I’m just going to ramble about for a bit. A lot of things are banging around in my brain and I felt a need to vent them, so here I am.
I just lost another friend on face book, well in truth, I finally shut off my account. I was tired of either preaching to the choir, or shouting at a wall. All the conservative “friends” I had were dropping me like flies, and the progressive ones were already on-board, so I was just getting lots of amen’s.
The straw that broke the camel’s back was the new uproar (you know we have to get ready “for the next big item” tm) that was we need to shut down that nasty debt limit, cuz those spend, spend, spend, people, just won’t learn until we teach them a proper lesson. To be honest, I’ve really reached my intellectual limit with ignoramuses. They see it on Fox, they get a few emails from their moron posse, and there they are on face book, and twitter, and the email-blast with their uneducated, know-nothing, knee jerk, barf-o-rama, of, “yeah, let’s stop there debt limit increase, cuz we believe debt be bad! Und some such smart feller on dat TV box done told us that this will fix all our prmblums, so we be all fur dat!” Have no freaking clue what the debt limit IS. What the impact of not raising it is on “the full faith and credit of the county”. But, we will go out like lemmings and blast all the social media, and in boxes, with our uninformed crapola.
So, I post the link to the Treasury Department web site that explains what the Debt Limit REALLY IS. I describe in terms that a 3 year old can grasp that it simply allows us to pay the bills we have already rang up and will not stop us from spending more. That maybe they need to better understand government, and economics, recommend a few reading points for them. Tell them the difference between budgets, appropriations, and the like… ugh! And, just to get 300 psudo-political scientists ala the Tea-Party/Fox News just repeating the same thing I just refuted in CRYSTAL CLEAR TERMS over and over, as if they have no brain, or ability to read, or sense whatsoever.
Yes, I know, I’ve read the studies that say that trying to reason with them just makes them entrench that much more, and fall farther back into their lizard mind, but I’m sorry, I just can’t do it anymore, and I’ve lost all hope that there is hope for this country. Unless they really do secede, or finally die off, or inbreed themselves to oblivion, we’re stuck with the mental militia for generations!
Moving on…..
Jobs…. Can we start talking about jobs in 2013? Now that maybe the fiscal BS will be over, I’d really like us to get on this bandwagon. I want to get all FDR, CCC, WPA, Stimulus, Make it happen on WORK! We’ve been in a bad place for quite a few years now. The Banksters screwed us, the corporations keep screwing us, both sides of the aisle are keeping us busy with dog and pony shows (IMHO). I think we can do the most good by starting a bit of a grass roots uprising around JOBS. It’s good for me, good for you, good for the economy, the poor, the middle-class, well hey….everyone… Why not? What’s a BIGGER issue right now? I know we all want to jump on guns, and immigration, and a lot of issues right now, but let’s face it, what’s enemy number 1 right now? JOBS…. If everyone had one, we could spend a whole lot of time, and MONEY, on a whole lot of other important issues, right?
After we all get done with the New Year partying I think priority NUBER ONE for 2013 is put America Back to WORK! ALL OF US! I don’t care who you are, or what you stand for, who can be against that? If you are in favor of gun laws, abortion rights, LBGT rights, you HAVE to be in favor of the person standing next to you NOT being HOMELESS! Having dignity in a JOB! Being able to feed themselves, their kids, a loved one! Come on, let’s put all our other wants and needs aside for a minute and fight the number ONE thing that is killing ALL OF US right now… JOBS!
We all know money talks, and right now we know that there is the biggest wealth separation in this county in history. What can bridge that…JOBS! We want to stop all the debt talk, and get all these idiots off their high horses about “moochers”, how do we do that? Get them a JOB! We can fix so many of the thing we talk about if we just pursue a full out mandate of work and jobs! FDR did it! Clinton proved it! Let’s get on the train and make Washington make it happen! To hell with those ignoramuses I was taling about earlier, and Wall St., we know it’s right, let’s just force it to happen!
OK, so much for my impassioned plea for a NEW-NEW Deal. I’m almost 50, I’ve worked my butt off since I got out of school. I did everything right, I played the game. I had a big chunk of change until the tech bubble took that and my job in early 2K. Since then I’ve struggled with bouts of long unemployment, and debt, but I fight on. I keep my head above water. I pay my bills. I find myself working a job beneath my skill, getting treated like crap daily, and being reminded all the time that I should be lucky I have one.
I’ve been hunting for a “decent” job for 3+ years, but all they want is someone who is willing to do 3 persons work, 80 hours a week, and I should kiss their butts to get ½ of what I was getting in wages 10 years ago….sorry, no thanks. When I started out I was told, “Oh, you need 10 years experience”, Well now I have 30 years experience as an engineer! So, please, don’t give me this BS that we need MORE skilled workers in this country, and we need more H1 visas, and all that crap. It’s all a sham by the corporations to try and drive down wages yet more! Do you know how many other SKILLED, 20-30 year experienced engineers I know who are in the same boat I am? OH, but we need to open up for more off shore visas, we need to allow more international students to stay as engineers, we need to allow more off shore workers… Sorry folks! Pure CRAP! They don’t want to pay ME cuz I cost too much, cuz I’m almost 50, and my benefits might cost them. Let’s get someone from outside the country who’s cheap, and young to fill that job.
I wish I could join a union! Who the hell protects ME! While my little 401K is going down the banksters toilet, huh? MORE trade agreements? Let’s not. Let’s not get started on our big enemy, the trade deficit.
Enough for now. A few 2012 year end reflections I needed to discuss. Like them, or not. Act on them, or not. I needed to say it.
Have a Happy 2013 all