Yup, and therein lies the rub. I find it ironic as hell that the neo-conservatives have dug in so staunchly on the drug war. It was, after all, started as part of the Eisenhower benevolent, Great Society New Deal. But that's where the hook comes in. If we're to make provision of basic needs a matter of public policy, then you're right, we take with that the right and duty to see to it that all of our precious resources are properly and wisely spent. And we can never agree upon what is and is not a wise expenditure. No people ever could, as many times as any demagog has promised his vision of Utopia.
I want the Old Deal back, damne it! And it's not that I'm cruel or uncaring or greedy to keep hold of what's mine. Fact is, not much in material terms is mine. And, given my native temprement, even in a no holds barred, kill or be killed capitalist society, I'd
still be a Bohemian, doing just enough to stay warm and fed and avoiding, like the plague, any committments or obligations that would require me to be in a fucking hurry.
Shit, man! I've had enough of that! I hurried and scurried all through my childhood, then through single motherhood, then through paying the bills while my bo turned husband grew up enough to carry the load. I'm done w/ that. The powers that be willing, I'll take my ease and wear cheap threads and cook from scratch, thanks very much.
And just you take some time and think about this. Yes, take it, by fraud or force if need be! It's an absolute necessity, like sleep, nutrition and love. Has the New Deal delivered on it's promises? Granted, we have better medicine, but we have poorer basic health and more need of it. Plus the expense. Better nutrition? Well, less famine. But basic nutrition and, worse,
knowledge of good, sound nutrition is in desperate straits, here and abroad. Check out Jamie Oliver sometime; Naked Cheff turned food activist.
When I was a kid, most 16 - 18yos had cars of their own, or ready access to one. Now? Not many people around here, especially the young, can manage a car, insurance, repairs, gas AND avoidance of losing the priviledge of driving. You still have to drive to make a living and not drop it, bill by bill, day by day into the transit authorities 'flexible' budget. But you can't have it, unless you're very careful and very lucky.
Is our standard of living really improving? I don't think so, honestly. I think we were better off, overall, before they started helping us so much.
Real criminals walk free every day to rape, rob, and murder again because the courts are so busy finding consensual criminals guilty of hurting no one but themselves.... To free cells for consensual criminals, real criminals are put on the street every day.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0931580587/circlofmiamithem' target='_new'>Peter McWilliams