I Got Mine, How You Doing?
I have a lot of time to think, driving an hour to and then from work every day. The morning is particularly good for thinking, as traffic is lighter in the dark at 0545 hours. This past week I've been considering if maybe everything that I've been told for my entire life was a lie.
My dad was a WW2 combat Marine. He always said that Semper Fi really meant "I got mine, how you doing?"
I was taught that if you went to school, learned then went to work, worked hard and looked out for the company that you'd get ahead in the world. I did those things for four companies for 38 years but rather than getting ahead, I got put on the doorstep like a sack of garbage by three of them. The verdict is still out on the company I'm working for now.
I didn't ask my employers for a pension or medical benefits, they offered them to me. They said it was part of my compensation package in lieu of more wages today. If I worked 5 or 10 or 30 years that I would get a defined benefit every month for as long as I lived. I did my part, working for 10, 17 and 8 years for each then they handed my pension over to the broke US government.
I was raised to save money for retirement and rainy days. I was raised to buy a house. I paid my bills and my taxes, doing my share for my country, my state and my city. I never asked for more than common defense and some roads to drive on. I donated to local charities to help those less fortunate through no fault of their own. The government took the taxes from my work, gave them to klepto-corporations and lazy fuckers that intentionally ruined their lives. Then that same government calls me greedy, racist, oppressive and a potential terrorist that can't be trusted in any way.
I was raised to be humble and patriotic, to defer to the great men who earned the right to be corporate, academic and civic leaders. I was taught to respect our country and flag and those who sacrificed to give me my freedom. I did those things even when I disagreed with particulars, always counting on my fellow countrymen to look out for our common welfare. Now I have leaders that spit on my welfare by not even bothering to read the legislation that they pass or sending our work out of the country for a few extra pennies of personal profit.
I was taught to give my children an education so they might have greater opportunities than me or my ancestors had. That the cost of their education would be worth little compared to the gains of it. Now my college educated daughters work in retail making barely more than minimum wage because our economy is in shambles.
I was taught that I lived in a representative republic, under God, where each man's vote counted and everyman was entitled to his God given rights. Now I live in an oligarchy, under nothing, where votes are bought with lies and everyman is entitled to whatever our leaders decide on a whim. I'm merely a prop in the elite's play, a thing to manipulated like a fake fence post.
Looking back it all seems to be a lie. All that's left is my personal sense of honor, that I did the right thing. Mostly no one did right by me, instead they lied to me and feathered their own beds. Now they say "I got mine, how are you doing?" Well, not so good. But I do have my honor and dignity. I never intentionally lied to anybody and everybody. Except when I believed your lies and repeated them, like a sucker.
It seems to me that there will be a price to be paid from this lifetime of lies. There must be. One day our leaders are going to need guys like me for something. They will come sincerely, hat in hand, and ask for my trust and help. But they won't get it. Oh, I've forgiven but I will never forget. I will turn my back on them and just walk away, just as they did to me all these years. I'm over it.
I'm teaching my grandsons that this country is full of liars and cheats, just like the rest of the world. I'll teach them to carefully scrutinize those who call themselves leaders and defer to no man, lest he earn it in plain view. I'll teach them to refuse future offers, take cash in the hand today and don't sell yourself cheap. I'll teach them that I was lied to for my entire life by men I trusted and never should have.
My dad was a WW2 combat Marine. He always said that Semper Fi really meant "I got mine, how you doing?"
I was taught that if you went to school, learned then went to work, worked hard and looked out for the company that you'd get ahead in the world. I did those things for four companies for 38 years but rather than getting ahead, I got put on the doorstep like a sack of garbage by three of them. The verdict is still out on the company I'm working for now.
I didn't ask my employers for a pension or medical benefits, they offered them to me. They said it was part of my compensation package in lieu of more wages today. If I worked 5 or 10 or 30 years that I would get a defined benefit every month for as long as I lived. I did my part, working for 10, 17 and 8 years for each then they handed my pension over to the broke US government.
I was raised to save money for retirement and rainy days. I was raised to buy a house. I paid my bills and my taxes, doing my share for my country, my state and my city. I never asked for more than common defense and some roads to drive on. I donated to local charities to help those less fortunate through no fault of their own. The government took the taxes from my work, gave them to klepto-corporations and lazy fuckers that intentionally ruined their lives. Then that same government calls me greedy, racist, oppressive and a potential terrorist that can't be trusted in any way.
I was raised to be humble and patriotic, to defer to the great men who earned the right to be corporate, academic and civic leaders. I was taught to respect our country and flag and those who sacrificed to give me my freedom. I did those things even when I disagreed with particulars, always counting on my fellow countrymen to look out for our common welfare. Now I have leaders that spit on my welfare by not even bothering to read the legislation that they pass or sending our work out of the country for a few extra pennies of personal profit.
I was taught to give my children an education so they might have greater opportunities than me or my ancestors had. That the cost of their education would be worth little compared to the gains of it. Now my college educated daughters work in retail making barely more than minimum wage because our economy is in shambles.
I was taught that I lived in a representative republic, under God, where each man's vote counted and everyman was entitled to his God given rights. Now I live in an oligarchy, under nothing, where votes are bought with lies and everyman is entitled to whatever our leaders decide on a whim. I'm merely a prop in the elite's play, a thing to manipulated like a fake fence post.
Looking back it all seems to be a lie. All that's left is my personal sense of honor, that I did the right thing. Mostly no one did right by me, instead they lied to me and feathered their own beds. Now they say "I got mine, how are you doing?" Well, not so good. But I do have my honor and dignity. I never intentionally lied to anybody and everybody. Except when I believed your lies and repeated them, like a sucker.
It seems to me that there will be a price to be paid from this lifetime of lies. There must be. One day our leaders are going to need guys like me for something. They will come sincerely, hat in hand, and ask for my trust and help. But they won't get it. Oh, I've forgiven but I will never forget. I will turn my back on them and just walk away, just as they did to me all these years. I'm over it.
I'm teaching my grandsons that this country is full of liars and cheats, just like the rest of the world. I'll teach them to carefully scrutinize those who call themselves leaders and defer to no man, lest he earn it in plain view. I'll teach them to refuse future offers, take cash in the hand today and don't sell yourself cheap. I'll teach them that I was lied to for my entire life by men I trusted and never should have.
posted by lugh lampfhota at 9:42 PM
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