The Problem as I See It

The trouble, I would have to admit, with this entire system, is probably greater in a lot of people's eyes than I see. But in my eyes, it's terrible.

We've taken this old warhorse as far as she'll go and I think we've got to give up the ghost. Just look at what 'success' is here:

Schools: We've got systems -- systems born of bipartisan support -- which the whole educational universe regards now as an utter failure. No Child Left Behind has an incredble system design to find the schools which require the most help. Only, the system then punishes those schools by cutting resources. People may complain about throwing money at problems, but I've never seen a kid do better in a school that can't afford books, maintenance, teachers and security.

Health Care: No matter what we do, we still have more than 40 million people uninsured. The government actually thinks this is okay. They seem to believe that if we insure people they will go to the hospital when they're sick (shocking!). This outcome is somehow viewed as bad by our leaders who, I presume, hope people will be healed by the power of Jesus, or frequent wars.

Security: There may not be a bigger joke in this country than the illusion of security. Just ask the black people from New Orleans. We have created a myth of security that we use our own knowledge to prop up. In fact, the only source of security -- internationally, nationally and locally -- is properity. But not the code-talk bullshit prosperity that Bush says when he really wants to say, 'less taxes for rich people.' Real, cold, surprising, lift-all-boats prosperity like we had to some degree during the Clinton administration. Now I'm a Clinton realist. Unemployment was down, for real, we had friends around the world and dollar-a-gallon gas. What fucking happened? Problems that were bad got worse and things that were good got shit on again and again. The result is this imbalanced daily screw-job that our soldiers and the economic class they come from put up with daily. That is getting honed by corporations, getting abandoned by your government and getting duped into believing that Jesus or the savior of your choice would want you to ask for more.

It's bullshit. We're sunk. Stick a fork in this fucker. It's done.