Muddle Class

Do I believe the middle class is disappearing? Absolutely. Probably already gone on paper but we're all still living some form of false reality because we're not really feeling it deep in our stomachs. I think things will "change" when we get hungry, dirty, and tired enough. Currently the middle class must support itself at least, in part, on credit to continue the lifestyle to which it is accustomed, which is exactly the behavior that will ultimately cause its demise. Like a snake eating its own tail; which has also been lightly dipped in a half decaf mocha double-latte with organic rice milk and a dash of hipster attitude, and oh yes, put that on credit not debit.


I keep picturing some medieval future where we're all filthy and snatching at stale bread with our soiled hands. Part of the problem: the distractions - endless red tape makes it nearly impossible to uncover truth; drugs are prescribed to make us believe we're happy when actually, we're just dumbed-down and numb. The quest for material possessions, like so many carrots dangled in front of our noses, keep us bound by greed and to some delusion that is creepily referred to as the American Dream. Sprinkle just enough panic and fear to keep paranoia in bloom and make sure the PR machine is pumping out more reasons to hide (we've all been programmed with the idea of the model American; the rugged individualist loner) to keep us from getting together as a community and really discussing what we need to do to create a viable shift in our current reality.

If anyone should doubt that we're being raped and pillaged, I just suggest they reexamine what happened when the banks "failed." Huge bailouts and lo and behold, years later, record bonuses. The lack of funding in education has really done the trick; most are too stupid to realize what's happening to them. I've got to hand it to organized religion, too; what a fabulous marketing plan! Join us, turn over your souls, minds, hearts, bodies and money and we'll keep you from going to Hell™, which, oddly enough, has a lot of the same qualities of this very Earthbound plain.

I found it interesting that the uprising in Egypt actually began on Facebook, so yes, perhaps the change will come because now we can all on some level know each other. I think the internet is doing the thing that all the hippies used to sing about Coke Cola doing - remember the old commercial? The internet just might be making the world One. We can now drop into another's universe across the planet and observe that essentially we all have more in common than not. And once we no longer fear one another, perhaps we'll stop turning over our personal power in exchange for big government bodyguards. I sometimes wonder if the whole governmental (extra helping of "mental") system isn't just some giant mafia-like criminal syndicate. Are our taxes really just protection money?

My lofty hope is that one day we all realize we don't need to fight one another to get what we need to live long, prosperous and humble lives. Then again, bloody uprisings can also be effective. My great-great-great-great etc. aunt, Marie Antoinette, learned that.