Who to root for?

In every movie and television show worth watching and in every work of fiction or biography, there is one consistent -- with very rare exception, there is at least one character or group of people who the reader feels a connection to and "roots" for.

There's always someone who is "good"; who wears the symbolic 'white hat' and as you watch or read, you're connection to that person or group of individuals becomes stronger as they fight the baddies or struggle to overcome adversity.

So..  here we have this very unique narrative.  We could call it the ongoing recession or the Great Recession-Depression, or some other cutesy term...   And as we've tirelessly worked to strive to educate an American and global public that really deep down does not wish to be bothered, we've been startled by something...

There really is no one to 'root' for.

Really no good-guy (or gal); no innocent victims devoid of culpability for the ongoing mess which will only get worse after the election no matter which bastard wins in November.

Let's really break things down as we seek to find someone who is genuinely good and worth rooting for...

The Wealthy: Are you kidding me?!  They are the ones who get the most financial protections when things go bad.

For example, remember 9/11?  You do?  OK good, now remember that commission--  not the 'official' one to seek to provide historical account of what happened-- but the commission set up to pay out death benefits for next of kin of the victims?  It certainly wasn't set up to give ease and comfort to the spouses of those who mopped the floors and washed windows.

We learned during that farce that all men and women are Not created equal.  Rather than each next of kin receiving a set amount to symbolize the equal value of every life lost, the commission paid out based on prior salary and future lost wages.  So the wealthy wife of a dead Investor and the poor wife of the man who emptied the trash--  guess who received the greater death benefits?

Guess who's life held more 'value'; which mattered more?

Back to the present.. why did the government go so hard against Bernie Madoff in 2008 besides he was a jerk of a personality and an easy target?   How many people did Madoff fuck over who made $100k or less/year?  Try Zero.   He bilked the wealthy; the politically connected.  Good for him... but that was his downfall..  Madoff should have targeted the poor-- then he'd still be a free man.

The wealthy don't just keep all their money in bank accounts--   they invest it.  A lot of them are invested in the stock market.  And the more taxpayer money is used to artificially prop it up, the greater the wealthy's portfolios expand and life is even better now than before.

It is true to say that the wealthy are the only group of people that not only have experienced a recovery, but are 'recovered fully'..

It is really rotten that they have not suffered for their sins; their need to always make profit and feel superior based on something so meaningless as money.  In a perfect world, many wealthy individuals would have lost everything and suffered nervous breakdowns in the process.  They'd have their worlds turned upside down and not ever fully recover...

In a perfect world...

The Middle Class:  No, they aren't the 'good guys' either.  Hard to root for selfish cowards.  In the movies, we want our heroes to be John Wayne-- to stand up tall and proud and fight the baddies... through intimidation and physical brute force if necessary.    Somehow it gets lost in translation when the fight is reality-based.

The middle class will put up with anything, accept anything and ignore reality as long as humanly possible as long as it doesn't adversely affect them in any way.  Lower interest rates to about zero-percent for years upon years so savings will never keep up with inflation..  Add trillions in public debt via QE to give to Wall St and banks...   Sure.. Fine.. just let us watch our football and finish our laundry.

The middle class.. how pathetic:  rapidly losing everything they've acquired since to post-WWII boom and they barely make a peep.  The ability for 1 adult to support a household in a standard of comfort: Gone.  The ability for 2 adults to support a household:  Just about Gone.

And they openly (and stupidly) want the stock market to keep going up so their measly little nothing of a pension can grow by $100 here and $100 there while Investors make tens of millions of dollars.  But that's all part of the behavioral conditioning of workers, isn't it?  'Please allow my company to keep making billions and my boss to make millions so I can keep my job which pays in the thousands'

And as their savings rapidly depletes and pressures increase to find or maintain work that will pay a fair wage with benefits, they snicker and laugh at the Occupy movement for trying to take a stand as they lift up a collective haughty nose of superiority.

And how do the middle class believe they will ever get back their quality of life or protect what they have so their children and grandchildren may enjoy the same life they've built?  Oh.. well you know.. vote.  Yes.. elections.   We just will vote the baddies out and put some goodies in...   My God!  Do these people still believe in the tooth fairy too?!

The middle class knows things are bad with the economy and not getting better, but don't wish to get bothered or involved outside of that meaningless exercise of voting.  And as long as there's some savings to live off of or a credit card to cha-chingg with, people are not going to do anything to get them in trouble.

Sacrifice for others??   Fuck that!

The Poor:  While no one consciously seeks to be poor, the life of a poor person today isn't quite what it was in say 1789 France.  If it was, we would have a group of people storm the US version of the 'Bastille'    But hard to garner that much passion when the government takes care of them.

The food they put into their collective bellies--  Thanks government for those food stamps.    The money received to pay bills-- Thanks government for the welfare checks, SSI and/or social security.  And unless prices ever skyrocket to the point where what is received isn't enough to cover basic necessities, you will never see anyone bite the hand that feeds them (and keeps them pressed down against the ground)

In addition, most poor people would be poor even in a booming, super-strong economy.  Its just a fact.  There is no such thing as zero unemployment unless you want a society where 100 people are hired to trim grass that one lawn mower can easily do.

So, OK.. no economic class of people are worthy of wearing the 'white hat' in this tragedy. Certainly someone deserves it...

Republicans?   Democrats? We won't even take that one seriously...  Just keep having incest with each other Mr Elephant & Ms. Donkey while pretending post-coitus that you both don't 'receive' at Wall Street's pleasure...

Intellectuals?   Well since most people who fully understand how bad things are either don't wish to share their knowledge with the common rabble for snooty reasons or realize an educated public could be bad for their 401k, they aren't worthy of the white hat.

Of course we at A&G.. We DO tell you the truth, so our 'hats' are as pristine white as they come.  Those like us are the closest you will find to worth rooting and cheering for, mainly because we have no ulterior motive or agendas... we have nothing to sell you

And others are out there fighting the good fight.  But we'll never get the audience that main stream media acquires and they are all as evil as they come.

If you ever want the news media to accurately depict the state of the US economy without flinching, then hope for a Republican president.  Then you will see the tent cities, the stories of single mothers barely able to feed their families, people desperate and despondent as they can't find work and/or about to be evicted from their homes...

We love and respect our Democrat friends and they will tell us we're wrong, wrong... But no media outlet outside of FoxNews will ever show how bad everyday people are suffering as long as a Democrat is in office, especially this one.

We could go on and on, but we won't.   There are very few people worthy of rooting for in this travesty of a tale.  So few heroes and heroines; those trying to scream out that the 'Emperor' is naked..and ugly.. So few out there not willing to accept the optimism and hope; people who want Real change-- dramatic life-adjusting change that benefits more than 1%...

So few people out there willing to stick their neck on the chopping block or even spend a modicum of energy to fight the good fight...

Thank God it only takes one matchstick to start a flame...