Wealth of a Nation

First of all, I want to congratulate the Democrats (and thank the American people) for managing to overturn both chambers of Congress in this year's midterm elections. We're not out of the woods yet, but this is an important milestone for the resistance. It's time to start getting things done. It's important that we have a period of reflection on everything the current administration has done wrong - we cannot simply move forward without holding accountable the parties responsible for the near destruction of our democracy. But it's also time to start thinking ahead about what we want to do differently from here on out. What the Republican party has represented for the past forty years or longer - certainly, longer than I've been alive, going at least as far back as Reagan - is a failed experiment in the redistribution of wealth from the working class to the corporate elite. "Trickle-down economics" is a grift. What more proof does one need than to look around at the state of our economy today? Letting business tycoons amass hoardes of wealth doesn't make for a great economy. You know what does? Paying average workers a fair wage, so that they can afford to invest that money back into the economy, by buying more things than just the bare minimum they need to survive (if even that, sometimes).

I'll be honest with you. I would love to be rich. I don't know anyone who wouldn't. But I don't need to be rich to be happy. Still, it would be nice to have enough money to live more comfortably. I can but dream of making the kind of money that would enable me to buy a new lawn mower, or afford to fix the garage door instead of living with it broken for years, having to open and close it manually every time I leave the house, even in the rain and snow. Or the kind of money that would rescue me from the fear of asking the landlord to do basic quality-of-life improvements, because our rent is a steal, and we don't want to risk stretching that goodwill to a breaking point. Or to be able to afford to fill up the gas tank without rationing my trips, so I can travel and visit people and enjoy the great outdoors, instead of deciding to stay home and do nothing in order to save money. I'd love for it to even be an option on the table to search for a bigger house, so I didn't have to choose between getting rid of my life's possessions, and letting my living space turn into a hoarder's nightmare. Or just to have enough space to indulge my hobbies - a place to put my musical equipment, room to set up a photography studio, somewhere I could exercise with a little privacy, so that guests aren't walking in on me naked on the treadmill in the living room. I want to believe it's at least possible that someday I could live in a house with more than one bathroom, so I wouldn't have to live with the anxiety of sharing it every time we have guests over.

Look, I know it's ironic to be talking about making more money when I don't even have a job to begin with. But it's not for lack of desire. I have mental health issues. And I'd love to get assistance so I can live up to my full potential. But that's not really an option in this country. Our "rugged individualism" means that if you need help because you can't do everything yourself, then you're screwed. And don't get me wrong. I work. I'm just not "employed". Which means I don't get paid. And right now I'm struggling, because I have to balance the chance that I'll develop carpal tunnel from years of long hours processing photos at my computer (my arms hurt even as I type this) with the desire to be productive and not drown in my own self-inflicted workload. So you can't say I'm lazy. Or that I'm trying to get a free ride. You see, I don't want somebody to just hand me a check. I'd rather there were somebody out there who could help me learn to work around my disability. That said, if that's not an option, it doesn't mean I don't deserve to live in basic comfort. Surely, we can manage to reward over-earners without withholding the bare necessities from the rest of us (and "bare necessities" ought to expand as the wealth of our nation increases). I have value as a human being, and I contribute to society and my community (arguably more so than being a cog on the factory line), beyond the narrow-minded question of my employment. I don't want any of this to sound like entitlement. It's not a matter of expecting something from nothing. It's just that, in this culture, people regularly do things and get nothing (or not nearly enough) in return. Because the vultures at the top want to snatch it all (make no mistake, the fruit of exploitation is not rightfully theirs) for themselves.

All that being said, my wife works in a conventional job, making more money than a lot of people in our area. Which is still not that much. We generally aren't struggling to pay our bills, but there is usually only a thin margin for excess - which, at times, includes helping the poorer members of our family when they can't afford to pay their bills, despite working multiple jobs per household. It wasn't like this for me growing up. I don't know what kind of alchemy was involved behind the scenes (I had two sets of grandparents that seemed to be pretty well off), but I had a fairly cushy childhood. My mom stayed home and looked after me and my two siblings. As far as I know (barring any of that dark magic I mentioned above), our lifestyle was supported by my dad's paycheck. And do you know how far it got us? We lived in a rather large house that we owned, in a very well-to-do neighborhood. Every summer, we went on weeklong vacations (sometimes twice!), and as far as I could tell, we didn't skimp on the amenities (stuff I couldn't even hope to afford just for myself today, let alone a family of five). College tuition wasn't an issue. Now, I know that my grandparents' finances were involved with that, but still - the money was there. And there was enough of it that, now that all of my grandparents have passed away, all indications are that both of my parents have received a sizable inheritance.

But I'm not seeing that kind of wealth in my generation, much less the generation below me. Here, in one of the wealthiest nations in the world (allegedly). I believe we have the means. We have billionaires with more money than any one person could possibly deserve, cheating on their taxes, and being invited by corrupt politicians to gut critical social services - causing untold numbers of people to suffer and even die (see: USAID). They're stealing taxpayer funds, taking bribes to benefit their friends and business associates, and essentially stripping our democracy for pennies in their pockets (as if they need any more). And this shit is urgent, because the clock is always ticking. There hasn't been a time in my entire adult life when I've felt like I was living in one of the wealthiest countries in the world. And people are getting older. They're getting sicker. I want to feel the benefit of my national heritage now, not in twenty years when I'm retirement age (if ever). Time is the most precious resource available to us, and we're pissing it away. All on account of a generation of gullible Republican voters. Well, it's time to change things. And not a moment too soon, because I've lost my fucking patience.