Henry, Caroll and Maria

This country was built by fairly uneducated immigrants who ultimately figured out how to get what they needed despite big business and ugly politics shitting in their face at every turn. How many Americans are aware that the same companies who received government bailout money also currently have executives making daily what the average American grosses in a year? I researched this today and I know it's wrong but I couldn't help but picture a bunch of lonely old men driving their overpriced, undertaxed, foreign cars home to their completely unnecessary, oversized mansions, rolling around in money, while watching videos of starving Americans fight for unemployment benefits so they can attempt to support their families while their houses are being foreclosed on. Elaborate daydream I know, but even if that's not what these whales are doing with the money, what the hell are they doing? I realize The Gospel of Wealth is over a hundred years old now but maybe its time we recycle some paper, reprint Andrew Carnegie's entire essay on the subject and start stapling it to these peoples foreheads. Better yet lets tattoo the short version onto our asses, this way when big business yanks down our pants each day to fuck us from behind, provided they put down their Iphones long enough and they can actually read, they'll have to see it, "The man who dies rich dies disgraced."- Andrew Carnegie

I realize these are harsh words and images but maybe that's what it takes to get people to care. Please don't get me wrong, I'm not asking these billionaires to hand out money just because things are rough. I'm saying these fools have the money to save the Gulf from big oil and help clean up the damage, they have the money to set up full scholarships for students who want, need and earned the right to an education, they have the money to feed families that need it 3 squares a day and bailout families whose homes are in foreclosure because their companies and their friends handed out loans like candy to people already in over their heads, convincing these people it would all be ok. Instead of helping their fellow man these fat cats choose to wallow in their greed. Carnegie wasn't some swell guy either but the man sure knew how to justify his beliefs and he believed in providing opportunities for those who desired them and in helping those who would help themselves. His employees received low wages and poor conditions but if they wanted more they could go to the local library, donated to the city by a local wealthy family, learn a thing or two and get themselves into a better situation.

I spent some time in a library today and it was revitalizing to be surrounded by so much power. Books have this smell, this feel that no piece of technology can ever quite provide. Books are so full of answers, solutions, questions, knowledge that no amount of recycled paper, green energy or computer technology can replace. Standing there surrounded by books the options feel infinite. Yet we keep trying and thus continue repeating bad behaviour because Bing or Google or Wikipedia don't include enough solutions or they provide too much possibility or none at all, the phone is ringing the music is too loud and we just don't have the attention span anymore, we just don't care enough about the people we've become because we forgot where we came from. The silence of a library can certainly give a person an entirely different perspective, and I just wonder how long it's been since the rest of this country experienced that.


When do we start to get angry again? When do we stop letting our ancestors roll around in their graves while we drop the ball and let the few steal our tongues and speak for the many. Who really wakes up and says "I need 5 to 15 thousand dollars a day to support myself and my family, I require 1 to 30 million a year to survive." These people are robbing you blind of your basic necessities and your spirit alike. These people have you too busy running their wheels to even attempt to look at the world of possibility that exists if you stop buying what they sell. People used to talk to eachother, face to face, actual human contact, now we barely know the people we see everyday. Our hopes and dreams rest on the shoulders of our neighbors, do you know your neighbors name? When they come for you will your neighbors stand to protect you? Are you tired enough, are you angry enough, are we there yet?