Class Warfare

Those who know me know that I'm not shy to state my opinion on things. To their credit, those same people usually just leave me alone and let me rant.

I'm finding that my rants are much less frequent as I get older. You can hardly get me going too often.

"That's because you're always right, right?" my beautiful wife will ask.

That's absolutely correct.

One of the things that I stopped bitching about was politics. The Obama-Bush election was enough to push me over the top there. Coming after the fraud of the Bush-Kerry election it was enough to make me sick.

So, I shut up.

At least around most people. Those who are blessed with the chance to live with me still hear it.

Yet no matter where you stand on any of that, you must admit that the middle class is in the real mess.

I bring it up for a couple of reasons. First off, I saw the 60 Minutes episode about those being crunched out by being unemployed and secondly, I am listening to Bruce sing about it, one song at a time on the new record.

Yeah, what does a billion dollar guitar player know about it?

Well, he lived it. He watched his father get beat down and die bitter. He drives through his hometown and sees the ruin. He writes about it.

He always has.

Anyway, there are those that believe the poor lazy people shouldn't be given hand-outs.

I have little tolerance for lazy, but those people have always been there. The problem being that there are more people falling into the class.

Not because they are lazy, but because they can't work. They are accepting the handouts begrudgingly because they need them to survive.

Then there is another group of people who believe that the real good stealing is done from the top. The big bonuses, the high salaries for administration. The no-show jobs, the made-up titles to draw the high-salaries. The cheating on your taxes when you're already a billionaire type of people.

I have even less tolerance for this.

Yet why does it matter where I stand on the issue?

Because my family, despite having two parents who get up and out of bed every morning, and work hard until the bell rings, has had to really think about how to go about it so that all the kids can have a chance at school.

That's our job.

And despite the fact that we've been gainfully employed, with good companies for years, we have to scramble a bit at tax time too.

How can this be?

Wages have been stagnant for people that I run with. Everything else has gone way the hell up.

College tuition was $6,000 a year for a private university when I went. It's $40,000 a year now. Even the public schools are up around $20 grand a year!

And wages are virtually the same.

Food, gas, taxes...entertainment...all have seen dramatic increases.

And wages are the same.

As a man, as a parent, it makes you wonder. How the hell can I make this work? Luckily, as I've said, I'm employed.

But when my back and neck were injured there were a few days there when I wondered...what if I can't get out of bed and go?

That handout?

We wouldn't have made it.

So, I am pushing through it. That's my job. If it takes ice and ibuprofen or even a cane, I have to keep going.

Because the system doesn't take care of our own these days.

It just doesn't.

Steal from the bottom. Pillage from the top. Let the others stumble through the work day, shackled and drawn.

Pretty heady stuff, but look around. The tea party wants change. Occupy your town wants change.

The guy in the middle needs change.