Warning: The following piece will not fit with any concept of a joyous Christmas. If you are fortunate to be enjoying a loving time with family and/or friends, then put off reading it. I wish all who are appreciating this day the best in affection and happiness. For my part, I am blessed to be with two people I care about. My frustration arises from a visit yesterday someone who means a lot to me, but who can’t get health insurance, even under the proposed ‘reform.’ It angers me that the US is going to perpetuate a system where many of the disadvantaged are denied coverage. The post that follows reflects my disgust with how the powerful have manipulated this country in service of their selfishness.

walmart

For my Christmas Eve image, something I found on CreativeCommons fit my view of the Holiday that supposedly celebrates the birth of Jesus. As someone who never had a good Christmas growing up (the first of many disasters is briefly chronicled in the memoir fragment about my stepmother on this site,) I confess to lacking an elevated view of the occasion. But the picture I found conveys a lovely symbol of the true heart of the season. Because December 24th is the birthday of someone close to me, I wanted to put up an attractive image. Today, I can say what’s really on my mind.

Rockefeller Center portrays the dream of American capitalism, built as it was when the ultimate outcome remained unknown. Imposing in its elegance, the buildings and courtyards spoke at the time to the rising power of this nation. Even though the economy was wrecked, then as now, the rich still invested in this country, and there were reasons to hope for the future. The display today rings a little hollow, despite the gloriously optimistic angels, proclaiming the approach of something grand. They put on a good show.

This nation’s Christmas tradition revolves around the myth of abundance. We have so many material resources, our fantasy goes, that we can cut down a whole tree for decoration, burn electricity to decorate it, and (most importantly) give useless and expensive gifts. The gifts. Last in my sentence, but really the whole point. We need this event, the media tell us, in order to fuel our economy. How much we fail to spend this year, versus times past, gives a measure of our financial illness. It’s the ‘shopping season.’

I went shopping. A few days ago I found myself at WalMart, my least favorite store. It’s necessary for my wife and I, like many, to save on household goods and every other thing. So from time to time we go to WalMart, which exemplifies the current state of American capitalism in much the same way that Rockefeller Center reflects its long-past heyday.

I get depressed in WalMart because I see so many sad-looking and impoverished people spending their scarce resources on crummy junk, all of which is manufactured in other countries. Thanks to the ‘free market,’ few factories remain in the United States, and before long a large percentage of skilled work will also be outsourced. So the store brims with underpaid Americans, dutifully spending before Christmas, with all their money going to other nations, and (especially) the rich.

The United States has a crumbling tax base, and yet our government has borrowed obscene amounts of money. Despite the complaints leveled against Obama, the bulk of it went to pay for the Iraq war long before he got elected. Then the Wall Street bailout slapped our collective faces. After decades of insisting the ‘free market’ would assure our future, and decrying any attempt by ‘big government’ to protect American jobs, the fat cats who benefitted demanded that the government rescue them from the effects of their own stupidity and greed.

I’ve waited a long time for Congress to return to the idea that it’s healthy for a nation to spend money to benefit the average person. But the Iraq War and the bailout cost so much, and racked up so much debt, that it’s easy for the ‘usual suspects’ to argue we can’t afford to heal our society. Naturally, they brush aside the fact that the same right wing forces who insisted on a balanced budget back in the Clinton era (causing loss of many social supports,) soon after pushed for the Iraq war that cost vast sums and accomplished nothing besides enriching private contractors. And that these same narcissistic elements, having gotten the endless war they desired, now say we’re out of money and can’t spend the comparatively small amount needed to assist those who struggle within our borders.

Oh well. I don’t want to make this a political blog. It’s just that after an afternoon at WalMart, and following a visit with a mentally ill relative who can’t get healthcare, I feel disgusted by the way we’ve been cheated. I had to rant. Now I’ll shut up and get back to my usual content.

This post was altered in several places on 2009-12-25 @ 12:25 PST.

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