done a wonderful job of discrediting this movement all by yourselves.  Fortunately, for the majority of people in the Occupy movement, there are people like me involved who, in spite of our encounters with ignoramuses like yourselves, have persisted nevertheless to take the time to show the public that not everyone in the Occupy movement is uneducated and self-serving.  Some of us really believe in democracy and that is why we are taking the time out of our busy lives to create a better world–in spite of people like you.

And so I encourage everyone in sympathy with the movement to do the same. Occupy yourself! Don’t rely on anyone else. If there is no movement in your city or if you’re disenchanted/disenfranchised by the Occupy in your city, please don’t give up on the movement altogether. Remember that human beings are a flawed species. We all have egos. Ego-conflict is inevitable in any human interaction, especially when there is a large number of highly diverse people involved.

Anyone can do what I do–maintain a blog, buy (or borrow) a video camera or just act in your daily life on the part of this movement toward democracy. We need to be the change we seek in the world. We need to become democratic in our daily lives. This is not easy to do and the reason why democracies don’t last. It’s tough to include everyone, to give everyone a voice, to be fair to everyone. It takes a lot of patience, intelligence, knowledge of history, psychology and sociology, of human behavior. It takes a lot of persistence, time and energy. It’s just so much easier to create a fascist police state run by a dictator who simply tells everyone what to do, and everyone just follows orders resignedly. This is why, even in a movement like this one, there will be dictators within the movement.  Democracy is an ongoing process of acknowledging problems and working on problem-solving. It can be frustrating and seemingly impossible at times.

But in spite of my cynical, jaded current state of mind, I still believe that it is possible and very much worth the struggle. I’ll continue on my own, the Lone Ranger.  My attempt at joining movements has never been successful. I always find myself walking away disappointed. Perhaps I’m a perfectionist, asking more of people than they can actually give. Yes, perhaps this is a flaw in myself. I don’t know. But I think for myself. I’m not a follower, nor am I a leader. I seek a world in which others are thinking for themselves, are able to see the big picture, are able to think deeply about important topics rather than seek out temporary stimulation from TV or other superficial media, to be themselves while respecting the other people who share the world with them. So I’ll videotape Occupy and other social causes. I’ll blog about them. Perhaps I’ll speak publicly or have my films screened publicly. But I won’t attempt to join   anyone else’s organization anymore. It just doesn’t work for me. No matter how idealist the organization appears to be it always ends up becoming the same thing: gratification of someone’s ego.

So my dear Occupiers, I sympathize with and support the overall movement you claim to support, but I won’t wear your t-shirts or claim to be one of you. At least not for now. Right now, I’m returning to the Lone Ranger I’ve always been. Maybe, eventually, I will find “my people,” my co-creators of this better world we all envision.

 

there’s no incentive to work! why people stay on welfare (or remain homeless) for years and years… (hint: it’s not ’cause they like being poor)

The real reason is this:

Well, actually, it’s not so simple.  I can’t reduce this concept to a sound byte.  Sorry, TV watchers.  But this is a complex idea and will need to be explained in two blog-writing sessions.  I have to go to “work” myself this morning, so I’ll just begin this blog here then continue it later on tonight or tomorrow…

I’ve had yet just another fellow American tell me that safety nets, such as welfare, encourage laziness, that there’s no incentive to work when someone is given everything he/she needs by the government.

Ehem.

This was a very nice person, so I was able to explain my point of view, though not very well, I think, because it is complex.  How do I explain a concept that a semester of college work could perhaps barely explain?  (Yes, I do think there should be Poverty Studies courses in college.  The neo-cons are against this sort of thing.  They dislike the liberal arts in general–contains the word “liberal” after all.)  But the liberal arts teach us to think about each other, about why we’re all really here on this earth, about morality, about ethics, social responsibility and social injustice.  Right now, especially right now, we need to be thinking about those things.  For all their talk about “Christian values,” the neo-cons are anti-morality.  Their only concern is themselves, their money, their material things, and, yes, their taxes.  They don’t like taxes!

Personally, I don’t like poverty and despair.  I don’t like human suffering.  That to me is a much more serious problem than paying taxes.

But there ya’ go.  I’m not a neo-con, neo-liberal, Republic-con, or whatever they call themselves these days.

(Disclaimer:  if you’re  a Republican, rest assured that I don’t want to hate you.  In fact, I’m trying real hard not to hate you.  I know that only a few of you are addicted to money, greed, selfishness and mean-spirited, rugged individualism.  Most of you just don’t have an understanding of what is really happening in this country.  You’ve been misinformed or uninformed.  Without an understanding of how governments and societies are formed and have been formed throughout history, how can you learn of what is happening in today’s world?  So you turn on that TV set–some call it an “idiot box”–and just hope for the best.  Sadly, you make the mistake of turning on Fox News.  Naively, you trust the misinformation you’re given as “fair and balanced.”  And, being uneducated in history, sociology, and human psychology, how would you know enough to do any different?)

So there.

When people say that poor people are lazy and don’t want to work, that safety nets just enable them to not work what they are really saying is that poor people are inferior to rich people and that poor people should not have the right to pursue their own happiness but that only rich people should have that right.

Case in point:

Why is no one attacking rich people for being lazy and not wanting to work?  There are many people who were born into wealthy families who do not have to work. Yes, that’s right, they have nothing to do, nothing that they have to do.  They don’t have to work because their families are so rich that they can literally live off of their parents’ money and never, ever work a day in their lives.  Some of them become very apathetic and bored.  They begin spending their money on drugs and alcohol in a desperate attempt to alleviate the tedium by creating some obstacles for themselves.  (Poor people drink to forget about the obstacles.  The mega-rich drink to create them.  Go figure.)

Yet we don’t attack the lazy and irresponsible rich.  Why?  Because they worked for it, you say?  No, I’m talking about people who were born with  money, who never worked for it.  (I need to repeat myself here and will continue to repeat myself over and over again on these blogs because, sadly, one must repeat one’s self in order to get heard amongst the chaos and shouting in this attention-deficit-disordered, fast-paced age.  So I’ll try to make this simple and repeat myself enough times so that, I hope, some people will “get it.”

Point is this:  if we value  hard work so much (and I’m curious about that too) why do we not attack wealthy people who are lazy and don’t want to work?

(Sadly, I must work and not at what I love to do or am good at. Perhaps one day I’ll earn a living from writing these blogs or from writing in general.  However, now I must go to work at a dead-end, low-paying job that will cause me to become homeless again soon because that is the only kind of work I’ve been able to obtain in this Land of Opportunity, the USSA.)  So I’ll continue this thought later…

Okay, I’m just going to add this thought before I go.  Here’s what I would do if I were collecting welfare and food stamps, if I didn’t have to “work” at a regular job.  I’d spend my days working on my writing, writing more blogs, practicing my guitar, making my videos.  Yep, I’d be working at the things I do best.  Maybe I’d be able to make a positive contribution to society.  Maybe I’d be the next Michael Moore and make films that enlighten, educate, that make other people think differently about their society.  Oh, I guess that explains why some wealthy, powerful people don’t want people like me to really “work.”  They want us to work at low-paying, dead-end jobs that support corporate America.  They just don’t want us to work at anything that will better ourselves and our community.  And often those are the jobs for which we don’t get paid in money.  No one pays me to write these blogs, to make my videos, to produce my music.  No one pays me.  Not a penny.  I don’t even get donations.  Perhaps I should solicit for them.  But right now I want to be able to speak my mind while I still have the right to do so.  Soon the government will send in agents to arrest people like me, to shut us down for good.  I already have reason to believe that I’m on some sort of terrorist-wanted list.

But that’s the way it goes…

And I will continue this later…

What part of freedom do you not understand?

What part of freedom do you not understand?

What part of freedom do you not understand?

So shouted Rush Limbaugh repeatedly into my ear one morning after I’d accidentally fallen asleep…leaving the radio on–a dangerous thing to do these days.

And it started me thinking.  Rush Limbaugh believes (or wants us to believe) that he’s advocating for freedom?  Whose freedom?  His own, I suppose.

Freedom is a concept I’ve always been attracted to.  Since childhood, I’ve always longed to be free, free from my highly dysfunctional family, the gangs of kids who attacked me on my way to and from school, my painful childhood, the poor city I grew up in, the working-class, blue collar prison that says, “You must be a working class hero.  Work shall set you free.  Just work.  Work, work, work.”

Then one day, you’ll wake up and realize that even though you’ve worked hard your entire life you still have nothing.  Nothing.  No matter how frugal you are, no matter how many necessities and desires you do without, no matter how hard you struggle and deprive yourself, you still can’t get any money saved up.  Any money you deposit in your bank account (if you can afford a bank account, that is) is just money you are keeping for withdrawal at the end of the month when you pay your bills.  There’s no vacation this year.  Nor the next.  Nor the next.  Not ever.  Until the day comes when you’re finally allowed to rest peacefully, and that will be a permanent vacation.  They say there’s no rest for the wicked.  But these days, I think that the opposite is true.  There is no rest for those of us who have good intentions, who want the world to be a better place, who are just trying to survive and live peaceably in this troubled world.  This is a world that supports and condones and rewards the wicked, the violent, and the mean-spirited, while it penalizes those of us who want things to be better.  Because, as we all know, making the world a better place means “socialism.”

And we can’t have that.

So let’s just get rid of those pesky public libraries, public schools, fire departments, police departments, hospitals, clinics, parks, and anything else we can think of that constitutes “socialism.”  I’m watching, sadly, libraries and public schools close down in my city.  Do you see this happening in your neighborhood?  I guess that would depend on whether you live in an affluent suburb or a poor, inner-city area.  You can guess which of the two would best describe my neighborhood.

We don’t need to pay taxes or to do anything collectively.  The heck with other people.  We’re all rugged individualists now.  So, everybody, just take a good look at yourself in the mirror and thank yourself.  Thank yourself for being you, and tell yourself you love you.  Feel good about yourself, take really good care of your health, and be the best you can be.  Because remember, in the USA, you are all you have.  If you lose your house, your car, your job, your mind, your spirit, your self esteem, (whatever!), you’d better just be ready to help yourself, pick yourself up by your bootstraps.  Don’t you dare ask anyone else for help.  Don’t even think about it.  We’re not all in this together.  We’re all in this alone, but together reluctantly.  The idea is to be alone, be very alone.  Suck it up and pick it up with those fraying bootstraps you inherited from your parents.  Since you won’t be able to collect social security when you grow older, I’m sure your parents will be ready and willing to provide for you in your old age too–unless they die by then.

Well, who needs a place to live and three meals a day anyway?  Did you know that eating is overrated?  There’s actually an obesity problem in this country.  People are just eating way too much.  So stop feeling sorry for yourself, and just be grateful that you won’t have an obesity problem because you can’t afford to eat enough to get fat.  Besides, if you read about Nazi Germany you’ll discover that many people went without eating, even suffered from malnutrition during Hitler’s reign.  Yet everything seems to be okay in Germany now.  So stop complaining.  Stop whining.  What’s a little poverty?  Builds character!

But I digress.

What I really wanted to post about on this blog was freedom.  The Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly, Republic-con, Tea Party versions–as well as some other notions of freedom–truly are intriguing.

For example,

Some people want to be free to speak their minds, even if what they have to say is in disagreement with those who possess great amounts of money and power.  They want to have the freedom to express ideas and opinions that other people just don’t like.

Other people want to have the freedom to oversee that speech, to prevent those people from saying things they think are offensive or harmful to others, or to themselves perhaps.  They want to control what is said or not said, to screen speech in all its forms–television, radio, film, poetry or novels.  To decide whose music is played on the radio, which actors will be cast on TV or film productions, which directors, producers, news anchors or writers will be allowed to participate in the process of disseminating information.  They see themselves as keeping the world in order and preventing chaos.  After all, allowing other people to be free to just say whatever they want can be dangerous, right?  Of course, these people who decide what speech is okay and what is not okay are human beings who can make mistakes or who can be corrupted by bribery or manipulation.  But what can you do?  Someone has to watch people and make sure they’re not saying things other people don’t want to hear, right?

Some people want to be free to walk down the street or drive their cars or hop on a bus or a plane or a train and travel.  They want the freedom to travel, to move around, to live or to visit anywhere they’d like.  (Of course, these same people will want to speak their minds anywhere they go too.   They just want it all, don’t they?)

Other people are concerned that strangers walking or driving down their streets might do them harm and would like to have the freedom to stop them.  They’d like the police to stop innocent, law-abiding citizens and just search them, search their cars, search their possessions, check their identity cards.  Are they US citizens?  What if they’re here illegally?  What if they intend to cause trouble in our neighborhood?  Who are these people?  I don’t recognize them.  Maybe they’re good people.  Maybe they’re not such good people.  I don’t know.  But if we stop them when we notice they seem different in some way, perhaps dressed differently, in possession of a different skin color from the type we normally see in this part of town, or maybe they speak funny, if we stop them and search through all their belongings we can determine whether they mean us any harm.  Or not.  (This is, of course, a violation of the 4th Amendment law that used to be in force here in the US.  The 4th Amendment was a law that stated that people could not be searched and that their belongings could not be searched or seized, unless it was known beyond a doubt that they were guilty of something.  A police officer would need to be ready to swear before a judge that he/she knew this person was guilty of something before the officer could search or seize the person or person’s property.  Of course, that law no longer exists in the US and for “good” reason.  We are in so much danger!  There are just so many people attempting to exercise freedoms.  These people need to be stopped, controlled, screened.  The authorities want to have the freedom to do exactly that.  But if they have the freedom to limit other people’s freedom…then other people lose some of their freedom… Oh dear, this does get confusing.

Corporations want to have the freedom to maximize their profits, even if that means laying off American workers and outsourcing labor to third-world countries, exploiting their employees and shortening their lifespans by practically working them to death, paying them tiny wages yet raising the prices of the goods produced and further cheating their customers by overcharging them for goods and services they’ve produced cheaply.  Corporations want to be able to dump toxic waste into our environment and to save money by not implementing safety measures that would protect our environment (as well as protect their workers) from harm.

Corporations want a free marketplace but only for themselves.  You as an individual are not free to stand on a public sidewalk and sell your handmade candles.  You’ll get a ticket, perhaps even arrested, for trying.  Yet a large corporation can dump toxins into our environment.  Are the CEOs arrested?  Jailed?  Do we see articles in the paper (or on the Internet) about CEOs going to prison for cheating consumers, their employees and the environment?

Yet we, the people, want to have the freedom to earn a decent livelihood, to provide for our families, heck, to have families of our own.  We’d like to live full lives and not have our lives cut short because our bosses overwork, underpay and uninsure us.  We’d like to pay the price that products are worth, no more (and certainly not ten times more.)  We’d like to buy products that last, not that are made to break.  We’d like the trees and the birds and, yes, the bees to still be around for our grandchildren.  We’d like for them to have the freedom to walk down a street, breathe fresh air and hear birds sing.  But what we want to be free to do impedes what large corporations want the freedom to do.  And, remember, they’re people too.  Under the law, at least.

Hmm… how do we resolve such conflict?  Seems that what some people want to be free to do conflicts with what others want the freedom to do…

I guess that’s the part of freedom that I don’t understand, Mr. Limbaugh.  Why am I not free to go on national radio and express my opinions about how I think things should be?  Why do you have that right and I do not?  Can you explain that, fat boy?  Because, believe me, I have a lot to say and I’m very articulate.  I may not be as fat as you, Limby, but my lungs haven’t been completely destroyed from breathing in the pollution, asbestos, lead and whatever else infests the poor buildings I’ve had to live in over the past few years, thanks to Republican policy.  I can speak.  And even if you and your cronies try to shut me up, I’ll always be here speaking–in the form and shape of someone else perhaps, but I’ll be here.  Ideas are bulletproof, Limbaugh.  Disenfranchise and discredit me, make it impossible for me to earn a living, or shoot me, if you will, but someone else will come along, someone louder and stronger than I am.  The more you try to shut us up and shut us down, the greater our numbers will grow, the stronger and louder we’ll sound.

You assassinated Kennedy, King, and I believe many other civil rights activists whose deaths were ruled as suicides.  But you can’t assassinate all of us.  And every time you kill one of our heroes, our anger silently grows.  And our mistrust of your system increases.  More and more of us are seeing the truth.  This is not a democracy.

Go ahead, destroy more of our heroes.  It only makes more of us wake up to see you for what you really are.   We’re starting to see your weaknesses too.  You’re bullies–like the kids in the schoolyard who tried to make the rest of us afraid of them except now we’ve grown. Now we realize that it is you who are afraid.  You want us to be fearful all the time because that is how you feel deep, down inside.  And the only way you can stop us from ganging up on you and stopping you is by convincing us that you are invincible and we should be afraid of you.  Well, guess what?  The emperor’s naked.  You are a tiny minority of wealthy, fat, spoiled, lethargic, white males.  We the people do most of the work, so we are strong.  We are powerful.  You need us to get the work done.  You need us to buy your poorly made products.   You need us to be afraid, so afraid of losing our jobs, of not having enough money, of not being able to survive in this world, that we’ll just go along with all your demands, that we’ll just do whatever you tell us to do.

Well, I for one am saying enough.  You can kill me, you can refuse to hire me, and I’ll become homeless and languish on the street or in some homeless shelter.  Maybe I’ll get raped and murdered in the street.  Maybe no one will remember me or want to know me.  Maybe I’ll be shunned and mocked by society, a “crazy” political activist, a “crazy” conspiracy theorist.  Maybe I’ll die painfully and very much alone.  But you still don’t have me.  I’ll never be one of you.  You’re not going to convince me to go along with your plans.

I refuse to work for the collections agencies or the homeland security offices.  I refuse to go along with corrupt corporate policy.  I’ll do my best to survive in spite of my refusal to go along with your wicked plans for this country.  But if I don’t survive, if I die of starvation or being beaten by your police officers for expressing an opinion you don’t like, then so be it.  I will speak to the Higher Power, the force of good which some people refer to as God.  I am accountable to my own conscience, to my own sense of self-respect.  I am not accountable to you.

Thanks really.  Thanks for destroying my country.  Thanks for destroying my life.  Because before I began suffering like this I didn’t know I had this strength within me.  I didn’t know my character was this strong.  As a child, I read a lot about the Holocaust.  The Nazi’s stranglehold over people’s minds really fascinated me.  I wondered, if I were a German alive during the Nazi occupation would I have gone along with Hitler?  Would I too have become a Nazi?  To have allowed myself to be filled with such murderous hate?

I am relieved to know that, as much as I struggle now, I have, at least, not become one of you.  I am not a courageous person.  I don’t think of myself as very strong.  But I am true to myself.  My inner spirit shall not be broken.  You can damage my mind, place me in solitary confinement, torture me at Guantanamo–God knows, you can do that!  You can beat my body and mind into submission.  But my spirit will remain alive.  You may not see it because you are not very intelligent in that way.  You lack a spiritual and moral compass.  You think that is your strength, but it is actually your weakness.  The money and power you wield (and that you value so much) will not last.  Hitler was defeated.  You will die too, one day.  But my spirit remains eternal because it doesn’t end with me.  The spirit of freedom, true freedom, love, kindness and respect for our fellow human beings; the spirit behind the desire for “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” (as inalienable rights, not just for me or for you but for everyone, everywhere!) will never die in spite of your futile attempts to assassinate it by exterminating a mere human being who is only a channel, temporarily carrying that spirit until someone else’s turn comes along.

And I guess that’s why you’re fighting so hard now, to take away our civil liberties, to shut us up, to kill or imprison our heroes, because you know that you’re going to lose, eventually, to death–the master of us all.  Your attacks on “we the people,” are just attempts at postponing the inevitable.  And when you die, you’ll be replaced with new, young leaders who will not (if they want to survive) support your diabolical, malicious policies.  How do I know this?  Because your system is not sustainable.  Even evil-hearted men and women cannot support such an unsustainable system forever.  Eventually, you will destroy and demoralize this country completely and people will be unable to live in this society.  Their only choices will be to leave or to create substantial change.  Change will have to happen.  It is inevitable (sort of like death and taxes–the Tea Partiers not withstanding.)  You will die, as we all will, and you will be replaced.  And the new leaders who replace you, if they choose to continue your unsustainable policies, will destroy the entire world and then nothing will be left.  Either way, you and your corrupt policies will die.

But the force of good will continue to thrive somewhere else.  In another country, another land, or perhaps another spiritual realm, it will continue because the force of goodwill reigns eternal.  Opposing forces are just like waves in the ocean, sent to make the water move and grow.  But it’s the water, not the waves, that makes the ocean.

Mental Willness…Are you willing to be crazy, i.e., to be yourself?

Morris Berman (www.MorrisBerman.blogspot.com) recently published a blog (“Fork in the Road”) on his site about the phenomenon of Big Pharma, i.e., the pharmaceutical industry.   In case you don’t know, Big Pharma (or perhaps I should refer to them as “B.P.”  Hmm…  Interesting acronymous statement, don’t you think?)  is making a lot of money (some might say a “killing”) by getting a large number of Americans (including small children and sometimes animals!)  addicted to its  prescription drugs.  Berman suggests that that the brain damage resulting from years of taking these drugs might be one of the causes of the docile, complacent and blind obedience displayed by the American people these days.

In fact, this is Business 101, folks.  Those of you who have run your own businesses, I’m sure, are aware that one way to succeed is to get steady customers who must keep coming back for your product.  This is why most American companies make everything “to break.”  To manufacture long-lasting, high quality products is to risk losing returning customers.  Once they’ve bought your product, they need not come back to buy another–if it was made to last forever.  But wait…we can manufacture that cell phone, TV, computer, or whatever, to last only for a year, a few months or in some cases, a few minutes.  Then the customer will return to buy another, and you will have a steady customer base.  Brainwash customers to believe that newer, technologically-advanced products are more desirable than the “old” ones they’ve been using for the past year, and they’ll be happy to just keep buying a new one every year.  (Yep, I’ve purchased products that didn’t work to begin with, from the moment of purchase.  My guess is that some manufacturers expect that we just won’t bother to return the item, that we’ll just keep buying other brands without complaining…while they continue to sell us junk…)

How sad, though, that our for-profit health care system now makes human beings to break for the same reason.  Doctors want regular patients.  So are they purposely “breaking” us so that we’ll keep coming back for more drugs, more procedures, more testing? I’ve always been amazed by how my friends who have health insurance and more spending money than I do receive completely different health care when they visit their doctors.  Usually, they are offered prescription drugs, surgical procedures, testing, etc., that I am not offered when I see doctors for the exact same maladies.  While I am told, “It’s nothing serious and will go away by itself.  Nothing’s wrong,  you’re fine,” my wealthy friends are told, “You must take this pill, let us operate and remove that or insert this, allow us to conduct a series of tests, etc., because this could be serious.”  So my question is, are they receiving needless treatment because their doctors know they can bill the insurance companies and make thousands of dollars?  Or am I just not receiving the treatment I should be receiving?

Either way, my sad conclusion is this:  doctors cannot be trusted.  Doctors value money over people.  The Hippocratic Oath is really a Hypocritical Oath recited by wealthy medical businessmen/women who call themselves “doctors.”  Sorry, but if you’re a doctor, I don’t trust you.  I’d sooner trust a tarot card reading from a gypsy shaman with bad teeth. Nope, I don’t have health insurance, but is that a bad thing?  Do I want unnecessary treatment?  From someone who prescribes treatment, not based on what I need in order to get better, but based on how much money I have to spend?  To get addicted to their drugs and their diagnoses?  Their delusion of grandeur?

What really fascinates me about all this is how the drugging of people with emotional or psychiatric problems creates problems for all of us who must interact with such people who’ve been discouraged from addressing their own problems, to just rely on medical sedation.  I’m talking about the failure of mental health practitioners to show the “mentally ill” how to make changes in themselves or their environment so that the underlying cause of the “illness” is eliminated or properly coped with.  Inevitably, the unresolved issues that are only superficially covered up by the drugs cause problems for our society as a whole.  Yes, psychiatric drugs can “dumb people down,” and sedate people into submission.  But, more important, problems in general–whether they are politically, socially, environmentally or internally created–remain unsolved.  If a person is depressed because of financial problems, we’re conditioned to blame the individual, medicate him/her, rather than address the sagging economy and its inevitable affect on people.  Problem “solved.”  Now we can ignore the real and growing problem that an increasing number of Americans are suffering from anxiety, depression, alcohol or drug addictions, and that these problems tend to increase with poverty.  We don’t need to ask why this is.  We don’t need to address the problem of poverty, unemployment, the uninsured, or the lack of social safety nets.  We don’t need to do anything.

And what of the people who are “mentally ill” as a result of internal conflicts that need to be attended to?  Poor communication, assertiveness,  coping, or anger management skills, for example?  What of the people who need to learn to talk back to negative, irrational thoughts that float around in their heads as a result of years of abuse?  To resolve a traumatic event that continues to haunt them?  What of the people who need to learn to build up their self esteem?  To create healthy relationships with others?  To parent their kids more effectively?  To deal with abusive family members?  To express their anger constructively rather than destructively?  To address serious character flaws within themselves that may have resulted from years of abuse or faulty upbringing?  To recognize their own maladaptive behaviors and learn new, healthy behaviors?  Those people who truly are mentally ill (not just diagnosed so that medical B.P. and psychiatrists can earn a living) are not going to learn new skills, new behaviors, new, improved ways of living, coping and interacting because the focus is on medicating rather than solving problems.

Similarly, people with mental health issues left only treated with drugs can continue to wreak havoc on their environment.  And the people in their community who suffer as a result will just be diagnosed and drugged themselves.  Here’s an example of what I mean:  A family I know of who are consistently abusive toward their children.  All of their children have been diagnosed with mental illness–all of them, and from the ripe-old age of four!  Small children imbibing drugs such as Ritalin or other drugs because they’re not concentrating, because they aren’t learning to walk and talk at the normal age, because they are easily startled, because (again, at the age of four!) they are depressed and suicidal.  Yet this doesn’t tip off the authorities in social services, the teachers, the school psychologists or the surrounding community that the parents are somehow being ineffective (to say the least.)  The children are simply being drugged into submission. What is sad, heartbreaking really, is that the parents continue to abuse these poor, innocent children–not physically, but psychologically.  Several times a day, the children are screamed at, told they are worthless, stupid, that everyone hates them, etc.  The screaming is so loud and startling that it is difficult for adults to remain in the presence of these people.  But only friends, family and neighbors are aware of the screaming and abuse.  These same parents are quiet and unassuming when confronted with teachers or other members of the outside community.  These children are beginning life with serious neuroses and probably character flaws that will impact the world around them.  Most likely, they will abuse their own children and possibly their future spouses, drugs or alcohol. They may develop serious mental illnesses or criminal behavior.  The abusive behavior will “be fruitful and multiply” perpetuating itself from generation to generation, as the underlying problem was never addressed.  Were the parents unhappily married?  Unhappy with their lives?  Dissatisfied at work?  As far as I can see as an outside observer, none of the above questions is being asked.  The children are “mentally ill” and being medicated.  End of story.

Psychologists spend much of their time evaluating “patients” to see what types of pills or diagnoses they should receive instead of studying better counseling methods.   And so psychologists become incompetent and ineffective, as more and more psychologists fail to study ways to interact better with their clients, ways to better understand and show empathy for their clients and to teach clients methods for dealing with life’s challenges, for making internal changes when necessary, for handling conflicts and personal tragedies, etc.   When the focus is on the pill, we don’t see the myriad of other possible solutions.  I read once that brain chemistry changes along with one’s emotions.  Neurons and synapses form in response to human experience.  But this fact was discovered accidentally.  Psychologists were so focused on finding biochemical causes for mental disorders that this unexpected information came to them by mistake, as the researchers were biased in favor of emotions being caused by changes in brain chemistry–not the other way around.  If it weren’t for an error, the researchers would not have discovered this as this fact went against what they wanted to believe (even though scientists claim to remain unbiased.)

This suggests that we can change our own brain chemistry by controlling our own thoughts and emotions.  Who knew?  Actually, lots of psychologists knew but they continue to emphasize the pharmaceuticals.  When there is money to be made, facts just go out the window, replaced with what Stephen Colbert refers to as “truthiness.”

Not everyone in the mental health industry agrees with the medical model of “mental illness” and not all of its detractors are scientologists.  Back in the 1990s, Paula J. Caplan (www.PaulaJCaplan.net) wrote a book called “They Say You’re Crazy:  How the World’s Most Powerful Psychiatrists Decide Who’s Normal.”  She exposed the of the DSM (Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.)   The writers of the DSM (a manual used by medical professionals to diagnose patients with mental illnesses) decide what personality characteristics or behaviors constitute mental illness.  As the DSM authors are mostly conservative white males, their definition of mental illness is biased and arbitrary.   For example, homosexuality was once listed as a mental illness until the writers of the DSM changed their minds and decided it wasn’t.  Just like that, millions of homosexuals were cured of “mental illness” by the fickleness of a DSM author’s pen (or perhaps keystroke.)

Psychologist Bruce Levine (www.BruceLevine.net) has also been decrying the mental health system’s emphasis on medicating rather than assisting people in solving their problems. 

Unfortunately, such whistleblowers appear to be a minority.  The majority of psychologists, social workers and psychiatrists are, like most of us, afraid of losing their jobs.  Even more disturbing is that many of them are just as unable to think for themselves and to recognize flaws in the system on their own.  Perhaps we need a psychologist to analyze the psychologists, to find out why so many of them are addicted to conformity.

Celebrity advice! Get your advice here! Solve all your problems, lose weight and be happy!

Just ask a celebrity!

Searching for the meaning of life?  Want to know why we’re all here?  Is there life after death?  Or maybe you just want to lose weight?  I’m rich and famous, so of course I can answer all of those questions for you.  Remember I’m rich AND famous, and you are not.  Therefore, I am better, i.e., superior–at least by society’s standards.  By that, I don’t mean that I think I’m superior to you.  I just mean that I’ve achieved more than you as far obtaining material wealth and prestige are concerned, so obviously I have better success skills than you.

What I mean is that, obviously, I am your superior, which isn’t to say that I believe I’m better.  It’s just that I am better, as far as what other people might say.  Well, a better way of putting it might be that I am better than you  at attaining success and that most people would agree that I must know more than you do about some things… Okay, about everything.  I mean, I must have done something right.  Right?  After all, I made it big.  You didn’t.  So what’s your point?  Why do you point?  Stop pointing!  I’m successful and you’re not.  Okay?  So learn from me.  Pick my tiny brain.  Nit pick…

So listen up, crumb. (Yep, you’re the crumb off my after dinner dessert.  And you’re my greatest fan.  So thank you.  For worshipping me, crumb.)

Oh, and by the way, buy my book, watch my TV show, go see my latest film, stand in line for hours to get in the audience to watch me on the Tonight Show, Today Show, Evening Show, Morning Show, No Show, or whatever the bleep show I’m on.  I’ll tell you all about my depression, my child-rearing style, my hangups and hangovers, my latest divorce, the suicide(s) I attempted, the cocaine I injested and the situps I do every morning.  Gotta keep up those abs, ya’ know…  Very important.

At the supermarket checkout line I read the cover of “Good Housekeeping Magazine.”  Actress Valerie Bertinelli  smiled brightly on the cover.  The headline read (and I do quote!):

“You Can Choose to Be Happy.”  Then underneath it added:

“Valerie Bertinelli: on how she makes every day a good one–and her most wonderful wedding moment…PLUS her 100-calorie treat.”

Okay, first let me say that I admire Bertinelli.  The actress is about 50 but she looks like she’s 20.  It’s wonderful that she takes care of herself,  and that she has overcome her own personal obstacles.  She comes across as down-to-earth and genuinely a nice person in public appearances.  Clearly, she expresses a positive attitude toward life–at least on the front cover of magazines and on interviews when a camera records every facial expression, every offhanded remark, and when she is, of course, trying to sell a book, TV show, film or weight loss method.

But honestly, do I need/want her advice on how to be happy?  The fact is, I don’t need her instruction.  I know why she is happy.  She’s bloody rich, for heaven’s sake.  Honestly, if she weren’t happy then that would be news to me.  Then I’d want to know why.  Not that money can buy happiness, mind you.  Of course not.  Who would suggest such a thing?  (Are you a communist?  Do you believe in helping other people?  Unhappy with extreme poverty and extreme wealth colliding with each other, like the fat guy who nonchalantly tosses his dinner into the trash, only because they forgot the mayo, then bumps into a skinny homeless guy  knocking him onto the street? Ah, then you must be a socialist.  For shame!)

Money just buys everything one needs in order to be happy–peace of mind, no more worry about debts, electricity and hot running water whenever you need it, vacations when you need time off, medical care when you’re sick, opportunities to take care of your health and to pursue your dreams and goals, plenty of chances to meet people with similar interests, to socialize and make friends, to eat when you’re hungry, to buy a warm coat in the winter, to drive rather than wait in the rain for a bus, to sleep when you’re tired–and on a real bed that doesn’t wreck your back!  When you’re rich, you truly are in control of your own destiny.  You can choose to be happy.  If you’re depressed and don’t know why, then hire the best psychologist, shaman, reiki master and massage therapist.  Or maybe you need an exorcist?  I’m sure that, for the right price, he/she will show up at just the right time to exorcise all those pesky demons.  Perhaps even God will appear.  For the right price.  Snap, snap!

Or perhaps you could take a vacation in Spain.  Wonderful weather there this time of year.  Relax!  Remember, happiness is a choice!  Go out to your stable and ride one of the horses for a while.  Play a little golf in your private golf course.  Go for a swim in that heart-shaped pool you just paid someone to build for you.  Watch your favorite film in that studio you hired someone to build for you on the lower level of your mansion.  (There are no basements where rich people live, not really.  No dark, dank, stanky, abandoned spaces haunted by the ghosts of Christmas past and unexpected floods.  Just lower levels.  And random bomb shelters where one might hide should a thief break in, just in case.)

Still unhappy?  If you’re unhappy with where you live, then move.  If you’re unhappily married, then divorce.  Need to lose weight?  Hire the best personal trainer.  Join Jenny Craig, Weightwatchers, the gym down the street or all of the above.  Start buying the healthy (and expensive!) food that’s better for your body.  Want to change careers?  Change them.  You can afford to quit your job and start over…  (Uh, do millionaires have jobs?  I think the more appropo term here would be “career” thank you very much.)

It’s we the poor people who don’t have choices. But what’s really odd is that the Valerie Bertinelli article wasn’t addressed to the wealthy elite but to us, the average Joe and Jane.  Huh?

Then I was on the Internet and got a glimpse of an article on Yahoo News:  “Buffy Star’s Advice for Young Moms.”  Oh dear, I have small children and really need some advice.  It’s tough sometimes being a “young” mom.  (I place “young” in quotes because Hollywood thinks you’re old if you’re not “18-to-look younger,” so “young” doesn’t even exist for women in Hollywood.  And once a woman hits 30, it’d old age, over-the-hill, rest  in peace, reserve your spot in the nursing home and make sure to purchase that cemetery plot, pure and simple.  However, an entire world outside of Hollywood holds a different view, hence I keep an open mind here as to whether a “mom” can be “young,” on the off chance that someone from Southern California may be reading this blog.)

Well, lucky for me (today’s my lucky day!) an actress (who thinks she’s young even though she’s a mom) and who starred on my favorite TV show has some answers.  Whew!  I was thinking I might need to ask my own mom, or my auntie, or my next-door neighbor, or perhaps the wise-looking woman who sits across from me on the bus every morning on my way to work.  But luckily, an actress has all the answers.

Film at 11.  Or 12.  Or at whatever the corporate media decides is the “right” time.   (I myself took acting classes and performed on stage BUT–and now this part is very important!–I am not rich nor famous–though infamous in some circles, one might add…  So of course my advice wouldn’t matter…)

So, yes, I really need to know what a millionaire movie star does when her two-year-old trhows a temper tantrum.  Does she…

–call over the nanny immediately and demand she handle the situation?

–summon one of the servants to bring in one of the child’s favorite toys?

–check with the cook to find out what the child had been served for dinner earlier?  (Really!  I expressly ordered you to exclude high fructose corn syrup and MSG from the dessert!)

–or perhaps she texts the child’s tutor and demands she arrive immediately for an emergency instructional session.

Hmm…What would Zsa Zsa say?  (Paris Hilton’s just not glamorous enough.)

On another note, sort of…  I just recently read Barbara Erhrenreich’s “Nickel and Dimed.”  Yes, I’d read through passages and chapters before.  The book’s been around for ten years now.  But this is the first time I’ve actually sat down and read it in its entirety, page by grisly page…

And after reading it now, several things have struck me about the book:

–the book was written ten years ago yet nothing has changed.  Nothing.  If anything, things have gotten worse for America’s low-income population.  Wages have remained stagnant and, in some cases, have lowered while housing and food costs have risen dramatically.  Chances are that many of the characters depicted in her book are now homeless.  Because when you live from paycheck to paycheck and suddenly the prices go up (while your wages remain the same), you’re not going to be able to pay your bills anymore, at least not on time. So Ehrenreich spent all that time and energy writing that book but nobody read it or those who did read it didn’t listen or react to its message.  So why bother?  Ehrenreich’s research is like the tree falling in the wilderness.  If no one hears it, does it make a sound?  If no one listens, does it even exist?

–I’ve lived it.  Yep, I could have been any one of the protagonists in “Nickel and Dimed.”  And well, we all know what has happened to me in the last ten years.   (I ain’t a mad bag lady for nothin’!)  Reading the book almost sank me into a deep depression.  It was a little too much of a reality check.  Have I really suffered that much?  So I understand American apathy.  It feels better to pretend everythings’ okay.  Let’s just pretend the problems aren’t there and they’ll just magically go away all by themselves, okay?  It’s okay.  Not.  And in a strange sort of way I felt as though I was harming myself by reading the book. So I read through it quickly and determined to not look at it again.  I’m going to gtive the book away so that I won’t be tempted to read it again.  Why?  Because not only was it depressing but it made it difficult for me to endure what I must endure on a daily basis.  It made me even more militant (“mad”, if you will ) than I already am on a regular basis.

Yes, my boss treats me unjustly.  Yes, I am underpaid and overqualified.  Yes, company policy violates labor laws.  Yes, I deserve better.  Much better.  Most of us who are poor or struggling financially do.  But what can any of us do about it?  I need to stick with the job and keep my mouth shut so that I can continue to afford to eat.  I need to “suck it up” as they say in some circles.  Being angry and militant doesn’t do any good when you have no choice.  And no choice is the only choice I have.

“What?” you might ask.  “You can write to Congress.  Tell them how you feel.  Go to protests, etc.”  Yeah, yeah, yeah.  I’ve done it all.  For ten years, I’ve protested the Patriot Act and for ten years it has remained and it continues to get extended, extended, and extended.   But more than that, I’ve attended protests, written letters, signed petitions, made phone calls, attended meetings, volunteered my time, worked for nonprofits (that supposedly advocated for social change.)  Heck, must I engage in shameless self-promotion yet again?  Yes, I’ve made a documentary film (Rocky Mountain Homelessness) and other short documentaries about homelessness, about developing empathy and compassion for those less fortunate or those we just don’t understand.  I’ve written a book called Diary of a Mad Bag Lady (where do you think I got the name for this blog?)  I write and speak about poverty and homelessness as often as I can, but almost always I get the same response from people:  “I don’t give a s*it.”  So why bother?  Why attempt to change the minds of those who refuse to change?

–This leads to my final observation.  Barbara Ehrenreich must truly care about people.  I’ve met her a couple times and always she came across as genuine, caring and open.  She has done so much good for this country and, frankly, I don’t think she even gets the credit she deserves.  But undaunted, she continues to work hard to advocate for the poor and disenfranchised.  And she is an incredibly talented writer and speaker.

But I can’t help but wonder why it is that when one of us who has actually experienced being “Nickel and Dimed” attempts to speak, write or even make a film about it no one seems interested.  Yet when a rich, famous celebrity lives for a short time (in a way that many of us must live for a lifetime) writes and speaks about poverty, people are clamoring to hear her story.  Barbara Ehrenreich, Michael Parenti, Noam Chomsky, et al., deserve our respect and undivided attention.  But why not just ask the recently unemployed guy down the street what he thinks?  Why not just listen to each other, to people in our own lives who are struggling?  Why do we need to worship an expert when it comes to validating or acknowledging our own suffering?  Could it be that those with so-called “liberal” or “progressive” leanings are just as elitist as everyone else?

(The inspiration for this blog was originally written on February 23, 2011)–

George Carlin moved on, and haven’t we all?

At the bottom of this rant is a response I posted on MoveOn.org’s blog.  MoveOn posted a classic George Carlin bit (see below) in which the late, great comedian tells the truth about the American dream, i.e.:  “you have to be asleep to believe it.”

Indeed, indeed…

I too once believed.

My eyes would fill with tears every  4th of July.  “Ah, we’re so lucky here in the U.S.,” I tearfully told myself.  I thought, quite melodramatically, of people who lived in third-world countries, or in the former Soviet Union, or Nazi Germany.  “We’ve been so lucky here in the U.S., so protected from real struggle,” so I thought.  So I believed.

If only I’d been a true psychic.  Then I would have known what my future here in the U.S. would be.  I would have saved up my money, packed up my bags and moved to another part of the world.  A place where health care, education, and “bootstraps” in general are available to those who weren’t born with all they needed to succeed but who were willing to work for it.  If they were given a chance.

A chance is something the U.S. only grants to its wealthy citizens.  The rest of us are just required to “suck it up.”

Ah, but there’s always suicide.  I wonder how many Americans have chosen that route.  Our media is so controlled by a wealthy few that I’m sure we’ll never know about those lost, forgotten Americans.

I personally want them to live.  I think that a lot of intelligent, thoughtful, kind, caring, socially-conscious people are depressed and suicidal right now because our society just doesn’t value those qualities in people.  Good luck to you in finding a job, in making friends, in surviving American society if you haven’t been sucked in to the rugged individualism and the focus on money and material things.  You won’t fit in.  You won’t “belong.” You won’t feel comfortable.  You certainly won’t be happy with the way things are right now.  But please, please, please don’t give up.  The world needs you.  That is something you don’t know because you feel very much alone.  The kind and the caring, the believers in a better world, the non-money-motivated are a very lonely species living in the wilderness that is the U.S. right now.  But if we could all come together…

Don’t commit suicide!  If you’re struggling right now, we need you!  We need your anger and depression to channel toward the effort toward social change!  I wish I could gather together all those struggling in this self-inflicted Great Depression and get us all to fight back together.  There is strength in numbers, as the saying goes.

Believing in the American Dream was my big mistake, but it did get me through each day (and kept me from getting depressed.)  I worked unbelievably hard–at times seven-days-per-week, earned tiny wages or sometimes no wages at all, struggled, went without eating to save money.  I was, after all, “paying my dues.”

Yes, believe it or not, I went hungry many times throughout my life.   In fact, you may not believe this, but I actually went for somewhere about two weeks without eating…much.  I say “much” because I could only afford to buy a can or two of vegetables and needed to stretch that out for a week or so while I was unemployed.  So I’d go for a few days without eating and mostly slept all day to conserve energy so that I wouldn’t need to eat much.  Then on days when I had a job interview or was applying for a job, I’d eat the can of beans or veges and hope to have enough energy to appear “hireable.”  I actually felt my body change.  Starvation began to make physical changes in my body.  There was a funny taste in my mouth, pangs in my stomach, of course, and some other symptoms I’d rather not mention.

On another occasion, when I was once again unemployed, I could afford only about $1 per day for food, so I ate a small bag of chips and a few cookies every day and then ate a “real” meal (that consisted of a burger or taco) about once, sometimes twice per week.  This went on for about a month or so.  (Eventually, I was rewarded for my efforts with an $8 per hour part-time job.  And the rest was herstory.  Whoop dee doo!  Wish stories like mine hit the tabloids–instead of the rags-to-riches stories of struggling actors who become rich and famous, supposedly as a result of their hard work.  Right.  How about the story of a struggling American who works even harder yet never makes it ’cause he/she wasn’t born with money and connections in the first place.  Or worse, ’cause he/she refuses to sleep with the dirty-old-men of Hollywood,  refuses to shoot up the drugs or attend the bacchanal Hollyweird parties?  Sorry, but that doesn’t sell tabloids.  Next!)

Yes, believe it or not, somehow I survived for at least a month eating very little each day.

I thought I was strong enough to handle all that.  But there was one thing I didn’t consider (because I didn’t really have a choice anyway), and that is this:  I’m getting older.  Yes, with each passing day I’m getting older.  One day, I won’t be able to struggle like this.  My body won’t be able to handle it.  So then what?

And now, while I’m not “old” yet (not outside of Hollywood, that is), that day has come.

I just can’t do it anymore because now, perhaps as a result of these struggles, I have a lot of physical health problems that will probably kill me pretty soon as I don’t have the money to have them treated properly.  (I sure do hope the afterlife is better than this one!  But then again if it were, wouldn’t we all be committing suicide just to get there?  Just a question…. )  Perhaps that is the reason why we’re not allowed to really know for sure (until the time comes, of course) whether there actually is an afterlife.  Because we won’t put up with this one if we know there’s a better life to follow.  But then again, if that were true then why would we be forced to live this life in the first place?  Is this some sort of test?  A mere joke?  In other words, what is the meaning of life?  Guess we’ll have to check the old Monty Python movies to find an answer to that one.

But, as usual, I digress.

My point is, there is only so much a person can take.  A little bit of struggle is okay now and then.  Keeps us on our toes.  Keeps us grateful for the good times.  Makes us think “outside the box.”  But too much struggle can kill you both physically and mentally.  And when you’re dead you can’t do anything.  (Unless, of course, there’s life after death, which I’m hoping exists…)  But we’ve already addressed that in this wondrous and magical blog, haven’t we?

Which brings me to the real point of this blog:

Everything Carlin says here is true.  The man was a genius.  He was a hippie from out of the 60s who started out as a nerdy white guy but grew into his true persona, the man he was meant to be,  as time went on.  Like many of us, he grew further away from trying to conform and closer to becoming himself as he grew older.

Check out the Carlin of the 60s here:

And the evolution of Carlin becoming the hippie sage he was meant to become here:

Sorry that he is gone, as are so many idealists, from JFK to John Lennon.  (Though we do have Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart who are able to express their idealism–to the extent they can turn it into seemingly mindless entertainment…)  I wonder where the flower children have gone, the true hippies.  Did they ever really exist?  How did rugged individualism, selfishness and materialism take over?  How did we become, as a society, so cold and ruthless?  Okay, I already asked that question in another blog…

My response to MoveOn:

Problem is, our government is now a reflection of what we’ve become as a people:  greedy, selfish, disconnected from and unconcerned about each other.  We can’t change our government until we change ourselves.  If we can’t be kind, compassionate and giving toward each other, how can we expect CEOs and government officials to be?  If we can’t come together and trust and support each other to form communities, how can we come together to protest government corruption?  I was always amazed when I worked for nonprofits that engaged in the same corrupt practices as Walmart because they “had to” in order to thrive.  Really?  Then why bother protesting Walmart if we decide we “have to” engage in the same greedy, ruthless tactics in order to succeed?

Reality check: Americans voted for Reagan then Bush.  And Reagan is rated as one of the most–perhaps the most–popular of US presidents!  Americans voted to budget cut programs that help the poor.  Talk to most Americans about social injustice and you’ll hear, “It’s their own fault.”

The average American is walking around thinking, “If you lost your house, that’s your fault. You shouldn’t have signed the mortgage.  If you’re in debt, that’s your own fault.  You shouldn’t have used credit cards.  You shouldn’t have taken out loans to go to college.  If you don’t have health insurance, that’s your fault.  You should just get a job that pays better and that provides health insurance.”

No one wants to ask the questions: Why do people need to use credit cards in the first place? Why do poor students have to take loans out in order to get an education?  Why are people having trouble paying for things and paying off their debts?  Why are so many people in debt?  Why are so many people unemployed?  Why are so many intelligent, talented, competent people unable to get an education or obtain a job while we see incompetent buffoons attaining positions of power and wealth?  And isn’t that dangerous–to allow the incompetent to attain positions of power but to prevent the best and the brightest from succeeding just because they weren’t born with money and the “right” connections?

Nope, it’s just easier to blame the victim than to look at our faulty system and try to form solutions.

Sad but true.  The whole country’s going to have to fall with a thud, and we’ll become a third- world country before the average American “wakes up” and decides to care about their own community.