It’s been a good while since I have had any sort of block from writing — which is a good thing — but nonetheless the last month or so has been one of those times. I’ve always found it, like most writers, easier to generate content when I’ve felt kind of depressed, but that isn’t a feeling I am bogged down by very much anymore. Over the past year or two, I’ve been able to write without issue despite being relatively satisfied with my life.
This block probably has more to do with there not being a lot to write about, or at least nothing I am unavoidably interested in. I only assume that because most nights after work I am able to jam together 500 or 1,000 words at will, and lately I’m more prone to writing a few sentences and saying ‘fuck it, I’ll rather just bullshit on YouTube.’
My fuel are issues related to workers, and workers — including millionaire professional athletes — fighting against massive corporations. Baked into what I’m passionate about is the understanding that in many ways it’s a lost cause, and that not enough people care like I care, and that the rich are only getting richer, and that there is nothing I can do about that. It can be taxing.
Politics are what they are, and the mainstream news goes back and forth talking about a handful of topics without ever getting to the heart of the working class angst. Their latest crusade is against Trump’s Supreme Court pick, some guy named Brett Kavanaugh, who I guess (and stop me if you are shocked) has a bunch of baggage from the past. I’m not saying this topic isn’t of importance, but all it really does is continue the divide between the red team and the blue team. One side is against Trump and so they will oppose him no matter what; the other side worships Trump and is willing to defend his decisions no matter what, even if it means sticking up for a dude who has sexual assault allegations against him.
In reality, it’s just one major jerk off. The Republicans denied Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, citing all manner of bullshit, and so the only appropriate response from the Democrats ought to be fighting fire with fire.
Instead, Democratic leadership actually expedited 15 of Trump’s judicial nominees, and surely if Trump doesn’t have the votes to get Kavanaugh through then a handful of the Blue Dog Democrats — like Joe Manchin and Doug Jones — will flip and make it happen. This is why it’s so hilarious whenever people say that the Democrats are moving too far to the left. How “left” were they when they voted in lockstep with the Republicans to increase Donald Trump’s military budget by $80 billion? The two parties always agree on issues that do nothing to help the plight of ordinary people.
I’m tired, man. I’m tired of being on this island where 75% of the people in my life are dead red and the other 25 are liberal but not nearly liberal enough. Yet when I talk about workers deserving a better deal, everyone agrees. But the next time around they are still stuck on whatever the current corporate news freakout tells them to be upset about, and I have to start over. It’s deflating to tell the same story, again and again, and get so efficient at telling it that it can’t be any simpler, and then two days later come back and hear (from the right) that poor people are the problem, or (from the left) that Donald Trump is the problem.
I just want to tell everyone: Hey, listen, you are poor. None of these people on Fox News or MSNBC give a fuck about you.
They obviously don’t give a fuck about me, either, but I also don’t pay them very much attention. My whole thing is that there is only one real fight that’s ever going on, and it’s between those at the very top, who own everything, and everyone else. I say that everyone else should be doing better than they are now, and they shouldn’t be doing the bidding of the billionaires who would still be doing fantastically well if their taxes went up a little bit.
Nobody sees it my way, though. It’s remarkable the lengths that low- and middle-class conservatives go to defend rich white guys, just the same as it’s amazing that people on the so-called left long for the days of George W. Bush as President. Either everyone is out of their fucking mind, they have incredibly short memories and attention spans, or they are being manipulated by the corporate media.
I’m tired of being a wolf crying out in the wilderness. I can find a way to relate to anybody, whether they are the most strident Trump supporter or some liberal flunky who is convinced that all of America’s problems started with Trump. I always bring it back to the issues, the policies that brought us here. People seem more comfortable, though, being outraged over whatever the latest news topic is.
So this is where I’m at. I’m a normal jagoff who works five days a week, who bets on pro football on Sunday, who is absolutely on the side of workers and poor people. Since some don’t understand what I mean when I say “poor,” I mean anyone who is making $100,000 per year or less. To the donor class, that money is peanuts. It doesn’t mean anything. You don’t have a seat at the table.
The problem is, a lot of people making $100,000 per year or less — which is probably something like 80 or 85 percent of the country — feel like their problems are due to poor people. You know, like having to pay for all those people out there sitting at home and milking the system. Having to pay for their healthcare. Having to pay for their government assistance so they can eat (or buy drugs and beer, which is the common narrative). All of this makes logical sense to the uninformed mind. It’s not your fault that you are unhappy, the real problem is poor people.
It’s such low-hanging fruit. It’s such a gimme. And it’s so perfect the way propagandists deploy the argument.
It’s not true, though. It’s complete fiction. The reason people are so poor and unhappy is because the corporate tax rate keeps getting fucking slashed by Democrats and Republicans alike. More money in the pockets of billionaires means — guess what! — less money for the middle-class and working class. It’s not your fault that you are unhappy, the real problem is rich people. (Like, actually rich. As in hundreds of millions, or billions, in the bank.)
Again I pose the question: Are you on the side of the powerful who own all the wealth and all the assets, or are you on the side of ordinary people who are just trying to reach their version of the American Dream?
I’ve never shied away from appreciating a solid pregame locker room speech, but I’ll spare you all of that right now. You know it’s us versus them, and we have the people on our side. If nothing else, we will always have that. Solidarity and shit.
Anyway, I haven’t been writing as consistently or easily as of late. I don’t have any severe personal problems to lament about. I guess if my worst issue — that I’m willing to waste 1,300 words over — is that I’m frustrated for being so ideologically alone, then my life is pretty good right now. And it’s not like being alone at all is anything all that new to me. This is what I do, baby.
Future Bets 