Serrated Prose

The OWS movement is joyously celebrating it's one-year anniversary  with what amounts to a public party trying very hard to look like a protest. In short, one year later, nothing new. They still have no message except "Those guys have more money than we do," all under the dubious moniker of "We are the 99%," which does little more than prove most of the protesters skipped the Statistics chapter in math class. The sad part of all this is that they would have a point, if they had the mental fortitude to get organized beyond using social media to gather. OWS is really little more than an extended "flash mob" who shows up and then decides why they're there. In their confusion, they've decided to define themselves by what they hate: people with money. Like I said earlier, they'd have a point if they could actually formulate it in an intelligent way: The people at the top of the economic pyramid are becoming fewer while those at the bottom are ...

Wow, totally stunned. Not much to say here.... As one Canadian put it, "Congratulations, US. Welcome to the developed world!" I completely agree. It's time the US moved away from the social Darwinism model of "Survival of the Richest" and move to a more civil and just model. The law still needs tweaking and will be debated for years to come, but for all those out there who have been bankrupted by healthcare, this is a step in the right direction. For the detractors, here are some of the obvious arguments. And at the risk of pulling a "Limbaugh," I'll argue with myself: "How will we afford it?" We'll find a way. There are provisions in the bill for allaying the cost, but as we all know, costs are always at least double whatever has been projected where politicians are concerned. This is important, though. This isn't a mandate forcing everyone to have a widget in their shoe; it's truly a matter of life and death to some an...

"Greed is good," said Gordon Gecko in the movie Wall Street. It's one of the most famous movie quotes in decades -- not only because it's got that alliteration thing going for it, but because Gecko laid out a very believable, solid argument for naked avarice. Greed and wealth know no party boundaries, but advocates of greed or something akin to economical Darwinism is espoused by the Republicans -- shamelessly espoused. They claim it to be the cornerstone of Capitalism, as a matter of fact. Not only do they champion "winner-take-all" mentality, but they tend to say that everyone is subject to this. Everyone wants more. Everyone will step over each other to make that extra dollar. OK, maybe I'm generalizing a bit, but the Republicans tend to be a more lockstep-message party than the Democrats (by a small, but measurable degree). But the championing of greed wouldn't be so amusing if not for championing the 2,000-year-old philosophy of Christianity a...

What is freedom? Each political party tries its best to control us with emotional, empty words such as "freedom" and "patriotism." I'm sick of hearing about it. Critics of the Democrats say they're trying to "take away our freedom" by imposing national healthcare or increasing taxes. National healthcare takes away our choice to be irresponsible by forcing people to have healthcare and if money is freedom, then taxes indeed reduce freedom. That's the argument put forth by the Republicans and it appeals to my desire to have more money (but remember, everyone wants money -- even the wealthy). But more money doesn't always equal freedom. In fact, Americans have it pretty good. It could always get better, so, like I said, I'm not against having more money... but, as Americans, what do we need the money for? More stuff is always nice, but not necessary. What are the necessities money can buy? Food, shelter, and in America, healthcare. Healt...

Before I get going, look at this: http://goo.gl/Fo0WK We've all seen the mockery of the Tea Baggers with their goofy tea bags dangling from tricorn hats. We've seen the price rampant patriotism can have on one's ability to think clearly or somehow mix up Jesus with the American flag. There's been vague accusations of racism -- and somewhere deep in the ranks, there is -- but certainly not the majority. Not consciously, anyway. Enter the OWS crowd. Clearly, a left-wing movement. If not in direct opposition to the Tea Party, it probably wouldn't have gotten as much traction without the right-wingers thumping their Bibles and loading their guns at the last election cycle. Imagine an alternate universe, where the Tea Party abandoned 1776 as the time when rainbows and butterflies burst from the orifices and fountain pens of our Founding Fathers, but instead harkened back to an earlier time -- 1605, when Guy Fawkes decided to start amassing gun powder to blow up Par...

Have I mentioned that I'm pretty much useless? I haven't written a lot, here -- but I've written enough to repeat myself, from time to time. I'm pretty sure I haven't mentioned my masterful ineffectualness before. I don't do much, in general. Maybe I do about as much as the average guy; I've discovered over the years that I'm just average enough to melt into the pablum of society, so I'm typically safe in assuming that I'm suffering from the same pox of mediocrity that most people bear. This comes to mind because my readership on this blog has recently exploded by 100% -- or 50%, if you count me. I've given you enough math to figure that one out. In a recent discussion with my new readership, I was asked the question,. regarding this blog "Does anyone else read it?" I said, "No," although I actually have no idea. But I'd say, the chances are likely that my quick assertion is correct -- which is what gave me pause. Wh...

So the "Occupy Wall Street" thing has been going on for a week or two, now. What does it all mean? Damned if I know. What I see are hippies, new and old. We have the old, who protested Vietnam and somehow really believe that they changed the world -- when, in fact, it was more likely the war was just becoming an expensive, losing battle. But what the hell, the Baby Boomers love to believe they changed everything with some sit-ins and Mary Janes, so let them have their little glory delusion. Accompanying the old hippies are the new hippies: The ones with Liberal Arts degrees and boundless love for the Earth and boundless hatred for anything connected to corporations. Let me clarify: I love the Earth. I live here, full-time. I don't expect to move, although I think it would be nice to see some scenery on other planets. I'm stuck, so I make the best of it. I recycle. I don't kill non-infesting bugs (like spiders or centipedes) in my house; I just release them outsi...