A friend, after reading the previous post, asked me how I felt about what I’d written, about what’s going on out there. Was I angry, he asked? Angry, hmmmm, yeah, I am, at times, angry. Not the rock-throwing, take-it-to-the-streets righteous indignation anger I felt back in the 60s/70s during a previous unjust and unnecessary American war. More a frustrated, tired, disappointed anger. So much of the dream we had back then, so much of the energy to achieve that dream, is gone.

The anti-war and civil rights movements saw tens of thousands taking to the streets, dedicated, defiant, willing to face the consequences of trying to change a system they believed to be deeply flawed. Today I see a dozen people dressed in black standing outside the Federal courthouse here in Albuquerque, protesting a war as heinous, if not more so, than the war I fought against. And while the traffic streams by on Lomas Ave, those pathetically few brave, protesting souls are no more relevant to those self-absorbed drivers than shadows on the street.

A black man and a woman vie for the presidency while our government builds a fence across our countries southern border. Whatever happened to “Give us your poor, your tired, your huddled masses longing to be free…“? If the Statue of Liberty could weep, her tears would form a waterfall of despair.

The infrastructure of this country is falling apart, children in the richest country on the planet go hungry, the education system is falling apart, the gap between the richest and poorest grows, the middle class is disappearing while our government tries to foist “democracy” on other countries at the end of a gun. A very expensive gun. A gun we pay for, I might add. And they won’t even let us see the body bags of the children who held those guns nor the devastation those guns have wrought on other children.

The pursuit of fear alleviation has replaced the pursuit of happiness. We, the “common” folk, pay the vast majority of taxes and few of us are more than one paycheck away from homelessness. And that paycheck is getting smaller by the day.

Retirement? The Golden Years? Fagetaboutit. If you’re lucky enough to have a job, you’re going to have to keep that job until you fall face down in your Cream of Wheat some morning to be replaced by some slightly younger poor fuck who will have to work until they fall face down in their breakfast cereal.

So, yeah, I guess you could say I’m angry.

Langston Hughes wrote of a dream deferred. Has the dream become the raisin or the sore or a heavy stone sinking below the surface of our waking self? Is there enough left to reach a critical mass, to explode again? I hope so, but I’m not real big on hope these days.

Technorati Tags: anti-war, civil rights, Albuquerque, Give us your poor, your tired, your huddled masses longing to be free…, Statue of Liberty, Langston Hughes

Here’s a little something to think about as you start your work week, provided, of course, you’re lucky enough to have a job. Sorry if this bums you out. Actually, I’d prefer it if it pissed you off. It should.

As most everyone not hiding under a rock is already aware, gas prices, food prices and unemployment are rising. A good many folks out there are losing their homes and those that ain’t are finding they owe more for their house than it’s worth. Ditto this last for the SUV owner but I can’t be real sympathetic toward that bunch. Bummer the Hummer. Credit card interest is rising and most Americans are all but buried in credit card debt. We’re involved in a costly, pointless war while the infrastructure in this country deteriorates, the homeless population rises, the number of folks receiving food stamps is increasing and our schools are seeing drastic cuts in their budgets.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, BP reported a 63 percent surge in first quarter net profit to $7.6 billion. Royal Dutch Shell posted a 25 percent increase to $9.1 billion. ConocoPhillips reported a 16 percent rise in net income to $4.1 billion. Exxon’s profits were up 17% while Chevron earned a hefty first-quarter profit of $5.17 billion.

In the midst of the mortgage meltdown, Charles Prince, former CEO of Citigroup Inc., Stanley O’Neal, former CEO of Merrill Lynch & Co. and Angelo Mozilo., chief executive of Countrywide Financial Corp made a whopping $460 million in compensation and severance packages. G. Kennedy Thompson, the recently ousted CEO of Wachovia, will receive an $8.7 million “here’s your hat what’s your hurry” package.

While food prices soar, Monsanto reported that its net income for the three months to the end of February 2008 had more than doubled over the same period last year, from $543 million to $1.12 billion. Its profits increased from $1.44 billion to $2.22 billion. Cargill’s net earnings soared by 86 per cent from $553 million to $1.030 billion over the same three months while Archer Daniels Midland, one of the world’s largest agricultural processors of soy, corn and wheat, increased its net earnings by 42 per cent in the first three months of this year from $363 million to $517 million.

While food stamp use rises and the average human’s spending power decreases, in the ten years between 1995 and 2005, CEO pay rose 298.2%, corporate profits rose by 106.7% while the average worker’s pay rose by a puny 4.3%.

If you are not outrageously angry, you are not paying attention.

Technorati Tags: BP, Royal Dutch Shell, ConocoPhillips, Exxon, Chevron, mortgage meltdown, Charles Prince, Citigroup, Stanley O’Neal, Merrill Lynch, Angelo Mozilo, Countrywide Financial, G. Kennedy Thompson, Wachovia, Monsanto, Cargill, Archer Daniels Midland, CEO pay

Not meaning to sound like Eeyore but here I finally manage to get back on the net after an overlong hiatus and the data center where my site is located is taken down by a fire and explosion. Sort of blew my plans for the weekend. Sort of blew the plans of a lot of folks, I imagine, including anyone wanting to check Statcounter since they’re hosted there as well.

Oh well, such is life. It’s Monday now, here in ABQ, and the beast that supplies the money to pay the bills is calling so this first post will be short.

More later.