Yule Time Thoughts
Welcome to another week in
Bogworld.com. I hope you noticed Yule Bog is back! And the cartoons have mostly been holiday themed lately. I love re-reading Yule Bog every year. It always reminds me to the little crusade I staged back when I actually did work at a major metropolitan museum fighting the non-sense of political correctness.
If you work at a place that is trying to resist acknowledging the holidays because of political correctness, try what I did back then: I want to the boss and explained that real political correctness is allowing EVERYONE to express what they believe. Not restricting everyone from expressing anything. In the true spirit of political correctness a place of business should acknowledge and celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanza and whatever other religious or seasonal celebration there might be all together. Who would be apposed to that? How cool would that be?
Everyone wins. Everyone gets to celebrate the holidays they wish to celebrate. And for those who do not celebrate such things. Shut up. Enjoy the holidays with the rest of us. We can celebrate whatever you believe in later in the year when you do your thing. Or you can choose not to do anything. But you don’t have the right to block the rest of us from having fun. Because you’re welcome to do your thing too.
God Bless Us Every One.
I want to keep with the warm holiday theme here but there is a Bah Humbug message coming out of Republican front runner Newt Gingrich that needs to be addressed.
Newt is playing to something from the more radical part of the Tea Party. That we should end social programs and let the less fortunate people in America get off their butts and just get a damn job already. Newt has been saying how inner city kids should be taught the value of hard work by replacing unionized janitors in schools. Of course if you think about that sentence for even a second you can see the problem with the theory. That janitor probably has a wife and kids and a mortgage. I dont know if you have ever done the work of a janitor but its not easy work. It involves working with hazardous chemicals and dangerous biological materials. Its hard physical labor and often the work has to be done dreadfully early in the morning or late at night. Just when would kids be able to do this work and keep up with their studies, Newt?
This is just one of many short sighted opinions coming out of Newt and others in the Republican party to send a message that poor people choose not to seek jobs and everyone who is unemployed or under employed is just a whiner who is too lazy to get a real job.
Having been unemployed and under employed in my life I think I can bring some clarity to this issue. Yes, there are people who abuse the systems. But if you think the majority of the millions of unemployed folks in this country are just lazy and living off the easy flow of unemployment benefits and support programs out there because they feel entitled to this easy life, you are dead wrong.
If you think you can comfortably feed a family on unemployment benefits you are sadly mistaken and completely misinformed. When I was unemployed, the money coming in to keep me from being homeless was a fraction of what I earned at my previous career. Had it not been for my severance pay when laid off, I would have been homeless in a matter of weeks... and I am a single guy with no family to care for.
The one thing that is so easily overlooked by these politicians is that most of us... Nay... virtually all of us... are one bad moment away from losing everything. Yes, even you Conservatives. You might not want to admit it to yourselves but someday you... or someone you actually care about... will probably have to face this. One bad divorce. One serious car accident. One unexpected illness. One belt tightening decision by the company you work for. All it takes is one little tragic moment that you really do not have any control over and suddenly you will be relying on these flimsy little safe guards that might keep you in your home and keep your children fed or help you with your hospital bills.
And you will be damn thankful to have that little trickle of money to give you a moment above water to try to rebuild your life.
A few months back there was a debate question asked of the candidates. The question asked “Lets say there is a healthy young man who decided, under the Conservative sponsored approach to health care. to opt out early in his life because he was young and healthy and didn’t foresee a need to pay hundreds a month for medical insurance he wasn’t using. Then he has a terrible car accident. His life is on the line. Because he did not opt in to an insurance plan should we let him die?” Someone from the debate audience yelled out, “Yes!” and Ron Paul answered that freedom can come with risks and the rest of us should not be held financially responsible for the short sightedness of this young man... he was basically saying yes, the young man should be allowed to die.
And this is precisely what’s wrong with the Conservatives when it comes to this issue. Its so easy to say “Let him die.” when its a faceless, nameless hypothetical character. But what would any of these people say if this was their own child? Or their parents? Or their spouses? And they easily forget that we are all moments away from the possibility of a life changing event happening to us.
Funny thing is, these are the very same people who said Obama’s health care plan was going to put your grandparents in front of death panels to decide if they get the care they need... which was always a bald faced lie... But by their own admission, their own policies would let people die simply because they could not afford care.
If you think for a moment most unemployed people are just being lazy. You’re wrong. You have no concept of reality. Just because you make a living wage does not mean there is an abundance of living wage jobs available out in the world. Just because you have a nice meal on your table tonight, do not just assume everyone can afford to eat tonight. And don't you dare think for a moment those poor people aren't doing everything they can to change that.
If you can afford to give to a charity this holiday season, please do.