Miriam, you have asked the question of the Century:
"You know, we're all exposed to the same mass media, the same
government propaganda. Why is it that some of us choose to see beyond
it while others do not?"
Here is my flawed attempt at an answer.
The difference is that sometime in our formative years we each decide
the direction we will follow in Life. Some people choose to question
the most basic things. They are not satisfied with slick, glib
answers.
Some people decide to seek a life of material comfort. They listen to
different answers to their questions.
Why each of us sets out in the direction we do is a complicated,
complex subject, requiring many hours of jabber that will not fit in
this email. But suffice it to say that this is what we do. Because I
am directed to want to protect my family and my species, takes me down
a different path than my brother-in-law's, who chose to not think
about his species, and barely about his immediate family, in deciding
to gather material stuff around him. He believes that his material
well being is a sign of his success in life. I believe that my
opposition to the violence and greed that is prevailing, is an
indication that I have lived a successful life.
As for death, none of us knows how we will die. Will we drop in our
tracks, while doing the work that is important to us? Or will we
suffer painful, slow death in a nursing home among poorly paid staff
who wish we would hurry up and die?
Since I can't see into the future, I plan to adopt the belief that
each day I wake up and am able to know who I am, it will mean that I
most likely will spend the day living, and go to bed that night.
As for the people who do not want to hear what I think? That's their
loss! Heck, I don't always agree with me. But I will go ahead and
say what I think at any given moment without worrying about who agrees
or disagrees. My days of being concerned over what others thought
about what I say, are long past. But since it's in my nature to care
about others, I do try not to put folks down, or belittle them. Well,
I do have some exceptions, but no one on this list.
Today has been a hard day. Cathy is ill and her mother is grumpy. I
grilled pork chops for dinner and only my sister-in-law joined me at
the dinner table. But soon I'll snuggle beneath the covers and wait
for tomorrow, knowing it will be a better day.
Carl Jarvis
On 7/18/17, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Carl,
I don't send my material to anyone except Blind Democracy and, very
occasionally, to someone who might appreciate a particular article. People
don't want to read what I send. It makes them uncomfortable or angry or they
think I'm just crazy because what I send is so different from what they've
been reading or hearing. No, no one has ever asked me not to send something
except, perhaps once, a long time ago. Someone has argued with what I sent,
but it was obvious that she didn't really understand it. I remember telling
her that Obama was increasing are nuclear arsenal. She told me that it was
absolutely untrue. I sent her the article with the information and she
never said another word.
Now for these people who go along with what the government and the media
tell them and whom you describe as good people, just brainwashed and
unknowing. How come no one described the Germans who went along with what
the Nazis told them as good people, just brainwashed and ignorant of the
truth? I remember a book written by the daughter of the commandant of a nazi
concentration camp. She grew up loving her father. He was a good man, good
to his wife and his children and to his friends and his relatives. He was a
good family man just doing his job, being patriotic, serving his country.
When I am incarcerated in a nursing home, receiving inferior care, lying in
a diaper, imprisoned in bed because I do not have enough wealth to receive
individualized care in my home, will I be pleased that I lived according to
my values, never invested the money I earned in companies with military
contracts or that used enslaved workers in a far away land to make their
products so that I could have a secure retirement income? Will I feel freer
than the couple I know who lived in a beautiful retirement home on a barrier
island off the North Carolina shore and are now, close to 90, living in a
plush assisted living facility in Connecticut because the husband was
employed by one of the companies with a military contract for decades and
decades? I know that couple and they have absolutely no qualms about how
they earned their money or about the foreign policy of the US. In 2008,
they told me that people who really wanted to work, could find a job.
You know, we're all exposed to the same mass media, the same government
propaganda. Why is it that some of us choose to see beyond it while others
do not?
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Tuesday, July 18, 2017 10:19 AM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: housing in New York City
Absolutely correct! The casual confessions of another in a friendly
conversation goes a long way to building an overall impression of who that
person is.
My brother-in-law and I are able to express our differences and still remain
on friendly terms. But there exists a chasm of lack of understanding
between us. On the other hand, his wife, my sister-in-law, has emailed me
privately and asked me not to send them any of my, "Controversial Stuff".
She, on the other hand, sends out the wonderful 200 percent American stories
about mangled war veterans who have been abused by the uncaring "leftist"
government. She also posts horror stories about the "riff Raff" who are
running amuck, robbing and murdering innocent folk...like her, and why our
bleeding hearts are allowing them to roam about the streets forcing us "good
guys" to hunker behind our barred windows and triple locked doors, as if we
were the criminals, not them.
I do not ask her to stop posting such crap to me. I read it all and remind
myself that this is the "mind" behind that friendly, smiling face beaming up
at me at family gatherings.
And their daughter, her husband and their young son are all living in the
same mind set. Are they bad people? I prefer to think that they, along
with millions of carbon copies, are victims of a monster Empire.
Certainly they are not going to listen to my views. What they believe has
worked for them, financially. My brother-in-law was a faithful employee, in
a management position, for what Cathy and I call, "The Feather Factory', a
maker of down comforters and winter clothing, and upon retirement the
company gave him a large enough bonus that they paid off their home and
banked enough to enable them to take world cruises and live securely. On
paper, they are far better off financially than Cathy and I, Do I envy them
their good fortune? Do I believe that they are being rewarded for being
"Good Americans"?
Not a bit of it. I would not trade places if I could. The one important
thing they had to give up in order to "live the good life", was their
personal freedom. They long ago forgot how to question what causes our
nation's troubles. They allowed themselves to be gathered into the Empire's
Fable. At Christmas and on her birthday, they give Dorothy a gift
certificate for $100 at Safeway. They drop by to see her on her birthday
and on Mother's Day...if Cathy really pushes. And they consider themselves
caring people. But since I only see them two or three times each year, it's
easy for me to welcome them into my home and wine and dine them during their
visit to dear old Mom.
I have no illusions that what I believe will make a difference in this
world, make life easier for the downcast, bring world peace and end the
corruption by the rich and powerful. But I can at least go to bed each
night with the knowledge that I am a Free Man. And I see the seeds stirring
in my eldest daughter, my son and my younger sister.
And of course, Cathy. Naturally, Cathy. Her Free Spirit is what drew me to
her in the first place.
Well, enough rambling. I need to get on the phone and set up appointments
with prospective clients, and then go back to beating up on the brush that
threatens to take over.
Carl Jarvis
On 7/18/17, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
He sounds like my daughter. And I have to say that when people express
such values, it does affect how I feel about them. I won't stop loving
my daughter, but when she expresses sentiments like that, I like her
less because the lack of concern for the welfare of others says
something about her values and who she is. It's a view of life that
infects one's actions, how one treats other people, and whether or not
one would object if government policy hurts categories of people who
aren't one's relatives or close friends. If you don't care about the
working poor, you don't believe that our society should ensure that
everyone's basic needs are met. All sorts of things follow from that.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Tuesday, July 18, 2017 12:45 AM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: housing in New York City
If you work for $10 per hour, and you manage to get in 10 hours a day,
and a full 5 days per week for 52 weeks, you will earn a whopping
$26,000.
Working a 40 hour week at $15 per hour for a full 52 weeks will bring
you about $31,200. To make over $40,000 per year you will need to
get 52 weeks of 40 hours each, with an hourly wage of $20. This
brings in
$41,600 And that is before any taxes or medical or FICA. You can
count on at least $10,000 coming off the top for taxes, Medical, and other
fees.
Now you have close to $31,000 to cover house or apartment, utilities,
food and incidental expenses,transportation expenses, clothing, and on and
on.
You can plug in the numbers for you and your family, but
$41,600 a year is not going to enable you to save enough to pull your
family out of danger of the poverty line.
This afternoon my wife's family gathered at our house to celebrate her
mother's 91st birthday. My brother-in-law, a 67 year old Vite Nam
Marine veteran, said to me, "These people wanting $15 per hour for
entry level jobs are not doing work that is worth that much".
I said, "Look at it from the other side. The level of income in order
to live at or just above the poverty line is actually closer to $20 per
hour.
You were not responsible for a rising cost of living that requires $20
per hour to survive. Your employer is not satisfied in running a
business that allows him to live at the poverty line, so why should he
expect you to be satisfied with it?"
Sure, the boss will need to adjust his prices a few pennies on the
dollar, but so will all the other businesses in town. Why should we
expect that you should sacrifice any bit of this bare bones living in
order to assist your boss in living a life style you will never
attain?" My brother-in-law made one more try at convincing me that
some jobs are just not worth such an amount of money. "Flipping a
hamburger doesn't take any real skill", he argued.
"But flipping hundreds of hamburgers each day, day after day, as well
as keeping current on sanitation regulations, and all of the other
foods you must prepare and serve is worth a decent living, if it is
important enough for the business to provide a service to the community".
We left it at that and went on to other topics. I doubt I convinced
him, and for certain he didn't sway my belief. But we like each other
and we both understand that our fighting over the minimum wage will
not change anything, but it could prove harmful to our family relations.
Besides, I know that I'm right!!!
Carl Jarvis
On 7/17/17, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I just heard an item on the WBAI Pacifica news. The Homeless have
been demonstrating because new low cost housing is being made
available to the poor. The housing is for families with incomes as
low as $40,000 or $45,000.
The problem is that many working people in the city don't make $40,000.
Their incomes are $30,000. There is no affordable housing for them.
Shelters
exist and a great deal of money is spent for them. But there's no
permanent housing The demonstrators were marching in front of an
empty lot, owned by the city, that had been just sitting there for 47
years.
They would like the city to build housing on this property in which
they could afford to live.
Miriam
