I truly am, guys. And when I say "tired", I mean exhausted, worried, and rather pissed off.
I just read this excellent article, about the unique tone deafness that seems to inflict all those who do now, or whoever have, worked on Wall Street. It's like a thing with them, being an asshole and all. It's almost a prerequisite.
From the above-linked article (and please read the entire 9-page opus, because it's a real eye-opener), concerning the bailout:
“But it wasn’t a free lunch,” Benmosche insists. It’s a point of view that I am apparently not the first to fail to appreciate. “Everybody said it’s just not going to happen, they’ll never pay it off,” he goes on. “SIGTARP, Elizabeth Warren, Gretchen Whatshername in the New York Times. The fact is we now have succeeded in getting the Fed back all of their money, and we’re just close to getting the Treasury paid back. And do you know,” he adds, an indignant note creeping into his voice, “neither of them have ever said ‘Thank you’? We have done all the right things. Somebody should say, ‘By golly, those AIG people made a promise and they are living up to a promise!’ We’re left with a major part of the economy in America; they’re going to make a profit on top of everything else they’ve got,” he finishes, settling back into his chair. “God bless America. And God bless AIG. And God bless Tiny Tim.”
.....
ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!
Oh, sure. Yes! Absolutely!
THANK YOU FOR BANKRUPTING THIS COUNTRY AND THE ENTIRE GLOBAL COMMUNITY, YOU COMPLETE FUCKWITS!
Oy vey.
I am getting extremely sick and tired of people, who seemingly have more money than God, claiming that they made their wide wad of cash through either ethical and/or moral means. Or both.
So says Dickhead Benmosche (again, link above):
“When you think about the bonuses—I made more money because I worked harder. First one out, last one in, always selling another case.”
Right. Yup. That's the reason!
.....
Oh, wait. No, it's not.
No! Let's be clear here, Holmes. You made more money than others because you have no ethical or moral values. That, kind sir, is why you have more money than God. Because you don't care about God, and you don't care about other people, and you don't give two shits about women or your children or anything even remotely resembling something called humanity.
I tell you wut, peeps. It seems that those of us who actually operate with our regular values and morals intact are the exceptions rather than the rule. I don't get that, personally -- I really don't. I don't get why you would ruin or hurt someone just to get ahead, as opposed to helping other people succeed. I thought that was some kind of code I was plugged into but, as it turns out, it's more of a liberal thing than anything else.
Conservatives do not give a pretend crap (not even if it's Mitt Romney! shocker!) about other folks' emotional and physical welfare, but liberals do. That's just how we roll, you know? It totally is. This "caring" stuff is strictly a liberal deal. Conservatives, by and large, do not do "caring". "Caring", in conservative circles, is, ya know, for sissies and gay dudes and communist fascist Muslim men like Barack Obama.
Take, for example, my own story. I grew up with hard-working, undereducated parents who worked their asses off to give my sister and myself a better way of life. My folks were strictly blue collar, but we never worried about having enough money to eat or pay the bills, because we simply always did. Sister Shiz and I didn't appreciate their efforts at the time, but we certainly do now, considering that we have families of our own.
Our parents sacrificed their own livelihoods so Sis Shiz and I could have better futures than they did. I hear that this is called the American Dream: to approve upon your situation so much that your children benefit from your awesome actions.
And my parents made it happen. That makes me very proud of them.
In my own adult life, I have not always made the correct choices. I have major depression and some other fun stuff going on, but I can attest to the fact that, as someone who grew up relatively middle-class, I did not understand or appreciate what being poor was truly like, or felt like.
Both of my parents survived the Great Depression. They knew what it felt like to Be Poor. And, while I was growing up, that fact was sincerely lost on me. Because I had no friggin' idea what being "poor" truly entailed, except for what I had seen in movies and on TV shows.
So, for those visiting The Isle of The Poor today, for the very first time ever, please note: being poor is entirely different than being middle class. I've been both, so I know, I understand. And being poor sucks all kinds of donkey balls.
Being middle class gives you room to move. It gives you room to bitch about "regular" stuff (that you get from either People or US Weekly magazines and latch onto, hoping like hell you have someone to complain to your co-workers or friends about, because that's what everyone else does, right?!). "Middle class" means that you don't normally think about health insurance, or daycare worries, or the energy bill, or why the internet is not working correctly this week. "Middle class" means that you don't normally think about your student loans because, wtf, who CAN'T pay those?!
They must be deadbeats, people who can't pay their student loans! OMGWTFBBQ! Criminals! MURDERERS!!!!!
Middle class means you can afford to eat out, about once per week. You can see shows (a blockbuster movie, or a performing arts show) about once per month. You can pay the babysitter to go over to friends' house once every other week, just so that you can have your "mommy" or "daddy" time.
Yeah.
Right.
Poor people do not even remotely understand these identifiers. The poor are usually singularly concerned about food bills for their families, as well as paying bills that keep their families afloat. That can mean rent, electric/gas, and/or internet.
Food banks can work for food, if you're poor enough to utilize their facilities. I've heard this numerous times, from people who don't want to be " associated" with food banks, and the like: you have to be "poor enough" to engage the food bank in question. Because, I don't know, food is so often stolen in the United States that, geez, why wouldn't you promote this?!
I have no idea, you guys. But I am just sayin'.
My personal thing is: WHO THE FUCK CARES?!
Because I don't, you know?!
I just want. everybody. to. be. OK.