The other day I suggested that y’all put the country on hold, except for hospitals of course. Just pick a date and everyone stops working, call in sick, just don’t go to work or whatever. But put the country on hold for a few days. Needless to say this was not received well. From the “I don’t wanna lose my job” to “I might lose my health insurance” all the buts were raising their hands.
My question today is aren’t you already losing it all? Is it somehow better to have your rights and benefits being chipped away one at a time while your fears gnaw you from the inside?
I keep hearing of mass layoffs, mass store closings, rising energy bills, rising cost of meds with more to come, health insurances removing stuff they covered before, removing people from coverage, removing regulations that keep your food and air safe, your children are dying of measles and there are worse pandemics lurking in the shadows, women are jailed for miscarriages, tourists are being held in detention centers, so your tourism is gone, American citizens are being questioned and searched at airports, the world is distancing itself from you, friends and foes alike are turning on you, your economy is in free fall, your retirement funds dwindling, aren’t you already losing it all?
And while the hands off protests (you really need a better name than hands-off) were a success, protests are a movement and uprising you don’t just have one, go home for a couple of weeks, then have another, it’s not going to work, it is not demanding anything “hands off” is not a demand and it’s not applying enough pressure because it’s intermittent.
Meanwhile, the SAVE act has passed the house, the Budget is being voted on to cut your Medicare Medicaid, your social security is in the hands of 19 years olds, your tax returns likewise, your jobs are disappearing, your businesses closing, law firms are caving in, likewise schools, they’re threatening to send Americans to the Salvadorian jail, your reputation is trashed, your intelligence services compromised, your leadership gone, your rights are being taken away one at a time, the only thing that’s growing is your fear.
I’m not a historian, but usually authoritarian regimes do not give in to requests from their victims, and the only way they are dealt with, is by overthrowing them or making their leaders flee. You may do it now before the price gets too high, you may do it when you’ve lost it all, but eventually you will have to take to the streets with Resign signs and not Hands-off pleadings. Or you can lock the country in place until they leave.
He once asked you what have you got to lose, today you know the answer; Everything. You’re losing everything.
#ThePoet
Muriel Vieux – April 14th, 2025, ©All rights reserved
paypal.me/murielvieux if you can spare a few $ to help Haitians
