People Suck

More and more, I have been gradually abdicating my perspective that people are basically good. Actually, I never quite put it that way. I simply phrase it in terms of the idea that people are born innocent, as Sarah McLachlan informs us. Maybe we are innocent our entire lives, never understanding the effects of our cruelty. But that doesn't stand for much. Whether we're hard-wired as jerks or raised into that lifestyle doesn't really matter to me. What does matter to me is the responsibility that we do (not) take for that now.

People who are born into privilege should do their best to eliminate that privilege. To understand it, and to work against it. That is what I believe.

Honestly, I am not mad at whoever did this. Perhaps it was someone who thought it would be fun, but more than likely, it was someone who doesn't have any money and who doesn't have any access to money. Someone who would not be able to find a job outside of fast food chains and who doesn't want to stand for the humiliation of a lifetime of McDonald's. Who can blame them? They probably just want a fucking break.

Who I do blame, though, is people like McCain and Palin. People who mock the work of community organizers and activists. I blame the people like Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonald's, who believe that all you need to do is work hard and you'll be able to do anything. Because that's bullshit. Anyone who believes that is already rich, or well on their way. Probably from doing things like, I don't know, abusing the per diem system while you live in the capital.

And those people are probably white, too. I mention this not to bash white people, but to point out that there are privileges inherent in being white in this country that Kroc and Disney would never understand. They would never have become billionaires if they were people of color, because they would not have been respected. So don't tell the world that all you need to do is work hard, because what you mean is that all you need to do is be a hard-working white man. Things may be changing, but not very quickly. And while opinions on race and gender may be shifting, cultural values are not. To be "successful" in this society does not require, to the same extent as in previous years, a person to be a white male, but it does require a person to act like one. People of color must "act white," women must act like men (otherwise known as being a bitch). These standards alienate a person from their group of origin, and yet their status as "other" keeps them from fully integrating into that "success" culture.

Crimes like breaking into my car are republicans' favourite. First, they can point at poor people and say that they're bad, that high crime among poor people is a result of their inferior nature rather than a response to the impossibility of the "American Dream". Second, they keep poor people poor. People living paycheck to paycheck cannot handle this kind of thing. Instead of fixing the window and getting a new cd player, as most of the people in the next neighborhood would do, we duct tape plastic that we bummed off of a sympathetic Home Depot employee to the car door. Classy.

How much more likely is it that I'll be pulled over now? Poor people are targeted by most cops. Old cars are already high profile since they're more likely to be uninsured. Now tell me where it makes sense to punish poor people for being poor? First, we create poverty, and then we punish that poverty via monetary fees.

Today, I gave a panhandler two dollars. Just to try to believe that there was some decency in the world, even if it wouldn't make a goddamn difference. The weirdest thing happened after that, though--the Lexus behind me gave him a couple of bucks, too. It made me wonder if they would have done that either way, but I have to confess that I kind of hoped that I could maybe set off a chain reaction. Not the kind that inspires people to give twenty three cents to the homeless, but the kind that inspires people to counteract the forces that create homelessness, the forces in which we are undeniably complicit, whether unconsciously or consciously. I'd have to do way more than offer two dollars to a panhandler, but a dream's a dream.

Anyway, the light turned green while the Lexus was handing the guy money, and the person behind the Lexus honked their horn angrily, so probably not much will happen beyond what already did. But we need to find comfort where we can. Maybe the guy got a meal out of it. Maybe he got a bottle. Who cares. Maybe it gave him some hope.

This isn't very coherent due to the massive headache into which I've channeled my emotions, but I'm sure you get the basic idea....

Main points:

1. Republicans hate people.
2. Poor people should not steal from the poor, they should steal from the rich.
3. Rich people should not assume that poor people don't work.
4. Everyone should just be a little nicer.