The Trap

I think what triggered the clarity of my thought process enough to start this blog is this review of The Trap:Selling Out to Stay Afloat In Winner Take-All America by Daniel Brook.

This book lays out the concept of how increasing economic insecurity limits our choices..limiting our freedom..and making entire ways of life nearly extinct.

What's the argument? That conservatives' tragic misunderstanding of freedom has produced exactly what Goldwater feared most: stifling the energy and talent of the individual, crushing creative differences, forcing conformity - and, yes, even leading us to despotism (and I'm not talking about habeus corpus or NSA spying). By methodically undermining the public's will and ability to underwrite the public good, systematically accelerating economic inequality, and making turning oneself into a commodity - "selling out" - the only possible route for young people who wish a reasonably secure middle class existence, conservatives killed liberty. The canary in the coal mine is the death of young people's "freedom to live adult lives typified by choice rather than economic compulsion."

and

Brook, citing the social critic Brendan Koerner, calls college debt America's new "ambition tax." Inspired by Brook, I coined some other new taxes bequeathed to us by the demons a triumphant Goldwaterism has set lose. There is, for instance, the "idealism tax." In 1980, a University of Chicago student paid a $5,100 tuition - and, if her heart called her to teach in a Chicago public school, earn two and a half times that: not impractical. Now the relevant numbers are $31,500 and $38,500. Brook's stuff on teachers and even mayors priced out of the cities they serve is devastating.

I think the problem isn't so much money coming in. It's money going out. Rising transportation costs, housing costs, insurance costs (health and transport), etc. Starting life with two strikes against you through student debt.

Why would a society do this? The suspicion is that a stressed society is a confused society, which tends to flail and while it knows that there is a problem, it doesn't know who or what is the problem. However, instant communication that can get around scheduling difficulties is quickly bringing some much needed clarity. That's why I believe that the current economic order, the status quo, it's lifespan can be measured in not decades, but years.

Michael Moore gets it

I'm a fan of Moore. I don't agree with everything he says, and I'm not that much of a prankster myself, but to each our own, right? But I think his arguments come from a state of good faith. I really think he's much more open minded than people give him credit for..take for account Bowling for Columbine, in which I guess was going to be your gun control argument #234 and became a great dialog on fear and its effect on the human condition. The greatest movies are said to be about the human condition, are they not?

But Michael Moore goes on my list of people who get it. Thanks to RandyH over at Comments at Digbys, it's a rundown of the end of Sicko. I haven't seen the whole movie yet..not playing locally yet. So I'm not sure if this is the end of the movie, or something else. It matters not. Moore gets it.

It was hard for me to acknowledge that in the end, we truly are in the same boat. And that, no matter what our differences, we sink or swim together. That's how it seems to be everywhere else. They take care of each other - no matter what their disagreements. You know when we see a good idea from another country, we grab it. If they build a better car, we drive it. If they make a better wine, we drink it. So if they have come up with a better way to treat the sick, to teach their kids, to take care of their babies, to simply be good to each other, then what's our problem? Why can't we do that? They live in a world of WE, not ME. We'll never fix anything until we get that one basic thing right. And powerful forces hope that we never do - and that we remain the only country in the western world without free, universal healthcare. You know - if we ever did remove the choke-hold of medical bills, college loans, daycare and everything else that makes us afraid to step out of line, well, watch out... because it will be a new day in America. In the meantime, I’m gonna go get the government to do my laundry.

It's not just America, to be honest. ME is an influence in other places as well. However, with a lack of health care for all, America is behind the game. Far behind.

But it's obvious that Moore gets the big picture.

Welcome to A New Poetry

"we can leave too soon
we can leave too soon forever"--Zwan, A New Poetry

Life is far too short. Way too short. Our time on this planet, is so important to each and every one of us. We want to get the most we can out of it. However, it's so hard to actually get this. Put behind the eight-ball, at every turn, so many conflicting forces, trying to put us under their thumb. We lose sight of making our lives worth something, instead we become commodities to be used and thrown out like the trash.

Leftist, Liberal, Progressive, Moderate, Conservative, Libertarian. American. Canadian. European. We all have one thing in common.

We all know, that deep down inside, something is just not right. Something is wrong. Things are just not the way they should be.

Our own ability to pursue our dreams has been lost in the rush for profits. The basic right, to try and find happiness with this time we have together has been lost. No, not lost. Stolen. Why? Bigger profits, certainly, but I think a larger part is simply to show power.

But I'm seeing trends, waves, currents that give me hope. That freedom means more than just limiting government, (Although that can be very important) that freedom means the ability to pursue your dreams.

That's what this is about. It's about the growing movement of hope, of happiness, of community..

Of freedom.