Yesterday I came across a post on a "Christian" "friend's" page. It really got me hot and fired up. One thing about the Republican Right that I see is the sharing of opinion as fact and then stating, "that's a fact" and then carrying on about how the liberal left are liars. Usually this accusation is accompanied by name-calling... snowflakes, libtards, etc. But calling a group of people liars is ridiculous, because a) you don't know the entire body of people, and b) from what I can tell, you can't name an actual real account of lies, but rely heavily on what others (conservative "Christian" radio for one) say. I mean, if the good reverend said it, it must be true.
Here's a link to the post. I'm sure its viral amongst these good, Christian people. And yes, my bias is showing. My blog, my opinions. Which I will temper with tidbits of truths. Because we all know the saying about opinions.
Point number 1 of this post mentions, and states it as a fact: "We are pulling the economic weight in this country and we are tired of pulling the weight of those that do not contribute."
Who in the hell established that people who are unhappy with the person elected into the white house in the position of the 47th president are not contributors?! This is not fact. It is literal bullshit. (Remember, opinions are like assholes, everyone's got one and it generally stinks). This is a direct affront on pretty much any minority in this country right now, or dare I say, any marginalized population. It is a slam to people of color, to immigrants, to the working class, to the impoverished, and many others of your neighbors, you good Christians that you are.
Same objection to point number 2! I was just going to copy the really idiotic parts of this point, but now here I am, copying the entire section. Here it is in its glory: If you haven't already, get a job. Every business in the country is hiring. And you get paid for the work you do. And the harder you work and the more you learn, the faster you will advance, and the more you will earn. It's an amazing concept.
Here we come to my point of contention: "If you haven't already, get a job." This is extremely assumptive and diminuitive, to just believe that people who don't like your president are people who don't or won't work. This is an extremely over-accepted view and that is rampant among a large throng of the population. But it's not based in reality. Apparently, statistically, it is harder to get to the polls to vote if you are holding down a job. Many Americans would vote if they could get to the polls without losing those oh-so-plentiful jobs you are talking about. And let's talk about those, shall we? Where does your information come from about said jobs? Anyone can look at some business's hiring sign and say.... jobs are abundant, you just aren't looking. The thing is, when there is pool of workers that is as overwhelming as it is in this market, industry doesn't even have to personally skim through those applications that the candidates literally spent hours and days filling out. There are systems for this stuff, and people are filtered out by algorithms and AI. Surely not. Surely the fact that I'm a hard worker and I have the references and letters of recommendation to prove it will catapult me to the top of the list, front of the line. Nope. I never even make the line/list. "Thank you for your interest in this position, we have chosen to follow another line of interest at this time and encourage you to apply again in the future." Or some such similar bullshit. I could carry on in this area for a long time with RAW DATA, you know, personal experience of myself and my family members. But there's so much more to rant about....
"And you get paid for the work you do. And the harder you work and the more you learn, the faster you will advance, and the more you will earn. It's an amazing concept."
Too bad it's just a concept and not reality. Let's start with "and you get paid for the work you do...." That is the hope. But people are being scammed out of their time and labor every day. If you are in an immigrant, you can be preyed upon again and again and again. "The harder you work and more you learn...." really?! Because that isn't what is see. I see that who you know and who you can schmooz is really what it is about. Also, hard workers are generally taken advantage of. If you work circles around your co-workers, expect to be given more responsibility for the same pay or a token raise that isn't really equal to the responsibility piled on. I have seen this over an over again. I do give all I have to jobs, but I'm too ADHD to really get ahead of the crowd. But I have a lot of highly intelligent, organized friends. And I have watched them get driven into the ground with added responsibility because they worked harder and learned more than their colleagues.
But this is also the place where we talk about the difference between working class jobs and middle class jobs. Maybe you middle class people have the voting power and this is YOUR president ("get over it...."), but you do not work harder than entry level workers. There are not more exhausting jobs than the jobs you find in fast food, in housekeeping, in retail cashier positions. Not to mention that working conditions are generally brutal. Standing, walking, pivoting on cement floors for 8 or 9 hours at a time. Being expected to "be the face of the company" while the ones making the money are sitting at a desk and sipping coffee and eating snacks and donuts and whatever they desire throughout their work day, while the "lower level" employees get the privilege of doing that during their 15 minute gvernement mandated break. And they are welcome to sit down during that time, but you know, once you're on the clock, "if you have time to lean, you have time to clean..." Who says that anyway?! People who don't have to clean if they lean. Entry level workeres are blowing out knee joints and hips doing minimum wage jobs. Making less money, getting less sleep, working more hours and maybe multiple jobs, to keep a roof over their families heads. But yeah, IF they can do it, long enough, and hard enough, they can advance. It's not the same as starting out in middle class. But if, and only if, they can make it to that next level of society, they might get to start taking care of their health. Those government health programs that yall are bitching about people getting for nothing, don't actually work that way. And furthermore, when you live in the cut throat world of minimum wage jobs, you don't have the luxury of being sick, of going to doctor appointments, or scheduling hours of treatments to improve your health. Let's face it. You're replaceable. But yes, please, keep accusing "these people," the people that in my experience work the hardest in the harsher environments for the least wages, of being ungrateful whiners who just don't want to improve their own situation. Who are just bitching and moaning because your middle class Christian president just cut the affordable prescription legislation and our generic meds are now double and triple what they were because of our "free" health care that us lazy people get.
Whelp! I have so much more to say, but I know that tomorrow or the next day when I get riled up again, my soapbox will be just a keyboard away and I'll come back to this (or I won't) and I'll rant about whatever is stuck in my working class craw. Because lets face it, these rants are physically and mentally draining and I'm out of steam.
P.S. I love Jesus. But please don't call me a Christian. These are people I am coming to despise on an ever-deepening level.
