Who the Hell Are We?

Today, the news media (corporate) reports that an executive with a German car manufacturer made the mistake of driving in Alabama (where the company had built a plant) without his passport. He was arrested. When one of his associates brought his passport, he was released, but still has to appear in court.

The reactions to this are both predicable and informative of the great divide among us. Some people said it was a pity to have done this to a legitimate visitor on visa given the fact that the states are trying so hard to attract foreign investment (millions of dollars in incentives for this company). Others are saying, serves him right for not carrying his passport at all times; they cite experiences in Europe where they had to produce theirs.

I've been in Europe, little dogies, I AM European (to the extent the British will admit it) and I thought we were better than them over there. If they want to have police states, deity bless em, but that's not the home of the brave and free. Except I guess some of us want to be nasty and impose the police state over here. I'm left wondering why when so many of us have been trying to escape it.

So who the hell are we?

My answer: we are two different sets of people. One set of us is hell bent on applying the rules--goddam, I conformed, so can you. I was raised on a set of values and I'm going to apply them, because by golly they were applied to me. I listened to those old-time preachers and they sounded good to me, so you'd better go my way or I'll call you unAmerican, and I don't care if the rich keep their money as long as the poor, whom I disapprove of, don't get any of my hard earned dollars.

Before you throw me to the curb here--this has pretty much been the attitude of the Catholic Church through the ages, but also, to be fair, of the protestant evangelical sects that replaced but did not depose the varieties of spiritual experience.

Then there's the group that resonate to the idea of class warfare and raising the banner for the poor and downtrodden. It's easier to sympathize with this group because--well--the poor are the poor. But let's admit it, many of these guys know how to play the system. I've seen it myself. I've also seen companies die from union efforts at creating utopia.

So, who the hell am I?

Like so many of fellow independents, I chose from both sides. This, I think, is the great distinguishing characteristic between us in the middle and the dream-ons who populate both extremes. Increasingly, there will be more of us because we will refuse to be forced into choosing between two equally stupid options that don't fit in the twenty-first century.

To our current political wantabes, who are among the nuttiest I have ever had the misfortune to have rammed down my throat on TV, I want to say this:  back up on the phony religion (there's a whole bunch of us who see it for the manipulation it is); quit with the ideologies (they're boring us); figure out what's going to work with what most of want: a stable workable approach to life; quit with your theories in favor of what works; and spare us your pretenses and hypocrisy.

If the American tradition is hard work and speaking straight--here I am. Catch up with me if you can.

The Season of Our Discontent: The Occupy Movement, or am I just being Cassandra?

I am getting sick to tears of people saying the Occupy movements have no "goals" and no "platform" so there's no way to tell "what they want."  I gnash my teeth when I hear this--and I hear it from people close to me. They are completely missing the point.

The goals of the occupy movement are two:  first: finding a way to let people have a say in decisions currently being made far above their heads by big money; and, two, allowing the expression of massive disgust with our political structures. Right now, approval of Congress stands at 9%. Where is the 91% going to find an outlet beyond sterile polls in the media that elected officials ignore at will?

Obviously, some of the disgusted among us joined the Tea Party. Others took their tents to city squares and plazas. It's the same impulse, but with entirely different targets. The Tea Partiers want to dismantle government as the answer to everything. The Occupiers want reins on corporations and the wealthy.

And let's be clear about it: there are anarchists in both groups.

The problem with dismantling government is the dog-eat-dog culture that's left. Without regulation, we get tainted food, predatory business, and a culture of cheating. Human beings are not very nice to one another--and a good read of the Bible shows it has always been so. To people who want to hit me over the head with the Bible: please read all of it first.

The problem with curtailing business is the possible discouragement of innovation and new products. No one wants to do that.

But we are blind fools if we don't recognize the corruption and greed in our system of capital investment and stockholders. One small example:  Our local toll road (state supported by bonds) is raising its prices. When  their books were looked into, it turns out they have been paying multimillion dollar bonuses and perks to the employees and board. When called on it, they said, essentially, "Everyone's doing it." They're probably right.

And where is this all headed?

The problem for the nation is that the Tea Partiers are older, richer, and white and believe in the mantra of arming themselves under the rubric of "Law and Order," which is largely enforced by the local police. The Occupy movement is younger, many of whom have little to lose anymore, and willing to use their bodies as a form of political protest.

Hello---does anyone else beside me see a looming problem? Meanwhile, locked in ideological debate over trivial crap and playing at being ideologically pure rather than protecting the country, Congress plays Nero's fiddle for the coming onflagration.

So, yes, the Occupy movement grew up out of frustration and it prides itself on being disorganized. It leaves to us how we implement it, but it tells us we are not alone in our discontent.

So what can we do?

In my case, I will no longer drive on our toll road. I will also try to punish manipulation by withholding my patronage. Today, Sid bought a jar of Heinz gravy. The label said $1 off. The implication was clear: behind the label was a coupon for the gravy. When he looked behind the label, it was a dollar off something else entirely. If I ever buy anything made by Heinz again, I am complicit in their cheat.

Admittedly, Ketchup is not difficult to make and is hardly likely to hit Heinz very hard. So, in my own small way I shall go further to support my local small business.  I'm going to drive to a local egg coop and look at how they treat the poultry. If I'm satisfied, I'll join and buy my eggs from them in preference to the inhumane treatment in large processing plants. I've been to one. They stink from the carcasses of dead birds and not just the guano.

For me, the Occupy movement is a call to look at myself. Who am I? What do I believe? What is my ethical responsibility to the planet, to human beings, and to our fellow travelers.  Sorry--I do not include corporations or the wealthy among those for whom I should feel responsible. Neither did Christ--for you Bible thumpers.

If some of the the rest of us go through this same process, I would say that the Occupy movement has already achieved one of its goals. We all ought to be out there with them because it's the only thing on the horizon with at least a glimmer of hope for the future. We could use some right about now.