On Being a Pauper
By W.B. Dunne
One gets used to being used. The News Pauper realizes full well his predicament he shares with countless individuals. The rationalizations include the theory that perhaps some are worse off having lost their livelihoods AND borne the brutality of the Reagan deregulations, as opposed to only having spent a career as a contractor. It certainly has to be worse to have had your trust squandered than to never have had any promises in the first place. How many billions have people lost in their mutual funds and 401Ks, not to mention pensions? A thirty-year long Ponzi scheme has reached its inevitable conclusion. How much obscene profit have insurance companies and for-profit health care companies made on the backs of consumers? How does one assess the damage to the psychology of a nation at having been continuously shortchanged for years on end?
What a bleak and dismal point we have reached in our history. The hope and change held aloft during the past election has receded and has left us in the firm grasp of the age old bought-and-paid-for representation we have grown accustomed to. Corporate personhood has divided the very definition of personhood into a schizophrenic terror. The airwaves are filled beyond the brim with hate and vitriol. Dare to oppose an on-air personality and face the wrath of his evil minions. Have a position that is upheld by the law; find yourself on the business end of a gun.
There are demonstrations at this hour in Iran over the outcome of an election. If only there was that kind of protest in this country over the dismantling of our institutions and the overt lawbreaking that has left us in such a poor state. If all the victims of the crimes of the past thirty years — the union members, the soldiery, the poor and sick in our society — could somehow come together and demonstrate, we would see change in this country. As long as the first among us stink of corruption and continue to oppress, as long as the interests of a company takes precedence over the interests of the community, there will be pain and disillusion.
How does one assess the costs of a policy that torches the future?
Welcome back to feudalism.
The News Pauper apologizes profusely for his inability to articulate his disgust at the pundits and politicians that disgorge such vast amounts of counterproductive drivel when it is obvious to everyone with a bit of sense that this is all it is. What is it that makes us so reliant on such useless members of our society? Do not confuse this screed with an attack on legitimate discourse by anyone with a solution to offer instead of a denial du jour. As I sit here reflecting that one day of the Iraq war would buy insurance for a year for countless Americans, I believe my skepticism and anger are justified.
It would be nice if we had a chance. It would feel so good to see our issues dealt with by adults who bear some compassion towards the outcome. We like to pat ourselves on the back, with the heritage of our past, but I think we are failing when we can stand by and continue to be led by the nose by our owners, even after years of obvious theft and obstruction and treason.
Contact the author at WBDunne@ltsaloon.org
2009 W.B. Dunne. All Rights Reserved.
As you wrote, W.B., “Welcome back to feudalism,” only I think this bunch of Corporatized Aristocrats are even more clueless than the House of Bourbon in 1792.
I think it’s telling that the average age of the Fox News and rightie radio screamers audience is 67 — they are literally dying off.
Perhaps our own young’uns will be shamed by the kids in Iran and take to the streets en masse but, even if they don’t, the world and the country have passed the Republican Regressives by — only our corporatized Big Media echo chamber has missed the change. We are living through the biggest shift against the conservative Corportists since FDR took office in the 1930s. I just hope it’s in time to save us from going completely under.
Great piece, W.B.!