random thoughts...

got some garden going and landscaping and whatnot... it's a mixed bag so far as nothing looks real nice at this point. perennials take time to get established and re-established and garden plants are hit or miss getting going... sigh... at least it's good exercise... anyhoo, i have been thinking quite a bit about helping people. there's a part of me that believes that folks sometimes need a helping hand when they are down and that there is no reason that we can't provide basic human necessities for everyone in this country. then, there's the part of me that worked in human services and saw how useless most of the 'helpful services' were- substance abusers and child abusers are abusers- and they aren't interested in help- simply a handout. so, riff raff moved into a rental across the street from the fam and since the police are there every other day or so- mom has been treating it like an episode of 'cops.' the decent neighbors in the neighborhood are not keeping pace with the riff raff these days i am afraid and i have already put a bug in hubby's ear about unloading the property and 'white flighting' it out of the area. and, no, the riff raff is not exclusively 'minority'- it's just trash. these people pimp young people out and run drugs and throw wild parties where adult men urinate off the porch and they slur karaoke.

i generally refer to those folks as 'white trash'- and that's what got me thinking i suppose. you can give folks money and a nice place to live- but you can't give them respect and decency. being poor doesn't mean being trash and it doesn't mean you have to be soul less and emotionless- the substance abuse does that. which brings me back around to my thinking and not really having a good answer. there seems to be a whole lotta folks with too much time on their hands- from teenagers to crack heads- nothing to do and a whole lotta time to think about making a quick buck off the backs of others- whether it be their offspring or the taxpayers. no, i am not kidding- the bitch across the street pimps out her kid. anyhoo, i'll bet dollars to donuts that there are taxpayer social services involved over there while they make money off the system. and it's the kids who pay the ultimate price. it steams me.

our social services in this country are about as successful as our health care system- if that gives you any idea. these both exist purely to perpetuate jobs for the middle class. in fact, most of our 'system' exist solely to perpetuate jobs- profit over people- from the health care to education to social services. there isn't a bit helpful about any of them. the middle class has been 'educated' to the standard of living where walmart country chic is haute coutre and nascar is the sport of kings... really... there are so many people out and about here in my area- i keep asking- where's the recession? apparently, no one here got the memo because everyone in the greater binghamton area is out walking, driving and shopping as if summer vacation started early. that's a whole lotta folks with a whole lotta free time.

there are too many people and not enough jobs- and that's not something you'll ever hear on the msm networks. with more efficient computer systems and robots- and so much cheap labor elsewhere- we really don't need the middle class widget makers anymore. and we only need so many folks to flip a burger at wendy's. look, i am a fairly generous person but i have little to no sympathy for social services sponges. if you are going to receive services, 1) you have to be tested regularly and randomly for drugs and alcohol, 2) you must look for a job and get one in a certain time frame and if you don't- your ass is out there volunteering for a certain amount of hours every week, and 3) you get random visits from social workers if you have kids- to insure that you clean your damned apartment and put curtains up to the window and you don't have 150 people in and out of your home.

if we are going to perpetuate the capitalistic, consumeristic ideology- then we are going to continue to have a large swath of the population who are sponges. the folks who use services correctly are not the ones who are the issue- the people who are wandering around the streets texting and cell phoning their next deal- are. why would anyone attempt anything meaningful when they have no reason to? why would they give a damn about their neighbors if they don't their own children? america has had this ugly secret for a long time and refused to acknowledge it, but we have more of the broken screened, weedy grass, people on the front stoop being obnoxious folks than the white picket fence, flag waving crowd. the middle class is shrinking and truthfully, the folks who are problems now- their numbers are growing.

perhaps that's the real reason our rights are being eroded by the dozen. the 'haves' in power see the 'have nots' as a real problem in the coming years. unfortunately, for the rest of us- there is no where else to flee to...