Oh Shit! I'm Poor!

For about twenty three days - just shy of a month - three concepts kept flipping through my brain like a juggler's lacquered bowling pins: Homes, Military, Railroads.

I got nauseous every time the three words clumped together and something white and hot flashed before my eyes. Short-circuit. Then I usually refreshed my Yahoo mailbox to see if that little asshole editor forwarded me my pay yet. No, he hadn't.

A few weeks ago, when I snuck into an investors' meeting in Manhattan and witnessed the biggest rats in the Game talk about "interesting opportunities" arising from poor people losing their homes because of unscrupulous banks offering them loans with outrageous interest rates, it happened again. "Homes" broke the levy and "Military" and "Railroads" came tumbling forth.

I thought about little boxes on the hillside (as Malvina Reynolds would say). I thought about neat grids and high walls - "sound barriers" - separating poor from rich. I saw the sons and daughters of poor farmers, waitresses, truckers, marching in unison again in perfect, little lines.

As so frequently happens during my nightmares, Howard Zinn's face would then fill my wide, horrified gaze. It used to be Kurt Vonnegut, but lately Kurt's been very chill in my dreams. He's always drinking a Brandy Alexander and wearing a big, straw hat. Not Howard, though. Lately, Howard looks possessed, his big bushy eyebrows twitching on his forehead like live caterpillars. He keeps angrily spitting in my face as he shouts: "GUNS ARE POWERLESS IF SOLDIERS REFUSE TO USE THEM!"

It had to mean something, but I didn't have time to think about it. I had to get to a meeting in New York. It was crowded on the N train and the whole car rocked on the way into Manhattan. Pressed between the arms of strangers, we all together plummeted through the ocean's tunnel. Over the tracks. Railroads. Homes, military, railroads...

When a short, fat Latina elbowed me in the tit (totally fucking unapologetically, I might add,) everything clicked into place. At first chance, I ran back to my apartment and grabbed A People's History of the United States and turned to the chapter named The Other Civil War. Page 244 if you're a stickler for details.

Zinn was quoting the German socialists in Chicago, but he was using their manifesto to illustrate a larger point:

"The present system has enabled capitalists to make laws in their own interests to the injury and oppression of the workers. It has made the name Democracy, for which our forefathers fought and died, a mockery and a shadow, by giving to property an unproportionate amount of representation and control over Legislation."

A People's History is a remarkable book because it is a perfect mirror for our present society. History IS the future, and just like then, workers were bottom feeders. Just like now, they had to fight for survival.

Any society is a complete JOKE if WORKING people REMAIN POOR. And yet we see that today in America. Hard-working people can barely feed their families and keep their homes, and those that CAN pay rent CAN'T pay for health insurance, which also makes them poor. They're one accident away from having to declare bankruptcy.

The most brilliant trick the rich ever pulled over the poor was when they reinforced fractures between the serving class. The rich have always encouraged the poor to think of themselves tribally. Irish, Italian, Black, Blue-Collar, White-Collar, Asian, Indian, Arab, Christian, Muslim, Man, Woman, Child, Elderly, Northerner, Southerner, West Coast, East Coast. After all, when the poor squabble among themselves, they can't really unite and...ya' know...set fire to the plantation.

Yet, we all have something in common. We're poor. Yes, even you, Ms. Well-I'm-Doing-Okay-Right-Now-Though-I-May-Get-A-Second-Job-Just-For-A-Few-Months. We're all workers, anchored beneath the caste of generationally transfixed wealth. We're not Rockefellers. We're not Astors. We're not wealthy.

However, our ancestors were the ones who built the railroads and picked the crops that built this nation, and their sacrificed wages (dollars an hour whilst tycoons accumulated millions) and hours of toil made the bankers, oilmen, and railroad barons of this country rich. Their wages established the banks and insurance companies. Your great, great, great, great Aunt Agnes paid J.P Morgan's salary, and that old coot never so much as thanked her! "They control the people through the people's own money" (Louis Brandeis, Other People's Money).

As it was, so it is. The poor are sick, hungry, and in danger of losing their homes. Our poor young men and women serve in a military that guards the very system that keeps the poor repressed.

In 1877, a series of railroad strikes brought the country to a halt. Not only did railroad workers refuse to work, but citizens rallied around the workers and began tearing up tracks and setting fire to railroad cars.

The National Guard was called in, but at least on one occasion, the guards refused to fire into the crowd. The crowd disarmed the soldiers, and the two groups talked until the mob peacefully dispersed. What did the crowd say to the soldiers? Perhaps one of the soldiers saw a relative in the crowd and convinced his comrades to lower their weapons. Perhaps they saw more commonality with those poor workers than the rich fat cats who summoned them in the first place.

I wonder how much longer our military, comprised of mainly poor men and women, will continue to repress the Iraqis, other poor people who are caught in the cogs of the Game. I wonder how long Blackwater employees will volunteer to contribute to Erik Prince's ever expanding militia that may one day act to repress America's poor disenfranchised.

I wonder how much longer we - the poor - will remain dormant in our tribes, separated by artificial barriers when the only real inequality exists between the classes. And how much longer will we allow our presidential candidates to ignore this essential issue? The only candidate addressing class division seriously is John Edwards, and I applaud him for it.

Until then, it's up to us to remind these candidates that they are surrounded by (and living upon) generations of suffering. Make no mistake, the rich will always inherit the Earth. That is, of course, until the poor take it back.

Comments

[singermuse]

I share your sentiments. And unfortunately this is why the Oligarchic Elite will probably win the next election/selection. We "liberals" and "working stiffs" just can't get it together. We are also in too many "tribes" with our "pet issues" that divide us.
Congress was bought and paid for by the "fat cats" long ago and it has almost become a requirement to be corrupt and part of the "money machine" to even be elected to a LOCAL city council post.
I recall the story a friend told me when he asked a retired city manager what it took to run for a local office, and the retiree said "about 200 thousand dollars"...and this was a number of years ago, so that amount has probably doubled, which leaves the notion of a working class person having a chance at a political career damn near impossible.
If congress isn't listening, and the votes of the working class don't count, where is there to go but towards either a fascist state (we're almost there!) or an upheaval of the revolutionary sort, or a civil "class war" that would not be good for children or other living things?

[nunzia]

Absolutely excellent blog. I'm now a fan.

[neverbeenfooled]

Unfortunately, too many Americans have come to believe that our democracy and its individual rights and freedoms are inviolate because they were affirmed over two hundred years ago by the Constitution and Bill of Rights. But they are merely words that are subject to interpretation by those whom we place in power. Though the words may be succinct, the phraseology is expansive, providing our nation and its citizens the unique opportunity to confront the challenges facing each successive generation with solutions that address concerns that were unforeseen when the documents were adopted. While the survival of these documents as historic artifacts may not be in doubt, their relevance as meaningful standards expressing the ideals to which we aspire as a Nation is under relentless assault.
In recent years we have bought the argument that rugged individualism is the answer to our problems. We have been told that group representation by virtue of unions, government agencies and regulations, and social programs, are costly, wasteful, and ineffective. The economic benefits of unfettered capitalism will trickle down to the masses. Patriotism is best reflected by unquestioning allegiance to Administration policies. It's time to recognize these clichés for the false generalizations they represent.
There will always be examples of abuse and uncertainty that bring into question the worthiness of progressive action. However, we must not cede control of this Nation"s future based upon the fears propagated by forces whose agenda conflicts with the ideals upon which the country was founded.

[Sundialsvc4]

You neatly summed-up what I refer to as the "Karl Rove Principle." Divide, and conquer. A nation divided against itself cannot unite against you.

I suggest that the single most important change we must make .. and it will not be easy .. is to eliminate (1) the notion that "a corporation is a person with a person's rights," and (2) the notion of a "multi-national" corporation.

(1) We know that 'money talks.' So if we give 'freedom of speech' to a corporation with a billion-dollar budget, who's going to hear a citizen? No one.

(2) We know that a government can only rule within its own borders. So, if you want to do business here, you must have a wholly-owned subsidiary incorporated in one or more of the states. No exceptions. "International law" is meant to bind nations, not to exempt corporations from domestic enforcement.

We'll always have, and need, "the rich." That tunnel you commute through would never have happened without them. But they are all human, and humans naturally seek -individual- advantage without restraint. The two opposing forces must be kept in check; neither must overwhelm or usurp the other. For the moment, they have.

As you point out in your article, this is not the first time this nation has come to a juncture such as this. Even the original framers of the Constitution foresaw it, having lived it in their own way. (And most of them _were_ rich.)

[ljsfolly]

We are all poor except for those friends of bush who got the tax cut! That is the dif if you got the tax break you know you have the bulk of the money. The rest of us work for a living and don't get the million dollars bonus or buy outs. We are those left overs who are routinely kicked to the curb and have no money left after bills. Also now added to our tribe is the house lost groups. Next we have the what christmas didn't do to help the retailers and the stores that will close.

[jamiekilstein]

wow. wow. wow. So proud.

[dadw5boys]

Harvard College said it loud and clear!
They lowered the Tuitition for the MIDDLE CLASS UP TO $180,000 A YEAR.
For year most of AMERICANS HAVE BEEN FOOLED.
They thought $50,000 a year was middle class.
Imagine waking up and realizing just how poor you really are and that you government has been fooling you to keep you from asking for a rasise.

[The Hedonistic Pleasureseeker]

I don't believe capitalism, meaning the people owning their own stuff and personally benefitting from their own labor is the problem any more than communism is the solution. We don't REALLY enjoy real capitalism any more than we have "free trade."

The problem is with people, both "us" and "them." The (UNELECTED) Power Elite continues cast its evil spells, hypnotize and psych us out, and we fall for it because "we," for the most part, are distracted by pretty shiny things and all too credulous that an unelected power elite could actually give a ratsazz about us.

Someone downthread called it a "suckers bet." Any economic system can be exploited to enrich the few at the expense of the many. Look at the Soviets, supposedly the "opposite" of capitalism. The Party was prosperous, the workers were poor. Hello!

The problem is people and their selfishness, combined with a sick kind of elitism. Unfortunately one cannot MAKE people selfless and generous or democratic against their wills; even THAT approach is oppressive. Plus it doesn't work.

If I knew how to solve this problem I'd be rich. I mean, we all would . . . Perhaps the answer is to set up a society in which the concept of "right to work" isn't such a joke.

[JoDeeVa]

Whattaya, a commie or socialist or sumpthin?..
Malvina Reynolds, Howard Zinn and Chicago socialists, railroad strikes, John Edwards and class warfare, anarchy in the streets...
Oh my, Allison..get thee a copy of the constitution (just because, you know..forefathers, patriotism and gloriousness of the nation and all) How dare you question the wondrous capitalist system that made rich, those robber barons who built the railroads and created the banks and institutions that bankrolled the "making of ..muriKa!"

And, while you're at it, grab some books by that wonder-boy and Reagan's fabled economist, Milton Friedman..voodoo economics, trickle down and how to be happy with what you (don't) get from the fatcats' booty..after all, didn't you know?..if you're poor, it's your own fault, eh? You're just not working hard enough pulling yourself up by the bootstraps.

Corporations make HUGE contributions in the marketplace that entitle them to bypass the honour of paying their fair share of the country's tax burden, thus bestowing on the working class, the privilege of doing our part! Only ingrates, malcontents and neer-do-wells would dare shirk the duty to do their part.
Fuck, yeah..ingrates, malcontents and neer-do-wells of the world..there's more of us than them, if only "us" would realize the power in that!

Thanks, Allison!..really great post. I'm posting it on my blog and passing on links! Perfect timing, with Christmas and the push to consume and $pend more, more, more of those big buck$ on the road to poverty!

P.S. Get a credit card and you, too, can be rich..or at least act like it...

[H8FascistCons]

Very nice post! Now America run out this Christmas and buy as much junk from Japan and China as you possibly can ensuring no American was empoloyed by your purchase. Is any of this getting through to you America? The Fascist republicans have been doing this to you for almost thirty years, implimented by the father of American Fascism Ronald Reagan. Poor people as a rule do not vote and therefore the masses can be controlled by the
few, the republican Fascists...

[ndem]

I saw this coming when Bush Jr. began making noise while still governor of Texas...I watched them do this in Texas and now they have taken it nationwide. She is right. More than right. And we will soon have a civil war.

[RepublicanBrain]

There are two things I love about this article. The first is the aspect that tribalism is the enemy. Couldn't agree more. People who think of themselves only in groups, and seek only to advance themselves as groups, are a boil. I wonder when people will wake up. There are millions of people who all want the same thing and no one is willing to work for it. Feminists clash with men, black clash with white, religious clash with secular. If people stopped getting on their moral high horse and being offended by someone because of what they looked like (and don't attempt to ascribe this to Republicans, Democrats do this a lot as well) and realized "Wow, we all want the same thing." There will be a lot more work done.

The second is that blame is not being cast on a specific party or a specific group. It is the responsibility of the masses to band together and work for their own common good. No one else's. Lead a horse to water, so to speak.

From a poor white Republican, I salute you. Can't agree that John Edwards is anything to praise, but if it's just praise for speaking about it, that's fine.

[Waitaminute]

People go to work before daylight or at the break of day. They come home before dark or as night falls. Yet, they say they are free.

People wages want buy the same standard of living as it did their grandparent. Yet, we think we are progressing when in fact, we are tumbling into despair.

And along comes a person who quote JFK, ABOUT THE SPEECH "Ask not what the country can do for you, but what you can do for your country'. Well, that has never been the case. The people have always done for country. But the country is controlled by greedy pig corporatist fascist. work hard, work hard, can't you see i am working. What about better pay and benefits.

[ContraEgoiste]

Kudos Ms?/Mrs? Kilkenny,

However, still I wonder what it will take to remove from peoples eyes the wool that has been weaved out of ignorance, fear, religion and hate. What it will take for them to see that they are being used and manipulated like so much cattle for the benefit of the few. How to wake them to the realization that their future, that of their children and grand-children are being stolen right in front of them, while they cower in the corner. How do you get them to see how the course of their life is being plotted for them while they point fingers and fight with each other. How do you wean them off the opiate that is the idiot box whose main purpose is their further dumbing down. How do you get them to understand that each new shiny must have thing is just another link in the chain that enslaves them.

How do you erase the simplistic black and white false tenets of Ayn Rand that have been so strongly imprinted on the American psychic and which are used to make them fight against their own interest while enabling the creation of "the other" whom they'll rail against when the promised nirvana becomes elusive.

How do you get them to wake up and become active in their own future.

[Mariel]

i just want to add my congratulations. My previous post was not added to the list of congratulations. So again, thanks!

It's all true. It's true. It's true.

What I stated in my last post was the my grandfather went to jail for striking the railroads. He was a highly educated blue collar worker, not too unusual in those days of the Pullman Strike. We must never go back to that, and we must support unions once again!