Bernie Sanders
Related: About this forumThe BEST Blue-Collar Rant Ever (pro-Bernie)
For a good twenty years, Ive been breathing carcinogenic fumes through the cheapest respirator I could get, or working on rooftops, or working with dangerous power tools, or welding, or getting paint in my eyes, or underneath cars, or sweating outside in the sun, or demolishing old plaster walls, or getting covered in drywall dust, or risking my body in some other unsafe way, sometimes ten hours a day, making $100 a day on average, 5 days a week, if Im lucky and busy. In an average month, thats $2,000 a month. And its been below the average lately.
Rent is about half that per month in my part of the country for a decent house to raise my kid in. Gas, electric, water (+ $300), internet (no cable), truck payment, gas for a blue collar (big-truck-needing) gas-hog work truck +$350), Netflix (cheaper than cable, sue me), generic groceries, and twenty extra bucks to do something fun with my kid once a week (+300)
Thats fifty bucks extra a month. Hope the truck doesnt break down. Or I get injured. Or fucking ANYTHING AT ALL HAPPENS. Or, dear me, hope I dont want to own a house.
☆[Im worried, at this point in my little essay here, I will begin to lose those of you who dont vote, or arent into politics. Please, stay with me.]☆
And theres three things a conservative rich fuck better not even DARE telling me about that list:
1.Read that first sentence again; dont even THINK about saying I dont work hard enough.
2.I dont want to hear about getting an education; the degree Im chasing is in physics. Ill bet Im smarter than almost every fucking one of those soft-skinned millionaires and billionaires, but had shittier luck. Im human.
3.Dont tell me to eat healthier. I buy what I can afford.
So when Republicans talk about Planned Parenthood and government shutdowns, I listen. We lower class citizens NEED to have Planned Parenthood; its not like theyre providing us universal health care without a fight.
When Republicans talk about the second amendment, I listen. Because theres nothing about a redneck carrying an assault rifle into the grocery store that screams well-regulated to me. And its not like I could afford a gunshot wound. You know, needing health care while Im recovering and unable to pay bills.
When Republicans talk about allowing vaccine freedom, I listen. I cant afford to get the MOTHERFUCKING MEASLES THAT WERE ERADICATED IN THIS COUNTRY FIFTEEN MOTHERFUCKING YEARS AGO. Because again, no universal health care.
When Republicans talk about income equality
Oh. Never mind. They dont. Whats that? Why?, you say? Well, because they have the money. Their tax system allows them to keep their money, while we have to give them some of OUR money. Neat system, huh? See, THAT way, they can keep getting MORE money. And keep keeping it, too. Shit aint FREE, brother! Gotta keep paying for those trips to Belize, the escorts to keep them company, the chemical entertainment
It isnt just about burger flippers getting a reasonable wage, although thats part. See, they work hard too. Plus the upper class still needs the shit we lower class citizens make. And I agree with the original poster; sometimes youve got kids. Sometimes youve got medical bills. Sometimes life gets in the goddamned way of your dreams, no matter how hard you work for them. Read my list again, and take note how low in priority FOOD is.
But its also about the economic elite getting to influence the legislation, in ways obviously favorable towards themselves. We pay twenty or more percent of our wages to fund the governments day-to-day operations, and they get to store their money outside the country and evade paying, in many cases, ANY taxes.
The elected officials they court fly first class to Belize with the aforementioned hookers and blow to discuss domestic policy with their billionaire campaign contributors. And sometimes theyll just flat out BUY an election, guaranteeing an elected government official will always vote in their favor. Thats why theres guns everywhere. Unregulated guns. School shootings. Church massacres. Thats why we dont have realistic alternative energy options. And ozone depletion. And global warming. Thats why we have a constant American presence in the Middle East. And dead soldiers. Fathers. Brothers. Mothers. Sisters. CHILDREN.
And Democrats are no better. Different causes, same results. Yes, Hillary, too.
All for money.
When Bernie Sanders talks about income equality, I listen. But thats different. Bernie Sanders is different. He walks to work. He flies coach. His largest campaign contributors are labor unions (not banks and corporations). He doesnt run negative campaigns. He agrees with scientific consensus; doctors, nurses, climatologists, and Neil deGrasse Tyson (♡ . He doesnt take corporate contributions.
Thats a big one. Hes funded by small donations from regular people like us, $2 or $3 at a time. We cant afford more, and he knows it. And he wants to help.
Just read about him. Watch a speech from him. Like him on Facebook and scroll through his posts. I dont have to convince you. He will.
Hes the one weve been waiting for.
Unless youre happy with the daily struggle and pleased with the governments way of doing business, JOIN THE REVOLUTION.
Vote for Bernie in the primary election! Lets get him the Democratic nomination!
#FeelTheBern
#BernieSanders2016
http://girldujour.com/2015/09/18/middle-class-blue-collar-man-weighs-in-on-bernie-sanders/
haikugal
(6,476 posts)Great post Le Taz Hot! Thanks.
Le Taz Hot
(22,271 posts)Only a blue-collar worker could have written this. It is clear that when these assbite politicians start advocating increasing the age of SS eligibility to age 70 they've never worked a hard day in their lives, much less 30 years of it.
merrily
(45,251 posts)to retire. The ultimate goal is to eliminate OASDI--all of it The penultimate goal is to try to make sure people die before they collect. That's what they keep telling us was the original intent, which is bullshit.
They tell us the life expectancy in the 1930s was 65. I've never bothered to try to check. However, that was a mathematical average, including both those who lived to be over 100 and those who died moments after birth and everything in between. No one thought that everyone was going to expire promptly at age 65 or earlier and never collect retirement benefits. That is just one more piece of bullshit we've been raised on. Time for a change of diet!
roguevalley
(40,656 posts)four kids on nothing. When I saw my dad's tax returns in the sixties that said gross income $6000.00 I cried. He went to work at 3 am and came home at 9 pm every fucking day. Fuck the rich. Fuck anyone who supports them. My mom and dad might be alive now if they cared a shit about anything but themselves. This person is my hero.
This person told you my life. I had severe undiagnosed asthma all through my growing up because doctors didn't factor in. I'm lucky to be alive. My sister-in-law's brother, Dennis wasn't so lucky. He couldn't afford his asthma medicine and he died at nineteen leaving a young wife eight months pregnant. That is why I won't vote for Clinton and anyone like her. Never again.
haikugal
(6,476 posts)after working very hard. I too didn't go to doctors and my body tells the tale..the time the rope on the swing broke when I was at the highest point of the arch and I fell on my back onto a large, gnarly tree root...too bad, no money for the doctor...or the time I ripped my knee on the barbed wire while chasing the cow...I learned if a cut is deep enough it mends from the bottom up. My sister had a terrible chest when she was young. We managed on what Dad could shoot and what we made ourselves, or grew, or gathered or fished along with the monthly trip to the Navy commissary. One thing though, in those early days my Dad was the happiest I ever saw him with us on the land like that...and I had my piano lessons.
We became more prosperous but they both worked hard and died young.
I too will not vote for a corporate dem, won't do it. People are suffering.
Go Bernie!
Marty McGraw
(1,024 posts)Marty McGraw
(1,024 posts)artislife
(9,497 posts)People have no idea how tough it is to be poor.
It is hard work.
sarge43
(28,941 posts)The rant my blue collar parents and brother would have given.
Rest in peace, beloveds. I'll vote for him.
Erich Bloodaxe BSN
(14,733 posts)Day in and day out, we do things we know are hurting us, killing us before our time, to try and help others around us. Down here in the 99%, we do jobs that ruin our joints, destroy our lungs, expose us to chemicals, to disease, sacrificing our lives bit by bit not just to keep ourselves alive, but to help children, friends, families. We wear worn out clothing, eat poor quality food, drive rusted out vehicles we pray won't break down, and, by and large, don't have the time to spend on politics, because most of the time politicians aren't working for us. We're the afterthought. Even among those who proclaim themselves our 'champions', they mostly don't even talk about the poor, only the 'middle class' - an ever shrinking part of the population, the 'appendix' of the wealthy.
We do need a revolution. We have to break the system that enables two small tribes of elites to rule us while only giving us 'bread and circuses', often without the bread. That proclaims that we're wealthier than ever because even the 'poor' have smartphones, that shoddy tech that is quickly obsolete being cheap makes up for affordable housing, quality food, education, healthcare. That ignores the fact that some communities in our country hit 80% unemployment.
Read that again - 80%. How is that not considered a disaster zone? Why are we not pouring federal money into communities that spend their lives in overcrowded houses covered in black mold, eating the cheapest possible food, with high suicide rates and people dying every winter for lack of heating oil or propane?
We hide from our shame, rather than working to fix it.
haikugal
(6,476 posts)sarge43
(28,941 posts)cpompilo
(323 posts)malthaussen
(17,193 posts)Free bread and circuses? Amateurs. How about no bread, and you pay a hundred bucks a ticket for the circus?
-- Mal
trof
(54,256 posts)SammyWinstonJack
(44,130 posts)gregcrawford
(2,382 posts)Live and Learn
(12,769 posts)Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)mountain grammy
(26,620 posts)It's an American life.
mmonk
(52,589 posts)WillyT
(72,631 posts)antigop
(12,778 posts)blondie58
(2,570 posts)I feel the Bern!
w0nderer
(1,937 posts)Babel_17
(5,400 posts)Ever notice that the early primaries and caucuses, where the politicians actually sometimes come close to mingling, aren't held where masses of the underpaid and underemployed are to be found? When the media allows people to step up to a microphone and ask a question, it's a self selective process for who will be in line to ask a question. Those with broken down cars, illness they can't afford treatment for, no money for transportation or a babysitter, they won't be in line.
Great OP, thank you.
zeemike
(18,998 posts)Because most people are in that same position.
And it is even worse than it appears because most families have both parents working unlike 40 years ago when only one worked and made enough to buy a house and save a little too.
If we don't change it now we will be stuck in a feudalistic system for good.
DrBulldog
(841 posts). . . Bernie sits in the middle seat!
GoneFishin
(5,217 posts)ChiciB1
(15,435 posts)While I TOTALLY agree with this rant so very much, my mouth dropped thinking it was him. I mean with ALL the four letter words. Just imagine what I was thinking given that my support for Bernie is so intense!
Anyway, this could have been a rant from Bernie and I want to thank you so very, very much for pouring your heart in this way and want to SECOND, THIRD, FOURTH and on and on for what you wrote.
Thank you, and I can only hope it will be something so many here will read and support!
GO BERNIE!!! We need you more than ever!
Le Taz Hot
(22,271 posts)it's a repost from someone's blog that was forwarded to me on my FB page. I just re-posted here on DU because it was such a great, first-hand, kick-ass rant.
Sentath
(2,243 posts)It appears to originate here: https://www.facebook.com/scienceasacandleinthedark/posts/1027709577269484
ChiciB1
(15,435 posts)It simply says what I feel.
Moostache
(9,895 posts)SoapBox
(18,791 posts)Time for a Political Revolution.
McKim
(2,412 posts)I used to be ashamed that my dad only finished the fifth grade and mom did not finish high school. But today I see it as an asset in
my political work on The Left. The Left, or The Progressive Movement is dead in the water if it can't reach working people and the unemployed and the undereducated (but not stupid) masses. If Progressives learn to think like and talk to these folks, we can get more and more to vote and act for their true interests. Granny Dee knew this and encouraged it. We need more rants like this from real
suffering people to make it to our hearts, our electronic communications and make them our neighbors and our friends. This is the way that together we can beat the big corps. and the warmongers.
roguevalley
(40,656 posts)messianic vibe here for Bernie. For the FIRST TIME IN THIRTY YEARS SOMEONE ACTUALLY SEES US!
ejbr
(5,856 posts)Plucketeer
(12,882 posts)Bernie IS the one we've been waiting for.
blackspade
(10,056 posts)Thanks for posting.
zentrum
(9,865 posts)JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)Dont call me Shirley
(10,998 posts)Vincardog
(20,234 posts)V0ltairesGh0st
(306 posts)Sentence and Incarcerate.
Vincardog
(20,234 posts)V0ltairesGh0st
(306 posts)questionseverything
(9,654 posts)how much higher taxes for the middle class were during clintons term
we talk about how awful the bush tax cuts were (and for the high wage earners i agree) but the middle class got some much needed relief, which Obama kept for us
is one big reason i am against hillary, she seems to think rich is anything above $26,250 a year (26,250 to 63,550 was taxed at 28% during clintons term) now it takes 90,750 plus to hit 25%
check out this link to compare
http://www.moneychimp.com/features/tax_brackets.htm
bernie's plan of taxing the multi millionaires and billionaires makes more sense to me than what the clintons did which is to raise the taxes of the guy in this well deserved rant
V0ltairesGh0st
(306 posts)FACT!
workinclasszero
(28,270 posts)I'm sorry but that is BS right there. If it wasn't for democrats there would be no social security, medicare, unemployment, work safety rules, environmental rules, unions, minimum wage laws and a million other good things.
Then you say let's get Bernie the democratic nomination? WTH you trash the party then want it's nomination?
What party has done more for the average American than the democratic party? The Green party?
So how exactly is Bernie going to right all the bad things in life you just listed eh? Especially after his followers trash abuse and insult the very people he would need to get anything done if he was elected.
Bernies zealot followers are his worst enemy. He has said he is not against Hillary nor his followers which is probably the biggest lie ever from him or else he's totally ignorant about the online world.
Le Taz Hot
(22,271 posts)All things that were done 50+ years ago.
The remainder seems to indicate that you think I am the author of the OP. I'm not. It's a repost which is why I put the link at the bottom.
And I could answer every one of your questions but I'm a firm believe in not trying to teach a pig to sing -- it's a waste of time and it only frustrates the pig. If you catch my drift.
smokey nj
(43,853 posts)rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)Now your Party Elites are anti-Union and pro-MIC. I assume you agree. We are in a class war and seems you picked the side of the Oligarchy. Clinton doesn't support the working class, she supports Goldman-Sachs. But I guess they've got you fooled.
fascisthunter
(29,381 posts)The great thing we have going for us all, is they are a super minority.
cantbeserious
(13,039 posts)shadowmayor
(1,325 posts)This comes from the folks that need to shower after work!!!
My neighbor was hoping to take the kids to Disneyland. Then he found out how much the tickets cost at the gate. Change of plans. Average price for a family of 4 to go to a baseball game (major leagues) for tickets, parking, a hot dog and coke - over $200. How many families are just one broken transmission from being flat on their backs?
And the repukes thought the lady working 3 jobs was a tremendous display of a hard-working American. Jeez