Speaking of money...

The problem is...

...it means too much to the people who have too much.  Take this Obamacare thing.  Some people feel that health care coverage is not something to be granted, but something to be earned.  No other country agrees, but hey, we're America.  We're different and proud of it.

So we have guys like John Schnatter who famously said, effectively, that Papa John's will find ways to cut costs and undo the required coverage they have to provide to their employees so that their shareholders don't take a cut in shareholder value.

Shareholders.  Therein lies the problem.

Pick a public company, and I would be REALLY surprised if at least 90% of the ones you pick don't sacrifice quality, customer service, or employee benefits for shareholder value.  Of course their executives won't say this.  But talk to the people doing the work.  On the front lines.  The ones who KNOW.  Doesn't matter the industry - hospitals, health care providers, fast food restaurants.  This is who we are as a country - we reward corporations for trimming costs, increasing profit share, and continually growing revenue.  And it's not sustainable.

So what happens when the government says "Hey, make sure you contribute to the greater good"?  They go apeshit, for several reasons:

1. They hate ANYONE telling them what to do.  Don't believe me?  Get yourself a middle management job in a corporation and try suggesting to any c-level exec (CEO, COO, CIO) what to do.  You won't get a reaction, much less approval.  Probably will get fired.
2. They hate having to focus on ANYTHING other than shareholder value.  It's so much easier to just cut costs, add some bullshit new product or product changes, and then market the hell out of it as a MUST HAVE.  Caring for employees?  Like, actually spending money for working conditions, health care, or minimum wage?  Fuck that
3. They hate thinking that they might have to take a pay cut.

Money means too much to them.  That John Schnatter guy?  Who's so worried about Shareholder Value?  He lives here:

Take a good look at it.  I'm not saying people don't deserve the spoils of their hard work, but why are people like this guy thinking that they can't live off of, say, $200 Million dollars instead of the $600 million he's currently worth?  Why does ANYONE need a house like this?  I live in a nice house.  I love my house.  My kids love my house.  It's nowhere NEAR this big.  Not even close.  Give me $200 million dollars and I'm not moving, just eliminating my mortgage.

Money means too much to them.  Every penny.  Do people like Schnatter give to charity?  Sure, and that's their argument - they get paid what the market says they should and we should leave it up to them to contribute to society.  Maybe so, but until they start living like Warren Buffet, I ain't buyin' it.

Warren Buffet, for those who don't know, is worth $63Billion dollars.  What does he do with his money?  Well, for starters, he lives here:

He doesn't own that neighborhood.  He's lived here since 1958.  He's practically begged the government to tax him at a higher rate.  He's lobbied hard for health care reform and higher minimum wages.  You could take $60B of his money away, and he's still be a billionaire, but:

Money doesn't mean that much to him.

So the solution is...

...figure out what money means to you, and make it less so.  Would you rather be well paid living a crappy life in a small 4x6 cubicle, or making minimum wage doing something you love every day?  Do you really need everything the marketing folks tell you do?  Will that car really attract women?  Do men really love you in Prada as opposed to Goodwill?  Would you be happier running a company with no social life or fixing motorcycles at your uncle's garage?  If you're willing to live in an apartment, manage your bills (i.e. stay out of debt) and work extra hours (which you would because it's what you love), you can have everything you want.

Think about it.  What does the love for money get you?  Not the money itself, that's obvious - we all need it for food, shelter, clothing.  But what does the LOVE for money get you?  Success?  Fame?  Happiness?  Love?  No.  It may get you more money.  But without a life, that's not a lot.

To start with...

Ok, so I'm starting this therapeutic rant session to get off my chest shit that I've been thinking but don't care to write on Facebook and can't fit into 140 characters for Twitter.  I don't get Instagram, and Tumbler seems to be the ranting and ravings of TEENAGE Americans, so no to that.

I'm 46, I've lived in America my whole life, have three kids, a mortgage and a middle management job in a company that makes money off of making other people money.  I've got a two car garage, three dogs, a cat, and am about as middle-class white bread as you can get.

I don't go to church, I think religion is the work of misogynistic men who wanted power and control over their countrymen and especially women.  My kids don't go to church, although they might because while I've never expressed any kind of interest myself, I would never infringe on their freedom to worship as they please.  Although 'worship' is such a derogatory word.  It implies you're something MUCH less than the thing you're 'worshiping'.

I believe America could be the greatest country on Earth.  I believe it needs to be, because it's the only one that can truly claim to be built by all the other countries on Earth.  It is a microcosm of the possibilities of the entire planet.  Which is why it's so fucked up.

I believe Americans worship money, which is to say if you don't have as much as the next guy, you're worth LESS than the next guy.  And to some extent that's to be expected, because our cultural backgrounds are so diverse that money is really the only thing we all have in common.  The question is "how do we get past that"?

I vote, usually democrat, although I used to be independent.  I hated the thought of a collective group of individuals telling me how to vote.  I thought the option for voting straight party lines should be illegal.  You should have to THINK about who you're voting for.  Both sides of the aisle are corrupt, fucked up, and strive only to be re-elected, whatever the cost may be.  The reason I vote democratic nowadays is because if both sides are corrupt and fucked up, at least the democrats are fucked up in a way that helps other people (see:  gay rights, medicare, the ACA, Pro-Choice, etc.).  The republicans have given up trying to be the fiscally responsible party, they're just the "Bring back the 50's" party.  Progress is a four letter word to them.

Speaking of politics, I own a bolt-action .22 rifle, and while I appreciate the capability to "defend myself", quotes intended, I certainly don't think I'll ever use it for self-defense.  If anything, after we've destroyed the planet, it may help me hunt.  But then I'll have to figure out how to gut something and eat it without throwing up.  I think Americans should have a right to own guns, hell they can own a small armory for all I give a shit.  But there should be a cost for that - a price to pay to ensure you're not gonna be some whackjob fucked-up psycho that gets pissed at his girlfriend and takes out a shopping mall.  Training, for example.  There are hillbillies and rednecks with more firepower than a Chicago Swat team, who, because they've been to the range and hit a target at 15 yards think they're aces with armaments, then act surprised when they "forgot" to lock up their shotgun and a kid blows his brains out.

See, we're basically all stupid in America.  That's our problem.  If you don't believe me, watch TV.  Fox News, if you REALLY want to see stupid.  Read some postings on the internet - just pick an article, read it, then read the comments.  See what we're debating about.  See what we care about.  Talk to someone in middle management who knows just enough to see how executives run their company.  Guaranteed you'd be hard pressed to find one who thinks their executives are brilliant visionaries.  Honey Boo Boo.  Really?  I mean, do you need more?  How many millions of Americans watch Pat Robertson attribute hurricanes to God's wrath on gays?  And BELIEVE it!  How can 20 some percent of Americans believe the sun revolves around the Earth?

We're stupid.  Not uneducated or unintelligent.  That's different.  We're stupid.  We were founded in the height of the Age of Enlightenment, carried the banner through the Industrial Revolution, kick started the world into the digital age, and then.............got stupid.

So I'm starting this blog to point that out.  Where are we stupid?  Why?  How can we get better?

If no one listens or cares, no biggie.  I understand.  Who am I to talk anyway?  I don't host a Fox News show, I don't have a PhD.  All I have is observational skills, life experience, and an internet connection.  Doesn't matter to me.  In the end, at least I can say I tried.