Maybe you are not one of the 99%
Count your blessings
You have a job and debt you can carry
Your home is safe and secure
You are fortunate that your hard work paid off for you
A tornado can destroy an entire town and leave a few houses untouched
This is the way that it feels
The majority are floundering in this storm,..while you are safe and warm
It is as simple as that
Those who are protesting are not asking to take what you have
they arent asking for anything but acknowledgment
to be heard
to be understood.
"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'
Matthew 25:45
Christ was saying that where you are kind and understanding to anyone you are kind and understanding to him,
Be kind
Be understanding
Friday, October 14, 2011
Friday, October 7, 2011
Angst, Acrimony and ARGHHHHH
It could have been a passing thought, quickly dismissed. But it wasn't. Although the moment the thought crossed my mind I felt awful for thinking it,..
"I wonder if I could find a job in Canada?"
Yeah, Crazy, I know. Why in the world would I want to move to Canada? But the thought spun like a tornado in my brain,..the hubs could find work there,..maybe not me,..how different from Montana could it be? Could I be that far from the kids? Would the kids want to go? Could we afford to live there,..they all talk kind of, well, funny, but they seem more like us than not, and what would I be,..................thats where the thought made my heart shudder,..what would I be?
Would I be an "expatriate" and exactly what does that mean?
Wikipedia~An expatriate (in abbreviated form, expat) is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person's upbringing or legal residence. The word comes from the Latin terms ex ("out of") and patria ("country, fatherland").
So, whoa, okay, not an "Ex-Patriot",..if there even is such a thing. Maybe it's just a spelling thing. Maybe not.
And did that ever get me thinking,...
"Patriot",..to my mind now, was a label highjacked by simple minded selfish people who carry hate filled signs with tea bags hanging from their hats. Before, impression of a patriot cam from the pages of the books at school and the bookshelf of history books my step father had at home. Patriots were people who risked their lives in pursuit of what they believed was their innate right to have representation in their government.
Did I ever feel like a patriot,..no. I have felt patriotic,..proud of my country, yes. There have been times when my heart has soared, and broken in unity with a million others across this country. When the towers fell I was living in small town Montana, but I felt like it happened to all of us. And when Obama was elected, I was proud of this country, because, at that time anyway, I felt like we had passed a great milestone in electing a man of color to lead us. But I never felt like a "Patriot",..now I was seriously, however fleetingly, considering becoming an "Ex-Patriot".
Why?
Fear, mostly, anxiety over the direction that I see our country going. The catastrophe that is our economy, the hate,..the anger,..greed over humanity,..a generation of our children being dumped into an economic abyss.
We've gone down a rabbit hole and I dont know how or if, we can ever go back. And let me be clear, it's not just the economy that has me agonizing,..its our society. People who can cheer over a hypothetical man dying because he has no insurance and boo at a man who walked where bullets flew because he is gay. I see these things on t v and I read about them and it makes me sick. Knowing that other people are seeing and reading about my America that way makes me ashamed. Reading the stories left on the Occupy Wall Street website made me cry,..really cry. And the things that I am reading now about the "rights" reaction to Occupy Wall Street make me want to scream. Thugs? The Tea Party marching on Washington hanging effigies of my president were not "Thugs" Mr. Cantor?
How did we become so fractured? How did people living the same history become so polarized? On some level hate has historically been accepted, but now? Now? We are supposed to be a generation of educated enlightened people and able to figure this damn thing out.
We aren't. And we wont.
And the level of stupidity in all of it is just ridiculous. The average card carrying tea party, Obama bashing, toe the "Right" line of thinking people are too stupid to realize that they are part of the 99 percent. They dont get that they have been manipulated by big business,..and a terrifyingly few individuals into accepting a political platform that is the exact opposite of THEIR BEST INTERESTS. And not to mention, just plain wrong. To be truly Christ like is to walk the path of Christ, in kindness and light, with open arms and a generous heart. And we have the Westoboro Baptist Church who thinks it's right to spew hate from the edges of funerals and remonstrate people like Elizabeth Edwards and Steve Jobs because they can make headlines!
It's common to hear politicians speak of our children in their speeches,.."leaving debt for our children" is a popular Republican phrase,..but it was always in the context of what we are doing now and how it affects the future. Well, the future is here, my children's "future" is here and it sucks.
My hard working oldest son cannot afford health care. His teeth are rotting in his head and the health care that he has received that he couldn't afford to pay for at the time has brought collection bureaus and court judgments into his life. He lives paycheck to paycheck and feels like a failure at times because the American Dream of a home, family and back yard barbeques hasn't happened for him.
My daughter, and her newly discharged Marine are about to lose their apartment because the military has taken so long to process his discharge and the GI Bill that they naively thought was going to support them while he went to school. The Military also owes him over four thousand dollars in back pay, that they have alternately approved and dissapproved for the last two years. They have no medical care and a baby coming.
My youngest, is still living at home,..working up the street making minimum wage, with no benefits or medical insurance. His girlfriend is about to give birth to our first grandchild.
What is going to happen to them? I lay in bed at night worrying about how they are going to navigate these treacherous waters and survive. They are all stressed and worried themselves. Their young lives should be filled with joy and anticipation. They should believe that hard work and good karma determines their destinations in this life and they cant, because it isnt true. Not any more. Not in this society, in this Country, here, what Wikipedia equates as the "homeland". And honestly, I find myself wanting to say "I hate this place", which pains me more than any words could express, but right now, I really do "hate this place". My America. It's become a foreign landscape to me.
So, for a few minutes, I thought I'd move to Canada.
"I wonder if I could find a job in Canada?"
Yeah, Crazy, I know. Why in the world would I want to move to Canada? But the thought spun like a tornado in my brain,..the hubs could find work there,..maybe not me,..how different from Montana could it be? Could I be that far from the kids? Would the kids want to go? Could we afford to live there,..they all talk kind of, well, funny, but they seem more like us than not, and what would I be,..................thats where the thought made my heart shudder,..what would I be?
Would I be an "expatriate" and exactly what does that mean?
Wikipedia~An expatriate (in abbreviated form, expat) is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person's upbringing or legal residence. The word comes from the Latin terms ex ("out of") and patria ("country, fatherland").
So, whoa, okay, not an "Ex-Patriot",..if there even is such a thing. Maybe it's just a spelling thing. Maybe not.
And did that ever get me thinking,...
"Patriot",..to my mind now, was a label highjacked by simple minded selfish people who carry hate filled signs with tea bags hanging from their hats. Before, impression of a patriot cam from the pages of the books at school and the bookshelf of history books my step father had at home. Patriots were people who risked their lives in pursuit of what they believed was their innate right to have representation in their government.
Did I ever feel like a patriot,..no. I have felt patriotic,..proud of my country, yes. There have been times when my heart has soared, and broken in unity with a million others across this country. When the towers fell I was living in small town Montana, but I felt like it happened to all of us. And when Obama was elected, I was proud of this country, because, at that time anyway, I felt like we had passed a great milestone in electing a man of color to lead us. But I never felt like a "Patriot",..now I was seriously, however fleetingly, considering becoming an "Ex-Patriot".
Why?
Fear, mostly, anxiety over the direction that I see our country going. The catastrophe that is our economy, the hate,..the anger,..greed over humanity,..a generation of our children being dumped into an economic abyss.
We've gone down a rabbit hole and I dont know how or if, we can ever go back. And let me be clear, it's not just the economy that has me agonizing,..its our society. People who can cheer over a hypothetical man dying because he has no insurance and boo at a man who walked where bullets flew because he is gay. I see these things on t v and I read about them and it makes me sick. Knowing that other people are seeing and reading about my America that way makes me ashamed. Reading the stories left on the Occupy Wall Street website made me cry,..really cry. And the things that I am reading now about the "rights" reaction to Occupy Wall Street make me want to scream. Thugs? The Tea Party marching on Washington hanging effigies of my president were not "Thugs" Mr. Cantor?
How did we become so fractured? How did people living the same history become so polarized? On some level hate has historically been accepted, but now? Now? We are supposed to be a generation of educated enlightened people and able to figure this damn thing out.
We aren't. And we wont.
And the level of stupidity in all of it is just ridiculous. The average card carrying tea party, Obama bashing, toe the "Right" line of thinking people are too stupid to realize that they are part of the 99 percent. They dont get that they have been manipulated by big business,..and a terrifyingly few individuals into accepting a political platform that is the exact opposite of THEIR BEST INTERESTS. And not to mention, just plain wrong. To be truly Christ like is to walk the path of Christ, in kindness and light, with open arms and a generous heart. And we have the Westoboro Baptist Church who thinks it's right to spew hate from the edges of funerals and remonstrate people like Elizabeth Edwards and Steve Jobs because they can make headlines!
It's common to hear politicians speak of our children in their speeches,.."leaving debt for our children" is a popular Republican phrase,..but it was always in the context of what we are doing now and how it affects the future. Well, the future is here, my children's "future" is here and it sucks.
My hard working oldest son cannot afford health care. His teeth are rotting in his head and the health care that he has received that he couldn't afford to pay for at the time has brought collection bureaus and court judgments into his life. He lives paycheck to paycheck and feels like a failure at times because the American Dream of a home, family and back yard barbeques hasn't happened for him.
My daughter, and her newly discharged Marine are about to lose their apartment because the military has taken so long to process his discharge and the GI Bill that they naively thought was going to support them while he went to school. The Military also owes him over four thousand dollars in back pay, that they have alternately approved and dissapproved for the last two years. They have no medical care and a baby coming.
My youngest, is still living at home,..working up the street making minimum wage, with no benefits or medical insurance. His girlfriend is about to give birth to our first grandchild.
What is going to happen to them? I lay in bed at night worrying about how they are going to navigate these treacherous waters and survive. They are all stressed and worried themselves. Their young lives should be filled with joy and anticipation. They should believe that hard work and good karma determines their destinations in this life and they cant, because it isnt true. Not any more. Not in this society, in this Country, here, what Wikipedia equates as the "homeland". And honestly, I find myself wanting to say "I hate this place", which pains me more than any words could express, but right now, I really do "hate this place". My America. It's become a foreign landscape to me.
So, for a few minutes, I thought I'd move to Canada.
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