Long overdue
I sat with writer's block last night trying to think of how to kick off my blog. Nothing seemed significant or clever enough, even though there's a good chance nobody but myself and my wife will ever see it.
But just now, I was hit with a wave of anger, yet again today, over the fact that for days now, people have been dying and suffering in the South while the authorities play their fiddles. And I realized that I don't need a focus--I needed a vent, and this is it, even if it's just for me.
It angers me that this country has grown so trivial and soft. I'll be the first to confess that my life has little "grand" meaning--I have a job which the world could easily do without, I don't spend my free hours helping people or improving the world. The best I can claim is that I try to love my wife like she deserves to be loved, and that I help care for the cats and dogs that we saved from a much harder life. But even I can see the pointlessness of what most of this country engages in as thousands suffer and die just hours away.
This morning on Today, Harry Connick was as honest as he could be about the horrible conditions and the lack of response and help, and fucking Katie Couric sat there pandering to the moos watching at home, asking the stupid questions and reminding Harry to save his voice for the concert tonight. A fucking CONCERT!?!?! We need some pointless, lame entertainment to make us give money to help these people? I watched that idiot Pat O'Brien last night making himself appear so grand by donating a Beatles poster to be auctioned off for relief--how about giving a million dollars to the Red Cross and call it a day, Pat??? I don't understand how these people and companies with more money than they could ever need sit there and make everybody jump through hoops to cough up a buck, too little, too late.
How about this--our idiot President could partly redeem himself in my eyes if he went on TV tonight at 8:00, pre-empting that stupid concert, and said "All you Americans out there--your duty as a citizen of this country is to stop buying crap you don't need for the next 3 months, send money to the charities we've established, send all your clothes and things you don't need anymore to those who need them, and go DO something to help." Help load a truck of supplies to send to these people who'll be homeless for months.
We live in this enormous, consumer society built on moving goods around the country to be sold to people who don't need them. Mobilize that capacity to help these poor people. Fuck this emergency response shit, and trying to keep the country going. You know what--stop the goddamn economy for a couple weeks, redirect every bus and truck in the country somewhere that they can help. Stop building fucking McMansions all over the place, send those builders to high ground in Texas and build housing for 100,000 people. Pay the damn bills later--that's how we're paying for this stupid war.
Is it because so many of the people are black and poor? I can see where that would be a problem for most of the people in Washington. All the more reason to get rid of them. Is it because there's a handful of useless idiots going around shooting and stealing and raping people? You know what, they're always there--they've always been there, and they always will, and the best way to stop it is to send in the troops and shoot those fuckers. Then you can help the people who need it, the vast crowds of people literally dying in the streets while we worry about a couple of stray sniper shots. Chaos brings out the worst in people because there's always someone willing to take advantage. But we can't let that stop us from saving these people who have nothing.
It's really disturbing that we can't coordinate this effort better. I almost hope that the people in charge just decided not to, rather than thinking that they're THAT incompetent. Is it so hard to think creatively and use the vast resources of this country? We're so concerned about doing these things without upsetting the status quo. What does that prove? That Walmarts can stay open and sell junk to people in Kansas while people in Louisiana die? I know it's simplistic, and there's more to it than that, but the simple fact is that if people really wanted to help, they could. It's just not in our nature anymore.
But just now, I was hit with a wave of anger, yet again today, over the fact that for days now, people have been dying and suffering in the South while the authorities play their fiddles. And I realized that I don't need a focus--I needed a vent, and this is it, even if it's just for me.
It angers me that this country has grown so trivial and soft. I'll be the first to confess that my life has little "grand" meaning--I have a job which the world could easily do without, I don't spend my free hours helping people or improving the world. The best I can claim is that I try to love my wife like she deserves to be loved, and that I help care for the cats and dogs that we saved from a much harder life. But even I can see the pointlessness of what most of this country engages in as thousands suffer and die just hours away.
This morning on Today, Harry Connick was as honest as he could be about the horrible conditions and the lack of response and help, and fucking Katie Couric sat there pandering to the moos watching at home, asking the stupid questions and reminding Harry to save his voice for the concert tonight. A fucking CONCERT!?!?! We need some pointless, lame entertainment to make us give money to help these people? I watched that idiot Pat O'Brien last night making himself appear so grand by donating a Beatles poster to be auctioned off for relief--how about giving a million dollars to the Red Cross and call it a day, Pat??? I don't understand how these people and companies with more money than they could ever need sit there and make everybody jump through hoops to cough up a buck, too little, too late.
How about this--our idiot President could partly redeem himself in my eyes if he went on TV tonight at 8:00, pre-empting that stupid concert, and said "All you Americans out there--your duty as a citizen of this country is to stop buying crap you don't need for the next 3 months, send money to the charities we've established, send all your clothes and things you don't need anymore to those who need them, and go DO something to help." Help load a truck of supplies to send to these people who'll be homeless for months.
We live in this enormous, consumer society built on moving goods around the country to be sold to people who don't need them. Mobilize that capacity to help these poor people. Fuck this emergency response shit, and trying to keep the country going. You know what--stop the goddamn economy for a couple weeks, redirect every bus and truck in the country somewhere that they can help. Stop building fucking McMansions all over the place, send those builders to high ground in Texas and build housing for 100,000 people. Pay the damn bills later--that's how we're paying for this stupid war.
Is it because so many of the people are black and poor? I can see where that would be a problem for most of the people in Washington. All the more reason to get rid of them. Is it because there's a handful of useless idiots going around shooting and stealing and raping people? You know what, they're always there--they've always been there, and they always will, and the best way to stop it is to send in the troops and shoot those fuckers. Then you can help the people who need it, the vast crowds of people literally dying in the streets while we worry about a couple of stray sniper shots. Chaos brings out the worst in people because there's always someone willing to take advantage. But we can't let that stop us from saving these people who have nothing.
It's really disturbing that we can't coordinate this effort better. I almost hope that the people in charge just decided not to, rather than thinking that they're THAT incompetent. Is it so hard to think creatively and use the vast resources of this country? We're so concerned about doing these things without upsetting the status quo. What does that prove? That Walmarts can stay open and sell junk to people in Kansas while people in Louisiana die? I know it's simplistic, and there's more to it than that, but the simple fact is that if people really wanted to help, they could. It's just not in our nature anymore.
2 Comments:
Thanks Anika. You just made it totally worth setting this up. Not only did someone actually READ my post, but to have someone agree is always gratifying. I'm going to keep screaming about this till I feel like it's getting better.
Bravo, sweetie.
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