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Thursday Morning Ramblings

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The NFL lockout is a pretty good metaphor for where we are as a nation.  While billionaires and millionaires squabble over how to divvy up a $9-10 billion pie, the majority of us are struggling to keep gas in our cars.  It’s shameful to think that we are so far out of balance and so disconnected as a society that we’ve ended up in this situation.  Without us to buy their product, their revenue will dry up, but instead of looking at the bigger picture, both sides are focused on protecting their short-term interests without seeing the long-term ramifications.

To take it a step further, however, the owners seem to have disdain for the players.  In this case, the players are the labor, and currently, Corporate America views labor as a nuisance and an expense, rather than a valuable asset.  Without the players, the owners have nothing to sell, but instead of protecting their product and ensuring quality, ownership seeks to cut benefits, weaken the union, and maximize their profits.  To me, that’s backwards thinking.  The owners should recognize the value these workers add to their companies and maximize profits through the product they sell.  Labor is not disposable, and customers are not guaranteed.

To a degree, I can understand the players’ position.  They put their bodies on the line every day in practice and every game.  They are the ones who fill the seats and generate the revenue, so they want fair compensation for the profits they generate.  However, the fans are the ones buying the tickets, purchasing the merchandise, and watching the games on TV.  Most of us earn a fraction of their salaries despite working jobs that are much more important to the nation as a whole.  While we make hard choices about healthcare and retirement and food, they live lives of luxury and excess.  It’s hard to sympathize with their desire for more when at the end of the month I’m rolling change for lunch money.

This us vs. them mentality between management and labor is truly at the heart of all of our problems as a country.  The divisiveness of this issue permeates every aspect of our society.  Until we heal this rift, our problems will continue to grow.  Until both sides learn that they are really on the same side and are dependent on each other for sustenance, nothing will improve.  Without labor generating their profits, billionaires can’t exist.  Without management making wise, long-term decisions, labor has nothing to do.  And without customers who have both the desire for and the ability to purchase their products, neither side has anything.

General Posts

Wednesday Night Ramblings

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The people who I simply can’t understand are the working class people who defend corporate greed in terms of fairness.  I’m sorry, but that Uncle Tom, willing slave mentality is beyond me.  The irony is that these people often see themselves also as defenders of individualism and self-governance, when corporate culture is much more akin to fascism and totalitarianism.  If you don’t believe me, show up to your corporate job out of uniform and attempt to express any personal view that clashes with corporate policy.  See how long you last.  I’m not suggesting anything so outlandish as showing up nude or drunk.  I’m talking the wrong color pants and openly disparaging the new benefits package.  In the fascist corporate world, you will be reprimanded swiftly for these minor individual expressions.

These same people also often lament the decline of small businesses over the last three decades yet refuse to acknowledge that the single biggest enemy to small business is and always will be big business.  Yes, I concede that the government has over-regulated too many aspects of too many areas of our lives, but we all know that the government is run by lobbyists and special interest groups whose deep pockets influence rules and regulations.  Most of them represent big business interests, so I argue that the regulations that have most hurt small business have actually been pushed by big business to reduce competition.

At this point in my life, I’m done trying to convince the willing slaves to open their eyes.  If they are so blinded by propaganda that they defend CEO’s who receive multi-million dollar bonuses for failing miserably at their jobs while simultaneously attacking civil servants who earn barely a livable wage for maintaining the infrastructure of our society, then there is no hope of ever getting through to them.  That’s how I see it anyway.

General Posts

Monday Night Ramblings

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There aren’t words to describe how ready I am for this semester to end and for me to focus exclusively on the farm.  Mentally, I’m completely exhausted, and emotionally, I’m worn down to a nub.  Most of how I feel right now is leftover from last semester.  The combination of dual enrollment and overload broke something inside of me and took away the last reserve of teaching energy I had stored away.  Then, on top of having been overworked in an inhumane manner, I now sense the weight of this current assault on education pressing down on me as each day I feel as if I have to justify my existence to a nameless, faceless enemy that seeks to dismantle the career for which I’ve sacrificed so much.  It’s a sickening sensation, and morale among my colleagues is disturbingly low.

The truly maddening part of our current political climate is that we’re on a collision course with self-destruction.  Our nation’s infrastructure has been woefully neglected for decades, and now, instead of fixing the two areas that truly threaten to bankrupt this nation, namely the unchecked inflation in healthcare and energy costs, our “leaders” have set their sights on dismantling that infrastructure even more.  We spend $750 billion out of the Federal budget on a healthcare system that is completely disconnected from market realities and true free trade principles, yet instead of finding a solution to that, we’re gonna punish the civil servants, most of whom are already overworked and underpaid and feel like second class citizens.  If that’s not madness, what is?

My best hope for the future is the farm.  If I can get it productive and on the road to self-sufficiency, then I’ll walk away from the system and never look back.  I can honestly say that I did my best to make something of a difference and give something back to my community.  I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel as if I’ve failed because the values I’ve embraced and the skills I’ve taught now seem antiquated and worthless, especially in our current environment, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel impotent and powerless against the tide of mindless hate that’s ripping our society apart.  But I gave all I had to give, and now, my tank is empty.  Now, I just want to grow some vegetables and enjoy the woman who loves me and spend as much time as possible with my family.  Someone else can worry about literacy and critical thinking and organization of thought.  As for me, I’m going to focus on fixing up the building, installing the first unit, and growing fresh food.