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I could tell you that my father talks more, and for longer, than anyone I've ever met. Or, I could show you this picture.
Social Butterfly snapped this with her phone. As you can see, we are all done with dinner and are, in fact, clearing the plates and he has yet to eat a bite of food.
Have a great weekend--we are off to Irvine and Redlands this weekend to watch Danger Boy's water polo team play in a tournament. So. Excited.
I was showering when I thought of the above title for an anecdote to illustrate why I am appalled at the social and economic injustice rampant in today's politics and American society in general. Then I got comments on Wednesday's post that added fuel to my fire.
First, the anecdote.
In 1966 my mother was 25 years old and the mother of a two-year old and a newborn. Her husband had just left her (to run naked in the woods of Northern California--that's another story). She went on welfare and stayed on welfare while she got some job training. Then she took advantaged of subsidized day care and Head Start while she began working at UCLA (a state institution).
By the time I was five-years old she was not receiving any assistance whatsoever--though we did still shop at Goodwill.
My mother worked for the University of California system or an affiliate for 25 years. She owned a home as a single woman. She paid taxes. She was, without a doubt, a contributing member of society. Why? Because she got help from the government when she needed it; she was able to pull herself up by her bootstraps because she was given bootstraps.
In addition to that outside help my mother was lucky to be born white, pretty and smart. Don't discount the power of any of those attributes.
In case you missed these comments from yesterday, I want to highlight them today.
You see, Jenn, we live with the Great American Myth that says that, if you are having financial troubles, it is somehow your fault; because America is the land of opportunity and anyone who wants to succeed can. Any evidence which flies in the face of that is either dismissed or explained away with "That person made the wrong choices - game over." I think this myth is appealing, because it gives us the illusion of control over our lives. Those of us who have lost that control (through no fault of our own!) are forced to live both without the myth and without health insurance (which, oh, by the way, isn't really necessary, because no one needed it in the fifties and maybe you should just take better care of yourself.) Really, I could go on; but I won't.--Suburban Correspondent
I so agree with suburban correspondent above. It is so easy for people who are living well because of great opportunities to be blind to the lack of opportunities for others. They aren't even aware of how their lives were different than others and how that shaped their outcomes. I think this is the reason there is a correlation between liberalism and education level. A typical liberal arts education tries to open our eyes to how other people live, and how it impacts their ability to be successful in life. There is no such thing as a level playing field in the U.S.--Renee
Green Girl, I started reading The Grapes of Wrath again this summer and almost couldn't take it. Elizabeth Warren has said this more eloquently than I could, but I agree with her wholeheartedly: "There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own. Nobody. You built a factory out there — good for you! But I want to be clear. You moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for. You hired workers the rest of us paid to educate. You were safe in your factory because of police forces and fire forces that the rest of us paid for. You didn’t have to worry that maurauding bands would come and seize everything at your factory, and hire someone to protect against this, because of the work the rest of us did. Now look, you built a factory and it turned into something terrific, or a great idea — God bless. Keep a big hunk of it. But part of the underlying social contract is you take a hunk of that and pay forward for the next kid who comes along."--Lanes
People have asked what the "Occupy" movement is about. My sense at the march was many people had specific reasons for being there--and those varied from person to person--but all the issues come back to the general themes of social and economic justice.
I would love to hear someone try to rationalize to me that what is happening now in our economy is fair. I can't fathom that I'd be able to relate to or understand the explanation, but I'd love to give it a shot. And I mean a real explanation, not a Fox news sound bite babble. A tea-partier at the rally Friday gave it a shot, but when he answered, in response to my question about what roads he would drive on to get to the demonstration if we had NO government, "that a truly free market would still have roads" I quit listening.
I have to wonder why the rich even want the system we have now. Pretty soon they're going to have live their whole lives behind gates because the minute they venture out they're going to be the target of kidnapping. Ask the rich of Latin America if it's totally peachy keen to live that way.
As broad and all-encompassing as the themes of social and economic justice are, sometimes the personal stories are the most powerful. This would be where I posted a pic of the sign I had that detailed one such story, but I was a little too free with my delete button when I was editing so I no longer have it. The gist was this--"Laid off from my job and then hired back at reduced salary and no benefits. Gave birth prematurely and lost job completely. Now about to lose house."
I'm sure you're all up on the Occupy Wall Street Movement--which is not, as I've heard some Fox propagandists newscasters surmise, a movement arranged/funded by/driven by the Obama campaign. This is a grass-roots movement--and one I think is way overdue. When I heard there was going to be a march and occupation in San Diego I knew I had to particpate. And particpate I did. My friend Theresa--a bigger political junkie than I am and the one who makes sure I see/hear all the really great op-ed pieces--and I made signs on Friday afternoon and then hit the streets of Downtown San Diego.
The lighting in the park where we met was a photographer's nightmare--our signs say "We are the 99%. When working hard and getting an education aren't enough to get ahead . . . is it still AMERICA?" and "You know it's bad when middle-aged white women march." Theresa's amusement at the wording overrode her reluctance to proclaim herself middle-aged.
This was my very favorite sign,
but it definitely wasn't the only sign
The most incredible and heartening thing about this march is that it truly was made up of all types of people--every demographic you can imagine was represented.
Why was I there? If you read this blog regularly you know exactly what I think--and that I think that if you're going to complain about the problem it is incumbent upon you to become part of the solution. Part of my "why am I here" answer made the news . . .
Argh! Why I could embed this on my Facebook page, but not in Typepad I do not know, but here is the link. My 10 seconds of fame start at 1:10--though I think the whole piece is worth listening to if you have not been to one of marches/rallies.
I will have more to say about this populist movement as time goes on, but the important thing to say todays is this:
Suzy Soro mocked me for calling Twitter a time-suck when I play Words with Friends. She is right. However, Words is the time-suck I love. A lot. Just ask the other Suzy. Or Karen. Or Julie. Or . . . well, you get the picture, right?
I have always been a word person--I love Scrabble, Boggle and Scattergories. In school I was the really obnoxious kid that could make 87 words out of "Halloween" or "Christmas" or "Valentine's Day."
Suzy doesn't just mock me though, she's actually looking out for me. In fact, she found me the perfect Halloween costume.
When I emailed her back and asked her what I would wear on my other thigh she responded "lol." Lol coming from Suzy is pretty much like a regular person roling on the floor laughing so I feel confident that my response amused her.
Mr. Fix-it spent last weekend in Fort Collins with MVP. The trip was very cool but I think that the coolest thing was that the trip was MVP's idea.
Lovely scenery, no? This was in Breckenridge.
MVP and some of his classmates (one of whom has been his friend since Kindergarten, so Mr. Fix-it knows him well) needed to collect flora for a class, so they spent the day tromping through a glorious October day.
Lest you think MVP is all work and no play, I swiped this picture off his Facebook page.
I hope we didn't pay too much for that vest!
I read a really intriguing book last week (I've been taking Friday, my weekday off, as a reading day-it's divine). The book is What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty. It's about a women with three children and in the midst of a divorce. She falls off her bike during spin class and wakes up with the last 10 years of her life lost to amnesia. She thinks she's 28 and a derlirously-happy newlywed anticipating the birth of her first child. It gets you thinking.
Social Butterfly and I saw 50/50 on Saturday afternoon. She tried to pull a last-minute switcheroo and try to get me to see What's Your Number instead. Now I don't mind seeing that movie but not when I was planning on seeing a great movie. It was phenomenal. I do this thing lately when I see movies where I name the young lead the new old lead. For example, Joseph Gordon-Levitt is the new John Cucask.
SB is still more than happy to go to movies with me because she's still not 17 and our movie theatre cards hard-core. They won't even let you buy them a ticket unless you also sit with them. Her birthday's coming soon . . . 11/11/11. Yeah, that calls for a party.
Breaking Bad. Oh, I know I'm late to this particular rodeo, but Yowza! it is good. Saturday night I was wide awake (why, oh why do I ever drink caffeine after noon?); I was up until almost one a.m. watching BB and playing Words with Friends.
Twitter. I don't really know. Maybe I'm too late to the party. It's a great big time-suck if you pay close attention. There is a lot self-promotion and that's so not my thing. Then again, sometimes you find things you wouldn't have come across any other way. So that's good. Twitter. I'm doing it but I'm not in love with it.
Sunday I put together brunch with friends. It was a Groupon that was going to expire--all summer long whenever I'd bring up a weekend it didn't work for someone. Friday night I put it on FB and we got a crowd of 10. It was wicked fun. The mimosas were endless and I wasn't driving. I needed a nap when I got home.
In the interests of amusing you half as much as this picture amused my daughter after she snapped it while I was snoozing away.
You don't often see a picture of me when I'm not camera-ready! That is not what I wore to brunch.
Book group and water polo friends getting to know one another!
