Monday, August 11, 2008
The class war is over, and we lost. So now what?
by Larry Geller
The class war is over, and we lost. There was a class war. We've been defeated. [Bob Herbert, answering Bill Moyers' question on Friday's Bill Moyers Journal, PBS, 8/8/2008]
This was on the billboard before Friday’s program as well as part of the interview.
I’ll have to admit that I was startled. There was a class war. We’ve lost? But... but... victory was just around the corner. Just a struggle or two away... it can't really be over, can it?
I felt that I’ve actually known it for some time. No matter which way one looks, the meek are no closer at all to inheriting the earth. Quite the opposite. People lose their homes, jobs, ability to obtain basic medical care, and on and on. Real wages in this country are lower than when I got my first job out of college. Hurricanes and natural disasters are now used to ethnically clean neighborhoods.
Just check the score. The financial institutions that caused the mortgage crisis in the first place are bailed out and continue to prosper. CEOs who can lay off hundreds or thousands of workers reap obscene bonuses for their success at downsizing. Insurance companies and Big Pharma join Big Oil in running our country. All but the rich are taxed to death.
Yeah, we lost already.
But that leads to my second question: Now what?
Actually, I listened to Bill Moyers this morning via podcast, then shortly after, I read Joan Conrow’s article, Musings: Hawaii's Spiritual Core. A snippet from the very end:
Do we really want to lose the essence of Hawaii, its spiritual core? Because it seems to me that that’s where we’re headed unless we restore Hawaiians to their rightful place at the head of the table.
Ok, there's the lesson for me. Hope is not dead. Struggles continue. Also, there is more to this country than Washington DC, Wall Street and Wal-Mart.
We may not inherit the earth, but other countries have universal healthcare and we can, too. Native Hawaiians continue their struggle even if we white folks don't ever dream they can be successful.
They can be successful, and so can we all. So don't believe for a moment that the war is over. Let the corporations believe it and we can just surprise them one day.
Not only is there more to this country than Wal_Mart, etc....there's more to this world.
We may have done pretty lousy job in the US of fighting for our economic rights, but look at Latin America. The class war is raging and the people are rising up, and winning.
We can still follow their example.
some native hawaiians continue the struggle. I doubt it's the majority.
: August 12, 2008 at 6:48:00 AM HST latin america's most popular game is revolution. it would never take hold here.
: August 12, 2008 at 6:51:00 AM HST << Home
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