:: The Blurst of Times ::

:: 1.20.2005 ::

Strangling the American Dream or: Kickin’ Life, Willy Lohman Style

The Man does not owe you a happy life. Nothing guarantees that when it’s all said and done, you won’t look back and think that your whole life was just about as much fun as shoving a swarm of angry bees up your ass. The best we can do is try to guarantee the pursuit of happiness, the opportunity to take chances that may result in feelings of goodness. And as a matter of fact, unless you’re really rich, really crooked, or willing to get your ass cheeks pierced together, that’s not even a guarantee anymore.

I won’t pretend that I’m an advocate for small government. I think laissez faire is about as good a deal as a hearty case of crabs. But there is a libertarian streak in me that is sometimes just screaming to tear loose and exploit all sorts of minorities, dock workers, and screen actors. So I can certainly empathize with those who see all their hard work and meticulous stock profiting being torn asunder by the current state of the American welfare program, especially Social Security. I mean, who is Ken Lay to support hundreds and thousands of retiring workers? What do people like Michael Eisner and Bill Gates owe the thousands of auto workers and average day-laborers who will be retiring in the near future? And Dick Cheney? Kick back to the erstwhile public educator? Fuck that shit, the man’s got bills to pay!

The way I see it, it all boils down like this: We live in a capitalist society. People are going to make money. Some will make a lot (undoubtedly because they are honest, scrupulous, and dedicated); others will make less (also undoubtedly because they are lazy, shiftless, or addicted to heroin and painkillers). There is an extent to which the government ought to regulate business (for general prosperity and to save our beloved airlines), but the government is not there for the protection of business. The government is there to protect people. And in our capitalist society, the people who need protecting are the ones who are in a weakened state, due to disability, age, or whatever. So we begin with this idea that the government isn’t there to be a proactive guidance system for all of society, but rather to act as the safety net under every citizen, ideally able to promise that no matter how bad things get, they will at least have a warm meal and a roof over their head.

So as the Two-Bit-Piece-of-Shit-from-Texas... excuse me... the President, begins his crusade to privatize Social Security and send millions of retirement plans into the grinder of the global stock market, I feel that it is important to remember a few things. First, the idea behind social security is that it acts as a catch-all for those who, for whatever reason, cannot afford a livable income after retirement. Maybe it’s because they didn’t save money, or didn’t have a career with a retirement plan, or maybe they just worked their heart out for forty-five years and someone who needed two more bigger mansions stole their pensions right out from under them. Whatever - I shall not cast the first stone. In any case, some people can’t afford jack shit, and these are the people who need social security the most. Soon, it may be gone.

Secondly, there is nothing stopping anyone from setting up their own investment account. I’ve got one. Hell, I’ve got two, and I don’t make beans compared to some people. Granted, there is an overall lesson of ‘learn to live with less’ that can be applied here, but a promise to ensure the basic needs for millions in their latter (remember when we called them ‘golden’) years ought to take some precedence over a couple percent f my income, especially if it returned that promise to me in my post-seventy years. So thirdly would be the idea that no one trusts the government any further than they can toss it, which rings especially true for people in the Beltway, so everyone was just waiting for this golden rug to get ripped out from under us, so of course no one is willing to put any actual thought into how we can make a socialized system work, rather we’re all to anxious to close down shop as quick as we can just so forty years from now it’s not us that’s left holding the bag.

And finally, the whole thing reeks of partisan rhetoric. Phrases like “seeking to establish a conservative agenda over the next half-century” and “long standing Republican goal to dismantle the vestiges of the New Deal” does not sound like a man or group trying to unite a nation. Nope, not so much. Sound like a lot of Washington ratshit, and of course we’d expect no less. I wish I could say that it’s too radical and won’t pass, but as quick as a man can send soldiers to die, he can forever change the face of nationwide household economics.

Someday we will begin to understand the meaning of the word “society” and understand that it isn’t just about people listed in a phone book, but more about our family, neighbors, and coworkers, without which we would quickly die of homelessness, malnutrition, and absolute and utter loneliness. When we understand how to act ‘humanely’ and not just as humans, then we can finally start bridging these ridiculous gaps that quarter us in a culture of fear and anger.

“Will I do myself proud, or only what’s allowed? What will it be like when I get old...”

:: Freddy F. at 9:59 PM [+] ::
:: (1) comments ::

3M or: How Can I Ease Myself Back Into Writing Without Losing the Audience or Blowing a Gasket?

Since the dawn of the new year my life has been one huge, non-stop thrill ride. I haven’t even had time to sit down and write anything or think of anything or talk to anyone since everything has been happening in a very exciting, crazy, haphazard, fun fashion. Okay, I don’t even feel like I’m writing that with a straight face. I’m lying. I haven’t done much of anything thus far in 2005. For one thing, it has been aces cold outside, like freeze the ears right off my head cold, so that is limiting the amount of time that I’m spending out there. And work isn’t too exciting because I’m just putting together this set of documents for construction, which is a good learning process and hard work, but nothing to write home about. Three times, by three different people, in the past two weeks I have been petitioned for advice on being single and all its glorious benefits. In all these situations I attempted to explain why I found a wonderful amount of peace in my current solitary condition and I think I only ended up sounding a) boring; b) depressing; and c) hopeless. Which is not the case, as I feel none of the three, but how do you explain having crafted a List for the last five years and only now finally having opportunity to start whittling it down? You can’t, it’s personal, so I’ll just tell everyone here how I’m doing, so you can come to peace in your own (solitary or collective) way.

I started Netflix. So my queue of 127 movies shall rapidly diminish at a rate of more than eight movies per month. If I just do eight a month, that’s 96 per year - I figure the list should be pretty pared down by aught-six. So far I’ve seen: The Exorcist, Seven Samurai, North by Northwest, Far From Heaven, XMen 2, and about 85% of American Splendor. [I won’t mention how utterly ironic it is that American Splendor came highly recommended by a certain someone who also touts technology as the solution for all things problematic, yet the reason I don’t know where Joyce went or how Harvey came to have cancer is because the fucking DVD player skipped over all that shit and wouldn’t let me go back and see any of it, thus leaving a huge (critical) gap in the viewing experience.]

I’ve lost touch with my music collection. As I was making mix CD’s this holiday season, I realize there is probably a lot of stuff in there that I haven’t listened to ever (the true problem with pirating music isn’t cheating record industry out of their fatcat checks, it’s the fact that you can have a CD like The Cure’s A Head in the Door for six months without hardly listening to it). So I’ve put a freeze on acquiring music until I get a better feeling for Ottmar Liebert & Luna Negra, and what roll they will be playing in my future music consumption.

I am addicted to magazines. And just like crack cocaine, they are dirt cheap. Eight bucks for a year of Esquire? Sign me up! Architectural Digest for a mere twenty bones? I’m in! And if Metropolis isn’t the most pretentious mainstream design magazine since Adam, I don’t know what is, but I’m sure loving reading it and seeing that pile on my bookshelf grow. Besides, I can only spend so much time reading books before I get tired of that particular topic - magazines are like cartoons to a six-year-old for my literary mind.

And by the way: You can say all you want about Sublime and their post-mortal suckiness, but goddammit, Date Rape is one of the best songs ever.

“Now baby, don’t be sad. In my opinion, you weren’t half bad...”
:: Freddy F. at 10:53 PM [+] ::
:: (1) comments ::