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| This is you |
Hi. I'm Brighton. I'm a liberal. Can I have just five minutes to say a few things? Thanks.
First of all, I'm not a witch.
I'm not you, either. I have a job, and I'm an American citizen, but I'm nowhere close to being you. I think you suck, and you think I suck. Let it out. It's cool. No shame in it.
There are some things we agree on. Y'know, you probably like rock and roll music, for example. I love rock and roll, too. You also probably like beer. I like beer a lot. In fact, I'd drink your brand without complaining. What do you like? PBR? Miller Lite? It's all good. Sex - you guys probably like getting laid. Who doesn't? Sex rules.
So there - we could have a rock and roll party with beer and sex and probably have a great time together - kinda like in high school. Remember those loud keg parties? The first hour was fun, dancing to Cheap Trick, trying to hook up - then you guys would go pick fights and my hippies would go off and get high. No problems. I even remember getting high with you guys once in a while. And you would beat us up sometimes! There you go.
Even so, I'm not trying to convert you, and don't expect me to buy into your bullshit, either.
The thing is, the media and our leaders have been bullshitting us both in order to take our money. The liberal leaders have us thinking that you all are racists and hate gays. Your guys, at least Glenn Beck, have you thinking we are all anti-christian commies who want to take your guns away.
I sincerely believe that you guys do not hate all black people and homosexuals. And I can tell you that I don't want your gun, and I have no interest in outlawing your religion. Although I am a commie.
Here's my point, though.
(And thanks for staying with me this long)
We need to form an arm's length coalition against the politicians and rich people. We need to do it now, because they are lying to all of us and stealing our money. They are driving a wedge between us in order to keep us weak.
Listen, what did your Dad do? Mine worked for IBM for 35 years. He got great benefits. I'm guessing your dad got health insurance and some pension money, too. If he didn't, I'm sorry, but my point is that the 9 to 5 working stiff used to get some respect in this country.
As long as we are fighting each other over stupid shit, they are free to pick our pockets. I'm not saying we need to agree on everything, because you know and I know that ain't gonna happen. But let's agree on getting our money back from the fucking rich guys who are gaming the system.
That's not a handout, brother. I'm not suggesting for a minute that anybody gets free money. I'm saying that they are not keeping their half of the social contract. The deal is - we work, and they pay us, and if we work really hard, our kids have it better than we did. For thirty years, we've been going backwards instead. We have been working harder - you've been cutting down more trees, I've been serving more lattes - and they have been paying us both less, giving us fewer benefits, and making us save for our own retirement. Now they want to cut Social Security and Medicare, which we're both gonna need. No shame in that, by the way - that's our money that we put in over the years and the rule is, we get to take it back out.
Let's draw a line, OK - on one side, let's write down all these things we disagree on: gun control, prayer in schools, affirmative action, gay marriage, whatever. I think your positions on these issues are fucking ridiculous, and you think mine are gay. Great. Let's not cool off about any of that.
Because fuck you.
But on the other side of the line, let's write: "more money for working people." Because we both agree that money talks, and bullshit walks. The assholes with all the money are laughing at us while we fight over Obama and Palin and whatever - we need to fight back together for the money, then go back to hating each other on everything else.
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| this is both of us |
How? Step one: No tax cuts for millionaires. That way the government will take more of their money, and less of ours. Step two: No changes to social security.
If we can just do those two things, that would be great, for now.
Maybe once you're unemployed and they foreclose on your house, we can talk about the fairness of food stamps and unemployment insurance. Perhaps if you get sick - which I'm not wishing on you - we can even go over how single payer health care would save the economy.
But for now, let's stick with "Tax the rich, and leave my social security alone." You can get behind that, and so can I.
Again, I honestly don't want your guns. I just want you to point them away from me and toward the people who took our home equity, our 401(k) money and our high-paying jobs.
I'll even buy you some ammo.
If you tell me what kind, cos I have no idea.
Sincerely,
A tree-hugging, homo-loving, bleeding-heart commie atheist liberal
*even though Jesus was born in June and there is no god.
3 comments:
When I read this, all I could do was nod my head in agreement. What frustrated me, though, was that the correctness of your argument wouldn't change anything.
The problem is, I think, that there is no movement for those-who-are-being-robbed to join. Because there is no one organizing them along those lines. The labor unions are specialized and issue-oriented. The Democrats are either weak or co-opted, which I don't know and I don't care.
Someone with the understanding that, as a friend of mine used to put it, you're either on the guest list or the menu--someone with that understanding, AND with the savvy and will to organize a movement around that understanding--we don't have that.
You never know, Raenelle. A common enemy has made for some pretty strange bedfellows!
"But for now, let's stick with "Tax the rich, and leave my social security alone." You can get behind that, and so can I."
Unfortunately, I can't share your optimism that taxing the rich is something most tea partiers can get behind. I have conversations with tea partiers on a relatively regular basis, and most seem to be in favor of cutting taxes for everyone, including the very rich. Most tea partiers seem to share an opinion that "they [the super rich] work hard for their money and don't deserve to have it taken away by the government."
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