The systemic problems we have with patriarchy are not going to be solved by going nuts over individual incidents. Yes, we should all feel aware and empowered enough to address an offender in an appropriate manner and as an individual each time I do this, it makes me stronger. But it will not fix the failure of the system (though we often have the illusion we can fix things one person at a time)…
We have a BAD system which needs to overthrown. Not just in the U.S. but internationally. The U.S. in case after case makes the rules –and supports oppressive regimes that use sexism, racism, etc. in order to keep segments of the population down. And women and children are the easiest target although they are not, by any means, the only victims.
We need to change things. We won’t change them with a Civil rights kind of movement. There is simply no way to do that now. We really need to change the government and stop allowing them to tell us that we have to work within the system. For a example– If women had healthcare via the government and could find work that pays them what the men in the building make (and to that point– Education: Education is not valued in this country- Anti-intellectualism in this country is insidious! but in addition to that educators are paid what they are because it’s generally “woman’s work”. They don’t really need the income in too many voters opinion. And the voters vote school board members in who uphold their values– is that local and instant enough?…) but I digress, if women made better incomes then there would be one less thing to be dependent on a man for. But changing the healthcare system or education system in place won’t happen with the lobby system that currently operates in this country. Insurance companies and healthcare companies are far too powerful. They pull the strings where this issue is concerned. Any politician who is not willing to take on the insurance companies with the awareness that they are failing women in this country is not the woman’s rights advocate he claims to be. And as long as there is no way to provide the basic most fundamental needs that a woman has when she leaves-- then we can’t expect women to leave bad situations with the pie in the sky dream that they will just walk out in the world, get a job and everything is now good. They have to be able to provide for themselves, get healthcare, get food, pay electric bills, etc. The system is set up right now so that trying to get help for issues such as this is nearly impossible.
Here’s another example: Right wing agencies are now in the business of “helping”– I was a referred to one not too long ago when I needed some legal advice. Here is what happened: I was afraid I needed some representation because my X was pushing me into transporting my son back and forth to sports on his side of town (30-45 minutes away). It was creating havoc on our time together but it was also impeding my ability to work the second job I have to work to provide for us. So I called this agency that offered legal aid. Initially I was told that the "expert", the person best able to help me was not in and would call me back. She did- almost right away. All good, right? Wrong. No one said they were a christian agency but it was pretty clear, pretty quickly OR if I am wrong, then they have been influenced heavily by christian values. At any rate, I told the woman my story. She said, “Well I think you just need to take advantage of that drive time… you know, just talk and have time to be together.” “What???” says I. “But I have a second job and I wasn’t so much as ASKED about the schedule for this. I was told. And on top of that, I don’t want my son to play football.” Her condescending response?? “Well, I think you have to do what’s right for your son here. He wants to play football and you should just take advantage of that drive time.” When I expressed my outrage at her advice she said, “I’m sorry I’m not saying what you want to hear, dear.”
So this is the advice that is being offered to women who have nowhere else to turn–??? their ex is taking advantage of the situation, using the children to bully her now and the “helpful” people that the government now pays to “help” are christians who want their patriarchal sytem to be the defining system in this country.
Sorry but that is a bad system! Our government should not be giving a dime to religious institutions -for women’s sake -for humanity’s sake. For that matter they should be taxing these damnable institutions.
It is the rich and powerful in this country who benefit and encourage ongoing systems that subordinate and they are the real problem. If our government were about the business of protecting PEOPLE in the first place, rather than being of and for and by the corporations, then we might BEGIN to change the systemic problems inherent in the patriarch. If we had a government that did not walk hand in hand with big business (and I will include the church in that “big business” category because the religious institutions in this country are big business, they have tons of political power and they have a tremendous desire to be the defining influence in what the family should look like, men’s roles, etc.) then we might have a system that protects women -for that matter protects all the poor- when they need help rather than continuing their subordination.
That is where real change begins!
Any chance our "leader" will lead us on this?
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Will the madness never end...
Well, probably not. And as I -and my swee-tart- predicted it, I think I will pat myself on the back. Here are the headlines from the Huffington Post today: "The Credit Card Debt Crisis: The Next Economic Domino ...According to the Federal Reserve, the total outstanding credit card debt carried by Americans reached a record $951 billion in 2008 -- a number that will only climb higher as more and more people reach for the plastic to make ends meet. What's more, roughly a third of that is debt held by risky borrowers with low credit ratings." Read the full article at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/the-credit-card-debt-cris_b_169657.html
Also on the blog a Karen Talavera points to her article which asks for donations for a family on the brink of homelessness. My response?
"Ms. Talavera, I am going to take the bull by the horns here and say that I applaud your efforts to help this family --but this kind of action is also part of the problem. Volunteerism and donations and personal generosity are all well and good-- I hope you are able to help this family-- but really if you are going to do this, you need to expand your Christmas list. But more to the point- you're pointing us in the wrong direction. We cannot save ourselves or be saved by volunteers or generous donations or by nonprofit organizations who "help" if you do all the right things, say the right things, believe the right things, etc. (I so resented the millionaire Obama had at his speech last night- an example that should be followed??? How did he get his millions in the first place? He gave out blood money as far as I am concerned. Sickening!) It's wrong to keep steering the American public away from the corruption and scandal and keep them focused on what they can do to ease the suffering (as if!).
There are so many people who are suffering from this economic crisis and most of them are at the bottom end of the totem pole- not at the top as the bank CEOs and Wall street would like us all to believe.
Your outrage and compassion at the hardships this family is experiencing should be directed more explicitly at the system that got them there, not simply at asking for help for the next few months. You should be ringing the bell for more public assistance and crying to the rooftops for some of the bailout money to go directly to families who are about to be homeless. We've stripped our government agencies the past 20 years so that there is virtually no place to turn for a family going through hardship and what resources there are are like a drizzle in a drought.
Playwright and Screenplay writer David Beaird wrote in his show Key "West" "The storm that has blown your houses down one day will rage for us. And the only structures that will stand are the bridges that we build from misfortune to compassion. From denial to consciousness. From one heart to another. We are, thank god, our brother's and our sister's keepers. And this is our safety. And our joy. And our salvation."
It's just too bad we didn't have that attitude when our government was stripping us of our safety nets."
Also on the blog a Karen Talavera points to her article which asks for donations for a family on the brink of homelessness. My response?
"Ms. Talavera, I am going to take the bull by the horns here and say that I applaud your efforts to help this family --but this kind of action is also part of the problem. Volunteerism and donations and personal generosity are all well and good-- I hope you are able to help this family-- but really if you are going to do this, you need to expand your Christmas list. But more to the point- you're pointing us in the wrong direction. We cannot save ourselves or be saved by volunteers or generous donations or by nonprofit organizations who "help" if you do all the right things, say the right things, believe the right things, etc. (I so resented the millionaire Obama had at his speech last night- an example that should be followed??? How did he get his millions in the first place? He gave out blood money as far as I am concerned. Sickening!) It's wrong to keep steering the American public away from the corruption and scandal and keep them focused on what they can do to ease the suffering (as if!).
There are so many people who are suffering from this economic crisis and most of them are at the bottom end of the totem pole- not at the top as the bank CEOs and Wall street would like us all to believe.
Your outrage and compassion at the hardships this family is experiencing should be directed more explicitly at the system that got them there, not simply at asking for help for the next few months. You should be ringing the bell for more public assistance and crying to the rooftops for some of the bailout money to go directly to families who are about to be homeless. We've stripped our government agencies the past 20 years so that there is virtually no place to turn for a family going through hardship and what resources there are are like a drizzle in a drought.
Playwright and Screenplay writer David Beaird wrote in his show Key "West" "The storm that has blown your houses down one day will rage for us. And the only structures that will stand are the bridges that we build from misfortune to compassion. From denial to consciousness. From one heart to another. We are, thank god, our brother's and our sister's keepers. And this is our safety. And our joy. And our salvation."
It's just too bad we didn't have that attitude when our government was stripping us of our safety nets."
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Play it again Sam!
I was perusing a blog the other day-- one that I check out to hear some really radical views- views that make me pause... as a result I was considering the issue of the patriarchy and sexism once again (There was a huge stupid debate over the blogger's use of the term "Concentration Camp" when referencing schools-- all the sensitive Jewish readers were up in arms over the insensitive use of that word as if it only references the Holocaust. Here's news folks "Concentration camp" isn't a synonym for Nazi Holocaust). I continued on with my deliberation-- thinking about my own life and some of the women I know-- considering some of the advice I have received from women about parenting- (especially post-divorce) and it suddenly occurred to me that as a species we are simply too damaged. And in so many cases we do not have the strength to even think of ourselves differently, let alone make others think of us differently.
Being a librarian at a middle school (and indeed the schools are concentration camps!), I watch the girls, help them find books, watch how they function in the world and I am astounded, simply astounded, that they are actually worse than the girls I grew up around in the sixties and seventies. (I will qualify my statement with the note that I work in a largely hispanic community-- but even among the white girls this is true!) The most popular books going for girls are those rancid "Twilight" series and many of the popular books The nuddy pants series, the Gossip girls, etc. are just as bad if not worse (I could make myself sick naming them all and I might add that what we read really says a LOT about who we are and what we think about and what we enjoy) All this crap-- the junk the girls read is indicative of the mindset these girls have. Our children in general are going the wrong direction but OH MY GOD! the girls. But it's as if it's a non-issue. We (women) got the vote so there's nothing to think about.
But it's really unsolvable in the system as it stands...
And here we come right back to the drum I have been pounding on for a bit already... the problem with an issue like the ongoing propagation of the patriarchy (Or racism or anti-gay statements, etc.) is the connection it has to a wider issue - that of the rape and pillage of the common wealth (that means ALL OF US!)on the part of the wealthy. This might seem disjointed, but it's easier to rob people when the little people are fretting over the cartoon monkey in the New York Post. And it's easier to rape them when they are obsessed with the obnoxious sexist-pig co-worker. We won't change things concerning the patriarchy when the power and the money is with a VERY small group of male (or male-ish- which is what I call women who wind up in that tiny subset of our wealthiest individuals and make a lot of money from bowing to the patriarchy) group of people in this country. They have us singing "I got no strings" all the while they are pulling at the strings. And while we're bickering or going nuts over words like "concentration camps" or the afore mentioned cartoons they are laughing all the way to the bank!
And to top the hot chocolate off with a generous helping of whipped cream, pop culture does not real allow for depth or real awareness. If sex sells, we're going to sell it. If religion sells, we'll make the prices reasonable. And as long as we're selling (and teaching) pablum, then we will produce children who will continue to gorge themselves on pablum. To have a truly more egalitarian, nonsexist culture, a woman friendly world, we would need real change. The kind of change we don't really seem interested in making.
We are really only interested in making money.
Being a librarian at a middle school (and indeed the schools are concentration camps!), I watch the girls, help them find books, watch how they function in the world and I am astounded, simply astounded, that they are actually worse than the girls I grew up around in the sixties and seventies. (I will qualify my statement with the note that I work in a largely hispanic community-- but even among the white girls this is true!) The most popular books going for girls are those rancid "Twilight" series and many of the popular books The nuddy pants series, the Gossip girls, etc. are just as bad if not worse (I could make myself sick naming them all and I might add that what we read really says a LOT about who we are and what we think about and what we enjoy) All this crap-- the junk the girls read is indicative of the mindset these girls have. Our children in general are going the wrong direction but OH MY GOD! the girls. But it's as if it's a non-issue. We (women) got the vote so there's nothing to think about.
But it's really unsolvable in the system as it stands...
And here we come right back to the drum I have been pounding on for a bit already... the problem with an issue like the ongoing propagation of the patriarchy (Or racism or anti-gay statements, etc.) is the connection it has to a wider issue - that of the rape and pillage of the common wealth (that means ALL OF US!)on the part of the wealthy. This might seem disjointed, but it's easier to rob people when the little people are fretting over the cartoon monkey in the New York Post. And it's easier to rape them when they are obsessed with the obnoxious sexist-pig co-worker. We won't change things concerning the patriarchy when the power and the money is with a VERY small group of male (or male-ish- which is what I call women who wind up in that tiny subset of our wealthiest individuals and make a lot of money from bowing to the patriarchy) group of people in this country. They have us singing "I got no strings" all the while they are pulling at the strings. And while we're bickering or going nuts over words like "concentration camps" or the afore mentioned cartoons they are laughing all the way to the bank!
And to top the hot chocolate off with a generous helping of whipped cream, pop culture does not real allow for depth or real awareness. If sex sells, we're going to sell it. If religion sells, we'll make the prices reasonable. And as long as we're selling (and teaching) pablum, then we will produce children who will continue to gorge themselves on pablum. To have a truly more egalitarian, nonsexist culture, a woman friendly world, we would need real change. The kind of change we don't really seem interested in making.
We are really only interested in making money.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Enough is enough...
I am running out of patience with the conservative mindset in this country. Last week in Barnes and Noble, a twenty-something hopeful stood among the regional books, less than a vague interest in books obviously. He was far more interested in getting the designer jeans off the blonde he was talking to than finding the most remote ghost towns in the Colorado high country. Their "conversation" had turned to politics-- not real debate or discussion but politics-lite, the non-committal don't want to sound too radical or thoughtful or offensive conversation that is common among the mating (or mating hopefuls). He hemmed and hawed about the new president and finally said, "I don't have any major problems with what Obama is doing but I don't want my taxes to get raised sky high. What is the point of working hard if it means that you're just going to have all your money taken by the government?"
And that is when I ran out patience. I nearly walked over to him and said, "What the hell makes you think you are EVER going to make enough money to pay that many taxes? Only one percent of Americans are making most of the money and they have tax accountants and lawyers and congressmen all making sure they are not going to pay more than they want to!" Well, fortunately I restrained myself. Doing this would have been bad form while I was working-- but it continues to baffle me that so many people are brainwashed into believing that the only thing that will keep them from making their millions is laziness and/or government interference.
Wake up people! I know you don't want to hear this. I know it runs counter to your massive American egos and sense of invincibility, but the cards as they are dealt right now are stacked against you. In fact, the odds of "making" your millions are probably about the same as winning the lottery.
You might make enough money at your chosen career path to get yourself a big overpriced house, two car payments and lots of credit card debt -especially if you are married to someone who also brings in a significant paycheck- but the odds of having any money leftover to invest and make your millions on a stock market that is as volatile as a supervolcano are next to nil... and almost as dangerous. And even finding careers that pay anything significant for your services are becoming more rare. Most frequently it is about who you know. And even worse-- you might find a job out of school and get the nice house, the car payments, etc. and find yourself out of one or both incomes because the mindset that allowed you to find your job- this love affair we have with youth- will mean that as you get older there is actually less security in your job. Then you might be lucky if you are left with any retirement-- let alone the millions you planned on in your twenties.
But what really infuriates me about this mindset is that it is based on pure selfishness. Taxes need to be raised on the wealthiest of Americans. They just need to be. Jobs need to be created for common people and there needs to be universal healthcare so that small businesses can pay their employees more and not have healthcare as an expenditure. (Healthcare for small businesses is a prohibitive cost which means they are often not able to provide it or they cannot hire as many employees.) Since we already wind up paying for the uninsured via our tax money it seems logical for the government to intervene and provide a healthcare that is based on a good workable model like Canada. There are many more changes that need to be made in the way our government operates (as has been discussed in other pasts on this blog) but there is no will to do it in Washington. They represent the wealthiest of Americans and the corporations-- they are not there with genuine intentions of changing the business as usual politics of D.C..
So it's up to us.
When FDR became president, a group of progressive activists asked him to push for some really big changes. His response? "I agree with you. I want to do it. Now make me do it."
Will we, as Americans, ever push for change that represents what is best for ALL or will we continue to hold back afraid of too much "socialism" and government "interference" with the wrongheaded notion that you won't benefit from the "free" market (HA! As if it were actually free)???
The alarm is sounding! It is time to wake up!!!
Jamie Lee Curtis and I seem to be on the same wave length-- check her article out on the Huff Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jamie-lee-curtis/a-fish-called-denial_b_168817.html
And that is when I ran out patience. I nearly walked over to him and said, "What the hell makes you think you are EVER going to make enough money to pay that many taxes? Only one percent of Americans are making most of the money and they have tax accountants and lawyers and congressmen all making sure they are not going to pay more than they want to!" Well, fortunately I restrained myself. Doing this would have been bad form while I was working-- but it continues to baffle me that so many people are brainwashed into believing that the only thing that will keep them from making their millions is laziness and/or government interference.
Wake up people! I know you don't want to hear this. I know it runs counter to your massive American egos and sense of invincibility, but the cards as they are dealt right now are stacked against you. In fact, the odds of "making" your millions are probably about the same as winning the lottery.
You might make enough money at your chosen career path to get yourself a big overpriced house, two car payments and lots of credit card debt -especially if you are married to someone who also brings in a significant paycheck- but the odds of having any money leftover to invest and make your millions on a stock market that is as volatile as a supervolcano are next to nil... and almost as dangerous. And even finding careers that pay anything significant for your services are becoming more rare. Most frequently it is about who you know. And even worse-- you might find a job out of school and get the nice house, the car payments, etc. and find yourself out of one or both incomes because the mindset that allowed you to find your job- this love affair we have with youth- will mean that as you get older there is actually less security in your job. Then you might be lucky if you are left with any retirement-- let alone the millions you planned on in your twenties.
But what really infuriates me about this mindset is that it is based on pure selfishness. Taxes need to be raised on the wealthiest of Americans. They just need to be. Jobs need to be created for common people and there needs to be universal healthcare so that small businesses can pay their employees more and not have healthcare as an expenditure. (Healthcare for small businesses is a prohibitive cost which means they are often not able to provide it or they cannot hire as many employees.) Since we already wind up paying for the uninsured via our tax money it seems logical for the government to intervene and provide a healthcare that is based on a good workable model like Canada. There are many more changes that need to be made in the way our government operates (as has been discussed in other pasts on this blog) but there is no will to do it in Washington. They represent the wealthiest of Americans and the corporations-- they are not there with genuine intentions of changing the business as usual politics of D.C..
So it's up to us.
When FDR became president, a group of progressive activists asked him to push for some really big changes. His response? "I agree with you. I want to do it. Now make me do it."
Will we, as Americans, ever push for change that represents what is best for ALL or will we continue to hold back afraid of too much "socialism" and government "interference" with the wrongheaded notion that you won't benefit from the "free" market (HA! As if it were actually free)???
The alarm is sounding! It is time to wake up!!!
Jamie Lee Curtis and I seem to be on the same wave length-- check her article out on the Huff Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jamie-lee-curtis/a-fish-called-denial_b_168817.html
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