This may come as a surprise, especially to my Alabama friends, but I am that person. The person that relies on those socialistic government programs. Those same programs I invested in for 40 years. That person, that drain on society, that will probably just disappear from sight, if things like HCR and Social Security/Medicare are torn down, and Agent Orange & the HoR get their way.
I have contributed to Social Security since the age of 14. I was taken out of the work force about 5 years ago, due to poly-auto-immune syndrome/diseases(my term). I will not go into that in this piece.
Due to my mother's death, I am a bejillion times more fortunate than hundreds of thousands of others. I have shelter. Now, I am at dire risk of losing even that. I own my house, but can no longer afford to heat, cool, water, maintain my home. The only reason it hasn't already happened, is that my daughters are paying it forward.
I must own some shit, I made some pretty wacky financial decisions, trusted some people I should not have, to do work they did not do well, and I have had to pay for those decisions. (Not talking a lot of money, a few thousand, so don't get your self righteous undies in a bunch).
Every one of these decisions were made, in the hopes of bringing a little sunshine (work, money, a leg up, adventure), into someone else's life, where it may not have otherwise been. Yes, I guess you could say I fucked up. My biggest fault is that I will give my food to you if you ask, sometimes you don't even have to ask.
I have lived my life caring for others, from narcissistic husbands to 'suck the air out of the room' friends. I have given away more than I have ever held onto, and I consciously choose to be that way, rather than the opposite. As a dear friend said way back in the late 70's, "Just because other people are assholes, doesn't mean you have to be one". I held that close, for a very long time. There have been so many times I wanted to lash out, to bitch slap someone for a racist, misinformed, or uncaring statement, and I bit my lip and sucked it up, because I didn't want to hurt their feelings. I am getting old, eccentric, and real tired of that.
Notice~ I will be speaking out from now on. Sorry Annie (Huber-Frisch), I AM going to be the asshole, at least verbally, and in the moment.
There are so many veins I could take from this. Perhaps I will divulge more in another session, but for now ~ if you think you know those people, the ones that are homeless, cold and hungry, the ones that don't want to work, choose to live in the alley, beg at the on ramp, sleep in the dumpster....you are mistaken. I know a lot of people, and they have no idea that I will be there sooner than later, if not for the help of the SS and MC. I want to work, I want to be productive, I want to matter. My mind is fine, it is my body that beats the crap out of me daily. I am bored to the city limits of Nutsville, constantly looking for a parttime something I might be able to do. I know, that for me to fail at another job, if I could find one, because my body says 'OH HELL NO', is something that will set me back further than my ass on this sofa. I know, that most of y'all don't know what a slippery vertical slope, a laundry chute, that portal into John Malkovich's mind...it is, from being secure, to being fucked. Trust me, I've skied down the mountain between Phil and Steve Mahre, and this guy..... and it is one fast MF-ing ride, the E ticket to hell.
I have had big houses, successful stores, lots of money, lost those, and been homeless. I'd like to believe I never lost sight of those less fortunate, but I bet I did, if even just for a while.
If the wealthy control everything, the rest of us have no value except servitude. If education is available only to the rich kids, the rest of us will never have any value except servitude. If HCR goes down (which it will not, using as an example), the poor will die off slowly, and no longer be a drain on the wealthy. Since they are uneducated, they will have no tools to fight, to improve their lives. Is this the country the founding fathers envisioned, you think? As they fled religious persecution....as they welcomed all people from all countries, all walks of life, all socio-economic levels... into the US, to make a new life, buy a ticket on that American dreamride. I believe now, and always will, that it is a responsibility, it is right, it is moral, it is humane, to take care of those less fortunate.
As I get ready to liquidate, simplify, move on, I know it will be ok. I have survived worse situations. I am actually looking forward to freedom from material things. The past decade has been one hell of a ride.
You can't pull yourself up by your bootstraps if you don't first have the boots. - Paul Wellstone (from @Shoq, twitter)
If not for the grace of others.....it might be you. I mean me. Back to you, now, back to me. I'm on a horse. See me.
