I'm constantly walking around in a state of wonderment. Everything is so ass backwards, and I know it is real, but I have trouble assimilating and accepting the surreal world we live in.
Case in point cames from the New York Times. Today's article about the FBI watching activist groups reveals the organization assigned their counter-terrorists agents to keeping tabs on - get this - Catholic Workers and Greenpeace... OK, so by internet standards this is old news... but c'mon for the flip... it gets interesting.
I dunno, but these groups, as far as I've been able to ascertain, work towards a better world for all of us. Why is it that whenever any authoritative government apparatus decides to overstep its bounds and aggressively spy on people they shouldn't be spying on, using methods that they shouldn't be using and keeping records they shouldn't be keeping, that it invariably happens to be animal rights/environmental, peace activists or labor groups that they choose to target. Just once couldn't we hear about them aggressively pursuing law breaking politicians or corporate criminals? Why is it that when the EP-fucking-A tells people that the air around ground zero is safe, and it turns out to be incredibly toxic, the law hounds aren't sicced on the liars? When Enron steals thousands of people's retirements, it takes an investigative journalist to peal back the curtain and expose the craven ponzi scheme? What kind of NSA file did Ken Lay have?
ugh.
What kind of world do we live in when we chase down vegan activists using the FBI, but we ignore right wing extremist abortion bomber enablers? What kind of file do you think Ralph Reed has?
Ya know, this ties into a second peice I wanted to write about. All you hear on the news channels with regards to the NYC transit strike are commuters (walkers) expressing their disdain for the union. One lady said something like everyone is losing their retirement and having to pay for their health care. I don't have any sympathy for them." Could this be anymore stupid? Of course everyone is losing in the work place. That's exactly why they are striking. At a time when corporate profits are increasing steadily (hence the "great economy"), wages are stagnant in all but a few fields... Not only are wages stagnant, people's benefits are being cut. More people than ever before don't take their allotted vacation time because they are afraid to - they don't want to give management a reason to fire them. Productivity is through the roof and the richest amongst us are consolidating their grip on the nations wealth like no time since the robber baron age of Warren Harding...
And this woman has the nerve to complain about workers taking a stand.
This is what I think should be happening: the police union should stand in solidarity with their transit brothers. Refuse overtime. Other unions should begin work slowdowns and coordinated "sick" absences. For the labor movement in this country to abandon their union brothers is tragic. Did you know that in this years MTA surplus, there is enough money to give every transit worker a $30,000 bonus? That comes after the MTA has done all of its maintenance and upgrades... Anyone wanna take a look at MTA executive pay and benefit packages?
Anyway, again the little guy gets screwed and then gets blamed for asking for some lubricant.
That's the story of America in the 21st century, so far.
Ugh.