Saturday, August 25, 2012
One shooting today, another tomorrow—thank the politicians for the increased violence
“The Republicans who speak so glibly of shredding the social safety net and leaving the poor and unemployed to starve, while accusing them of being lazy good for nothings looking for a handout, are playing with social dynamite….Right now disgruntled workers in the US have advocates in the organized labor unions that have fought for programs that help the unemployed maintain the basic necessities of life. But if the Republicans succeed in destroying these government entitlements, shredding the safety net and destroying the power of unions to fight back through the political system, we shall many more acts mass slaughter and the danger zone will be everywhere!”
by Larry Geller
The above is snipped from The Empire State Shooter (8/24/2012) an article by Playthell Benjamin on his website Commentaries on the Times. I heard it on last night’s WBAI news.
This commentary was written in reaction to the increasing number of mass shootings in our country, and in particular, the incident Thursday near New York’s Empire State Building which left two dead and ten injured. He asks whether we are already seeing civil unrest due to the pressures of economic desperation.
I think he is right. Try re-reading the pull-quote above. It resonates with me because I had and still have hope for the future, but I can see the Republicans destroying that unless something is done—and not just my hope, of course.
Ordinary people in our country are under extraordinary stress, and what will happen when even hope is taken away from them? When you’re hoping for hope, things have become really bad already.
In particular, as the Republicans continue to whittle away at organized labor, there will be no effective antidote to the societal destruction that Congress seems uninterested in preventing.
I recommend Commentaries on the Times to you. It is written from New York but most of the articles have national application.
I noticed that while listening to the WBAI news in the background, when Playthell’s voice comes on, I sit up and pay attention. We need more voices like his on the air everywhere.
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