Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Old Sayings Just To Keep You In Your Place

There is a new television show coming out soon that pits the filthy rich against the filthy poor in minimum wage jobs. The prize is a paltry $200,000. I say paltry because that is what this fucking show will earn in revenue from commercials for one airing. But that is besides the point. We hate the rich because they have what we don't ... and they're not letting it go. They "elect" someone like the fucking Anti-Christ (W) so that he can make sure there are plenty of permanent tax breaks for them or so that they don't get taxed on their inheritance (which by the way isn't money they've earned so taxing it isn't like you're taxing someone after they die; you're taxing the recipient .... you get taxed if you win the lottery, well .. this is the same concept. Don't believe the hype when you hear it called a "Death Tax").

Bob Marley got me thinking about this today. I was listening to "Get Up, Stand Up" where he preaches:

Most people think great God will come from the sky
Take away ev'rything, and make ev'rybody feel high
But if you know what life is worth
You would look for yours on earth
And now you see the light
You stand up for your right, yeah!

If only Americans could hear and understand this message. That old saying "Money can't buy you happiness" is a load of shit. I hate that saying. I think most these old sayings were created by the wealthy and the happy to sedate the unhappy masses. What kind of crap is that: money can't buy happiness? Because being broke and worried about paying your bills makes you happy? Not being able to provide is the path to true joy? If money can't buy happiness, then I can sure as hell afford my own misery ... I'm willing to give it a shot.


Another one we've all heard is that the poor shall get their reward in heaven. Yeah ... because it would be completely unfair to give the poor a little something now, right? Again, just another one of those phrases propogated by the rich as if to say "Hey, you're really the lucky one. Hell, I wish I could rummage through the couch for enough change to put gas in a 10 year old Hondo Civic. Instead, I have this unholy burden to bear of having too much money" You know ... shouldn't our rich brethren be willing to share their "burden" so that they don't have to carry so much?

What about this one: "It's better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all". This is the advice that the one friend we all have who is in a great relationship gives you when your beloved has driven a Mack truck through your rib cage, tied a chain to your heart, and backed over your heart say a couple hundred times. It's funny because I always associate this phrase with a movie, an unlikely movie .. but I associate this with Men In Black. There is the scene where Tommy Lee Jones is looking through some monitor at his lost love and Will Smith makes the "better to have loved" comment. Tommy Lee just shoots him this icy look and says "Try it". That just about sums it up for me.

I'm not normally this pessimistic. Yes, I do truly believe something good comes out of something bad. I know that if I hadn't gone through the heartbreaks I've had in my life, then I would've never finished college, finished law school, and been to half the places I've been.

I just hate society pushing these stupid sayings on us as if to say that we should just accept our lot in life and let the rich keep fucking over the system and everyone because they'll get theirs in the end or pity the rich because they're "miserable". Our society is becoming more stratified every day and unless we take steps to stop it, we're in for a nasty wakeup. People seem to forget that in the early part of the 20th century, those National Guard Armories were all so familiar with in big cities weren't set up in poor neighborhoods so that they could quickly have access to weapons in case of foreign invasion. They were set up in case the poor and dispossessed started to revolt. I really feel right now is a power grab by the rich to ensure they'll remain rich for as long as we're a nation since they feel they can just keep fucking over the middle class and poor because they think we have no choice. Remember this last little bit of truth that was thrown at us in law school by our Constitutional Law professor who was enraged by the Gore v. Bush decision: There is nothing .... absolutely nothing ... in the Constitution that guarantees we will always have a Democracy.

18 comments:

Msabcmom said...

I hate those dumb old sayings too. Not once have they made me feel better. I think that they have just made me feel more single and more broke!

Lindsay said...

Yeah, I've always thought that "Money can't buy happiness" saying was a bunch of BS. Without money you can't pay rent, bills, eat, etc etc...and when a person is hungry and homeless, I'm guessing they're not exactly in a state of euphoria. And the poor shall get their reward in heaven? What if there is no heaven...oops. (aye, my catholic school teachers would give me a year's detention for saying something like that)

Chelle said...

"There is nothing .... absolutely nothing ... in the Constitution that guarantees we will always have a Democracy."

Exactly my vent of the year. I won't go into it, but..... erg....

Absolutely believe these sayings are meant to for everyone to nod their head and say, "yeah - nothing we can do"

My absolute anarchist side coming out.

jennifer said...

cincy, you're starting a revolt!!!

JHD said...

Dammit, Devil, knock it off!

We've been telling you that for years, don't start to question mah authoritay now! If there's a revolt, I'm holding you personally responsible, and I'm tossing you in my dungeon with all the other rabblerousing serfs. ;)

sonrisa morena said...

damn boy!! i can actually feel your anger in this one!!!

Cincysundevil said...

MsAbcMom-
That is exactly how I feel .... more broke and more single.

Cincysundevil said...

Lindsay-
A good Catholic and a good American should always question "What if ...."

Cincysundevil said...

Chelle-
Thanks for stopping by. Please feel free to vent all you want, I'll enjoy and savor every moment.

Cincysundevil said...

Jen-
Maybe I am ;)

Cincysundevil said...

JHD-
Who would have ever thought I could be a rabblerouser?

Cincysundevil said...

Sonrisa-
I'm passionate if nothing else!

JHD said...

You've alawys been a rabblerouser.

I notice you don't question the serf part, though.

Cincysundevil said...

JHD-
Why question the obvious? After all, not all of us get to drive a BMW.

mo** said...

I don't think money can buy you happiness but it can definitly give you peace of mind. Only the very rich have enought peace of mind to be able to work for the pleasure of developping, some of the greatest thinkers of all time were super wealthy because they had the luxery of free time, ie time where they didn't have to work or worry about mundaine things. That being said those people are only about 1% of the rich people, all the rest are hiltons or bush's...it's sad.

Cincysundevil said...

Mona-
Good point! Those with the compassion and money to dedicate themselves do make a difference in the world. And as you said, unfortunately the rest are the Bushes and Hiltons.

Cincysundevil said...

Ruben-
Thanks! I'm sure this probably earned me a spot in the Homeland Security's Enemies of Freedom list.

NML/Natalie said...

When people come out with BS like money doesn't buy happiness, I tell them to let me have their money and judge for myself. Great post!