The giant sucking sound came without warning, the sound of 1,400 jobs moving to Mexico. “We recognize the impact on employees, their families, and the community,” intoned the president of Carrier Corporation.
“Yeah, [expletive deleted],” an angry voice shot across the room. After years of record productivity and earnings (plus a $12 billion stock buyback), the layoff came as a betrayal ... and a giant sucking sound heard across America.
“Monday, Monday, so good to me.
Monday morning, it was all I hoped it would be.”
The kids, the car, the home, how do you keep a family afloat without a job? On Sunday, you scan the newspapers in search of work. When Monday morning comes, you hit the streets. Keeping up appearances keeps peace in the neighborhood; you have plenty of idle time to mow the lawn. Witness this exchange of greetings when neighbor meets neighbor at the mailbox:
“Good morning, Mr. Briggs. How are you today?”
“Mighty fine, Mr. Stratton. And yourself?”
Fortunes changed years ago when corporations won the right to be treated as legal people with full rights of personhood. Virtually overnight, Lampposts, Manhole Covers, and Utility Poles sprang to life with special perks and privileges. Little did we know what was to be.
In short order, Manholes lobbied for tax cuts. As job creators, they claimed, tax cuts means more investment, more growth, and more jobs for everyone. No doubt, tax cuts made the Manholes rich. Yet, as everyone soon learned, no job falling into an open manhole was ever seen again.
Tax cuts for Manholes meant less revenue for our town. "Shrink the budget," prodded the Lampposts. So the Mayor cut services and raised property taxes (thus shifting the tax burden to Mr. Briggs who sold his home to avoid insolvency).
Years ago, when a Lamppost burned out, a service truck came to the neighborhood and replaced a bulb. This year, they say: “Buy your own bulb and replace it yourself.” Last year, Lampposts traded in their service truck for a Lexus. This year, they’re driving a Rolls Royce (while demanding another tax cut).
Hardships have turned neighbor against neighbor. Utility Poles convinced the residents on Magnolia to scorn the folks on Dogwood — especially those who don’t look like, talk like, or vote like "their kind of people.” Our once friendly community, divided by acrimony, no longer finds common ground to unite in common cause.
Legal but non-living persons now rule the town. What happened to real people? Our votes no longer count (although Lampposts now reserve a right to shine a light into bedroom windows at night and sneak a peek under our sheets).
Weeds have grown taller than utility poles, and For Sale signs litter every yard. Enough, we say! Forget the Lampposts, Manholes, and Utility Poles. Forget those broken-down, trickle-down blues. How I yearn for the smell of fresh cut grass, E Pluribus Unum, and friendly neighbors exchanging friendly greetings at the mailbox again.
“Monday morning, you gave me no warning of what was to be.
Oh, Monday, Monday, how could you leave and not take me?”
For the past 37 years, this is how the American Dream left the station leaving the middle class behind. Reminder: Tomorrow is Tuesday, the day we bring our trash to the curb ... and head to the polls.
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New research identifies a ‘sea of despair’ among white, working-class Americans http://wapo.st/2mublwu?tid=ss_tw
Excerpt: "The white, high-school-educated working class has collapsed after its heyday in the early 1970s. Less-educated white Americans struggle in the job market in early adulthood and are likely to experience a 'cumulative disadvantage' over time, with health and personal problems that often lead to drug overdoses, alcohol-related liver disease and suicide.The new research found a 'sea of despair' across America. The pattern does not follow short-term economic cycles but reflects a long-term disintegration of job prospects. You used to be able to get a really good job with a high school diploma. A job with on-the-job training, a job with benefits. You could expect to move up. People may want to soothe themselves with alcohol, drugs, and/or food--witness the nation’s obesity epidemic Suicide can be triggered not by a single event but by a cumulative series of disappointments: Your family life has fallen apart, you don’t know your kids anymore, all the things you expected when you started out your life just haven’t happened at all. The declining health of white, working-class Americans suggests that Republican plans to replace the Affordable Care Act are akin to bleeding a sick patient."
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