Originally posted 05 December 2007

So, I saw a movie the other day.

Can I just go right ahead and say I am pissed off?

May I humbly suggest everyone who reads this (like, all 5 of you, or something) contact their Representative right now regarding H.R. 676.  Don't know what this is?  GIYF.

I have, with the assistance of Mr. Moore's very helpful and informative website forwarded the following to my Senators, my Representative (who received a more voluminous letter through the .gov official pipeline from your's truly) and a local daily newspaper:

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Human Lives Worth Less Than Prescription Drugs!
U.S. Lawmakers confused by outrage, give themselves another raise.

It is very, almost stupidly, simple:  One cannot place a value on a human life!  Even so, thousands of people die because they cannot afford to preserve their "inalienable right to life".

"Doctor, I am sick.  I need medicine."
"Do you have insurance?"
"No, I do not, but I work very hard."
"Oh, then you have cash, yes?"
"No, I do not, but I pay my bills and my taxes and I keep my family sheltered and fed."
"Well, sorry, you are going to die.  Have a nice day."

Admittedly, the above is not an actual conversation overheard in the hospital, merely the short, short version of conversations, telephone calls, letters, meetings with legal counsel for the arrangement of one's affairs and, finally, a priest.

This is not only stupid, it is wrong to such a degree I simply cannot fathom why public pressure need be applied.  Is greed so rampant and so powerful a force that no body count will ever be high enough to finally choke it out of Corporate America, their lobbies, and the politicians they buy?

Wake up.  Do the right thing.  The life you save could be your own.

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Of course, that last line is a lie.  Politicians make enough money that they are able to get sick and not lose their homes, their jobs, their lives...  They will not have to worry about saving their own lives, or coupons, or a few gallons of gas so they can get to work on payday and make it to work and then the bank before their car sputters, coughs and dies, leaving them stranded without a cell phone because they cannot afford that, either.

1% of the population - 80% of the money

You know, I don't think that is sinking in.  Let me try again:

1% of the population controls 80% of the money!

That is, in some people's opinion, good and fair and right.  I would wager about 1% of the population feels that way.

"I earned this"  "I worked hard for this"  "That is how capitalism works"  "The cream rises to the top"

How many hours of labor did you put in for your billions?  Not pointing and shouting, actually working.  How many hours?  For what rate of pay?

How hard have you worked?  How much sweat from your own brow and for how many years?  And, again, for what rate of pay?  My father has sweated and toiled for more than 40 years, sometimes working as many as four jobs and somehow he is not a billionaire.

Capitalism does not work.  If it did, hard work would see my family in a comfortable home, with my wife keeping the house in order and the kids under care, not out working the same hours as me (you know, before the divorce).  Instead hard work sees my children raised by people who are not their parents, bills outgrowing income, and both of us so exhausted at the end of the day that spending time with our children becomes less a joy, more a chore.

Oil, grease, and slime all float on water, too.  Neat, eh?

So, eat the rich.  You'll feel better.