the Spirit of the 60's
WWH - In other words- I’m beginning to believe in some sort of grand plan by the far right-white bread-ultra wealthy men behind the curtain. If it’s true, then there really isn’t much sense in fighting for peace and justice because peace will only be rationed out to us at the whim of the men in the “other room” to further their agendas and justice, or a poor facsimile will cost far more than the rest of us can pay. They’ll make sure of that!
Or, is the truth closer to say, it just seems like a grand scheme because so much of what is wrong today has accidentally come together like a perfect storm of misery for most of us because separate factions in government and without found a way to lie/cheat and steal their way to get what they covet and the rest of the word, “so be it?”
I’m hoping that it’s the latter and not the former. If it’s a perfect storm then we can recover from it. If it’s the beginning of the grand plan, decades in the making, then we are, sweet hippies, in deep SHIT! A grand scheme would mean a few people far harder to ferret out let alone defeat. The effects of an accidental hurricane of greedy selfish and stupid can be overcome eventually.
It does seem that so many things that we took as the American way of life for at least the last 60 years have been systematically chipped away at- or made to seem sinful- instead of the right thing to do for ourselves and for our fellow members of the human race.
Since when is feeding the homeless(some of the poorest and sickest among us)a terrible thing? Does ANYONE really believe that if these folks had no food or spare change given they would just magically shed the street and get a living wage job?
Speaking of living wage-WTF??? Since when is it “anti-biblical” to give a worker enough to live on? Maybe there are a few republicans out there that really DO think that slavery is a great idea-that’s freaking biblical too!
Me? I think any deity that thinks some people deserve to be slaves or poor or handicapped or get cancer or have a child suffer and die is a nasty thing that I refuse to worship OR fear and I certainly DON’T want ANYONE that believes in that sort of a god in charge of my life or my tax dollars and truly-not in charge of any nukes! Fine if they want to beg and plead and condemn and petition. I don’t care what they believe in their heart of hearts. This is America. They have every right to freedom of religion- just don’t try to muck up our government with it.
Hell, they’ve taken away food aid to pregnant women and high risk kids yet they say they love them some fetuses. I had a friend way back in the early 70’s. she and her husband both worked but they had a 3 year old and then a set of twins a few years later. They got coupons from the government for cereal and milk through the program that was just cut. Doesn’t sound like much but when you’ve got a 3 year old and 2 newborns with all of the attendant costs, milk and cereal really helps. What hypocrites. Take the food from a kid’s mouth but still find money to give to NASSCAR!
Then there’s the old folks. if you are just on social security it’s no gravy train. Thankfully if one is lucky enough to get into a senior citizen’s high rise it a decent old age because it’s subsidized and rent is based on income. All the tenant is responsible for is telephone and a cable bill- reception isn’t good in those buildings. My mom was in one near to me after my dad died. She lost his pension and hid disabled vet stipend and had just her social security and the money from her house (not a spiffy home by any means) she loved it. It was just a tiny apartment but she felt independent and had company. She would get all worked up though when, once a year, she had to go down to the office and they reviewed her paperwork. We always were there with her but she was scared that the regs would have been changed and that she would have to move. I worry now, about the people I came to know while my mom was there. What happens if that program is cut back? I worry, lots of families worry about that-not the people in D.C. it seems. Not, I think, the newly sworn in REPUBLICAN governors. If they aren’t worrying about the jobless rate they can’t care about the low income seniors –that is-not unless they see that some of those people still make it to the voting booths-then they can just try to scare the bejeebus out of them so they vote the way they want them too. I know all about those unethical and immoral scare tactics. My mom’s been dead for 2 years and I still get campaign mailings from the radical right. Just the quotes they have on the outside of the envelopes are enough to give me the creeps. I can only imagine what they do to a person in their 80s!
Today, I read that the powers that be have cut 104 million from Legal Aid. Yep- just keep taking from those with the most need. Because lawyers are so very inexpensive! Please! We had to deal with a lawyer when we settled my mother’s “estate!”
I know what it’s like to grow up lower middle class. (if we stretch that definition)
My dad was a truck driver. My mom was a stay at home mom-that was the norm in the 50s. He was laid off every winter. We paid our bills but we didn’t have much else. Most of the people that I grew up with were better off financially. Some were not. Some were ridiculously wealthy. It was that type of an area. I was lucky in that I went to a very good public school but oh, there was a socio-economic pecking order-even with teachers. They worked for a living too and they knew what was good for them.
In my 59 years of living I have met and mingled with all sorts of people. I learned that we all have the same needs. The same hopes. But, we don’t all have the same fears. Oh no, most don’t have the luxury of average fears. The worries about what college my kid will be accepted to. What shade should I have the family room painted? FIOS or Verizon or The Dish? Even if it takes a little bigger bite of the monthly budget those are average concerns.
I’ve known and still do, good people that are skipping a meal now and then and/or halving the medicine they need. Have you noticed how many people out there in the places you go to, that have really bad TEETH? Dentists are expensive. Good dentists are. I’ve come across some in poorer areas who just pull teeth-yep-that’s all they do. They see people that have put off dental visits until they can’t take the pain and instead of being able to offer a crown or extensive reconstruction via fillings they just pull them and the patient goes on their way.
Now, it’s common knowledge that bad teeth can lead to infections and heart attacks. It would be cheaper and far more kind to make dental health a regular part of health insurance-not an unaffordable extra.
Frankly-good, bad or average, all of our people deserve better. ALL people everywhere deserve better but we can start here. We CAN start here.
Unless, instead of the storm, it’s the overlords behind the curtain.
Sweet hippies, whatever, whoever
I still believe in the power of love.
If we are going down –we go down telling and singing and shouting our truth!
Are you in?
Or, is the truth closer to say, it just seems like a grand scheme because so much of what is wrong today has accidentally come together like a perfect storm of misery for most of us because separate factions in government and without found a way to lie/cheat and steal their way to get what they covet and the rest of the word, “so be it?”
I’m hoping that it’s the latter and not the former. If it’s a perfect storm then we can recover from it. If it’s the beginning of the grand plan, decades in the making, then we are, sweet hippies, in deep SHIT! A grand scheme would mean a few people far harder to ferret out let alone defeat. The effects of an accidental hurricane of greedy selfish and stupid can be overcome eventually.
It does seem that so many things that we took as the American way of life for at least the last 60 years have been systematically chipped away at- or made to seem sinful- instead of the right thing to do for ourselves and for our fellow members of the human race.
Since when is feeding the homeless(some of the poorest and sickest among us)a terrible thing? Does ANYONE really believe that if these folks had no food or spare change given they would just magically shed the street and get a living wage job?
Speaking of living wage-WTF??? Since when is it “anti-biblical” to give a worker enough to live on? Maybe there are a few republicans out there that really DO think that slavery is a great idea-that’s freaking biblical too!
Me? I think any deity that thinks some people deserve to be slaves or poor or handicapped or get cancer or have a child suffer and die is a nasty thing that I refuse to worship OR fear and I certainly DON’T want ANYONE that believes in that sort of a god in charge of my life or my tax dollars and truly-not in charge of any nukes! Fine if they want to beg and plead and condemn and petition. I don’t care what they believe in their heart of hearts. This is America. They have every right to freedom of religion- just don’t try to muck up our government with it.
Hell, they’ve taken away food aid to pregnant women and high risk kids yet they say they love them some fetuses. I had a friend way back in the early 70’s. she and her husband both worked but they had a 3 year old and then a set of twins a few years later. They got coupons from the government for cereal and milk through the program that was just cut. Doesn’t sound like much but when you’ve got a 3 year old and 2 newborns with all of the attendant costs, milk and cereal really helps. What hypocrites. Take the food from a kid’s mouth but still find money to give to NASSCAR!
Then there’s the old folks. if you are just on social security it’s no gravy train. Thankfully if one is lucky enough to get into a senior citizen’s high rise it a decent old age because it’s subsidized and rent is based on income. All the tenant is responsible for is telephone and a cable bill- reception isn’t good in those buildings. My mom was in one near to me after my dad died. She lost his pension and hid disabled vet stipend and had just her social security and the money from her house (not a spiffy home by any means) she loved it. It was just a tiny apartment but she felt independent and had company. She would get all worked up though when, once a year, she had to go down to the office and they reviewed her paperwork. We always were there with her but she was scared that the regs would have been changed and that she would have to move. I worry now, about the people I came to know while my mom was there. What happens if that program is cut back? I worry, lots of families worry about that-not the people in D.C. it seems. Not, I think, the newly sworn in REPUBLICAN governors. If they aren’t worrying about the jobless rate they can’t care about the low income seniors –that is-not unless they see that some of those people still make it to the voting booths-then they can just try to scare the bejeebus out of them so they vote the way they want them too. I know all about those unethical and immoral scare tactics. My mom’s been dead for 2 years and I still get campaign mailings from the radical right. Just the quotes they have on the outside of the envelopes are enough to give me the creeps. I can only imagine what they do to a person in their 80s!
Today, I read that the powers that be have cut 104 million from Legal Aid. Yep- just keep taking from those with the most need. Because lawyers are so very inexpensive! Please! We had to deal with a lawyer when we settled my mother’s “estate!”
I know what it’s like to grow up lower middle class. (if we stretch that definition)
My dad was a truck driver. My mom was a stay at home mom-that was the norm in the 50s. He was laid off every winter. We paid our bills but we didn’t have much else. Most of the people that I grew up with were better off financially. Some were not. Some were ridiculously wealthy. It was that type of an area. I was lucky in that I went to a very good public school but oh, there was a socio-economic pecking order-even with teachers. They worked for a living too and they knew what was good for them.
In my 59 years of living I have met and mingled with all sorts of people. I learned that we all have the same needs. The same hopes. But, we don’t all have the same fears. Oh no, most don’t have the luxury of average fears. The worries about what college my kid will be accepted to. What shade should I have the family room painted? FIOS or Verizon or The Dish? Even if it takes a little bigger bite of the monthly budget those are average concerns.
I’ve known and still do, good people that are skipping a meal now and then and/or halving the medicine they need. Have you noticed how many people out there in the places you go to, that have really bad TEETH? Dentists are expensive. Good dentists are. I’ve come across some in poorer areas who just pull teeth-yep-that’s all they do. They see people that have put off dental visits until they can’t take the pain and instead of being able to offer a crown or extensive reconstruction via fillings they just pull them and the patient goes on their way.
Now, it’s common knowledge that bad teeth can lead to infections and heart attacks. It would be cheaper and far more kind to make dental health a regular part of health insurance-not an unaffordable extra.
Frankly-good, bad or average, all of our people deserve better. ALL people everywhere deserve better but we can start here. We CAN start here.
Unless, instead of the storm, it’s the overlords behind the curtain.
Sweet hippies, whatever, whoever
I still believe in the power of love.
If we are going down –we go down telling and singing and shouting our truth!
Are you in?
