The Conclusions of a Working Class "Taker"

[davidthegnome]

It's been one of those nights. One of those nights up here in Northern Maine, when the roads are so poor that it's almost absurdly masochistic to drive anywhere. Yet every day and night, I drive thirty miles to and from work - some times (like tonight) the roads are so terrible that I can't drive any faster than 35 MPH, even with my "snow tires". Lots of drivers, even up here, are crazy enough to go 55-65 - they're the ones you usually see on the side of the road, screaming at their phones for having no reception and hoping someone will come along to help (I do - when I can.) This post isn't just about the weather though...

Someone told me today that the poor (like me) are a drain on society's resources. That we are lazy, that we only survive off of the good works and charity of others. I kept my silence (because, given the circumstances, it was necessary) but I have a few things to say here, that I hope will encourage others - as they do me.

The working poor are fucking heroes. We take the work that no one else wants to do, the dish-washing, the house keeping, the janitorial work. We work in sewers. We are serving your food at restaurants AND fast food joints. We're building bridges, we're repairing roads, we're fighting wars. We go to ridiculous heights to wash windows. We run our asses off for minimum wage or slightly better. Without us - not only could society not function, but all of our high and mighty rich people would have to clean up their own shit, for it is through our labor, through our daily toil, our dedication, that this world continues to function.

I may be so poor that I have to live with my parents, but you know, there's no place else I'd rather be.

I may be mocked, insulted, looked down upon by many members of the opposite sex for still living with Mommy and Daddy, but you know what? That's okay. They don't know what they're missing - because, when you hang with me, you hang with my whole family.

My mom is the best dancer I know - and she is also the best nurse I know. She works fourteen hour shifts as a nurse - and has been doing so for more than thirty years. When people are sick, or injured, or in pain - she gives everything she has and then some to care for them. She prays with them when they ask her to, she holds their hands - she even dances with them. She does this even though she suffers with depression and anxiety issues. She's a god damn hero.

My dad works for a hospital too - he's the man behind the scenes, writing grants begging for money that is desperately needed. If not for men like him, we would have no veterans clinics, we would have no clean hospital beds. We would have no hospitals. No matter what he has to do, or how long, or how hard he has to work (often 80 hours a week or more, even in his sixties) he keeps pushing with a passionate (and compassionate) dedication that would put a religious zealot to shame. His positive perspective, optimistic nature, and friendly manner gives inspiration to people all over our small community. My dad is a god damn hero.

There are many wonderful people in my life - but these are the best damn people I know. The most generous, the most compassionate, who have stood by me even when anyone else would have walked away. No matter what they have suffered, or how many knocks they have taken - they held on, they survived, they pushed forward for a better tomorrow for their family, and ultimately, these are the kind of people that make the world better for us all.

They're working class too. Without people like them, this world would be a mistake - life would be a mistake -. It's the working class that made this Country what it is, it's the working class that gave us the world's strongest military, the world's greatest economic wealth. It's the working class that brought us medicare, Medicaid, social security, food stamps - it's the working class and the fact that we give a damn. Politicians may have written the legislation, but we were the ones who twisted their arms and held their feet to the fire until they did so.

All of us, who are willing to work for more than just ourselves, for more than just the bottom line... are god damn heroes. And if you're struggling right now, if you can't find or don't have work - then understand, we're working for you too - and doing everything we can to make things better. It's one hell of a fight we've got on our hands, but as long as we're still here, we haven't given up.

Right now things are hard - it may seem like profit has won out over everything, like money is, essentially, God. This is not so. It's those of us that suffer, struggle, and toil every day to make the world a better place... that truly run this world. NOT the 1%, but the 99%. Without us - everything - falls apart. You can't eat money. Money doesn't cook your food, or set a broken arm. It doesn't plow the roads, it doesn't teach the difference between right and wrong, it does not heal the sick. Nor can it create beautiful works of art. People do these things. People like us.

The true power on this earth, resides within the hearts and minds of the working class. The true nobility, the true "wealth". When we all come to realize this fact, there will be a reckoning for those who have put their love of profit over their love of their fellow human beings. That time is coming... and we will not be ignored. We will not be denied.

In closing... I salute you all. If you're here, still giving a damn in spite of how hard things are, if you're here, trying to make the world a better place... then you're a god damn hero too.

That's all I have to say about that.

[flying rabbit]

1. Preach it brother...

[SharonAnn]

44. The real "Makers" are the workers. The "Takers" are those who take the profit from their work.

[anneboleyn]

55. Exactly. Capital profits off of the sweat from the Proletariat's brow.

Yet Capital will complain that the workers demand too much -- they want livable wages, some degree of health insurance -- all of that cuts into the outrageous profit made off the Proletariat's back-breaking work.

[Oscarmonster13]

2. omg, you practically had me in tears...

and yes, you and your parents and everyone else struggling to make this life is a damn hero!

I know exactly what you mean, I have been struggling to get on my feet my entire adult life it seems. I keep wondering when things are gonna work out...and the sad reality is that I probably won't know financial freedom until my parents pass on and I get inheritance. (My dad worked for the phone co for over 35 years and managed to save, buy stocks and property...because in the 70's you could DO that. He built our home with his bare hands, so he never had to make a house payment. He bought what he could afford, no credit or debt for him. no way. They are pushing 80 now and it scares me.) I hate the idea that I can't make it on my own, but the reality is that you really need a two or three income household these days, especially if you have kids, which I am fortunate enough to have...though dad is a deadbeat and not present.

I have recently gone back to school to get my BA because I figured if the economy was gonna be in the toilet for another couple years I'd at least be more competitive when job seeking. But I am 44 and the idea of a traditional job is less and less appealing, and probably les of an option as I get older. So I am hoping to make my own career, blending my gifts and talents into something lucrative. All I can do is hope, and try, and work hard on making something worthwhile that the world may find valuable ...

I love your rant/words/letter ...wish I could copy it and send it to many people I know that could use the lift.
Keep being a hero! to you and your folks...enjoy them while you have them, I love mine more and more each year.

[JDPriestly]

7. I wish you well. Keep your courage.

[davidthegnome]

10. You already do the most valuable job on earth.

You raise children. Children who will one day grow up to become adults, who will one day take over where we left off. I definitely understand about the reluctance to work a more traditional job, because, as I get older, I long desperately for a career that I could love and take pride in. But, you know, it's beginning to occur to me that you can take pride in any job - it's not so much what we do, it's how we do it.

You can absolutely copy my post and send it to people you think might need a lift - please do so. My rant was for them as much as for us, heck, it's for everyone who's still out there giving a damn.

I'd give anything for my parents. Anything at all -and it is truly wonderful, to know, without doubt or question, that they would do the same for me. There are times when I dream of a world in which we could all feel that way about each other - not just our own, biological families, but about the human family... okay, maybe I'm getting too preachy.

I might have been a great preacher, if I wasn't an agnostic. My faith is in humanity - and especially in the heroes of humanity, people like my parents and people like you.

[JaneyVee]

3. Brilliant! Nothing is more important than family. Enjoy every minute of it.

And take pride in being a working class hero.

[SheilaT]

4. First off, don't let any idiot ever tell you

that you are a taker, not when you're working as hard as you are for as little as you are.

And here's a thought about living with your parents: Back in the 70's I can recall a lot of people complaining that certain immigrants from certain countries essentially had an unfair advantage over us native-born Americans because they, the immigrants, would live together several generations, with all who could having jobs and contributing to the family economy. They'd save like crazy, living very frugally, and then perhaps buy a business. Unfair, I'd hear people say.

Really? I know that it's not likely your family is going to start a business, but living together means your collective standard of living is definitely better than it would be if you all had separate domiciles. And in the end those living arrangements (so long as no laws are being broken) are no one else's say-so. Okay, so maybe if you want to introduce a date to your folks it's slightly more of an issue, but still.

[JDPriestly]

8. Good advice.

[liberal_at_heart]

5. wow. That was incredible.

[narnian60]

52. Yes, it was!

My feelings exactly.

[abelenkpe]

6. K&R

[moondust]

9. You might appreciate this.

Last edited Sun Jan 26, 2014, 03:12 AM - Edit history (1)

PBS aired this documentary set in Maine dealing with working folks, jobs, community, etc.

Downeast

Set during an era of U.S. post-industrialization in which numerous factories have been exported, Downeast focuses on entrepreneur Antonio Bussone's journey of building and operating one of the first U.S. lobster factories, in the rural Maine village of Prospect Harbor.

http://video.pbs.org/video/2365146734/

[The Second Stone]

11. Thanks for that. People who help family and friends and those in need

are my brothers and sisters. Those angry at those who are sick, hungry and poor have my deepest pity.

[Mopar151]

46. It is in the shelter of each other that the people live - Irish Proverb

[Populist_Prole]

12. You, and all of us working class MAKERS should actually swagger

Last edited Sun Jan 26, 2014, 07:22 AM - Edit history (2)

That you are taken for granted should not be mistaken for meekness. The meekness they ( the plutocrats and their delusional minions ) purport to be all the evidence they need to harness the working class as sullen but obedient beasts of burden.

I'm very glad to hear of all the recent backlash by prominent plutocrats of the ascending vocalization of true populists. Beyond all their projection bullshit of claiming "class warfare" even as they wage it viciously, there seems to be a genuine fight-or-flight reaction by them as they realize with panic that the empirical evidence against their ways is building beyond their means to stifle it....despite a corporate media absolutely committed to supporting their meme. Yeah sure they can threaten their "going galt" scorched earth bullshit, but that's just saving face to give the illusion of going down swinging. The relative underground nature of the net is bypassing the MSM and rendering them more and more irrelevant.

It is to this end that:

I want to be thought as insolent or uppity by the plutocrats

I want to be regarded as a troublemaker that knows too much by the plutocrats

I want, as a working class type, to be regarded a "necessary evil" by the plutocrats: It underscores our necessity in a way too obvious for their comfort.

All the best to you. I salute you.

[MADem]

13. You should send that in as a LTTE to the Houlton Pioneer Times!

Or whichever paper you read on a regular basis--that's a righteous rant.

[Skittles]

14. I remember when only slackers got laid off, but that time is long gone

same with adults living at home - you don't know their story until you talk to them.....your rant is a very eloquent reminder not to pass judgement

[Enthusiast]

15. David, I commend you for your wonderful editorial.

Working class people have been the foundation of society for centuries. But the wealthy pampered class never give the working class a fair shake until they are FORCED to do so. As long as we continue to allow trickle down tax policy they will continue to victimize us. Apparently there is no limit to greed.

[catrose]

16. You rock, and so do your parents

[Starry Messenger]

17. k&r

[Scuba]

18. Kick

[LWolf]

19. The working poor are my people.

I was the first person from either side of my family to ever attend college from my working poor roots. I worked 2 jobs and raised my kids while I did so, taking 15 years to finish a teaching license. Which technically makes me part of the middle class, but not really. I work very long hours that don't get paid, have to find side jobs to make ends meet, and my family paid a high price for all of those years burning the candle at both ends.

Now I teach the working poor, the generational poor, the students who come from generational illiteracy. I think of it as paying it forward. I'd sure as hell appreciate it, though, if this country valued the lives of people enough to guarantee a living wage and health care free at point of service, paid for by taxes, and other facets of a TRUE safety net and program to make poverty extinct.

Thank you for speaking up for us.

[raouldukelives]

20. Great read! K&R nt

[Herself]

21. David, thank you. You described my parents, my elders, my teachers and my

learning how to build a solid American foundation!

I too, am god damn hero. I've traveled winter roads, that were closed but I had to report to work or lose my job. I've pitched truck loads of dog crap to make a few dollars because my family needed the extra cash it paid. I've dug ditches, perk holes, til my hands bled and never complained. I still don't!

When I was tragically injured in the early 90's, my 11 & 12 year old sons got work cutting fire wood, so we didn't have to apply for food stamps. It took 3 months for insurance to start paying, my sons paid the mortgage, all utilities, car payment etc over 1000 $ a month, by selling fire wood they cut, split, loaded and delivered with adult driver. They were raised that welfare was for people that needed it, and they could work so they did. They raise their children the same way.

I am a Veteran, I signed my enlistment contract, and every American signed it with me. I had responsibilities, and so do American citizens! I served, and lived up to every one of them, until I was seriously injured. Then I was forgotten, just like most Veterans since the days of Nixon. Congress shrinks our benefits every year since. Our Veterans have to rely on charities and community benefits for help, instead of Veterans Bill of Rights and funded benefits like my father's generation. American silence is acceptance.

When I've needed medical procedures that I must be taken to the hospital for procedures, my neighbors have helped me. There are several that do this on a weekly basis. People that are waiting for cancer biopsies don't go alone when given the news. We the People need each other! We the People are in the same boat and WE are the best resource for helping each other. Those that judge us, damn us, blame us, they are one sleepy driver, unfortunate accident/illness away from us. They may hate and ridicule us until they slip and fall next to us. Then they will reinvent themselves and reach their hands out for our help. ... we remember.

Americans grumble there is so little justice in this country? My standard for my sons is to make a stand for that justice, the same as your elders have, to maintain it for your children. Be stronger, tougher, and willing to face the injustice, so your children don't have to!

Americans need to stop fighting each other over crumbs and vote the crumbs out of congress that serve the corporate sponsors, not WE THE PEOPLE!

[Rosa Luxemburg]

22. If we are called takers the rich are called siphons

siphons suck all the money from the working class/poor

[Mopar151]

23. The real "Takers" are the 1%

And Lennon scared Nixon

The story of a hard road, taken (a Maine classic)- if you have not driven on ice, you can't imagine what memories this video will trigger in those who have...

[Fumesucker]

24. ...

[blur256]

25. As usual, spot on.

And don't feel bad for living with your parents, I'm always one paycheck away from being right there with you. Like I have said before, if you are working, you are not a taker. In fact the working people are the makers, because we actually invest our money in things that help this country. We buy food, goods and services because we have to. We don't sit on our money to let it make more money for ourselves, because we can't. Therefore, we are forced to inject money into the economy. God forbid! It's funny what happens when "poor" people actually get a little money to spend. You know I have your back, and the millions of other people just like us. Don't let them beat you down. Carry on with your head held high!

[redwitch]

26. davidthegnome you are awesome!

Posts like this are the reason I come here, thanks for lifting me up! XO

[postulater]

27. You have what the 1% are trying to buy with all their money.

Honor.

[DonCoquixote]

28. a clip that says it well

[delta17]

29. Hear, hear!

This should be required reading. Beautifully done.

[heaven05]

30. you have my vote

and respect and so do your parents. I agree with the reckoning ect, it's coming when we finally get that last insult. That ignornt person calling you lazy and a 'taker' is reflective of the mentality bred by rich rush, faux news and a host of other RW outposts spreading their lie. I'm with you in your bunker/foxholes. My animals/friends and I are losing the house in two months, underwater deeply because of divorce, forced out of a job and bad decisions by me. I'm looking for a foxhole here in michigan. Peace to you my friend.

[IrishAyes]

42. If there's any way to swing it,

please consider the possibility of switching to a Tiny House (maybe on wheels) if you can. It might even be possible to build one on your own. Even in municipalities that would never allow them to remain stationary, moving a little ways as required could keep a roof over your head. I happen to have a huge old house, but that's because it was a wreck when I bought it at auction for pennies on the dollar and nobody else wanted to put up with the years of discomfort and work required to restore it. Not to mention expense.

That was before the Tiny House movement really got rolling; and truth to tell, I think I'd go that route now. With a comparatively under-insured house, if disaster strikes that might well turn out to be what happens. Especially at my age, I just love Tiny Houses now. Some are actually beautiful. Of course I also look at grain silo conversions and shipping containers, plus cob domes. If I wound up in the latter, I'd make it look like a Hobbitat. They're not that hard or expensive to make, either.

[okaawhatever]

31. Thank you for your post. The people who matter know who the true heroes are. I'll add my favorite

song about working class heroes. The artist's first CD was titled 5 O'Clock Hero but that was under a big label and was country. This is a song he wrote at election time titled American Dream.

Sample of lyrics:
Handcuffed to this boiler room
It's hotter than hell I hope the bell rings soon
Lost on an assembly line, but it's either here
or Van Leer's mine

Chorus:
Look at this face, it won't come clean
These busted hands and worn slick jeans
Look through these eyes, see what they've seen
And tell me if you see the American dream.

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

32. What a wonderful person you are.....

.... your parents must be sooo proud.

[IrishAyes]

33. David,

(that's one of my favorite names, btw) I'm almost 68 and have spent an inordinate amount of those years with my nose in a book. But never once - NOT ONCE! - have I heard what you said, said better. Thank you.

[joanbarnes]

34. I admire you and your working class family, much like mine..still going strong. Hang in there.

[Dustlawyer]

35. But now politicians are having their feet and wallets held to the fire by the 1%, not us!

The laws are written for them, not us! That is the problem, and we have allowed it to happen under our noses through apathy and misinformation!

[NikolaC]

36. K & R Thank you

Thank you for such a wonderful post. I was very moved by it and agreed with everything that you said. I also forwarded it to my family and friends because I think that it was an important message that needs to be shared.

[bkanderson76]

37. The True Leeches of America Stand

before the populace in their roles as elected officials.

[IrishAyes]

38. Hope I haven't said too often that finances dictated where I could retire -

to a remote corner of the MidWest in a blood red county of a blood red state. Let's just say it's been interesting learning how to survive here as a flaming liberal. Some have actually threatened to shoot me (and worse yet, my dogs) and probably even more would like to do that. But I've been chipping away, trying to gain at least a toehold, and a few have at least eased their grip on the stick.

Yet here's the interesting thing I see: although the vast majority are poor as church mice, a few from the oldest families (sometimes banking/farming) do eat a lot higher on the hog than the rest of us. And I'm starting to hear at least a little concern from them about the possible error of their own ways. Not just because they're afraid the tiger they're riding may unseat and devour them, which it will someday w/o fail if things even remain the same (forget worsening), but because a few can see they're living in an unjust world their class made.

Roosevelt's New Deal was not primarily for the sake of the destitute working class - it was to head off a general uprising and preserve the wealth of the upper classes who were too depraved to do anything but hate him for it. The poor man got a little more of his just due along the way, and I do believe FDR had some degree of genuine concern for 'the others'. But communism was on the march double time back then, and that's what concerned the government most.

Today, as anyone can see with the 1-2% outrageously blind greed, too many plutocrats are napping at the wheel again. At least Buffet has the sense to know that fat cows give more milk. When the proles start banging on the gates, it's a little too late to bargain then.

[kjones]

39. You never know how good a bed is...

until you have to sleep on your parents couch for a few months.

[Beartracks]

40. Wow! I'd love to see this in some newspaper's LTTE section... maybe the NY Times? n/t

[sabrina 1]

63. I agree, maybe send it to every member of Congress also. Not that many of them would read it without

first looking for a check!

[noiretextatique]

41. amen...and

[WillyT]

43. HUMONGOUS K & R !!!

[farmbo]

45. You and your folks are worth a dozen Jamie Diamonds

In moral, human terms, your family contributes far more than any Wall Street Dandy.

Let's all commit ourselves to working toward a democracy where people like you are adequately rewarded.

[malaise]

47. What an absolutely beautiful post

Rec

[spedtr90]

48. They take our skills.... (photo)

[mcar]

49. Cheers to you and your family, David

Drive safely. I believe you have a brilliant future ahead of you.

[Matariki]

50. WOW.

[ancianita]

51. For you. Because I'll always throw in my chips with the working class. We salute you back.

Enjoy the beauty of the world. Our time in it is so short.

A little music is love and comfort.

[grasswire]

53. David, you are finding your voice.

Excellent.

[DesertDiamond]

54. WOW!! This is SO beautifully written! And you said it all! Thank you!!!

[Pakid]

56. Anyone who says you are a taker

Can kiss my furry back side.

[nikto]

57. Show me a "RUGGED INDIVIDUALIST"...

And I'll show you a member of The Working Poor, or an Undocumented Immigrant working hard,
far from home, for a meagre wage.


And that is the fucking truth.

[Springslips]

58. Awesome!

This should be on Salon or huffpost. It's going on my Facebook now.

[Auntie Bush]

59. It shouldn't be the Takers vs the Makers. It should be the Greedy vs the Needy.

That's a much more accurate description.

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

60. The rich just provided the capital,

it was the workers hands that built it all, showing up day after day, year after year.

There was a time when it was normal to live with ones family.
My mother and I lived with my grandparents when my father was killed in world war ll, our son lives with us now, that way he is safe and secure.

But if we continue down this road without a course correction, at some point it will lead to revolution and for the benefit of all I hope its a peaceful one.

[grantcart]

61. Your parents could not be prouder of you.

Take it from me, I can tell.

[last1standing]

62. Rec #201 and glad to give it.

Thanks for an incredible post!

K&R

[sabrina 1]

64. Beautiful, nothing to add, you said it all perfectly!

[840high]

65. k/r X100

[NYC_SKP]

66. K/R. (nt)