09.22.04

I read NiceGuyMike's entry today, and I have to agree. It's getting more and more scary Out There. To the NiceGuy's entry, I'd add this: My 47 Hours in Hell. And this: IHT: Cameras in Chicago.

I run the risk of sounding shrill and panicky--boy, there's nothing I'd like more than to be wrong--but it's weird folks. Does anyone besides me see the parallels with the fall of the Roman republic, and the rise of empire?

We've become inured to the daily, almost casual, gnawing away of our Constitutional rights. So much so that things like urine tests for low-level, poorly-paying jobs are routine. Routine! People throw up their hands and say that's how it is, there's nothing we can do.

Bullshit!

When, oh when, are we going to realize that there's waaaaaay more of us than there are of them? Is it going to take another four years of declining employment, escalating world conflict, further erosion of Constitutional rights, no end to the twin bugaboos of the "war on terror" and the "war on drugs" (and how would we know if we won?), the continued incarceration of citizens, rising costs, eviscerated social support, etc.?

I think it's a shame when corporate profits rise more than 50% in three years, yet labor compensation grows less that 3%. (The American Voice: Factoids) I'm not against companies' making profits, but ain't it part of the contract that the wealth be shared? Isn't it a truism that wealth, like manure, has to be spread around to do any good?

There's a part of me that doesn't trust anyone who wants to suck at the government's teat.

Here's a thought--what if every constituency voted their own representative's salary? Wouldn't it make a difference if your voice in DC (or your voice in the state capitols) was beholden to you for her or his salary? Wouldn't there be greater accountability?

As it is, the poo-bahs in DC automatically get raises every year unless someone lobbies against a pay increase. Yeah, that happens all the time. Because these demonstrably self-serving, power-hungry, corrupters of ethics are paragons of virtue and civic duty. Bullshit! "Giving money and power to government is like giving whisky and car keys to teenage boys." PJ O'Rourke.

Just thinking again.

Danger. Danger. Danger.

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