over the course of the past week or so, i've read articles and op-eds, witnessed posts on facebooks, and listened to the words of angst - from even dear friends - that some inner turbulance, something deeply troubling, keeps them from celebrating the death of bin laden. i've even felt judged by them, as though some moral superiority separates their reservations from my profligate thirst for blood. so for all of you seraphs standing on your celestial high ground, i've one question for you...
where the fuck were you on the september 11, 2001, when i woke up to the vision of planes crashing into the world trade center? when my heart shattered into a thousand bloody shards as every sense of safety, security, and innocent faith in my country were ripped from my bruised and battered soul? when a sadness i can't even begin to articulate settled into my life, where it remains today and everyday for the rest of my life?
i lost something that day i will never have back. a certain kind of innocence, a blind faith in the invincibility of my america. a belief that our freedom, so wondrous in its immeasurability and universality, was the road to the world's salvation. 'twas a beautiful naivety. so pure, and knowing how purely irrecoverable, i saved the newspaper printed in the wee hours of september 11, 2001, before it happened, so's to hang onto some memory of what life was like before tragedy struck our shores.
but it wasn't just that tragedy struck our shores. it's that someone so evil, someone so consumed by his own egotistical need to blame someone else for that which ailed him, that he lashed out at us, stripping the innocence of an entire people, whilst ripping the souls from more than 3,000 of my american brethren. and in celebratory retaliation for what? because my country has an army base in the land of his birth (a land that didn't even want his ass)? because his part of the world has so long been mired in unrelenting sectarian bickering that it's torn its borders and its people since the beginning of time? and how is that my fault? and how is attacking me and my country going to solve anything?
thing is, it's not. it never was. it's always been just an act of evil committed out of rage, out of impotence. osama bin laden couldn't do anything for his own people, so he took it out on us. and i fucking hate him for that. and i will never stop hating him for that. nor will i ever stop celebrating that america looked him right in the eye before blowing the fucker out of its socket. and i will never be sorry for relishing his death by my country's hand.
never. ever.
~k
09 May 2011
peace out farm subsidies
i am and have always been opposed to federal subsidies to america's farmers. it's not that i dislike farmers or dislike food, it's that i am enraged by the effects of these subsidies on a variety of other government programs, and their resulting financial and health-related burdens.
let's start with corn. the u.s. government subsidizes about 50% of the corn produced in america, at a cost of about $10 billion per year (much of which is subsidizing ethanol, which in and of itself is a stupid and wasteful attempt to ween ourselves off of oil). of that amount, between $1.5-$3 billion per year is for full-stop corn. and what is it that we do with all that corn?
we make popcorn. we have corn on the cob, creamed corn, and corn mash. and we have high fructose corn syrup, also known as the fattening poison used to make soda, potato chips, unhealthy juices, and other high calorie, zero value foods that are priced so cheaply that they present themselves as the best options to those least able to afford to eat healthy. and why is this a problem?
because the consumption of that shit has resulted in societal obesity, an increase in type-2 diabetes, and an across-the-board increase in medical costs - much of which falls back on federal and state governments who are subsidizing medical care if not full-stop paying the medical bills via medicaid (i mean, it's a bigger problem with the poor, who are the ones benefitting from the low cost of junk food). which also means that i'm paying for it, not just with my tax dollars, but with higher insurance premiums and co-pays, and costlier services for my own health care.
which is, in a word (or three), complete fucking bullshit!
more simply put, costly government farm subsidies = even more costly government health costs = higher taxes and higher healthcare costs for you and me.
there are many other associated costs of these subsidies, ranging from trade barriers to encouraging inefficiencies in farming, to the destruction of fertile farmlands (these big ass farms destroy the lands with chemicals and overuse), and the devastation of small farmers (here and around the world) to the benefit of the corporate big-money farms. in the end, we lose, our government loses, poor countries lose, our health loses, and the market loses.
so let's take away the subsidies, put $10 billion per year back in the government coffers, and let the market right-size the value of america's farms and the fruits of its labors.
~k
let's start with corn. the u.s. government subsidizes about 50% of the corn produced in america, at a cost of about $10 billion per year (much of which is subsidizing ethanol, which in and of itself is a stupid and wasteful attempt to ween ourselves off of oil). of that amount, between $1.5-$3 billion per year is for full-stop corn. and what is it that we do with all that corn?
we make popcorn. we have corn on the cob, creamed corn, and corn mash. and we have high fructose corn syrup, also known as the fattening poison used to make soda, potato chips, unhealthy juices, and other high calorie, zero value foods that are priced so cheaply that they present themselves as the best options to those least able to afford to eat healthy. and why is this a problem?
because the consumption of that shit has resulted in societal obesity, an increase in type-2 diabetes, and an across-the-board increase in medical costs - much of which falls back on federal and state governments who are subsidizing medical care if not full-stop paying the medical bills via medicaid (i mean, it's a bigger problem with the poor, who are the ones benefitting from the low cost of junk food). which also means that i'm paying for it, not just with my tax dollars, but with higher insurance premiums and co-pays, and costlier services for my own health care.
which is, in a word (or three), complete fucking bullshit!
more simply put, costly government farm subsidies = even more costly government health costs = higher taxes and higher healthcare costs for you and me.
there are many other associated costs of these subsidies, ranging from trade barriers to encouraging inefficiencies in farming, to the destruction of fertile farmlands (these big ass farms destroy the lands with chemicals and overuse), and the devastation of small farmers (here and around the world) to the benefit of the corporate big-money farms. in the end, we lose, our government loses, poor countries lose, our health loses, and the market loses.
so let's take away the subsidies, put $10 billion per year back in the government coffers, and let the market right-size the value of america's farms and the fruits of its labors.
~k
02 May 2011
01 May 2011
ding dong...
...the douche is dead! i've never felt so much joy over someone's death. but osama bin laden is one mother fucker who deserves our celebrating his demise.
the end.
~k
p.s. i seriously need to stop watching the commentary and go to bed so i can start my new job tomorrow after a good night's rest.
the end.
~k
p.s. i seriously need to stop watching the commentary and go to bed so i can start my new job tomorrow after a good night's rest.
the question of immigration
i am pretty sure i've written about the dream act before, and about the fierce rhetoric against immigration and immigrants in particularly, but the whole thing still makes no sense to me. unless it's racism. and maybe it is?
statistics show that immigrants are an economic boon in and of themselves. immigrants create mini economies within their communities, with its consumers' demands for clothing, food, transportation, and entertainment. most immigrants work hard, pay taxes, and absorb fewer government resources than their american-born neighbors. and most are all about family, instilling values that mirror the american dream: that if they work hard, they will be rewarded with a better life than their parents lived, and leave for their children a life even better.
there's no denying that there are problems with crime, truancy, and drugs within immigrant communities, but probably no more so than within the communities of the american born. i mean, i live in missouri, the methamphetamine capital of the country, and i'll bet that there aren't a whole lot of immigrants here - relatively speaking i mean. but unlike natural born american criminals, immigrants as a whole are criminalized for the acts of their few. is it that they are an easy target for our need to blame someone else for our woes as a country?
thing is, america _is_ a nation of immigrants. folks of all color, religion, and background have been building this country since its very first days, and will be what makes or breaks america's standing as the world's 'it' place. so why do we hate them so? why do we rally against those who are here and try with all our might to keep out those others who want to be here? what else but not wanting more people who aren't like us infiltrating our borders?
~k
statistics show that immigrants are an economic boon in and of themselves. immigrants create mini economies within their communities, with its consumers' demands for clothing, food, transportation, and entertainment. most immigrants work hard, pay taxes, and absorb fewer government resources than their american-born neighbors. and most are all about family, instilling values that mirror the american dream: that if they work hard, they will be rewarded with a better life than their parents lived, and leave for their children a life even better.
there's no denying that there are problems with crime, truancy, and drugs within immigrant communities, but probably no more so than within the communities of the american born. i mean, i live in missouri, the methamphetamine capital of the country, and i'll bet that there aren't a whole lot of immigrants here - relatively speaking i mean. but unlike natural born american criminals, immigrants as a whole are criminalized for the acts of their few. is it that they are an easy target for our need to blame someone else for our woes as a country?
thing is, america _is_ a nation of immigrants. folks of all color, religion, and background have been building this country since its very first days, and will be what makes or breaks america's standing as the world's 'it' place. so why do we hate them so? why do we rally against those who are here and try with all our might to keep out those others who want to be here? what else but not wanting more people who aren't like us infiltrating our borders?
~k
22 April 2011
an ode to the lou
i've now been in st. louis for three months, observing, learning, getting the lay of the land, tasting the tids, drinking the suds, meeting the people, getting a job, and poking around into the political scene.
fer starters, folks'll tell you that everyone here is from here, that when people ask where you went to school, they mean high school. but so far my only friends (outside of my new family) are fellow transplants. and they all love it here. and i mean _LOVE_ it here.
and honestly, what's not to love? i mean, don't get me wrong, when i first learned that i would be uprooting my city life to settle into the burbs, i probably cried for a week. that it's the burbs of st. louis added another three weeks to the water works. and it wasn't until i helped pick her jaw off the ground, when she came to see for herself, that zip finally stopped asking, "are you sure you want to live in the suburbs?" the idea of the burbs is way worse than the actual place. i live in a mini-mansion with a yard and a pool, there's killer vietnamese food one suburb over, and as of the first week of may, i'll get the saving grace of a day job with views of both the arch and busch stadium (yeehaw for some city!).
politically, it's a real interesting place. there's old dems and old everything. obviously, the bulk of my network leans left, as do the bulks of theirs. but there's no real organization to it. from what i've been able to gather (without first hand witnessing the all too familiar phenomenon), the old dems rule with the same old iron fist as old dem clubs in other cities. change is real hard, especially for folks who've lived the exact same life every single day since birth.
and there is a lot of that in st. louis. people care where i went to high school because it's all they know. it's the simplest way of putting me into a category that makes sense. my story is that i skipped high school and went straight to college (it doesn't suck that people then assume i'm four years younger than i am), because the truth would mean i'm a hoosier (cuz that's what they call rednecks here). far more than the other places i've lived (as an adult), people here are pretty simple, with fairly simple dreams, vacations, and careers. and while it will never describe me, my dreams, vacations or career, i do not mean simple in a bad way - not for them.
there is something in the value system of the midwest that i missed terribly whilst gallivanting about the coasts. people here are genuine to their core, and they are all about accepting responsibility. i'm not suggesting that everyone here fits that description, as there are as many outliers here as anywhere, but that's what's in the genetic make-up of values here. and i like that. it's a much better fit for me than the la-tee-da-de-doo bullshit on the left coast and the me-me-me crap on the other.
being an outsider here is one of the most interesting social experiments of my life. in large part it's because i'm grateful i'm an outsider. i will never belong to this place (or really any place) and i will never be "simple," but i do love it here, i am quite pleased every time i'm pleasantly surprised by its food, people, and super fun times. and no lie, there's no place i'd rather have a family. it'll also make it easier to infiltrate the political scene - to the depth i'm willing to delve.
i'm starting a leadership development institute here. the new leaders council is a national organization, currently operating in 15 cities, committed to fostering emerging, progressive political entrepreneurs - influential leaders with a vision of a better world and a way to take us there. right now, i'm networking to build a board of advisors, and to raise awareness of who we are and what we're trying to accomplish, and eventually will set about recruiting these young ballers and turning them into leaders before setting them back out into the world. how is it the newbie on the scene thinks such can be accomplished?
on the one hand, it's hard trying to do something like this in a city where i've few friends and even fewer political connections. but on the other hand, it'll be brilliantly easy. because i've no preconceived notion of old-school st. louis politics. i've nary a favor owed to or by me. i don't have a dog in any of the fights playing out. i seek only an opportunity to start organizing a progressive movement that's segregated most simply by geography and an absence of a unifying force. and for all who know me, you all know just how unifying my force.
so here i am, in this land of nutty weather, dodging tornadoes, and building a community. the way i see it, st. louis and i are lucky to have each other. st. louis is a wonderful, laid back, genuinely warm (not meant in the temperate sense) place, the perfect place for me to be for this phase of my life. and for a small pond, it's got more political potential than i ever imagined, potential st. louis is lucky that i plan to see realized...
~k
fer starters, folks'll tell you that everyone here is from here, that when people ask where you went to school, they mean high school. but so far my only friends (outside of my new family) are fellow transplants. and they all love it here. and i mean _LOVE_ it here.
and honestly, what's not to love? i mean, don't get me wrong, when i first learned that i would be uprooting my city life to settle into the burbs, i probably cried for a week. that it's the burbs of st. louis added another three weeks to the water works. and it wasn't until i helped pick her jaw off the ground, when she came to see for herself, that zip finally stopped asking, "are you sure you want to live in the suburbs?" the idea of the burbs is way worse than the actual place. i live in a mini-mansion with a yard and a pool, there's killer vietnamese food one suburb over, and as of the first week of may, i'll get the saving grace of a day job with views of both the arch and busch stadium (yeehaw for some city!).
politically, it's a real interesting place. there's old dems and old everything. obviously, the bulk of my network leans left, as do the bulks of theirs. but there's no real organization to it. from what i've been able to gather (without first hand witnessing the all too familiar phenomenon), the old dems rule with the same old iron fist as old dem clubs in other cities. change is real hard, especially for folks who've lived the exact same life every single day since birth.
and there is a lot of that in st. louis. people care where i went to high school because it's all they know. it's the simplest way of putting me into a category that makes sense. my story is that i skipped high school and went straight to college (it doesn't suck that people then assume i'm four years younger than i am), because the truth would mean i'm a hoosier (cuz that's what they call rednecks here). far more than the other places i've lived (as an adult), people here are pretty simple, with fairly simple dreams, vacations, and careers. and while it will never describe me, my dreams, vacations or career, i do not mean simple in a bad way - not for them.
there is something in the value system of the midwest that i missed terribly whilst gallivanting about the coasts. people here are genuine to their core, and they are all about accepting responsibility. i'm not suggesting that everyone here fits that description, as there are as many outliers here as anywhere, but that's what's in the genetic make-up of values here. and i like that. it's a much better fit for me than the la-tee-da-de-doo bullshit on the left coast and the me-me-me crap on the other.
being an outsider here is one of the most interesting social experiments of my life. in large part it's because i'm grateful i'm an outsider. i will never belong to this place (or really any place) and i will never be "simple," but i do love it here, i am quite pleased every time i'm pleasantly surprised by its food, people, and super fun times. and no lie, there's no place i'd rather have a family. it'll also make it easier to infiltrate the political scene - to the depth i'm willing to delve.
i'm starting a leadership development institute here. the new leaders council is a national organization, currently operating in 15 cities, committed to fostering emerging, progressive political entrepreneurs - influential leaders with a vision of a better world and a way to take us there. right now, i'm networking to build a board of advisors, and to raise awareness of who we are and what we're trying to accomplish, and eventually will set about recruiting these young ballers and turning them into leaders before setting them back out into the world. how is it the newbie on the scene thinks such can be accomplished?
on the one hand, it's hard trying to do something like this in a city where i've few friends and even fewer political connections. but on the other hand, it'll be brilliantly easy. because i've no preconceived notion of old-school st. louis politics. i've nary a favor owed to or by me. i don't have a dog in any of the fights playing out. i seek only an opportunity to start organizing a progressive movement that's segregated most simply by geography and an absence of a unifying force. and for all who know me, you all know just how unifying my force.
so here i am, in this land of nutty weather, dodging tornadoes, and building a community. the way i see it, st. louis and i are lucky to have each other. st. louis is a wonderful, laid back, genuinely warm (not meant in the temperate sense) place, the perfect place for me to be for this phase of my life. and for a small pond, it's got more political potential than i ever imagined, potential st. louis is lucky that i plan to see realized...
~k
11 April 2011
it always gets better
so, i saw kay bailey hutchinson's, "the debt ceiling is going to be armageddon," comment today, and i immediately felt a wee wretch. and then i looked at the greater dialogue going on today (and really every day), and found that i'm more bothered than usual that the republican party (in particularly) insists on motivating americans with fear. even hutchinson's comment (i'm thinking that you might be thinking it's a stretch to use that example), using the word armageddon -in a country as obsessed with jesus as this one is - will take the loony rhetoric up a notch. it's kind of ironic that the ones who define "american exceptionalism" exclusive of humility, that america can do no wrong, that the ends are always worth the means, even if that means we compromise our values, are the same ones always running from doomsday.
despite the very fact that america's existence at all is a fucking miracle.
go back and read about the revolutionary war. the first government had no money to pay troops, thousands of troops had no shoes, thousands threw down their arms, many others carried sticks and stones because even if there were enough weapons, there was just as often no ammunition for it. america was getting its ass kicked by the redcoats, who were helped every step of the way by traitorous "loyalists" (funny how "traitor" is in the eyes of the beholder). the tide of the war turned in america's favor one christmas night the weather changed direction, by the sleight hand of fate. do you have any idea how impossible that is, how unbelievable, how miraculous that america won that war? and once the war did end, and a government put into place (and make no mistake, that government was as viciously divided as the one today), america still had no money. until the french started dumping bucketloads of cash into our early coffers. and put this country so deeply into debt, there was doubt america could survive. but we got it together and paid that shit off in full.
and that wasn't the only time america's been in a really tough spot. look back even nearer in time, to the great depression. banks failed, markets crashed, and a drought came along just in time to add insult to injury by ruining thousands of much-needed staples. america was on the brink of complete catastrophe. unemployment was at 25%.
think about how much 9% unemployment hurts, and think about 25% of working americans unable to find a job. think about what that loss of revenue (for individuals and a government dependent upon the employed) did for the economy. no one had money to spend, people were reluctant to borrow, and inflation soared. and for an economy reliant upon consumption, the devastating effects were felt in every sector, much like they are in our consumption driven economy today.
thing is, if consumers aren't spending, the government has to spend. otherwise the economy completely collapses, and we all go back to the bread and cheese lines of the depression, the rations in gas, medicine, and utilities, and the hoovervilles for america's homeless. when FDR was elected president, he started spending a shit-ton of money america didn't have, putting us deeper and deeper into debt as he put millions of americans back to work building bridges, dams, and eventually war chest tools.
yep, another miracle to save america. world war ii demanded an industry, and damn quick, no other country could've pulled off. on the brink of catastrophic collapse, a war on the other side of the world saved this country's economy. and saved it so good, america was able to help rebuild europe from the ashes of its great war. i mean, we paid for the world to pick itself up, dust itself off, and get back to kicking ass. because that's what we do.
because we're america. we're dreamers. that's who we are to the world (the ones whose judgments aren't tainted by hatred and the need to blame someone else) and to history. we make big things happen because we believe we can. and yeah, things are tough right now. really, really tough. and it's scary looking forward to a black hole of debt in our future, and all the obstacles standing in the way of fixing anything (healthcare, ahem). but it's been way worse for america. way worse than it is today.
today, we've been saved. it's been the good decision made by our president to spend money we don't have that's kept unemployment below 25%, that's kept unemployment insurance paying out, that's kept us from having to build obamavilles and ration our commodities. obama has even kept taxes low, and made them even lower for some, with money america doesn't have. because he's a believer, he sees our future, and he's investing there to keep america from falling off a precipice that lands directly into an even greater depression, and trying to invest smartly (education, building a green economy, and reinvesting in science and infrastructure) by looking forward to the world of tomorrow.
i get it. the president gets it. we all get it. we are in a deep-as-shit hole right now with our debt. but it doesn't change the fact that america has to spend its way out of this very fragile economy, even if it means taking on more debt. thing is, i believe america's next miracle is waiting around the next bend. i just hope our president is able to lead both sides of our government and its constituents to find some small reason to believe too...
~k
despite the very fact that america's existence at all is a fucking miracle.
go back and read about the revolutionary war. the first government had no money to pay troops, thousands of troops had no shoes, thousands threw down their arms, many others carried sticks and stones because even if there were enough weapons, there was just as often no ammunition for it. america was getting its ass kicked by the redcoats, who were helped every step of the way by traitorous "loyalists" (funny how "traitor" is in the eyes of the beholder). the tide of the war turned in america's favor one christmas night the weather changed direction, by the sleight hand of fate. do you have any idea how impossible that is, how unbelievable, how miraculous that america won that war? and once the war did end, and a government put into place (and make no mistake, that government was as viciously divided as the one today), america still had no money. until the french started dumping bucketloads of cash into our early coffers. and put this country so deeply into debt, there was doubt america could survive. but we got it together and paid that shit off in full.
and that wasn't the only time america's been in a really tough spot. look back even nearer in time, to the great depression. banks failed, markets crashed, and a drought came along just in time to add insult to injury by ruining thousands of much-needed staples. america was on the brink of complete catastrophe. unemployment was at 25%.
think about how much 9% unemployment hurts, and think about 25% of working americans unable to find a job. think about what that loss of revenue (for individuals and a government dependent upon the employed) did for the economy. no one had money to spend, people were reluctant to borrow, and inflation soared. and for an economy reliant upon consumption, the devastating effects were felt in every sector, much like they are in our consumption driven economy today.
thing is, if consumers aren't spending, the government has to spend. otherwise the economy completely collapses, and we all go back to the bread and cheese lines of the depression, the rations in gas, medicine, and utilities, and the hoovervilles for america's homeless. when FDR was elected president, he started spending a shit-ton of money america didn't have, putting us deeper and deeper into debt as he put millions of americans back to work building bridges, dams, and eventually war chest tools.
yep, another miracle to save america. world war ii demanded an industry, and damn quick, no other country could've pulled off. on the brink of catastrophic collapse, a war on the other side of the world saved this country's economy. and saved it so good, america was able to help rebuild europe from the ashes of its great war. i mean, we paid for the world to pick itself up, dust itself off, and get back to kicking ass. because that's what we do.
because we're america. we're dreamers. that's who we are to the world (the ones whose judgments aren't tainted by hatred and the need to blame someone else) and to history. we make big things happen because we believe we can. and yeah, things are tough right now. really, really tough. and it's scary looking forward to a black hole of debt in our future, and all the obstacles standing in the way of fixing anything (healthcare, ahem). but it's been way worse for america. way worse than it is today.
today, we've been saved. it's been the good decision made by our president to spend money we don't have that's kept unemployment below 25%, that's kept unemployment insurance paying out, that's kept us from having to build obamavilles and ration our commodities. obama has even kept taxes low, and made them even lower for some, with money america doesn't have. because he's a believer, he sees our future, and he's investing there to keep america from falling off a precipice that lands directly into an even greater depression, and trying to invest smartly (education, building a green economy, and reinvesting in science and infrastructure) by looking forward to the world of tomorrow.
i get it. the president gets it. we all get it. we are in a deep-as-shit hole right now with our debt. but it doesn't change the fact that america has to spend its way out of this very fragile economy, even if it means taking on more debt. thing is, i believe america's next miracle is waiting around the next bend. i just hope our president is able to lead both sides of our government and its constituents to find some small reason to believe too...
~k
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