Well, I've been pretty remiss in my duties as a 'blogger'. To be honest, I've never really felt like one, but rolling the word around in mind mind, well, it certainly SOUNDS like something that should be applicable to me, so perhaps I should try and actually BE one.
You have been warned!!
First of all, my life's in freefall and I'm out of ideas as to what to do to stop it. I even watched one of those televangelist shows on TV the other night at 2:30 AM, hoping they'd see me and send a miracle or two my way. But noooOOOOOoooo! None for me. Oh well. Was a fool's hope, anyway. I won't get into all the gory details here about the various messes that have plopped my way lately; I just causually mention it and hope the knowledge serves to help blame some of what I'll be saying on a really super-borked state of mind.
Some other things on my mind....
WHAT ARE THEY THINKING??? If the congress goes ahead and passes the healthcare legislation currently being contemplated, we may just as well give up hope of EVER getting a rational, comprehensive, and competent healthcare system in this country. Basically modelled after the system in place in Massachussetts, its main function is to allow the government to SAY they have universal healthcare now, and to help divert more and more money from the folks who can afford it least back up towards the top via the government and insurance companies. I don't care if it's 'cheaper' overall for the government or 'us' collectively - it's another burden - a required one - on people who already can barely afford to get by, forcing them to use money they probably have budgeted for things like FOOD and RENT and other essential expenses they have for paying for healthcare ( * for some other examples, see below ). It's nuts, and as an added bonus, it just creates another category of criminal you can fall into just because you don't have the money. This is not being done to help those who don't have healthcare. It's being done to make money for the insurance and medical industries and to mitigate the cost of that for the government and those who CAN afford insurance. When you strip away all the hype, all the smoke and mirror arguments, and look at the 'process' from bottom to top, it's pretty clear to see.
At least for me, anyway.
I'm no socialist. I'm no conservative. I hate both labels and any sort of polarized politics. Left, right; liberal, conservative -- it's all bullshit. Wouldn't it be nice if people would put the labels away for once, forget about their political platforms, lock their doors to the special interest groups, put on their thinking caps, and actually THINK about things for a change? This country is more than rich enough to afford an EXCELLENT healthcare system that could be a example to the world -- IFF the political will, moral courage, and a modicum of brains (I know we have some sharp ones somewhere!) were applied to revamping the insurance and medical industries, spending our money just a bit more responsibly, and attacking the culture of entitlement and greed that pervades our society, most especially in our business and political arenas. Oh, wait...shit. What was I thinking? This is America....
Just a note:
A while back,I heard Hillary mention something that caught my attention about the 'special relationships' developed by her, Bill, and Al Gore during their glory days in the 1990's with the current Russian leadership crew, and that she's counting on those relationships to help her in guiding relations between Russia and the US in 'better directions', or something along those lines.
"Hmmm", I think to myself...
"She does know that Russia is essentially governed by a "mafiocracy", right?"
Aha! Gotcha! Just kidding!!
Of course she knows that, and she has the "special relations" to prove it.
I just wonder what those "better directions" will be...and for whom they'll really BE better? Think about that question -- next time you fill up at a Lukoil gas station in NY.
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* some examples of similarly predatory rip-offs aimed at sucking more money from the bottom to the top, and hence helping to keep those on the bottom ON the bottom by disproportionate spending on the part of those who can least afford it, and 'redistributing wealth' (haha!) from bottom to top...
1. State run lotteries: Who spends the most money on this stuff and why? Where does the money go? Preys on the hopes/desperation of people in tough situations to grasp at even the slightest hope to get out, and moves the money 'up' the chain, spreading it out where it benefits 'everyone' (including the middle and upper classes) disproportionately to those from who most of the money comes.
2. Massachusetts WIC (Women Infants Children) program: Ostensibly to help out families in financial need, this program provides vouchers to families for free milk, etc. etc. to help feed their kids. The catch: vouchers can ONLY be used at large chain supermarkets, and not at convenience stores. One wonders why the the 'cheapest' milk in these stores (the "store-brand") is about $2.00/gallon more expensive than branded milk (Hood(tm), for example) at convenience stores, and branded ones artificially priced higher in the supermarkets, generally speaking? What this effectively does is divert a LOT of taxpayer money directly to those shops in extra profit. Do the math - how many people a day buy milk on this program (conservatove guess: 200k) times difference in price ($2.00) times 365...it's a HUGE number - and we're laying off teachers and cutting arts programs in our schools. Hmmm.
3. Western Union: This company charges about 15 percent or more just to send money from point A to point B. It's used most often by people who don't have the banking sophistication or resources to use wire transfers, and would be considered illegal if done by a regular bank (or at least the bank customers would scream bloody murder and migrate en mass away from them) or by a private person. The name "Vinnie" comes to mind for some reason...
4. "Cheap" Credit Cards:High interest, high misc. fees, etc. etc...this is so obvious I needn't explain it further, and I'm amazed the government allows it. Well, wait a sec -- no I'm not. In light of all the other things going on, it makes perfect sense now, really...doesn't it?
Extrapolate these things (and others not mentioned) and work out the effect of this on the segment of the economy it mostly preys on...and add them to all the other things going on in other contexts. It costs a LOT to be poor in this country!
You don't need to be a tree-hugging, green-bleeding, airy-fairy liberal to see that this stuff is just plain wrong and constitute examples of a society gone wild and rotting from inside up. Where's our sense of fairplay and compassion? We're Americans, right? RIGHT?? We're supposed to be for the underdog, right? Not about ripping people off (especially each other!) and taking unfair advantage, right? Or are we??
Let's decide what it means, then, to be an American, because if our actions to not line up with the principles we claim to uphold, what's that say about our integrity as a nation? As a people? As...individuals??
And heck, if we're gonna screw everyone every chance we get, then let's at least be honest about it...
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