(Author note and Rant Warning:
I drafted and buried this long ago thinking it is only a rant. But since listening to mere bits of republican candidates, I re-evaluated. By comparison, this is an eloquent treatise. That, along with a 1000 more solicitations, here the hell goes!)
HERETOFORE, INTO FOREVER, I AM ISSUING
A UNIVERSAL AND COMPREHENSIVE PROCLAMATION TO ALL THOSE GOOD PEOPLE IN THE WORLD WHO ARE TRYING TO MAKE IT A BETTER PLACE.
WHETHER BY NGO'S, FOR PROFIT OR NOT AGENCIES, BRAVE INDIVIDUALS, BROADCASTERS OF TRUTH BY WORD OR IMAGE, SCHOOLS I MAY HAVE GRADUATED FROM, A HOST OF UNNAMED AND TO A LESSER EXTENT GOVERNMENTS WORLD WIDE....THANK YOU!
I AM EVER SO GRATEFUL TO ALL IN THE WORLD WHO STRUGGLE, OVER-WORK, UNDER EAT, THE DISPOSSESSED, STARVED AND DYING FOR LACK OF HEALTH CARE, ON THE WRONG SIDE OF WAR, any war OR HIDING WITHIN HOMES THAT MAY BECOME RUBBLE under the ever-present buzz of drones. THANK YOU FOR YOUR KINDNESS, WITNESS, COMPASSION, HARD WORK, ATTENTION, SACRIFICE, BRAVERY, FORGIVENESS AND DEDICATION. DESPITE THE FACT IT HAS BECOME A REFRAIN, IS NOT ENOUGH AND NEVER WILL BE. BUT SADLY IT IS ALL I HAVE TO OFFER AND IS SAID SO WITH THE UTMOST SINCERITY. THANK YOU!
SO NOW, AMERICA, AND THE WORLD, PLEASE STOP ASKING ME FOR MONEY.
FIRST OF ALL, I HAVE NONE. I AM UNEMPLOYED DUE TO CHRONIC HEALTH PROBLEMS long NEGLECTED DUE TO LACK OF HEALTH INSURANCE and money. ALL I REALLY WANT is a BIT OF HEALTH CARE and to work.
MY UNEMPLOYABILITY is further AGGRAVATED by my status AS A minor TRUTH TELLER/WHISTLE BLOWER. BOSSES AND ADMINISTRATORS THAT GO UP AND UP THE CHAIN, DO NOT ALWAYS APPPRECIATE TRUTH. ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY HAVEN’T DONE THEIR JOB SO WELL OR HAVE SCREWED UP. OR, DON’T KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING BUT PRETEND QUITE SUCCESSFULLY TO CONVINCE OTHERS THEY DO. I HAVE PAID A HIGH PRICE FOR STUBBORNLY HOLDING ONTO ethical STANDARDS AND determination to serve those whom I was hired to serve rather than pledge fealty to authority alone. I HAVE HAD MANY folks IMPLORE ME, OUT OF PURE CONCERN, WITH STATEMENTS LIKE “DON’T BE STUPID! IT IS ABOUT SURVIVAL! PLAY THE F-ING GAME. YOU HAVE TO SAVE YOURSELF”! I ENTIRELY AGREE THAT MY NEEDS ARE LEGITIMATE AND IMPORTANT. I HAVE NO WISH TO LIVE IN MY AGING BUICK. ONCE, I EVEN HAD A DEAR FRIEND INSIST SHE GIVE ME LESSONS IN LYING. It was sad realization that people who cared about me deemed deceit as essential for survival.
WHEW! Now as that gush subsides, I will lower my caps so kindly continue reading.
As far as this price I have paid, and am still paying, I am slowly accepting that this lot and consequence are mine to bear.…..Regardless of not having done anything unethical, illegal or immoral (still admitting I have made mistakes in life, and harbor regrets) my credit has been so downgraded that IF I tried to sell my identity online cheap, it wouldn’t have a single bid. I further suspect I have lots of company in our nation among those whose credit has also plummeted and thus might feel like or appear to be losers, when in effect, they are not. The rule “too big to fail” still applies. As does the unspoken rule “too small to matter therefore subject to fail, over and over and over again”.
I remain happy to finally say, despite my pennilessness, I am wearing my ‘whistle-blower/truth telling label’ as a BADGE of honor; and invite others to do the same. Congratulations.
But this message goes far beyond me. I insist upon saying the answer to all of the world’s problems, does not lie in piles and piles of uncountable cash. The kind of cash should you happen to possess, would personally afford you the luxury to hire lots of others to count, hide, protect, invest, etc. your wealth, now known as “wealth management”. I am quite aware of this by way of dozens of invitations to dine at restaurants I could never afford.. all to be sold this sort of management. Boy, did they get the wrong address!
Speaking for myself, it transforms my vision of capitalism into a haunting poor-ish nightmare. Clinging to an honest love of truth once again, I question living as though the one and only goal and measure of importance in life is MONEY. Money, capital, profits. Ponder if you will, all of the numbers we hear daily that so readily render me semi-conscious but supposedly measure our worth: The GDP, the DOW, unemployment stats, percentages measuring the opinions of unknown nobodies, interest rates, foreclosure figures, the national debt, casualties of war, refugees who were lucky to survive but languish in an earthly and undeserved purgatory, along with pundits who are money-made “experts”. They don’t mean much to daily life or my ability to fork over cash, and I venture to say neither do they impact most of the rest of America’s day to day living.
At this point, I must strongly assert that all I say here is not a statement of UNCONCERN. My tears yield only to heart ache for suffering souls as I am certain most suffer WAY more than I. The most important number which STILL brings with it a sense of hope for myself, and perhaps others who this number is meant to measure, is the 99% and the meaning it claimed in America and worldwide; as well the bonds it created without regard for borders.
Mill around any of the 99%, who likely sit next to you, undoubtedly driving in front of, behind or on the side of you, to those on the street carrying a sign, bearing a banner, and just about everywhere else. (who really gets to see the super wealthy unless they are running for office?) Try even just to ask those sharing your dinner table how much money they have to give and how many donations they were able to offer that day? Or, ask among friends, the money they were able to invest in their portfolio this month? Have they had capital gains to speak of in the last year? Or, if anyone you know, knows what capital gains even are?
Lastly, how many checks have they issued to the many politicians or superpacs that urgently plead for “speech” in the form of your money?
Yet there exists a haunting notion that elicits even greater alarm in this money madness I cannot escape; and that is how money, rather than being is assumed to be or made to appear as the solution; therein you find an evil root of money. When money is the very problem. Taking on this disguise as ultimate savior for all peoples, for all times. Of course in capitalism, it is ALL that matters. Ever.
We know that. Or should.
These desperate pleas for donations come in all forms knowing no boundaries, respecting no calendar or clock. They take the form of pictures of emaciated animals and children, ragged souls laying claim to concrete curbs or bridges, images of disease and disabled vets, skull-boned faces where insects lay claim without dispute, descriptions of devastation, past or predicted, or war... all of growing proportions the world over. Cargo loaded train cars with tell-tale terrified eyes are now replaced with worn, overloaded water-craft, war recyclables? Or human trash we are told to fear? Many of those images are brought to us by foreign policy and the duopoly of hatred and violence. Domestically, they present more as words that threaten to rob of us of our values or seal the wreckage of our one and only earth. Polar bears and wolves are perfect poster animals for the planet. It all terrifies me and much of it is truly legitimate. The multitude of pleas come by email, while stopped at a traffic light, at check out counters, by cell phone, my front door, endless, non-stop suggestions that all the worlds problems and pains will be cured if I only have a donation to give.
Then think politics…. Money again is primary and frighteningly too crucial to our erstwhile democracy. At least enough to seize the electoral system, more inexplicable, without the awareness of many Americans. It is your money and not your vote they seem to be seeking. Republicans work tirelessly to ensure the number of voters is the very smallest it can be. Voter suppression is a strategy with a long history. All the while, raising the sticker price of a politician. The presidency now is about $900 million out the door. Now you can dutifully go once to the polls, casting A ballot, your dollars are needed in every district, by every candidate for every cause. It adds up to endless asking for endless dollars that seem to disappear into a distant carbon-laced atmosphere….
...Except for sponsorship of the national freak show far to the right... compliments of Fox and the mainstream media and its' biggest attraction. This is what should inspire terror...the thought of him gaining control. How is it that he is granted so much time and consideration? Because? he has money and loves himself possibly more than any other human being alive? He is such a spectacle there is no need for mention of a name, although his cohorts are plenty. I am wholly ashamed that America grants him so much time to address large swaths of citizenry to spew hatred and lies out of ignorance, greed and even greater hatred. Don't we already owe the world penance and apology for all of the bloodshed and mayhem we are responsible for by waging endless war?
This leaves me with daylight nightmares of the nation we have become. And the harm we are inflicting upon our own thinking that the only solution is to hand over money. I have learned that petitions and my signature seem only to be a prelude to a plea...
It is a foolish people who buy into this notion that all we need is to get more money. Or, make someone else richer and our world will magically be a brighter more prosperous place for all. What on earth, or more specifically, in our nation, has happened to diplomacy, honest debate, resourcefulness, mercy, critical thinking with challenge to woefully worn out assumptions, justice, decency and our very humanity? Which in current day, has lost much ground and importance itself. When do we claim our HUMANITY, rather than our nationality, religious orientation, sexual identity, race, country of origin, club membership, political affiliation, _____(fill in the blank).
Thank you America and the world.
Now, I remain ever so thankful, but stop, please stop asking me for money.