This American Life
OK, "This American Life" is actually the title of a (great) radio show from WBEZ up in Chicago, but the topics they cover are the topics we all deal with every day - what it's like to live in America in 2009. I've been on the bench this week (in-between projects), and I've been reflecting a lot about the state of affairs in this patch of land we call the United States of America. Here's what I've noticed:
1) There are still a lot of people in this country who think that Barack Obama is crazier and more powerful than any President in American history. When I say "a lot" of people, I not just talking about your typical right wing nuts here. There are people who think that his Hawaiian birth certificate is not real so he's not a citizen. The NRA has successfully convinced its members that he's going to take their guns. He's a socialist, a Marxist, a racist and/or a communist, depending on which Fox News anchor you prefer. He's just like Hitler. Or Stalin. He wrote the current health care reform legislation himself (Congress just thinks they wrote it). He wants to kill all our grandparents, he's going to "ration" access to doctors, put all private insurance companies out of business, and put the government in charge of setting the course of treatment for anyone and everyone who ever gets sick. Apparently he's the most powerful and evil American President ever.
Seriously? This guy was democratically elected. If you didn't vote for him, you're in the minority (of the electorate, anyway). Also, he's an American President - doesn't anyone remember their US Government class? Presidents don't make laws. Well, I guess there was the Bush approach (make laws in secret and then ask your own lawyers to convince you that what you're doing is legal), but let's hope he was just an exceptional case. Get a grip people. Are these the same people who think we faked the moon landing and there was a second gunman on the grassy knoll?
Observation #2 - A job in America just ain't what it used to be.
I know a lot of people who hate their jobs. I know an equal number of people who have no sense of loyalty to their employer because they firmly believe they could be laid off any given day of the week. Our pensions are gone. We get barely any vacation, and we live in a work culture where we feel guilty using what little vacation we have. Our 401k funds, which were never designed to be our sole source of retirement money, are no longer getting matching contributions from our employers. Many baby boomers lost their butts in the stock market anyway.
Most of my friends who work for publicly traded companies are fed up with the "we're having a good year but we're issuing a mandatory furlough. We're still paying bonuses to the executives though" memos. We make fun of the Europeans for their labor unions, and for good reason, but a little job security and collective bargaining sounds pretty good these days.
Observation #3 - "Real" news is no longer important to Americans
There's not much to say about this one. Listen to 60 seconds of the BBC World Service and you'll get more news than you would get from watching 60 hours of CNN.
1) There are still a lot of people in this country who think that Barack Obama is crazier and more powerful than any President in American history. When I say "a lot" of people, I not just talking about your typical right wing nuts here. There are people who think that his Hawaiian birth certificate is not real so he's not a citizen. The NRA has successfully convinced its members that he's going to take their guns. He's a socialist, a Marxist, a racist and/or a communist, depending on which Fox News anchor you prefer. He's just like Hitler. Or Stalin. He wrote the current health care reform legislation himself (Congress just thinks they wrote it). He wants to kill all our grandparents, he's going to "ration" access to doctors, put all private insurance companies out of business, and put the government in charge of setting the course of treatment for anyone and everyone who ever gets sick. Apparently he's the most powerful and evil American President ever.
Seriously? This guy was democratically elected. If you didn't vote for him, you're in the minority (of the electorate, anyway). Also, he's an American President - doesn't anyone remember their US Government class? Presidents don't make laws. Well, I guess there was the Bush approach (make laws in secret and then ask your own lawyers to convince you that what you're doing is legal), but let's hope he was just an exceptional case. Get a grip people. Are these the same people who think we faked the moon landing and there was a second gunman on the grassy knoll?
Observation #2 - A job in America just ain't what it used to be.
I know a lot of people who hate their jobs. I know an equal number of people who have no sense of loyalty to their employer because they firmly believe they could be laid off any given day of the week. Our pensions are gone. We get barely any vacation, and we live in a work culture where we feel guilty using what little vacation we have. Our 401k funds, which were never designed to be our sole source of retirement money, are no longer getting matching contributions from our employers. Many baby boomers lost their butts in the stock market anyway.
Most of my friends who work for publicly traded companies are fed up with the "we're having a good year but we're issuing a mandatory furlough. We're still paying bonuses to the executives though" memos. We make fun of the Europeans for their labor unions, and for good reason, but a little job security and collective bargaining sounds pretty good these days.
Observation #3 - "Real" news is no longer important to Americans
There's not much to say about this one. Listen to 60 seconds of the BBC World Service and you'll get more news than you would get from watching 60 hours of CNN.
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