Let The Sun Shine In … – 2011

“None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

I am the 99:  As much as I am amazed at how suddenly our Nation is waking up, I am equally amazed at how many people refuse to see and who fight so vehemently to maintain the status quo. The facts do not lie.. The rich have gotten richer at the expense of the rest of us.

The rap group Public Enemy warned us in the 1980’s to not believe the hype. I still remember one of my first encounters with the way corporations twist the situation to take advantage of the workers. I was working at a bank and we just received a newsletter bragging about recent acquisitions and how much money the company was making.  Then, we all were informed about how practically no money was available for bonuses. “Don’t believe the hype!”  It is a giant shell game set to keep us down.

Times are tough for us (the 99%) because the corporate overlords have decided to keep us down so they can take advantage of us. Truly patriotic uber-rich have recognized this injustice and support that their taxes be raised. Prior to the 1980’s, income disparity was less and our county benefited in a more equal fashion from the success of companies.

Show me the money: How is it that when any of us benefits from insider information it is a crime but when a politician does it then no problem? Any law passed by them should apply to them.

I am likewise upset to see how government workers become the scapegoats when the worst offenders are the politicians (governors, senators and representatives).  Most recently, the teachers in Wisconsin were blamed for the state’s financial problems and they were robbed in order to provide millions of dollars in tax benefits to greedy corporations. Likewise, I worked for the state of Texas when the legislature passed laws limiting travel expenses for State employees but amazingly the worst offenders (the legislators themselves) were exempt from the law.

Finally, by how much would we reduce the budget deficit if we could redirect campaign contributions?  The next time you hear how much any candidate is spending on their campaign (running for a state or federal position) think about how it could seriously reduce our deficit. Corporations are willing to spend billions to get their candidate elected but want to pay zero taxes.  Likewise, non-candidates like Sarah Palin should have to pay back campaign contributions to the public debt.

Knowing where we came from: On a separate note, I recently started working on our family tree.  I find the exercise to be very interesting. I am learning more about my family and my wife’s family.  I think our boys will find the information very interesting when they grow up. My wife and I were both surprised to find that both of our families have their Pancho Villa story.  As we live in the now and create our futures, we should never forget our humble roots and where we came from.