"The Thing About These Creatures that I Am Speaking Of is that They Have No Hearts...

I think that people are conditioned to not act in their own best interests. Let me give you some examples of what I mean. I start with one that many of you have already heard me share. On the day of the 2008 elections, NPR was interviewing a coal miner in West Virginia. She claimed that she was voting for McCain because Obama was going to take her money away and give it to someone else. Now, unless this woman was the most successful coal miner EVER, she is much more likely to be on the receiving end of what she seemed to see as Obama's Robin Hood-esque efforts. Considering that Obama's campaign promises included only repealing tax breaks to people who make more than $200,000, there was little basis for this woman's concern. In fact, she is now paying less in taxes than she was when she was interviewed.

Similarly, the debate over health care reform is astonishing to me. While I, myself, support a single-payer system. I understand why some people have objections. However, with both single payer and a public option off the table, I don't understand why people still object to a bill that will basically ban insurance companies from unethical practices, help more people get insurance, and reduce health care costs. Now, the bill will require most people to purchase health insurace, but I have not heard any strong argument against that. Just the typical, "the government can't tell us what to do" nonsense. Newsflash, if you vote, you are the government. And yes, the government can and does tell you what to do all the time because it's the government's job to govern. It makes good sense to make people buy insurance so that the most people can get reasonable coverage. Of course, it makes more sense to socialize medicine, but we won't go there. About 60% of small businesses in RI cited health insurance costs as their #1 concern according to the ProJo. Every year premiums increase at an alarming rate, co-pays are rising and people are getting screwed by these under-regulated, greedy fucks. Yet, people consistently say they dare opposed to health care reform. Of course, if they are asked about the individual parts of the bill they are overwhelmingly for it.


Let's talk about workers and unions. Because I am a public employee, people begrudge my pension, my salary scale and my belonging to a union. They feel that I have it too good and should have to endure the hardships of the private sector as they do. To these people I say, if I have it too god, why don't you advocate to get these things for yourself? Why not unionize in your workplace or more importantly, vote for candidates who support things like card-check and punishing the crap out of companies who ship jobs overseas to save a cheap buck. Fight back against corporations that are abandoning pensions and demand that your representatives do something about it. Yet people don't. Instead of fighting to make every one's life better, they want to fight to make some people's lives worse.

Why do people do this? Are they brainwashed by large corporations? Is Republican media that powerful? I really don't think it is either of those things. I think that people are still under the illusion that they can and will be rich someday. That they will be the fat cat in the future, so they need to protect the fat cats (of whom this blog's title is referring) now instead of punching them in the balls and taking their money (which is what I advocate). What will it take for people to realize that the deck is stacked against them and unless we stand up to these businesses and corporations via representative government or social organizations, we will never win.

Thoughts?


...They are cold blooded like fishes."

-Robin Wood (aka Hood)
The Sword in the Stone

"Lancelot Tried to Have a Word...

...he considered it to be the most valuable of possessions."

This is a new place, and it is fitting because here I will take on a new purpose. I was the only one left on Live Journal, and even I had left myself. I had left before I stopped writing. It was a different Joe that wrote there than who writes to his readers here. Of this there can be no question. Yet, deep down, I am still so much the same. Which is why I have chosen an old motif with which to start this blog.

I hope to keep you all reading and commenting and thinking not only about me and my thoughts and ideas, but by the quest for the only things that matter, those which we shall not find.



"His word was valuable to him not only because he was good, but also because he was bad."