I used to know what my country was about, what it stood for - but now much of that seems to be gone, shattered, and this new strange land stands it place. Looking the same but sounding and feeling completely different. Unlike those in Japan or Haiti or Christchurch who've lost their homes and livelihoods to a natural tragedy - our disaster has been entirely manmade.
Over the flip is my video tribute to those Americans, put together with photos from Huffpo, UPI and our own Kodiak54. The song is the final track from my debut CD 'Re-Evolutionize" which I originally released in 2008.
I've written a lot of words about what is occurring in America. How it began which the Housing Bubble which has been wrongly blamed on the poor, minorities and Freddie and Fannie. How Wall Street has effectively fleeced the nation creating a financial vacuum that is now being used against the middle class, public sector workers, backs of the bruised and those least able to bear the brunt. We're told that the problem is now overpaid, greedy "Spoiled Brat" Teachers who make $50,000 compared to the national median of $37,000.
(Actually it's only $43,000 I suspect largely because most teachers are women and they still lag far behind men in earnings.)
But has anyone asked if those numbers have been controlled for education requirements?
To teach in a public school, one must complete a bachelor's degree program.
It took me 30 seconds to find this chart on Wikipedia, which shows that the median weekly income for someone with a 4 Year Degree is $1,025. Over the course of a year why that's $52,000!! (Or about $32,000 for women)
But that $52k isn't all take home - Has anyone factored in the weight of Student Loans?
When it came to $Billions of Wall Street Bonuses we were told they were "absolutely neccessary to retain the TALENT."
Where is the demand to keep our talented teachers, our talented firefighters, our talented police? How exactly do we expect to retain them?
Or maybe they don't, eh?
They once accused Barack Obama of wanted to "Spread the Wealth Around" - seems to me Republicans are Hell Bent on Spreading the Pain.
Maybe it's time we spread some of that pain right back the way they are in Madison, Ohio, Michigan and Indiana.
I've said a lot about this, maybe it's time to let actions (and pictures) do the talking.
Vyan