This “rat” had had enough of the rat race. A belly-full, in fact.
“Nobody’s life feels from the inside the way it looks from the outside. But at least as far as career goes, I’m wonderfully relaxed: no more steps to climb, no more boxes to check. I just do what I feel I should, and try to have some fun along the way.”–Paul Krugman
The rest of us should be so lucky. Almost no one is.
It’s pretty hard to do ANY of this when the next decision is “food” or “rent.” Or “medicine” or “electricity.”
Not content with that, if a person needs help–like unemployment or food stamps–they want to make really sure the PERSON feels the humiliation, preferably in public.
“Pee in the cup. The charge which you must pay for the privilege will eventually be refunded if you qualify for help.”
And particularly when some closed minded, Bible thumping bigot, points at your sick child, or dying spouse and proclaims that “you deserved it” because you committed the sin of (fill in the blank.). Or someone in your family, or your community, or your county, or your state, did. For all I know the “associated blame” extends to everyone on the planet, save the fellow Bible thumping bigoted.
Westboro Church, I’m talking about you.
Oh, and that having health insurance is a sin. And that we should get rid of Social Security and Medicare.
Or when you’re keeping body together by working a couple of jobs, supervised by a terrified manager who is so afraid of losing his or position (and dropping to your level) that he or she acts out in a corporately approved, and only way possible, by kicking you in the ass.
Your soul simply withers under the strain.
Sadly, we now exist (I cannot bring myself to call it living) in race to the bottom, less than minimum wage, part time, no benefits economy world.
In this corporate utopia, corporations, banksters, Wall Street gamblers and the “leadership” of some major American corporations, first trashed the country, got a bailout using ordinary people’s taxes (because taxes are only for little people) and then have the temerity to turn around and further enrich themselves, not by making a better product, not by providing a better service, but by cheating their employes.
Not content to already be rich beyond the dreams of avarice the 1-per centers–the rich and powerful–are still looking for creative ways to welsh on contracts and “deals” to increase their profits by one mill on the dollar.
And the rest of us? Every penny we’ve saved is threatened by the looming government default (most ordinary people haven’t recovered from the LAST fiscal crisis).
Common decency has disappeared. They aren’t even ashamed to let the rest of us see what they think about us. They have no empathy for ordinary people. And they’re proud if it.
So was Marie Antoinette, right up to the minute when the crowd lipped off her head.
They think shutting down the federal government, throwing 175,000 Virginian federal employees out of work, and God alone knows how many others for whom those Virginians would be paying customers out of work, is funny.
Head Start? Shut it down: those children (not theirs) had no business being born to ordinary people.
Death gratuities to newly made widows, widowers and children fighting in a war (yes, we’re still at war)? Screw you. Your family member was stupid enough to enlist to serve me, not his country. He got paid, remember? What else do you want?
Shame now pervades our society, but it is directed at all the wrong people.
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