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Mythsaje Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-04-06 11:48 PM
Original message
No room at the top...
If you support the "war over there" you also support the war over here.

"What war over here?" you might ask?

The war against you and me, my friend. The war against the American worker. You know, the "little people." The bottom 98% of American citizens--the ones who get up every day and go to work, and strive to get by from month to month and paycheck to paycheck.

"How so?" you might ask (though this phrase is probably more like something I would say than something YOU would say).

Well, let me explain. While many American corporations are downsizing and exporting American jobs, the executives of these corporations are giving themselves huge pay raises, expanded perks, and golden parachutes totalling more money than you will EVER see, even if you never spent a dime on such frivolities as rent, car payments, utility bills, or the occasional night out with a spouse or significant other. While they are dismantling worker pensions as if they might provide the foundation for terrorists attacks on our soil, they're making sure that, should their business ever tank, they'll never want for anything. And their children should never want for anything.

They don't give a rat's ass if you have enough money to pay your rent, or your utilities. If you have to take a second job to make ends meet, or work 12 to 16 hours a day and never get to see your families. Not their problem.

And what's worse is that this administration is giving these corporations tax breaks--which amounts to stealing money from YOUR WALLET, in order to do these things. This Republican administration, and the Republican controlled congress, is willfully stealing money from your wallet, food from your kids' mouths, and putting ALL OF US deep in debt, in order to give that money to a select few who damn well don't deserve it.

And before you scream "class warfare" as Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity have trained you to do, stop and consider for a moment. Do you really think it's wise, or responsible, for our government to borrow billions of dollars a day from Red China to pay for its excesses? No? Well, that's what it's doing.

It's borrowing that money and expecting YOU and your children, and your children's children, and your children's children's children to pay it back. Your vaunted "tax break" is really a tax deferrment--money that your descendents will have to repay.

If you're hoping you will somehow rise above it, that this "land of opportunity" will provide you the means with which to rise above this debt, as the top two percent are above it now, let me make one thing perfectly clear.

They don't want you. They aren't going to squeeze themselves over to allow you to climb up beside them. They're at the top, and as soon as it looks as though you may have a chance, they'll cut you down like a rabid dog.

There's no room at the top for the likes of you and me. If you've ever strapped on a tool belt, or punched a clock, they're not going to want you smelling up their garden. And they will do what they can to make sure your children won't be included either.

How so? Well, look at tuition rates. Look at financial aid cutbacks. The days of someone working his or her (as if) way up from the bottom are long over. You might, if you're lucky, make it to middle management... but you know what the bean-counters consider middle management? Ultimately expendable. Middle management is just there to throw to the wolves when profits dip. Only the tiniest fraction of those who make it that far will EVER climb any higher.

So, yeah, if you support the war, and support this administration, I'll let you in on a little secret. They sure AS FUCK don't support you. They don't give a damn whether you live or die. And that goes for your kids as well. There are 290 million more where you came from...and if that's a problem, well, there are even more millions waiting across the border willing to work for a damn site lower wage than you'd tolerate. Teach Juan or Jose a little English, give him a clip-on tie and a pair of black slacks, and he could do your job.

Or, better yet, they could just outsource the whole kit and kaboodle. To Mexico. To India. To China. What's it matter, as long as those at the top keep raking in the big bucks?

Yeah, it's class warfare, dammit. But THEY fired the first salvo. And you can either choose to fire back or you can surrender. If you surrender, they'll bury you. And never shed a tear. They'll send your kids, who joined up to get their college tuition taken care of, to some place far away to fight and die, and never shed a tear for them either.

You know it's true.

You just don't want to think about it.

Well, dammit, THINK ABOUT IT!!!

If left to their own devices, the Captains of Industry would've had you working 16 hours a day, 6 days a week, for as little as they could manage. And had your 10 year old kid working alongside you for half your paltry wage.

But hundreds, if not thousands, fought and died to give you the rights and privileges you now take for granted. Fair pay. Worker's compensation. Safe working conditions. And how do you and your kind repay them? You take it all for granted, and refuse to lift a finger to protect what they earned for you.

You want security? Stop feeding the monster. It will steal everything from you, then laugh as you lay there in the gutter. It will give your job to Jose, or Habib, refuse you even the option of bankruptcy, then foreclose on your home while you're struggling.

That's what they do.

And you'll have LET THEM do it.

If you don't vote, or vote Republican, these are the things you're asking them to do. And even if you're not (and the point is arguable), it's what they're going to do anyway.

Bank on it.
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Erika Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-04-06 11:53 PM
Response to Original message
1. Fantastic post.
Recommended. Bushbots and non voters need to be held responsible.
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EstimatedProphet Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-04-06 11:59 PM
Response to Original message
2. Well stated
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The_Casual_Observer Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-05-06 12:03 AM
Response to Original message
3. This is all true 100%.
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Viva_La_Revolution Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-05-06 12:06 AM
Response to Original message
4. You write from my heart.
Edited on Tue Sep-05-06 12:07 AM by Viva_La_Revolution
:)



I love! your rants!
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Cogito ergo doleo Donating Member (382 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-05-06 12:12 AM
Response to Original message
5. Dem candidates need to speak this, and speak it loudly.
Well said. Straight and to the point. Candidates need to learn to stop pontificating, lay off the corporate jargon and lay it out like this. K&R
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Jim Sagle Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-05-06 12:14 AM
Response to Original message
6. Fuckin' A.
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bvar22 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-05-06 12:18 AM
Response to Original message
7. *
The Democratic Party is a BIG TENT, but there is NO ROOM for those
who advance the agenda of THE RICH (Corporate Owners) at the EXPENSE of LABOR and the POOR.





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silverweb Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-05-06 12:54 AM
Response to Original message
8. Sad but all too true.
Every word you write. As always.
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Yogi Donating Member (648 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-05-06 04:03 AM
Response to Original message
9. Outstanding!
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elehhhhna Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-05-06 09:33 AM
Response to Original message
10. What's wrong w/ class warfare? Worked for the French --
Liberté, égalité, fraternité
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NanceGreggs Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-05-06 12:50 PM
Response to Original message
11. Room for another K & R?
Brilliantly stated, Mythsaje!

:kick: :kick: :kick:

:applause:
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helderheid Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-05-06 01:20 PM
Response to Original message
12. I found this post at the bottom. :) My pleasure to kick to the top!
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loudestchick Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-05-06 01:58 PM
Response to Original message
13. Ready to storm the Bastille now? If we wait,we may be too weak from hunge
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CrispyQ Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-05-06 04:29 PM
Response to Original message
14. Excellent!
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

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yellerpup Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-05-06 04:35 PM
Response to Original message
15. Outstanding essay.
Too, too true. Right on time with Labor Day. K&R! :kick: :kick: :kick:
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tbyg52 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-05-06 05:52 PM
Response to Original message
16. To answer a bit in the middle of your excellent post...
...I *will* scream "class warfare" at the top of my lungs, because that's exactly what it is. (As you pointed out--for once the right-wing pundits are right, except that they think it's a problem on *our* part if we recognize it.)
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LuckyLib Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-05-06 09:38 PM
Response to Original message
17. You've nailed it. If left to their own devices, the Captains of Industry
would've had you working 16 hours a day, 6 days a week, for as little as they could manage." They're doing it now. Downsizing, changing jobs, busting unions, extending hours, cutting wages by as much as 40 percent (witness the airline industry), and telling folks, "If you don't like it, leave."
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Protagoras Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-05-06 09:43 PM
Response to Original message
18. I swear I had almost this exact discussion today
with someone who appears to be utterly blind to everything going on that doesn't affect them directly. Oddly they also appear to be blind to what has hit them directly. They complain about their health care, their wages, and their crappy employment outlook but can't make the link to EVERYTHING ELSE THEY SUPPORT.

K&R Please keep up the fight.
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