The Paper

I guess I'm back to reading the news. It's become a daily routine for me to check the headlines and poke about washingtonpost.com, it's the only online newspaper I read now. After reading this article on newly estimated U.S. war costs over the last decade, I came across this little gem about Obama harshing on republicans for not being "serious" about abolishing tax cuts for the rich, where I read this inciting statement..."cries of 'class warfare' from Republicans." This alone prompted me to have to say something to someone, something, anything.

For most of my conscious-opinion-making life George W. Bush was in office, I remember when he was wrongfully elected, TWICE. And although I have not taken the route of joining military service like some of my peers, I am not a total idiot on the subject of war, history, and politics. I have always kept up with the media, (only quitting the stuff briefly over the last year to take break from all the bad news) and talked openly with my family about our opinions, whether in agreement or disagreement.

Believe it or not, my father comes from a very white-collared republican family, who are immigrants from South America, but they once were apart of the rich minority so the last statement is irrelevant. We even have a few personally signed photographs of each Mr. Bush in thanks of support. My mother's side of the family couldn't be any more polar opposite, and this is the side I spent more time with. Even with all of these opinions flying around I was still able to form my own, which is the important part of this rambling nonsense.

Even the idea of Republicans crying "class war" makes me want to fucking puke. You know at least 85% of them came to the place in a private jet, the rest in motorcade. There is no class system in this country, there is rich and there is poor. The recession has cost almost all of my family members their homes, even my grandparents who are creeping into their mid-seventies, have been forced to hand over their two Oregon homes, their home business, and their dignity to the bank. Might I also mention that the house was going through foreclosure just as my grandmother was recovering from a year and half long battle with breast cancer. There will never be any rest for us in this world unless we are stinky fucking rich, and I have come to terms with the fact that this will never happen for me.

It's not that I didn't try hard enough in school or because I didn't attend a university (I couldn't have afforded it anyway, Connor's sister's student loan payments for a 4-year history degree from SUNY Albany has her hostage for 750$+ a month). I just didn't have the same opportunities that rich kids do, as far as attending private schools in a state where public schools scoot children along to keep the funding a flowin' (California), money was always an issue in my family. My mother would've packed on a third job just to get me through if it was honestly my ticket to investment banking, if it wasn't for a great teachers I did find in public education.

In the end I came out alright, I'm still making eight dollars an hour, but at the same time I don't feel like hanging myself from my necktie or jumping out of my office window, so things are good.

shit is happening in Greece right now, the entire country has come together in a group organized through Facebook. I don't care what pretentious assholes are saying, that is fucking awesome.