Once a year our city has something called "Operation CleanUp." It's when you can put pretty much anything out on the curb for curbside pick up by our Waste Management Division (which our Republican Mayor is trying to privatize) and it's included in the cost of your monthly utility bill. People put out anything from tree trimmings to old refrigerators, old fence wood, stuff like that. Anyway, it's that time of year and this morning, I was driving home from the gym and saw something that just hit me like a ton of bricks. Someone had set out an old mattress for pick up. There on this discarded mattress was a homeless man, shopping cart nearby, sleeping.
For some reason it hit me like a ton of bricks and I almost had to pull over. Then I got angry. I got angry at the 1% who have stolen everything and are hoarding OUR wealth. Angry at the politicians, both R & D, who continue to fellate the 1% and have not only allowed this to happen but have ENABLED it to happen. They like to keep us, the proles, distracted by partisan politics insisting that "our" side is good and "their" side is bad when, in fact, BOTH sides are culpable and this is the result.
The richest nation in the world has an appalling record on helping/treating the poor, the sick, the elderly, the homeless, the mentally ill, children -- the least-powerful of our society. We can't afford social programs but we can always afford WMD. We can't afford to provide single-payer but every goddamned congressperson and their families sure as hell has full coverage.
It's a two-tiered system and we have allowed it to happen by getting distracted by partisan politics and whatever new shiny thing the MSM puts in front of our noses. Turn off the TV and go talk to some of those "repukes" and all those other people we've been taught to demonize. I'm guessing, no, I KNOW that most are just average, everyday people who have the same struggles we do. It's time We the People stand up and refuse to be divided not only by race, religion, culture, and whatever else (artificially) divides us but also by partisan politics. The only way we're going to change all this is by working TOGETHER. I know we can find common ground with one another because I've done it. If you think about it, most of us have done it either in small or large ways within our own lives.
Einstein said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. That's what we're doing. We elect the same politicians, year in and year out, who do EXACTLY what the last guy/gal did -- represent the 1%. We need to demand better for ourselves and for this country or make no mistake, a whole lot more of us will be sleeping on discarded mattresses.
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