america? you are the biggest loser.

Thanks, Peter, for the title.

We should congratulate the Koch brothers.  They somehow managed to mobilize a bunch of poor, undereducated white people-most of whom probably benefit from Medicaid-to do their bidding.  Add in some good old fashioned Christian Right anti-abortion, anti-gay talk and you've got yourself a Republican Party that should be ashamed of itself.  Not that I'm terribly fond of the Democrats right now either.  There's an awful lot of hand wringing and gnashing of teeth.  A ton of finger pointing and politicking.  From both sides. 

Ultimately, though, there is something bigger going on than a possible government shutdown this week.  How in the name of all that is holy can anyone stand by and watch government funding for basic services to it's citizens be cut and think it's a good thing?  This whole "more money in your pocket" bullshit is insane to me.  More money in THEIR pockets.  It's THEIR pockets.  And by THEIR pockets I mean corporations. I know I'm being wildly influenced by my current reading material, but c'mon.  Don't be a moron.  The corporate takeover of America is done.  It was done when NAFTA was signed.  It was done when Americans continued to demand more toys for less money.  This crazy notion that anyone can pull themselves up by their bootstraps is just no longer true.  The more concentrated the wealth has gotten, the harder it has become to get a piece of the action.  We are supposed to be led to the trough to shovel in our fast food and our flat screen tvs and the hot new tech gadgets.  We're supposed to buy our factory farm meats chock full of hormones and our asparagus from god knows where completely out of season.  And yet we're shocked when spinach is tainted with E.coli.  And we're pissed the "Mexicans" are taking our jobs.  Do you know where anything you purchase is actually made?  Do you know who grew your food?  Or sewed your clothes?  Or pumped the crude oil that ended up in your gas tank?  Or made your fancy phone that will inevitably need to be replaced in 2 years? 

It's insane to me.  Truly. Honestly. Insane. 

I know.  I know.  I'm ranty and disjointed and all over the place. 

I believe this is all connected is the thing.  I believe the choices we make every single day of our lives-from the coffee we drink to deciding to walk instead of drive-is ultimately connected to the mess we're in.  Quite honestly, I think it's too late for capital A America.  We've allowed ourselves to think everything is progress.  I can buy "fresh" vegetables year round.  Progress!  I can buy a phone that not only calls people but takes pictures and video and lets me check facebook.  Progress!  I want steak and look it's cheap because I have no idea who raised it or what it was raised on or how it was processed.  Progress!  Progress is good!  Progress is good!  Progress is good! 

I think it's possible progress is just a big myth to convince us we "need" more.  I'm not saying I want to go live in a cabin with no electricity and raise my own chickens and make my own soap and have a huge garden and work work work (though really, I actually sort of kind of do, but that's another post).  I'm saying that maybe it's time we stop and look at what we buy before we buy it.  Democracy isn't going to be the downfall of America.  Our rampant consumerism will be.

Our next lesson:  capitalism is to socialism as democracy is to communism (or why Erin is a proud supporter of democratic socialism and how that doesn't make her a Communist or anti-American)