AMERICA IS IN DECAY

A sign of the times

There have been books written about the decline of the America "empire."

Let's keep this closer to home and just focus on the internal decay that our faux capitalism, insane consumption, elitist political system, and widespread sense of hopelessness has got us into.

The Huffington Post website ran an important article today entitled "RENT OR FOOD." In short, the article looks at the fact that millions of American households have such meager budgets that they are forced to choose between the essentials of life: food and shelter.

Bear in mind that this kind of thing has been an issue for the poor for as long as anyone cares to remember.

So the Third World within America -- propagandized as luckiest/greatest country in the world -- is getting big. That should be no shock since the rich are getting richer (it's not hard when you dodge taxes and your best buddies are on Capitol Hill) and the poor, and everyone else, are getting poorer.

Yes, many of us do need to budget our spending better: We are a nation of consumption fools, after all. And most of the stuff we buy today is in the back of the closet or on a junk pile in a year or two, right? Compare that to people who have scarcely enough food and clothes. Who many not be able to afford heat in winter. Who never get to see a doctor. That's the reality of our country. Not the "luckiest/greatest" BS that the politicians sell to us as an opiate. Besides, our goal should be "kindest."

But our spending is just a few drops in the bucket. The real issue is the horrendously unfair distribution of wealth in this country (and around the world!). It seems to me that sooner or later things will get bad enough that people will be in the streets in their millions and there will be radical change. That's the belief I cling to -- and it is a genuine belief.

In the meantime:

1/ Protest stupid/unfair taxes as well as the tax breaks and exemptions enjoyed by the rich and by corporations.
2/ Vote at the checkout: Buy things you need, not what you merely want. Buy organic. Companies note what sells and tend to stock that, naturally enough. And any money you save can be used to bolster your household budget or, if you are able, be given in part or whole to those less fortunate.
3/ Recycle everything: Clothes, cars, oil, metals, housing materials... check the Web and see just how much can be reused.
4/ Keep the pressure on the politicians and corporations. Let them know what you think and what you won't tolerate.
5/ Push for cheaper, safer, cleaner power sources.
6/ Volunteer and donate.
7/ Get active. Join groups that push economic issues. There is strength -- and change -- in numbers! You can participate a little or a lot. Again, just check the Web for these groups.
8/ Sign up to get online petitions, then pass them on.
9/ We need to repair our own attitudes as well as help others.
10/ Spread the word and stir up action any way you can!

There are other things, of course. But that's a good start. We need to change the structure of our society: and that is underway with the massive growth of the socio-politically aware "class." Change is fermenting. In the meantime, do whatever you can, whenever you can. Even that sandwich to a person living on the streets (a person!) fills a stomach and sends a message. Viral networking.

We have to win a better world or there will be no world soon enough. And to win it, we must fight to get it back from the robber barons who hold the whip.

We can and we will!

Take care,
Adrian

IF YOU FOUND THIS BLOG POST INTERESTING you might also like THE ECONOMY -- NOT SO HARD TO FIX, FDR's SECOND BILL OF RIGHTS, or TAXES: MICHAEL MOORE TELLING IT HOW IT IS.

TAXES: MICHAEL MOORE TELLING IT HOW IT IS

Michael Moore: Dead on about the real tax cheats

When it comes to taxation, we all get royally screwed.

I received the following bulk email from Michael Moore and it sums up my feelings on the issue perfectly (at least under our current faux capitalist system). AND it has an excellent call to action.

I'll let the email, printed verbatim below, speak for itself. Great job, Michael!

Take care,
Adrian


This Tax Day, Make THEM Pay ...a letter about April 18th from Michael Moore

Friday, April 15th, 2011

Friends,

Do you wonder (like I do) what the tax accountants and executives are doing over at GE this weekend? Frantically rushing to fill out their IRS returns like the rest of us?

Hardly. They're taking the weekend off to throw themselves a big party and have a hearty laugh at all of us. It must really crack them up to see us like suckers scurrying around to make sure we report everything to Uncle Sam -- and even send him a check, if necessary.

The joke's on us, folks. GE and tons of other corporations will have a tax bill for 2010 of ZERO. GE had $14.2 billion in profits in 2010. Yet they will contribute NOTHING to the federal government while every last dime is soaked from us.

In the latest budget deal, our politicians could have tackled the deficit by stopping the flow of these ill-gotten billions to corporations. Instead they cut billions from "wasteful" programs that do "wasteful" things, like create new jobs, drive economic growth, and help the needy and our nation's children. It's Democracy in reverse and it sickens me.

GE spends $20 million a year to lobby Congress to throw themselves this party. But do you know what speaks louder than $20 million? 20 million votes! 20 million people, and more, standing together and taking to the streets. That starts now, with you.

This coming Monday, April 18th is Tax Day -- and that's the day when "we the people" will demand our country back from these corporations in events all across the country. You can find the nearest event to you here.

MoveOn members -- along with union, community, and environmental allies -- will gather outside the headquarters and local offices of the biggest corporate tax dodgers to deliver tax bills from the American people. And we'll demand that our leaders make these corporate deadbeats pay.

We're doing this because we don't buy into the Big Lie: that greedy teachers caused the crash on Wall Street! That the selfish firefighters sent millions of jobs overseas! That pregnant woman, infants, and children are sending us into deficit!

No, it was the big corporations that did this. It was the CEOs and the top 1% of the country. THEY brought on the mortgage crisis. THEY made off with trillions of dollars from our economy. THEY are systematically destroying the middle class. And THEY have bought and sold the very people elected to represent us!

On Monday, we will have something to say to Exxon, Chevron, and the big banks that crashed our economy and got billions in bailouts, like Citigroup and Bank of America, who pay little or no federal income tax. In fact, the IRS will likely give them a tax REBATE. If that doesn't boggle your mind then nothing will.

The Tax Day events are about sending this message: We are coming after you, we are stopping you and we are going to return the money, jobs, and homes you stole from the people. This is your tipping point, Corporate America. And I, for one, am glad it's going to happen this Monday.

If you've never been to an event like this before, this is the time. And don't go alone, because none of us can win this fight by ourselves. Plus, it's more fun and exciting to go along with friends and family to be part of real democracy in action -- not the store-bought kind Big Business gets on Capitol Hill.

I really hope you can make it. This is our chance, my friends. Take the time on Monday to make your voice heard. I can guarantee you I will. Please join me.

Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com

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DID YOU ENJOY YOUR ELECTION DANCE?

Election Horrors: They're gonna make you watch it.

Daylight Saving just ended but it seems our politicians are always turning the clock back on us anyway.

Let's look at the just-passed mid-term elections. Ah yes, it was just like yesteryear... again.

Money was thrown around, begged for and blown, and the ads just kept on comin'. Yep, even recipients of last year's big bailout gave political donations. Does anybody else think that's kind of sick?

They (e.g. GM) even gave it to pols who were anti-bailout (e.g. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell). So why would you trust anything the vast majority of the Capitol Hill monkeys ever say?

There were great rallies and speeches and the prez town-hopped like he was touring with the Stones. Nothing like a good show with lots of little flags being waved to get to the heart of the country's problems.


A Bad Right Turn

The mid-terms also saw the continuation of a dangerous shift to the right -- something that feeds into people's emotions in tough times. The so-called Tea Party (Do they get caps or not? No journo seems sure); candidate henchmen stomping on activists' heads; and real gems like Sharron Angle (Nevada) who tried to grab Harry Reid's Senate seat and went close.

Angle did a heavy duty profiling job on Hispanics in broad-stroke, illegal-immigrant fear ads that would have made Goebbel's proud.

But she's not finished with Harry.

Angle has filed a voter intimidation complaint with the Justice Department alleging that Reid and gambling giant Harrah's Entertainment Inc. did a little negotiating whereby Harrah's would make it pretty clear to its employees who they should vote for.

Yep, business as usual in Nevada. And everywhere else. Need a shower yet?


Party on the Plaza

Jon Stewart (of The Daily Show) had a big rally in D.C. It was a positive but didn't exactly inspire the poor to go out and get fitted for new suits.

To me, the main weaknesses were these: 1/ The whole thing lacked a certain depth. For example, Stewart's summation speech made some good points but didn't address the age-old question of "What now?"; 2/ Because that question wasn't addressed, it was a case of Opportunity Lost. We all love rallies and to feel invigorated. Problem is, without direction to go with that fleeting motivation, most folks just leave feeling better about themselves and go home and flip on the tube and do nothing.

To some degree, it was showbiz as usual. But that's politics U.S.A. And while I'll take any change I can get, Stewart doesn't really talk about anything nearly radical enough to improve the lot of the poor or save us from being strangled by factory emissions. Let's give him a C- for at least doing something.


The Bottom Line

The Repubs grabbed the House and that is likely bad news at the perimeter of things. But anyone who thinks choosing between the two same, cynical parties -- the "two arms of the Business Party" -- again and again is going to one day deliver The Big Fix must be living in a bunker.

It's the system that's broke!

George Carlin the comedian -- a smart guy and good soul -- used to boast that he didn't vote. He wasn't going to support any of the clowns. I'd be all for that if it could be a movement of tens of millions. Otherwise, the lesser of two evils is probably our best, marginal move within this marginal game we're presented. And yes, there are some decent people in Washington -- like independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

The media were awful as usual. Focusing on the wrong stuff, spinning things for their own agenda, giving us fluff rather than facts.

But all is not lost. Grassroots activism is what all those D.C. money grabbers fear. Let's work together for campaign finance reform, grassroots candidates, alternative parties, outstanding people like Green Party dynamo Jill Stein of Massachusetts, and just keep networking and networking and networking until we create a din that cannot be ignored.

That's when things will get interesting.


A DAYLIGHT SAVING TALE

A light note to finish off. As Daylight Saving ended last night, my fiancee Shelley scampered round her house adjusting her clocks before going to bed.

The Lovely Lady of Clockland.

By the time she was done, it was almost time to put the clocks forward again. She has so many clocks it's like they're breeding in front of your eyes. You can face just about direction in any room and see a clock.

She's actually sort of painted herself into a corner because there is no way she can ever use the excuse "I lost track of the time" with anyone.

It's really kind of cute and I hope time is always on her side.

Take care,
Adrian Zupp
IF YOU FOUND THIS BLOG POST INTERESTING you might like to take a look at EDMUND BURKE'S ETERNAL TRUISM.