Sunday, December 18, 2011

The Occupy movement: I don't get it...

I must admit that I just don't "get" the Occupy movement. Perhaps it is because I am just a simple southern boy, and don't grasp things well, but by my observation, these people just do not understand their own purpose, nor realize or appreciate what they do have.
They seem to be just angry at anyone who makes more or has more money than they do. That is not a noble attitude, it is just one of jealousy and envy. I see among this crowd so many signs declaring "Eat the Rich". The pity of it is that according to most of the world's population, they should be eating each other, because they are the rich! The "top 1%" thing - what does one have to earn to be, worldwide, among the top 1% of earners? According to World Bank economists, $34,200. The top 10%, $12,000. This is an extraordinarily wealthy nation - the bottom 5% in the ol' USA are better off than 68% of the world population. This is the crowd crying about their situation, squatting on and damaging public property, shitting on police cars, and loudly decrying corporate capitalism and the greed and wealth of the U.S. top 1%, while their message seems to be anger that *they* are unable to access jobs that would place *them* in the top 1%. I don't get it.
I have looked carefully at photos of these poor distraught folk - I see Gap, Old Navy and L.L. Bean clothing, North Face tents, high-line smart cellphones being used to access Facebook, Twitter, etc to spread their confused messages, while they are not holding signs made with poster board and Magic Marker pens, all the products of corporate capitalism.
One young lady (and from her language on camera, I am using the term loosely indeed) was angry that she has $44,000 in college loan debt, and is unable to find the high-paying job that she expected, and was cursing the banks that loaned the money to her. I don't get it. In my college days, if one could not manage the academic chops in K-12 to attain a scholarship, and could not afford to go to college full-time, one worked at whatever they could find while going to college part-time for as long as it took to attain a marketable degree in something useful, not Art History or anything "Studies". In a world where 18% of the adult population is illiterate, what is their problem? And incidentally, this situation is not new - there was a Masters degree in Sociology driving a fire truck at a local fire hall 30 years ago. My own daughter graduated high school with a 3.94 GPA, and scholarshipped her way through two earned Bachelors in Psychology and Criminology, just in time to be caught up in the present economy and widespread governmental mismanagement, with force reductions and hiring freezes in law enforcement - she works in a framing shop at a Hobby Lobby store. She is disappointed, but not wandering around with the Occupy crowd - she is too busy working at whatever she can to pay her bills.
I am still reeling from the whiny out-of-touch weirdo who, during the Obama campaign, explained that he was 27 years old and working for McDonalds with no benefits, and was essentially trying to find out if Barry was going to force McD's to provide him health insurance. 27 and working at Mickey's? Perhaps he had not considered that he was in that situation because he is a loser with poor planning skills and no motivation, and he ain't gonna get a better job waiting for the feddle gummint to force some company to give him one. I know an intelligent, attractive lady who has been married and divorced three times. She has given up on the dating/marriage thing after an epiphany - "I have been married to three fine men, and the marriages all fell apart. I just realized 'Hey, maybe it is me', and I don't want to punish another fine man that way". Clarity of vision...
Some of the Occupiers have admitted to interviewers that they quit their jobs to be there, and be part of a "noble cause". Here's a noble cause for you entitled, out-touch wackos: go beg to get your jobs back, Suck It Up, and try to do some better planning from now on. Sheesh.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Re: December 15

Re: December 15. Thirty two years ago today, more by luck than good planning, I stood, in an uncomfortable suit, before a room full of people, and vowed to bind myself emotionally and legally to Sandy, a lady of intelligence and decency. She has suffered long, through my weirdness and devastating medical problems, and has remained my partner, confidant, lover, and best friend. She is better than I deserve. Love you, baby. Happy anniversary!

Friday, December 9, 2011

Still recovering, and feeling useless...

Even more "excitement" - I had a spell of reduced heart function, apparently because of the illnesses, and the Edema Fairie set in on me. I looked much like the Michelin Man for a few days, until the industrial-strength dieuretics got me back to normal. And no, I have not been scooter-riding, or going much of anywhere - when I was all "swole up" (southern medical term) I did not have the sense to remove my prosthetic foots, and kept wearing them during the day, such that the stumps were very tight in the sockets, and I now am healing up pressure sores and abrasions on the stumps, and I have not been able to wear the fake foots for about the last month, and have been largely immobile. I have made it out of the house for a few things, but traveling is a chore, and exhausting.
Anyway, enough complaining. I am building a do-list which gets longer by the day, so I expect to be quite busy for who knows how how long. On the scooters alone, I have to change out the tires on the trike, and replace all the coolant hoses on the Elite, plus general housekeeping on all three. Here in the house, I am attacking things a room at the time, mostly cleaning and organizing, to reduce the junkies. The beat goes on...