Thursday, March 26, 2009

God Help America

(Spencer)
I encountered a post on facebook stating that the 10 poorest cities in America (pop. Over 250,000) always nominate democratic mayors- the evidence suggesting that only the poor and insane vote for democrats. At first I was enraged. Then I was curious. I did some research and this is what I found.

10 richest cities in America (pop. over 250,000).

http://dcjobsource.com/richest.html, and http://www.iweblists.com/us/government/Mayors.html (I did it the slow way before I found these sites).

1. San Jose, California- Chuck R. Reed- Democrat
2. Anchorage, Alaska- Matt Claman- Democrat
3. San Francisco, California- Gavin Newsom- Democrat
4. Virginia Beach, Virginia- William D. Sessoms, Jr- Republican
5. San Diego, California- Jerry Sanders- Republican
6. Anaheim, California- Curt Pringle- Republican
7. Raleigh, North Carolina- Charles Meeker- Democrat
8. Seattle, Washington- Greg Nickels- Democrat
9. Washington, DC- Adrian M. Fenty- Democrat
10. Honolulu, Hawaii- Mufi Hunnemann- Democrat

7 out of the 10 cities with the highest income (per capita) employ a democratic mayor. It seems to be more of a big city thing than a poverty thing.

I can’t say I belong to either party. I did vote for Obama. And, yes, it is because of the sense of hope and change he brings to the country.

Money. Money. Money. I guess it is a necessary evil. But I hate it! Especially when it is exchanged for labor in countries so far away that it’s foreign value doesn’t even resemble its domestic value. Americans desperately need to consider- what is a dollar worth in America today. Key words- in America, today. How is it possible that we can earn so many dollars with so little work. It is at historic records. Echoing the constitution, “all men are created equally.” We should all have the same rights and opportunities for whatever just pursuit might interest us individually. Is it really just that we take advantage of human beings in countries that do not have the same opportunities offered to us. Ask yourself again- how is it possible that we can earn so many dollars with so little work. Let me spell it out for you- SLAVERY. We exploit less fortunate people, like the hard workers of China, Indonesia, Honduras, India, Mexico, Guatemala, etc (just a few countries I found on household items). Not to mention the fuel, for which we so casually swipe a piece of plastic and pump, costs much more that just under $2.00/gal. We are in the middle of a war for oil. Is it really worth the lives of our friends and family, not to mention the uncounted dead men, women and children outside our borders. Out of sight, out of mind. America’s wealthy have found a way to appear decent by indirectly enslaving foreign laborers. And we, the average American citizens, are victims of consumerism. We are so damned selfish! I am sick at the thought of calling myself an American. There is no pride left in that title. The difference between American slaves and foreign, working-class slaves is that we have a choice. There is not much the Chinese worker can do about his position in society. If he doesn’t work, he and his family will die. We on the other hand are free enough to resist the temptations of society. True, most of are incredibly addicted to the ease with which we acquire our luxuries. However, if we were all aware of the damage our greed is doing to the rest of the world, we might me more inclined to change.

Let the dollar plummet in value. Let wealthy international businesses topple to the ground. Let humility overcome each American individually. Let the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave be free and brave enough to confront our own . I do not exclude myself from this ignorant and evil lifestyle (they are my house-hold items). I just want to change. Someone help me, and the rest of America, change.

“…and if to live we have to be numb, I’d rather know the pain. I’d rather know. I’d rather know…” Rise Against

The political/social pyramid is imposed upon us all at birth. It doesn’t care what you want and would never wait for a request or application for participation. If you are born in America, you will live and die by American rules. A nation is just another business idea. It’s another way to gain power, fame and money. Power is our substitute for self-control. Fame is our substitute for love. Money is our substitute for hard-work.

I would love to be able to say: I never asked to use your roads. I never asked your policemen or soldiers to protect me. I never asked you to create imaginary lines on the earth to divide country, state and city. I never asked you to keep people from crossing them. I never asked you to require each member of your club to carry a plastic card bearing an identification number in order to keep track of us all. I never asked you to fling bombs and bullets at people in other clubs. I sure the hell didn’t ask you to send machines into space that can follow and record my every move. I didn’t ask you to listen to my phone calls just to be sure I’m not planning to attack you. I wish I could say all these things. But I can’t. I need your roads. I need your policemen and soldiers. I need your dividing borders. I need you to keep certain people out. I need you to know where I am just in case I need anything else. I need you to kill the people who want to hurt me. I need you to monitor everyone, so you can stop people from hurting my innocent family and friends. But I wish I didn’t.

1 comment:

  1. I've already made my stance on this known, but as I re-read it again, I just wanted to say...

    CLAP... CLAP... CLAP...

    Some people say, "You can't just start a slow-clap anytime you want!"

    Watch me.

    ReplyDelete