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Comments Posted By choicelady

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Obama: Culture Warrior?

Hi Killgore – well, did you count votes? I did since I support single payer in CA. By the largest possible stretch of the imagination (blackmail was not out of the question) we could be assured of 40, maybe 50 votes for single payer in Congress. Period. You NEED 216.

That’s the rub. So scroll down and see what I found when I read the federal bill – I was OVER THE MOON about some of it. All of it? Nope. Still don’t like mandates in the private market. But other aspects to it are amazing.

And this WAS the will of PEOPLE. My organization worked since 2004 to have our 1.5 million members in CA understand options in health policy and how they fit their moral values. We had over 200,000 intense activists who, after reading my analyses, stood up and support the federal HCR openly, actively, proudly. They were just a fraction of the people who spoke out for HCR. I’m proud of that even as I still work for single payer – a MUCH better plan – in CA. But millions are getting care now that did not have it, and that is nothing short of amazing. I cannot dismiss help – real help – in favor of ideals. Whose life shall I sacrifice in honor of a principle that cannot be obtained?

I can sacrifice only ONE life – mine. If I can see that millions will be helped and no one hurt by a policy, then I have no moral choice other than to move forward. I cannot throw those people away. We have folks here on the Planet who are finally getting health coverage for the first time in YEARS. That is worth its weight in gold to me.

If you could find more than 50 votes (with or without blackmail) please let me know. We could not do it. But what we got is like Social Security in the 30s and Medicare in ’64 – a really great first step. That is huge.

» Posted By choicelady On February 12, 2011 @ 9:49 pm

Oh bito – how many wonderful things I learn from YOU! And the warmth I feel toward you, as yet unmet, over our shared experiences “on the lines”!!!

Everyone here has so much to offer one another. It’s fun, often incredibly funny, and amazingly insightful to be part of the Planet.

» Posted By choicelady On February 12, 2011 @ 9:31 pm

How ironic that after WW II we probably got the most that benefitted real people from the man we all hated – LBJ.

His foreign policy was so – is there even a word for what he did in Vietnam? – and yet his domestic policy was utterly brilliant. It was kind hearted and compassionate and accomplished SO much good.

How do we reconcile those two things?

» Posted By choicelady On February 12, 2011 @ 9:29 pm

BTW – I agree we need someone to tell us Reagan sucker punched us – but we also need to be reminded that it started with Carter. He made a choice in 1976 – would he authorize a federal loan to the people of Youngstown, OH to buy the shuttered steel plant and run it or not.

Not.

Chrysler, fine. NY City fine. Deregulation fine.

People? Not so fine.

So I blame Carter and his ties to the Trilateral Commission for the first giant step toward de-humanization of American economic policy. Reagan only built on what Carter did. I’m not saying Reagan couldn’t have done it without Carter, but Carter paved the way.

A Southern friend cynically reflected upon those of us who supported Carter in ’76 saying, “You Yankees sure do fool easy.” He was right. But it WAS what we had. Now THAT was a lousy president – not for Iran and the hostage crisis but for his disdain for average Americans and what they needed.

Bah. Humbug!

» Posted By choicelady On February 12, 2011 @ 9:26 pm

Thank YOU, funksands.

I DO share your frustrations! I started as a kid from the streets working on women’s reprodutive rights issues, standing between women and the people who were screaming at them. After over a decade of that, it became VERY clear that I could no longer turn my nose up at policy – that anything we did on the streets depended SO much on whether we had good laws or stinko ones. So now I do both. I spend a lot of time on picket lines with labor (bito and I share a very powerful moment in history we’ll tell you about some day) with women, with immigrants – and then I turn around and weigh in against lousy legislation that would just make the lives of the folks who live in the real world even worse. Sometimes I get to support stuff that would make it BETTER – and that’s the joy of it.

It’s uphill work. We have mountains the corporatists and their ilk have built over decades to tear down. We have NOT been good with messaging – they grab the public with slogans such as “tax relief” and “job killer” – and we turn in 40-page data papers no one ever reads!

But what I do know is the power of people. The health reform bill passed thanks to the will of PEOPLE. That’s the untold story – the hundreds of thousands who clamored for it, my organization’s members front and center. From all walks of life people made their feelings known – not a perfect bill but a damned good start. We have members on the Planet that are getting help for the first time in decades. It matters to us even if it’s NOT single payer, is NOT perfect. People – ordinary people – demanded this. It wasn’t a “deal” at the White House. It was the will of the people. And that’s what keep MY faith in democracy – and Obama – alive.

» Posted By choicelady On February 12, 2011 @ 9:21 pm

Why thank you, PocketWatch, that means a lot!

» Posted By choicelady On February 12, 2011 @ 9:10 pm

I SO disagree, funksands! Whatever his interest, and I posted a lot below, he cannot do this without Congress. We are so used to the Imperial President that we don’t know what to do with one whose MAIN interest has been to restore a functioning democracy which means a balance of power that he respects.

I agree with PocketWatch – there is a huge corporatist (and Dominionist Christian which many TeaBaggers ARE) push to make Obama immobile. It works well enough that, coupled with the flaming piles of poo from the MSM, it’s almost impossible for him to get really heard and to do what he wants. What he has accomplished under these circumstances is amazing. He has begun turning back the tide of corporate dominance in many areas. But to expect him to do it single handedly and to right the wrongs of the past 30-plus years in just over TWO years is beyond naive. What he has done is start the process.

If we on the progressive side do not learn to understand policy – in really solid detail – and if we don’t learn to stop having magical thinking that is nearly as bad as the Right, he will fail. WE will fail. Unralistic expectations are the death knell for policy. If any of us want something, we have to DO it ourselves – the same way the ‘baggers did it. We have to get outside the blogs and WORK.

Case in point – AdLib and many othes of us are working on a new policy for CA that WILL push back Citizens United. We used our combined strengths to learn that CA’s Fair Political Practices Commission – headed by a Republican no less – found a loophole in Citizens United and set a new disclosure regulation in place. Now anyone paying to support as AstroTurf groups is “outed” in CA. No more shadow financing. Another step – we at the Planet are using our strengths to build new coalitions and to go beyond the blog to the streets, too. We had huge success in bringing sunshine to the Koch cabal – and they hated it.

First steps. Not the last.

We don’t expect Obama to do these things. Democracy functions ONLY when we do. And we won’t back down. He said election night that he could NOT do stuff alone. It takes all of us saying what we want and refusing to back off. Well only the Tea Party seems to have receive that message and used it. Where are the progressives??? All the ones I know personally, outside the folks here, do nothing at all but whine. And it’s scary as hell when I see what people CAN accomplish if they act. Blogging is great, but it won’t make change. It will only give us more psychic comfort when we lose. And that’s not good enough.

» Posted By choicelady On February 12, 2011 @ 9:08 pm

Amen!!!

» Posted By choicelady On February 12, 2011 @ 8:55 pm

I am a lobbyist. Consequently, I am forced, sometimes kicking and screaming, to READ bills both in CA and federal.

What amazes me is not what Obama has failed to do but how much he got done. Case in point – here in CA I have been a single payer supporter with respect to health care. I was the ONLY lobbyist to actively oppose Gov. Schwarzenegger’s health care reform bill – not because it wasn’t single payer but because I READ the damned thing, and it was HORRIBLE. I read the unpublished first version – never entered for bill consideration – and the second version that was. The second version did NOT include the language of the first – in fact omitted all references – to the fact that every premium would be pretty low and thus subsidized by the state, but you, every last man and woman and kid, would pay a $5000 deductible with only 2 things free: childhood immunizations and Pap smears, then you’d have an ADDITIONAL out of pocket of $10K in case you actually got, you know, SICK. That’s $15K per person per year. That’s the plan Mitt dealt onto all MA residents without employer health care. So I said for these and several other reasons, that sucked, and NO my organization will NOT be supporting this, thank you. I’d not have known that if I had not read it all – 4000 pages, thank you very freaking much.

I ALSO read the single payer finance plan, introduced once in the 7 or so years we’ve been doing this. It had costs to the individual of 1-8% on a sliding scale with virtually all major tests free. It has no copays or OOP expenses, but there were other taxes etc. that would feed into the plan. It would mandate everyone’s involvement. No exceptions save for a very few.

Obama’s plan – almost all prevention tests and exams free. Cost on premium to the individual – 1-8% on a sliding scale. I read all 2000-plus pages, and what I came away with is how freaking much the federal plan drew from CA single payer!!! It uses several of the same formulae and offers much of the same care as the CA plan.

Is it a great plan? Nope. Is it as good enough? Not yet. But it has so much IN it from the single payer plan that I was floored! I dislike mandates in the private market – but unlike Arnold’s horrific plan, the costs in the federal plan are very favorable to the individual. It’s lousy stewardship of federal money that provides the subsidies, but it’s a very good plan for individuals. Public option would be even better, of course.

I am absolutely astonished at how much our single payer plan guided the outcomes on many key issues in the federal plan. But – you’d have to read the bill to know all that.

Switching subjects – the extension of the tax cut to the rich. About five people in America seem to know this – but the agreement Obama crafted is HUGELY good for very low income working people and the middle class. Of the entire package, the costs of cuts for the rich equals 16% of the whole with the rest going to Earned Income Tax Credits for low wage workers, for tax cuts and credits for families struggling to protect child care and college for their kids, unemployment insurance that had already been killed by congress, REAL tax credits for small businesses on Main Street to make big investments and, as in Europe, write them off immediately so that they can GET what freaking Wall Street refuses to lend them; and on and on and on. The Center on Budget & Policy Priorities risked their very progressive reputation to say all this – and my organization agreed. Eight-four percent of that agreement went to the people. Only 16% went to the rich.

I tend to be cranky about a lot of criticism of Obama largely because I work daily with the CA state legislature and see the hell that democracy can produce on the BEST plans. It’s not giving Obama a pass – it’s being realistic to understand how almost impossible it is to get stuff done through a recalcitrant and cowardly congress.

As for message? Back to the post on media control – the White House isn’t “failing” on message. It’s being screwed. The only person who got it right on the state of the union was Rachel MAddow – even George Lakoff got it wrong. Obama articulated conservative points – and drew them back to the center/left. It was artful. What did we all hear from the pundits? He’s Clinton. Nope. I don’t think so. I don’t see him caving.

I’m not sure how anyone thinks Elizabeth Warren has been hog tied – evidence? Credit card companies have stopped sending us blatantly false information and yeah some still charge in the 30% range – but I’m no longer receiving duplicitous and unreadable “information” on the one bad card I hang onto simply to charge $12 every four months. Suddenly I am in charge – I get to KNOW what is out there in credit.

We cannot fix the radical right decimation of America overnight. But damn – I am SO hopeful of this president. I like what he’s doing on foreign issues, NOT using the National Security Council memo #68 that requires this nation to intervene in every hiccup made by another nation. I like what Obama has done with respect to Egypt – he kept OUT of it, and his NOT mewling about democracy allowed Egyptians wanting to overturn Mabarak to operate without being branded as foreign dupes. I like some brand new toughness toward Israel with respect to Palestinians. It’s small steps – but the BIGGEST ones we’ve seen since WW II.

WE cannot change the past 30 years of corporate power over America over night. But even the issues of re-industrialization and reworking of those critically important tax codes that lets us protect domestic production goes SO unnoticed by people for whom manufacturing is just not interesting. It’s critical, and we’re doing it. We are beginning to trade again, and that comes from small, but significant, changes in trade policies. Next I hope Obama will challenge the free market in currency – that one thing, putting currency back to serve solely as a medium of exchange and NOT a speculative commodity – would stablizie the WORLD. It might be asking a LOT for this term. But I do hope next term he will.

How can one man undo all this damage? He can’t. But he CAN change the discussion as he has, and he CAN make the first steps toward stability. And those steps – seen from my persepctive as a raving policy wonk – have been monumental. I am absolutely in awe.

I just wish more of you were.

» Posted By choicelady On February 12, 2011 @ 8:44 pm

Doing Business – The Right Way (Part 2)

I have run a small business though consulting, not sales. One issue that never gets discussed is how the owners’ interests engage with or conflict with that of the people whom they hire. Our contemporary capitalism assumes a sort of utility about employees – they are simple, fungible commodities in the “labor market” but is that the best way to see them? There are numerous instances today of a different way to organize in which everyone from the owner to the janitor is seen as a partner in that business who can share in the decisions and in the profits. It requires an alteration of “mine-mine-mine” but the truth is there is NO such thing as the “self made man” (or woman) since every dime created in income and wealth has been made in no small measure by the employees. Even single person businesses get help from the society around them, but when you hire someone and they give full value, that is not just a wage relationship but a partnership.

So even small businesses need to rethink the commodification of its employees and begin incorporating them into a much larger frame of reference based on cooperation and respect.

Pipe dream? Nope. Even the cynical ESOPs that pretend to ‘share’ profits don’t work. But true trust and partnership do. Cases in point – ESOP/distant management = United Airlines. Worker ownership and management = Southwest Airlines.

You decide.

» Posted By choicelady On February 11, 2011 @ 10:58 am

The Failed History of Conservatism in America

If I could figure it out, yes.

» Posted By choicelady On February 9, 2011 @ 11:13 pm

I once read a poll of Republican vs. Democratic women. Republican women prefer TV to sex. Democratic women are the other way around. So where are all the philandering GOP finding compliant partners? God forbid they date Dem women! Overall the Dem women sounded MUCH more fun! About EVERYTHING.

» Posted By choicelady On February 9, 2011 @ 11:13 pm

Hey! Don’t tell that to my grandmother, suffragist and Iron Jawed Angel!!! She was no prohibitionist and risked a LOT to get women the vote. She was a tough old bird – I admire those women a LOT. Some were religious, most were just peeved. My grandmother went to college, graduating in 1911 when women just did NOT do that, and then went on to get an MA and was a social worker during the Depression. She voted Republican as a legacy of abolition but switched to FDR when she saw the plight of so many Americans. Prohibition came out of several religious groups, indeed, and we have a LOT to be apologetic about because of it, but I never have seen the link firmly established between Prohibition and the Suffrage movement even though that argument is sometimes made. It was a small part of the Suffragists, not the mainstream, who argued for both.

» Posted By choicelady On February 9, 2011 @ 11:10 pm

Oh indeed, Khirad. I know how scary pure food is to these people. Humane slaughter, standards of excellence – absolutely un-American.

The best part of this post? Seeing KQ BACK WITH US AGAIN!!!! We have missed you terribly and are delighted to see you here!

» Posted By choicelady On February 9, 2011 @ 11:05 pm

Gifford’s rehab and the plight of others without access to her level of care

Hi Abby – you are so correct to be concerned! This is just one step from the people who are dying in AZ (and elsewhere) from de-linking coverage for organ transplants and Medicaid. Here in CA I have a neighbor who is the adult adopted son of a man who provides the In Home Supportive Service care to the son. If it were NOT for that, they both would be on Medi-Cal (CA’s Medicaid) and the son would be dead. Why? He has seizures, sometimes serious, occasionally prompted by blood clots he gets hitting his head in an earlier seizure. Their work-provided health care coverage is excellent. Were they on Medi-Cal – that USED to be excellent – the son would get charge $50 per ER admission and only 5 visits to his doc annually. It’s not clear that the clots could be drained and seizures prevented when these standards are inflicted on the poor.

We have a war on the poor. This is the Tea Party manifestation of Reaganomics. We are STILL waiting for the drool of “trickle down” to arrive, though it’s pretty clear most TP members and traditional conservatives are already spitting on those in need – including our returning vets.

Where is the progressive outrage? We get very little momentum from “our” side on finding ways to protect the most fragile of our citizens. Lazy, shiftless, worthless – just some of the RW epithets, but where is the counterbalance?

Remember back in the 60s and 70s when the outrage against treatment of those in poverty was NEWS? When Michael Harrington wrote “The Other America”, Richard Cloward and Frances Fox Niven wrote “Regulating the Poor”, and CBS aired Edward R. Murrow’s “Harvest of Shame”? All of those helped develop humane policies that were utterly dismantled after Carter (to begin with) and Reagan (full tilt).

Well even the deaths of people needing transplants in AZ made barely a ripple. Jonathan Kozol has written again and again of the abusive treatment of those in dire straits, to little avail. Barbara Ehrenrich’s “Nickled and Dimed” caused barely a ripple. Olbermann’s pitch for free clinics got – a few free clinics.

I cannot chalk this up to “compassion fatigue” since the majority of Americans never went through any of this; they are too young. Those who did and did care, remain compassionate. We have found ways to distance ourselves from those who are in need – and I no longer know how to get a sense of the Common Good back as we once had it. My large progressive faith organization has hundreds of thousands who do advocacy for the Common Good – and yes we make change, but we remain a drop in the bucket compared to the mainstream.

If anyone has an answer to how we learn to reconnect, I’d be over the moon to read it. Until then young men such as Abby found will continue to get substandard care, and our nation will remain a divided one of privilege and want. That is utterly unacceptable.

» Posted By choicelady On February 8, 2011 @ 10:50 am

American Exceptionalism, American Nightmare

American Exceptionalism was an observation about democracy. Now it’s about Christianity. The abusive use of the term arose post Civil War to justify the amassing of enormous wealth on the backs of working people, then segued into a kind of Social Darwinism that affirmed America would let any man (sic) rise so if he did NOT, it was his fault. The whole idea underpinned the Cold War and US imperialism, but today it is meant to show that we, as a “Christian nation” are superior because of that.

Hogwash for Robber Barons. Hogwash now. But in the aftermath of our first defeat (and we WERE defeated) in Vietnam, the idea has been resurrected to give momentum to even greater military and economic imperialist forays.

And now we have a President who is not following the AE script. Thus the yammering from the AE justifiers for whom, as under Bush, it is insufficient for the US to have bilateral equity with other nations. We must be No. 1!!!! In all ways, everywhere. What we say, what we want must be the rationale for every other nation’s reason to exist.

Funny how the world does not agree?

So what started as an observation about our self created nationhood has morphed into a rationale for our global dominance. The basic premise Marion notes so beautifully that we are singular BUT NOT BETTER is simply unacceptable. How can we be No. 1 if that’s true????

Football mentality never ran a successful nation.

» Posted By choicelady On February 8, 2011 @ 11:01 am

50 Ways To Leave Your Blogger

Eeeeuuuuuuwwww! Hadn’t thought about THAT! At least she doesn’t know where I am. I’m already being stalked by the Religious Right – who needs Arianna? Unless I can get them to turn on each other. Hmmmm.

» Posted By choicelady On February 8, 2011 @ 10:02 am

Hmmm – interesting point. I’m rethinking this abrupt departure.

» Posted By choicelady On February 8, 2011 @ 10:00 am

Hi bzb – first, welcome to the Planet. Second – go ahead. Delete. I did, and it feels good.

I’m in total sync with you, AdLib, with one exception – there are margaritas? Nobody told ME.

AH is not only an unfaithful spouse, she’s a fraud through and through. She has merely dabbled in progressive issues, ripping us all off for our ideas then dumping them to return to her corporatist, RW roots.

We probably should have seen it coming. All those photos of her with Newt and Darrel Issa – it’s like the phone numbers left in pockets, lipstick on the handkerchief, snapshots tucked into glove compartments: all the telltale signs of infidelity. She HAD to start being “seen” with the old crowd so her new lover, AOL, would not be scared away by her affiliation with the progressives. In hindsight, of course, it was all just too, too obvious.

Waking up to the New Reality about Arianna reminds me of all those made-for-TV movies about the spouse who discovers not only is his/her partner missing, said spouse is not the person they thought they knew. Hidden past, buried ID, shameful secrets. Does that not fit our Arianna? She’s a media whore AND a bad movie-of-the-week. Wow.

I wonder if her betters in the media world will finally see the truth and distance themselves from her? I wonder if cranky progressives have FINALLY realized they were hornswoggled? Can we grow from this mistake of Trusting Arianna and move on to healthy and productive relationships?

I think we can and we can do it quickly.

The Planet would be the place to be. It’s not a rebound. It’s real. You will never be fooled or disrespected here. And people pick up their own mess, too. This is real community, not superficial hit and run, and NO one rips each other off.

Welcome to the world of grown ups. Real conversation, real actions, real people. AH is like all my old boyfriends who wanted to come crawling back AFTER they’d dissed me – hell, no! Saw the light, found a good place to be, don’t need your craziness and betrayal. I’m sticking with the Planet. AH can go suck eggs.

» Posted By choicelady On February 8, 2011 @ 9:19 am

Corporington Post

Cher – the “D” word? What she uses to screw us all over?

You are, I knew it when we met, a true person of true integrity. Classy.

» Posted By choicelady On February 7, 2011 @ 7:27 pm

Is it wheat free? Or is there a wheat free version? I’m drooling!

» Posted By choicelady On February 7, 2011 @ 7:21 pm

Big Ed is one of AH’s biggest sycophants. What can you expect? NPR tonight had the media critic from the New Yorker who said Arianna will get editorial control over a bunch of AOL small fry sites – oh joy. On the other hand, AOL stock dropped on the news of the acquisition. Oh, joy!!!!

Welcome to The Planet HP people – we have the best talk in America. Glad you’re all here.

» Posted By choicelady On February 7, 2011 @ 7:16 pm

KB dear = I’m a regular! Been here awhile. But thanks for the kind greeting!

I am embarrassed to say that I pay very little attention to who’s who on HP. I used to, but once I post I rarely go back. So forgive me folks if we’ve “met” before – I spend most of my time here now. KQuark directed me here, and now I pretty much follow Molly Ivins’ advice and “dance with the one that brung ya” – KQ, Cher, Sue, bito and most of all AdLib. I’ve even MET some of them! They are real people and incredibly fine!

So welcome all. It’s nice on the Planet…you’ll like it here.

» Posted By choicelady On February 7, 2011 @ 5:52 pm

As long as she has slavering media support – Olbermann and others kept featuring her – she never had to CARE if we got deleted, dissed, censored, etc.

I’ve hated the bitch since the special election for governor when she HAD to jump in just when Arnold baby was asked if he had any real solutions to the budget crisis – before he could open his mouth, she started yammering, and he NEVER had to answer the question – which he could NOT. So everyone thought he was a good choice. I’m not saying that Hollywood=dazzled voters would not have voted for him anyway, but he never frigging had to ANSWER because SHE had to run her mouth!

» Posted By choicelady On February 7, 2011 @ 5:47 pm

Well, then, they will be worth reading, Cher!

» Posted By choicelady On February 7, 2011 @ 5:40 pm

Hi facing – gosh, I’m glad to know I’m not alone! I kept getting obliterated, then the thread of my discussion would arise elsewhere in HER words. I am SO glad you were an origin of the move-your-money idea because I work with the communitybanking.com nationwide groups that support community banks, credit unions, and alternative forms of capital – and she just freaking STOLE it. When I referenced the 1973 book, “Global Reach” and ESPECIALLY the chapter, “The Latinamericanization of the United States” it got zapped – and turned up in her “Third World America” screed as if she’d just thought of it. I gave the SOURCE – Barnet and Muller – and she pretended it was her OWN idea!

She is such a dangerous person because she dolls out just enough populist and progressive stuff to hook people then dump them by cutting off real progressive ideas so they have anger but no solutions. God forbid she’d want real solutions – it would undercut her profits on Wall Street.

Grrrrrrrr!

» Posted By choicelady On February 7, 2011 @ 4:44 pm

You are such a cool dude!

Thank you!

» Posted By choicelady On February 7, 2011 @ 4:38 pm

Welcome all wonderful new people!!! I came over a fair time ago, and this is a superb place to be. No trolls, no word limit, no thought police (though we DO enforce civility, thank you).

AdLib – the photo made me crack up! It looks like Arianna is waiting for her underarm deodorant to dry! Given the smell of money in the air and the crisp, sharp fragrance of burning principles, I guess she needs it.

I cannot believe this – I was wondering where her populist screed had gone. It’s long absent, and it seems to have vanished about the time the negotiations started.

Well.

Anyway, welcome to all. This is the best conversation in America. Join on in!

» Posted By choicelady On February 7, 2011 @ 4:37 pm

Now be fair, Cher. She got her money the old-fashioned way – she gold dug it.

» Posted By choicelady On February 7, 2011 @ 4:34 pm

Homeless

Cher – I knew we were twins! Thank you for this careful examination of both the crisis of abandoned people AND yourself. Back in the 70s in Santa Cruz, it took me a good three years to understand that the people I saw in their cars around my apartment complex were not waiting for someone. They lived in the vehicles. How naive I was! When I’d seen people asleep on the beach, I’d assumed they were kids camping overnight. How dumb.

Now, as an adult, I realize I’ve followed my grandmother’s lead. During the Depression – you know, the last big one? = she fed homeless men out the back door while they did chores for her. I don’t have a back door, but I feed them or give money in exchange for chores, too. I have NO qualms about giving cash because it is not my call how it’s spent. Years ago a homeless man back East, middle of winter, said he was going to get a pint of brandy. At my scoff, he reminded me I knew NOTHING of being homeless and that brandy was what kept him warm on the wind-scoured streets. He was right. I was ashamed.

During the last Great Depression, there was a symbol tramps and hoboes, as they were then called, put on fences and other places – a crudely drawn cat meaning “a kind hearted woman lives here”. Cher – somewhere there is a symbol at your home telling people that – a kind hearted woman lives there. My house, too. Probably more word of mouth, but a recognition that someone who sees the men and women on the streets as human beings. Small enough compensation for the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.

I fear homelessness, too. Wonder how I’d survive. I have food intolerances, and they are to all the things that are cheap to eat. How would I manage THAT, among many other things? I’m fine, but…yes, there but for the grace of God go I.

Disdain for those in need is based on fear for many and smug superiority for others. Too many Americans have been brainwashed by Reagan and his successors to believe you can achieve anything if you only work hard enough. Oprah feeds into this as does “The Secret” and other nonsensical fables – if you “see it” you can “be it”.

Until someone in charge tells you – NO.

We cannot control all or even much of our environment. Those who survive well, and I’m one of them, are just plain lucky. We landed in the right place at the right time. Sometimes we push the boundaries to keep on keepin’ on, but sometimes we’re just pushing the boundaries and they push back. No help for it. We are not in charge. Those who are – the billionaires sitting on trillions and not hiring – have a kind of power over jobs and income that only a massive alteration in our society will fix. But that takes time, and some people, sick and alone and without shelter, are running out of it.

People think the homeless are anarchic, but they are not. They have societies and neighborhoods. Those seeking shelter in Sacramento have elected “elders” who police the populations sleeping in area churches. It’s not the church but the elders who determine whether you are drunk, high, or otherwise not following the rules – and the community itself sets those rules. Wow.

We are not all that different, the homeless and those who are housed. If we can recognize the commonalities rather than the differences, it might go a long, long way to building a stronger society.

Paul Hawken’s book, “Blessed Unrest” is about movements, large and small around the globe that seek first and foremost to give sovereignty to those communities and people, and to bring people together for a common good. Bit by bit that’s happening even in privileged America. Some of it comes from the very people we threw away. But coming together we are. That’s where lies hope. Every single person who engages in equality and respect with another unlike him or herself makes us strong. That’s also where lies hope.

Thanks, Cher. You’ve told a lot of my story, too, and I appreciate it. EAch in our own way, we will keep on keepin’ on.

» Posted By choicelady On February 8, 2011 @ 7:10 am