I’M A STUPID AMERICAN!

And most of the rest of us are as well.

I grew up believing America was exceptional. I believed in the equality, and justice that was supposedly available for all. I pledged allegiance to the flag’ with liberty and justice for all.

I thought we were different than the shit hole countries.

I was insulated, like so many. I am white, and there used to be a middle class.

We had democracy, and we were Socialists in many ways. When there was a depression, we pulled together, and our government put people to work building our infrastructure. We built a system to take care of those that were old, and sick. We pooled our money for Social Security, and Medicare. We made our schools a priority so we could have a educated populace. And very importantly we put checks and balances on Capitalism. We had unions that gave workers a voice in what was fair compensation, and how to have a safe place to work.

It was a time when pay went hand in hand with productivity. A much higher percentage of those working a full time job could afford a roof over their head, and food to eat.

But things seemed better to me then, because I was white, and insulated from the truth about the inequality that many groups of Americans lived with. The charade of the pyramid scheme we call Capitalism was not so obvious as it is today. Add to that the fact that I was racist and blind to the inequality made me believe this country, and what I was taught about it was for real.

Well look at us now. The rich get richer. The poor get poorer. The middle disappears.

And then there are these supposedly cool headed neoliberal pundits telling me I don’t see the whole picture. It’s much more complicated than my socialist leftist brain can decipher. Meanwhile they are madly planting trees, hoping I won’t see the forest of BS they are spreading to slow down the inevitable.

Just how long do they think it will take before the majority realize that the Republicans and the Democrats are both owned by the same corporate oligarchs? That will be when we finally vote for something else. But until then we are stuck with the lesser evil. Back and forth it goes, slowly sliding to the right. By the right I mean every penny going straight into the pockets of the 1%. If you can’t see that happening, you just aren’t looking. Too busy trying to get to your second job on time I suppose.

But I’m old enough to see how things have changed, and how they have stayed the same. When I first had the opportunity to smell tear gas it was protesting war in the streets. We protested, we got gassed, some people got angry about that and broke some stuff. Just like today. Protestors are called thugs. They are very brave thugs it seems. They come out to protest war on our own citizens knowing they are going to be beaten and gassed. They come out armed with water bottles and masks. The police are busy handing out water to the AR15 toting white nationalists there to help the police intimidate free speech. Plain as the nose on your face. I’ve even seen police breaking windows, inciting a riot the way only the police can. When the police “accidentally” shot a tear gas canister into a business, and it caught on fire, it showed up as meme blaming protester violence.

On and on through the years the faces change but the story is the same only worse. I wish we the people would have woken up sooner, before the environment was driven to the brink. Before every aspect of our lives was controlled by money grubbing corporate oligarchs that make more money in ten minutes than the average American makes in a year. But it is what it is, and now it is time to wake up or else…In all my ancient wisdom I am afraid the “or else” is what is going to happen. I am afraid that we are not waking up fast enough. But it doesn’t really matter to me. I’ll be gone soon enough. An old man and his ramblings make no difference to most. but I will say it one more time. Please wake up! Please wake up!