America: A Tale of Two Cities, Part 1
America - A tale of Two Cities, Part One
The Federal Reserve creates money and lends it to member banks for not quite zero interest (but damn close) and the economy lopes along like a one legged blind dog at the end of its life. This is not an exaggeration. It's a fact.
Imagine, you haven't had a raise in years, but, your cost of living keeps going up, especially with housing and food prices. (This should require a minimum of imagination.) You try and compensate by borrowing money off low-interest credit cards to help ease the burden. This, however, is nothing more than a cancerous cell waiting to bare its poison fruit, because borrowed money has to be paid back, with interest. Yes, Fed member banks pay zero interest, you aren't a Fed member bank, though, so you pay more, much more. Even so, for the moment, it's sort of affordable. The problem, however, is you keep losing ground, bit by bit, inch by inch, and the debt continues to grow.
But hey, according to the talking heads on TV, you're doing swell, so don't complain. I mean, even if you do, it won't matter, because these assholes will look you in the face and lie. Some of them may even believe what they're saying, because they're making the big bucks, meaning, you must be a slacker or just one of the proletariat who need a big, thriving nanny state to give you a hand up. Instead, you shout, "Listen, assholes, I need lower taxes on my home and my ever diminishing income. I need reasonable prices at the grocery store, so I don't have to feed my family baloney sandwiches. I need a better job, too. How about that?"
The talking heads respond with "The president is going to put together a task force to study the issue. Will that help?"
"Not one damn bit!" You scream, in reply. "Do I care if Wall Street is raking in big money? Do I care if the "Official" unemployment rate is 4.9% when there are 95,000,000 Americans of working age who aren't working? No. I don't. So take your phony numbers and blow em out your ass!"
"Oh, my friend, such negativity," say the talking heads. "You must be a member of the Tea Party or a republican?" And then, they celebrate by yachting at their summer house in the Hamptons. Why do they celebrate? (Beyond the fact that they're filthy rich and yachting in the Hamptons) Because America may finally have a woman president. At least, we will if they have anything to say about it.
Yes, Americans slide further and further down the muddy slope of despair and fiscal insolvency, but, the fact that we may have a president with a vagina is cause for celebration.
"I thought gender differences were supposed to be an illusion." You ponder. "I guess that's only true when they want it to be true, otherwise, it's the most important thing in the world. Not our safety or that of our families. Not our ability to get ahead so our kids and grandkids can live the America dream. The American dream is racist anyway. Or so they tell me.
To be continued
Mark Magula
The Federal Reserve creates money and lends it to member banks for not quite zero interest (but damn close) and the economy lopes along like a one legged blind dog at the end of its life. This is not an exaggeration. It's a fact.
Imagine, you haven't had a raise in years, but, your cost of living keeps going up, especially with housing and food prices. (This should require a minimum of imagination.) You try and compensate by borrowing money off low-interest credit cards to help ease the burden. This, however, is nothing more than a cancerous cell waiting to bare its poison fruit, because borrowed money has to be paid back, with interest. Yes, Fed member banks pay zero interest, you aren't a Fed member bank, though, so you pay more, much more. Even so, for the moment, it's sort of affordable. The problem, however, is you keep losing ground, bit by bit, inch by inch, and the debt continues to grow.
But hey, according to the talking heads on TV, you're doing swell, so don't complain. I mean, even if you do, it won't matter, because these assholes will look you in the face and lie. Some of them may even believe what they're saying, because they're making the big bucks, meaning, you must be a slacker or just one of the proletariat who need a big, thriving nanny state to give you a hand up. Instead, you shout, "Listen, assholes, I need lower taxes on my home and my ever diminishing income. I need reasonable prices at the grocery store, so I don't have to feed my family baloney sandwiches. I need a better job, too. How about that?"
The talking heads respond with "The president is going to put together a task force to study the issue. Will that help?"
"Not one damn bit!" You scream, in reply. "Do I care if Wall Street is raking in big money? Do I care if the "Official" unemployment rate is 4.9% when there are 95,000,000 Americans of working age who aren't working? No. I don't. So take your phony numbers and blow em out your ass!"
"Oh, my friend, such negativity," say the talking heads. "You must be a member of the Tea Party or a republican?" And then, they celebrate by yachting at their summer house in the Hamptons. Why do they celebrate? (Beyond the fact that they're filthy rich and yachting in the Hamptons) Because America may finally have a woman president. At least, we will if they have anything to say about it.
Yes, Americans slide further and further down the muddy slope of despair and fiscal insolvency, but, the fact that we may have a president with a vagina is cause for celebration.
"I thought gender differences were supposed to be an illusion." You ponder. "I guess that's only true when they want it to be true, otherwise, it's the most important thing in the world. Not our safety or that of our families. Not our ability to get ahead so our kids and grandkids can live the America dream. The American dream is racist anyway. Or so they tell me.
To be continued
Mark Magula