America, the New Rome

The U.S. middle class is slowly dying. Our freedoms are being legislated away for the sake of ‘protecting us from terror’. Our prosperity is being ripped out of our grasp with each corporation that moves overseas to ‘save on overhead costs’.

America and Rome share a remarkably common history. Both rose and prospered, then overextended. Arrogance and greed prevented both from acknowledging the writing on the wall. America is on the edge of the abyss. Its belligerence exceeds Rome’s. Its excesses are unsustainable. Its middle class, no longer able to support the insatiable greed of the power elite is losing grasp of what was once the very bedrock of the American dream, home ownership and an affordable retirement. Democracy has become nothing more than a memory, a figure of speech.

The latest gang of perpetrators of the ongoing slaughter of our middle class, the 112^th Congress, is scheduled to accelerate our demise. In 2011, our guardian and representative government plans to cut social services to the poor and middle class in order to address deficit and budget problems. Never once considering tapping the super-rich to help carry some of the burden it has been instrumental in creating.

Cutting social spending and moving manufacturing operations overseas, these are the only ‘solutions’ our short sighted, single-minded and flourishing aristocracy understand. The exploited working class, already over-burdened with debt due to having their jobs ripped away from them, are expected to ‘tighten their belts’ and accept the only jobs remaining, that of becoming servants to the super-rich.

Incoming House Republicans promise budget cuts of $100 billion, largely on the backs of working Americans who can least afford it. Given Obama’s austerity pledge, bipartisan agreement may target entitlements, including Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, as well as education, transportation, and other discretionary areas to match 2008 levels. However, achieving it requires 20% cuts across the board from the $477 billion Congress allocated in FY 2010, ending September 30.

As each state defaults they do so without any hope of a bailout. House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan already stated “We are not interested in a bailout.”

Economic Policy Institute (EPI) measurements shows over 21% of Americans in poverty — based on after-tax market wages and salaries, excluding entitlements, welfare, and other government programs that lower the figure considerably but not for millions not helped. Then add higher cost of living expenses, especially for health, food, gasoline, heating oil, and rent at a time home prices are declining. With planned FY 2011 budget cuts, greater poverty ahead looms.

We are currently witnessing the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression at a time when bipartisan consensus plans social spending cuts.

Strangely, public outrage is absent. Why is this?

Lawmakers in Indiana, Maine, Missouri and at least seven other states plan legislation to bar private sector unions from requiring rank and file members to pay dues or fees, reducing union treasury funds. Ohio’s new Republican governor, like others, wants public school teacher strikes prohibited, and in Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker is targeting the right of state employees to form unions and bargain collectively. What do you think they are preparing for?

States are crippling the American labor movement by removing unions bargaining power. They are crushing organized labor entirely, public and private, driving it back to 19th century impotence and paving the way for unfettered, unrestricted corporate power. The only thing standing in the way of absolute corporate domination of our society and what’s left of our democracy is the American labor movement.

During any other time in our nations history, this country would be ripe for boiling over. Why is apathy so rampant today? Why can’t we find people who give a damn?

The people most in a position to go up against corporate power, union bosses, are on the take, siding with business, getting big salaries and fancy perks, and being more concerned about their own welfare than rank and file members. On January 6 on the Progressive Radio News Hour, James Petras explained. In 2008, Big Labor contributed over $400 million to Democrat candidates and tens of millions more in 2010. In return, Obama and congressional Democrats waged war on working Americans, endorsing layoffs, wage and benefit cuts, gutted work rules, lost pensions, and promised hope from the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). The Democrat-controlled Congress rejected it.

It would have been the first pro-labor reform since the landmark 1935 Wagner Act, letting workers for the first time bargain collectively with management on even terms. Though modest by comparison, it promised progress at a time organized labor is virtually impotent, because union bosses, like Democrats, side more with business than their own rank and file.

We Americans shame ourselves by the way in which we simply walk away when our futures are cut down just so we can save our own individual necks. This country used to stand up for each other. Those days are sadly forgotten. As long as we can go home and watch ‘reality TV’, as long as there is a cell phone handy where we can reach out and text everyone about the latest viral YouTube video, we think we are doing okay. The most major issues are being ignored in favor of who is banging who in the celebrity parade. Our very freedom to roam around this country without being a suspected terrorist and being forced through invasive pat downs and screenings are a reality.

Your fellow Americans are losing their homes. Families who have never before been faced with poverty are now experiencing it and things are only going to get worse. Where is the outrage? People are being shot and killed by police for showing lack of respect and the police are routinely exonerated of all wrong doing. How can you not be alarmed by this?

The super rich funded stock market schemes that sent this nation’s economy into a crash dive and they are the people who were bailed out, with our tax dollars. Not the average American taxpayer who lost so much more than these crooks and liars. Where was the outrage of the American taxpayer?

We are being downsized to the point of extinction through loss of high pay, loss of benefits, loss of labor rights, loss of political empowerment, loss of our standard of living, loss of our personal freedoms, and loss of our retirement future. Where are the protesters who once marched on the nation’s capitol to demand equality and a secure future?

The middle class has become the serf class to the super-rich. And we gladly accept it. Our politicians endorse it, and the remaining few ‘American patriots’ are getting hammered in front of their big screen televisions watching ‘Dancing With the Stars’. Pitiful.

Non-Incident Reveals Sloppy Reporting and unwarranted Citation

Aaron B. Tobey, 21, of Charlottesville, Va., arrived at Richmond International Airport's Checkpoint B on the afternoon of Thursday Dec 30, 2010 and stripped down to his underwear.

He did this to protest the TSA’s security screening procedures. Mr. Tobey had written, on his chest, language of the Fourth Amendment which states: “The right of the people to be secure against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated."

The report goes on to say that local police were called and that Mr. Tobey was issued a citation for disorderly conduct.

The most burning question I have is  “what was the nature of the disorderly conduct?” Frank Green, the reporter sent to cover this story, must be a jaded reporter who feels the public does not need to know the details. Maybe he assumes the readers will figure out on their own that this is just another case of protest against our federal government’s outright disregard of our constitutionally guaranteed right and therefore is not worthy of taking the time to actually report any further facts. Or perhaps Mr. Green got his information directly from the police and we all know they only tell the whole truth. Yeah, right.

Perhaps Mr. Green feels that anyone who protests against our government is a criminal and as such deserves to be hauled away for being so ungrateful.

Since I was not there to witness what happened and the reporter does not seem to have the desire to report all of the facts, here is what I get out of the story: this guy shows up at the airport, displays his disagreement with government policy, and is then cited for disorderly conduct. Pretty poor reporting, Mr. Green.

I’m going out on a limb here and say that given the recent state of the media these past few years, if there had been an actual incident it would have been reported, because everyone knows the media loves to report any type of drama, and have even been known to ‘stretch the truth’ a bit to really ‘sell it’. But, since there wasn’t any report of disorderly behavior I am left to believe that the police, being the intensely brain washed puppets that they are, felt the need to cite him simply because their federal brothers called on them to make an appearance. I’m sure their reasoning is that there’s no way the feds would call on them unless they wanted him arrested. And, after all, the feds opinion is the only one that matters, right?

It seems every day we are given more insight as to what the TSA considers disorderly conduct. In this case a simple display of the right we are all granted was enough to have Mr. Tobey cited. He didn’t even have to actually be disorderly to be labeled a criminal. See how efficient our federal government is becoming at identifying enemies of the state?

How about simply stepping out of line? Is this going to be considered disorderly conduct? They figure they can prevent this non-incident from becoming a federal matter by calling in the local puppets and let them deal with him.

Why are so few of us American citizens outraged at this form of treatment towards a constitutional right to protest?

The media, the TSA and the local police should all be ashamed of themselves for how they handled this. And to this list I’m adding all of you out there who think it is okay to haul someone before a judge because he exercises his constitutional rights.

Make no mistake people, live like mice and that is how we are all going to be treated.

Has America become apathetic towards human rights?

Doctors Without Borders has reported that 75% of all the rape cases it dealt with worldwide were in the eastern Congo, 30 percent of whom were children.

Rape has become ingrained in Congolese civilian society and is widely used to determine power relations. Men and teenagers rape not only women and girls of all ages, but also other males. Is it safe to declare that those who participate in this atrocity have devolved into something less than human? Resorting to pure physical power in order to have their will become the ‘rule of the land’ IS the result of something less than human.

How much longer can the rest of the world sit back on its pampered laurels and allow this atrocity to continue? How much longer can we stomach the animalistic enslavement of women by saying it is their country therefore it is none of our business? The U.S. has ignored this tenet many times when it is to their benefit.

There is the fine distinction between respecting sovereignty of a nation and respecting the safety of its human inhabitants. Which is more valuable?

We Americans protest any attempt to step on our rights yet we don’t care about what happens elsewhere. And we prove this every day by simply moving onto the next news story.

The U.S. partook of its animalistic behavior by unleashing its formidable military muscle against Iraq based on human rights violations, among other things, but we wouldn’t dream of taking on China over their human rights abuses. Nor will we take on Congo over its human rights abuses, nor Burma over its human rights abuses, nor any other country unless there are oil reserves we want to control and the country is smaller than us.

It deeply saddens me to realize that the U.S. weighs the safety of helpless victims against how resource-rich their nation is. For surely if the Congo had oil reserves coveted by the U.S. we would be occupying them, and saving at least a majority of these women from their hell, instead of occupying Iraq.

Rape represents a grave lack of respect for human life and dignity. To use it as a tool of war is both a war crime and a crime against humanity. To allow it to continue lessens the value of our humanity.

For a man to turn against his wife after she becomes a victim of rape demeans the man and further victimizes the woman.

A society that views a raped woman as ‘damaged goods’ simply validates the power these animals have over them.

Again I ask, how long are we going to allow this to continue?

Is history repeating itself?

I found this essay on the website What Really Happened. My skin crawled with goose bumps from reading it. After reading it a second time I knew that I had to draw as many people’s attention to it as possible.

The essay draws a chilling parallel between Hitler and George W. Bush that I, quite frankly, had always just shrugged off as hyperbole and exaggeration.

Everyone, I repeat, everyone owes it to themselves to read this essay before forming any opinion on this very evil and derogatory comparison. Try to pick the essay apart as the ramblings of a paranoid and delusional mind. I have tried. I cannot. The facts are verifiable and truthful to the point that it scares the hell out of me.

The apathy and gullibility of the German people of the 1930’s as compared with the apathy and the gullibility of the American people of today is astonishing.

The state of the German Republic of the 1930’s as compared to the state of the American Republic of today is uncanny.

The request for ‘temporary’ powers George W. Bush made, and was granted, in order to fight ‘terrorism’ is an eerie correlation to the request for ‘temporary’ powers Hitler made, and was granted, in order to fight ‘terrorism’ of his day.

You really need to read this essay.

My hope is that the historical events of the American people is different enough from the historical events of the German people of the 1930’s that this history can not repeat itself.

There are many events in the history of mankind that have been repeated. All documented and verifiable. True, no two events ‘flow’ exactly the same, and it is more unlikely that any two chain of events will ‘flow’ exactly the same, but don’t you think it would be best to make certain that this horrendous chapter in human history does not have a chance to repeat itself?

Americans: ‘fatter and dumber’

Democratic presidential candidate Mike Gravel made this statement on an online Democratic candidate forum yesterday, Sep 13, 2007. He said that American people are getting fatter and dumber.

He may not win any votes making this statement, but he is absolutely correct in his assessment. I will take this opportunity to add two other adjectives that immediately come to mind, ‘Apathetic’ (which is why politicians can get away with the crap they do) and ‘Lazy’ (which is why immigrants have gained such a foothold in the U.S.). There are several others but I will spare you my take on the full picture of what we have become.

Look around you and make your own honest assessment of your fellow Americans, and yourself.

What is the percentage of overweight people around you? Do you see more overweight people than you did, say, 10 years ago or even five? How many people do you know who exercise regularly? How many eat balanced diets? How many eat at fast food restaurants? Are you overweight? Do you exercise regularly?

Ask high school level questions of those people you know. How many people can do math beyond simple addition and subtraction, without using their fingers? Multiplication and, especially, division really tax most peoples minds. How many people can tell you who our first three presidents were? How about geography, how many people know what the capital of Pakistan is, or Iraq, or Afghanistan, or even where these countries are? These countries are part of current events so it is not unfair to ask these questions.

How many people do you know punctuate their speech with these words: “like” and “you know” and “kind of” and “sort of”? Here’s an example, “I was, kind of like, blah blah blah, like, sort of blah blah, you know?” High school English teachers everywhere cringe when they hear high school graduates speak like this. But then again there are more and more high school teachers speaking like this too. Have they given up and just going with the crowd to get along? Do they realize they have lost the battle to educate kids who see no real reason for going to school other than the fact that they are forced to be there. Or is it that this is what they have been exposed to all their lives and therefore this is all they know of how to speak?

Seriously, our overall education has been going down the tubes for a very long time. Kids don’t see the importance of learning anything from school. It is up to the parents to instill in them the need to learn everyday, everything they can about everything. How many parents really care about education? Very few. Their only incentive to go to school is to get it over with so they become adult and do ‘fun’ adult things, like drive their own car, and drink legally. These are not very lofty goals. These kids have no idea what it means to be an adult. They see their parents go through the routine of leaving in the morning to go to work somewhere and then there is food on the table and they get clothes to wear and they might get an allowance for some menial job around the house. But they don’t really know the real reason for an education.

How many people do you know actually pick up a newspaper or browse the internet for real, meaningful news of current events? I am not talking about the entertainment section or the fashion news or sports. I’m talking real life hard hitting facts about the state of our world and nation that affects each and everyone of us. How many people turn to a radio for other than the latest top musical hits, this being the only reason they ever turn on a radio?

How many people turn on the television for any real news? Actually this question is unfair, because there is nothing worth learning on commercial television. Even the news programs have turned to an entertainment slant. The only exception is Public Television and they have to beg for money to keep them going. In general, television has become a vast wasteland of meaningless entertainment geared toward the lowest common denominator. The number of commercials have become obscene. Advertisers have become obnoxious in their attempts to sell us inane, meaningless crap that none of us really need, especially new cars. Have you seen the proliferation of ‘reality’ shows? This concept is one of the biggest piles of dung that television has ever produced. And the fact that they are so popular goes a long way toward telling just how dumb we Americans have become.

How many people do you know actually vote? And of those people, how many make informed decisions about a candidate or issue based on what they read and not what they accidentally heard in a ‘sound bite’ on the radio news at the top of the hour while waiting for their music to come back on?

There are people who can recite sports stats about all of their favorite athletes and cannot tell you who our vice president or speaker of the house is. There are people who can tell you the names of every person their favorite celebrity has ever screwed or screwed over but can’t tell you why we are exploring outer space. And there are way too many people who think that looks count for more than anything else. Unfortunately, these very same people get into positions of hiring people and hire only ‘pretty’ people or sexually promiscuous people who are under-qualified for the position while the person who has spent their life educating themselves for that position go unrewarded and under-valued.

These are all basically intelligent people, they just don’t see any reason to apply themselves beyond what they need to get by on a daily basis. Those people who do have a genuine desire to get an education are already so far ahead of those who just go through the motions but things have gotten so bad that even education does not guarantee you success.

Why do we need to know current events? Why should we be as healthy as we can be except to satisfy our own narcissistic reasons? All you have to do to get a job is ‘look good’ and ‘suck up’ to the right people. Then when you are in the door, all you have to do to ‘climb the ladder’ is to ‘look good’ and ‘suck up’ to the right people. This is very cynical, I know. But I have been bypassed during my working life by these people and I know many others who have been as well. Education does not have as high a value as ‘looking good’ and ‘sucking up’. Just look at Hollywood to see what I mean. You get the vast majority of those people away from their cue cards and their writers and see just how under-educated and shallow these people really are.

Let’s face it America, we are getting fatter, we are getting dumber. It is a fact that only we can change. Do we have the drive to make that change? Sadly, I don’t think so. And this is where those other two adjectives I spoke of earlier, “Lazy” and “Apathetic”, come into play. If we had the drive to keep ourselves fit and well educated we would not have let ourselves go in the first place. I challenge everyone to prove me wrong but I’m not going to bet on it happening.