Yesterday was yet another gorgeous day here in northern Indiana, and it was a perfect day to head to downtown South Bend for a little political rally. I went over to Shane and Matt’s, and we went to the meeting place, where we met up with our friend Doug. We went to a rally sponsored by MoveOn, and it was mainly about job growth and creation here in the U.S. There was a strong union presence there, including the head of the postal workers’ union. Everyone was in good spirits, we talked to a few nice people who were very concerned about what is happening in our country, held our signs, and waved at the cars going by. Most were fairly supportive, people waving and honking their horns, but we got a real kick out of the guy that drove by and flipped us off. Really? A group of people gathers to push for job creation in the country, and your response is “Fuck you?” I just don’t get that.
There was a simultaneous Occupy South Bend rally going on a block away, so we joined forces with them. Slightly different focus, but still on the same side of things. There is a growing inequity in how much the Haves have and how much the Have Nots don’t have. The rampant greed of Wall Street and the deregulations of their activities resulted in the average American getting screwed over royally. We--those same screwed-over taxpayers--bailed out the banks and investment companies, because to not do so would mean a complete collapse of the economy. I understand that, and I still support the bailouts. However, although some of that money has been paid back, not all of it has, and the profits of the companies and their CEOs are still through the roof...and they are still not investing in the American recovery. No one has been held accountable, and the greedy bastards are still doing what they were doing when they got us into that mess.
Ken and I are fortunate to have weathered this fairly well (knock on wood). He has a good job, and if need be, I could go back to work in the health care sector. But I was proud to stand in support of all those who have been so severely affected by this, whether it’s people who can’t retire because they lost most of their retirement funds, or people who have been out of work for months or years because the jobs simply aren’t there.
Herman Cain (or as Palin likes to call him, “Herb”) commented on the growing Occupy rallies last week and said that if you don’t have a job, don’t blame the banks, don’t blame Wall Street...blame yourself. I wonder what planet Mr. Cain is living on? There are 14 million unemployed in the United States, and I can tell you that I know plenty of people who are hard-working individuals and want to find a job, but simply can’t because there are so few jobs available. Matt has sent out over 2,000 resumes and has been unable to get anything. These are not lazy people, these are not people trying to take advantage of government programs. They are people like you and me who have been downsized and outsourced and screwed by corporate greed.
I supposed it’s easy for ol’ Herb to tell people to blame themselves. He isn’t struggling to pay the rent or put food on the table for his family or trying to pay medical bills. When he had to deal with cancer, he had the best care that money could buy; he didn’t have to worry about how his medical bills might bankrupt his family or make them lose their home. There are millions of Americans who aren’t millionaires who worry about those things every single day.
