From a Disillusioned 99'er: "This nation has become evil to the core..."

[Karmadillo]

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/disillusioned-99er-shares-his-disappointment-american-dream

A Disillusioned 99'er Shares His Disappointment With The American Dream, Welcomes Death
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/14/2011 14:09 -0500

<edit>

It is with a heavy heart that I have set my death in motion, but what I am facing is not living. So off I go, I have made peace with God and placed my burden on Jesus and He forgives me. This nation has become evil to the core, with cold-hearted politicians and tycoons squeezing what little Main Street Americans have left. It is not the America into which I was born -- the land of the free and the home of the brave with kind folks who help neighbors -- it is now land of the Tycoon-haves and the rest of us have-nots who march into hopelessness and despair.

Every unemployed person I have met over these past two years have been saintly. Sharing what little they have, and being charitable -- being kind and patient and supportive. Isn't it amazing that we Americans who suffer so much, have not taken to the streets in violence, riots or gotten out the guillotines and marched on tycoons and Washington in revolt as would happen in most other nations? But rather we plead with deaf politicians to please help us. We don't demand huge sums -- just 300 bucks a week, barely enough to cover housing for most. Most of all we say, please help us get a job, please allow us dignity.

I can't help but juxtapose our plight to the tycoons and politicians. They are never satisfied with their enormous wealth, and always want more millions no matter whom it hurts. They STEAL from pension funds, banks, the people and government, and little Wall Street investors. Then rather than face punishment, they become petty kings in this world. They are disloyal to America, unpatriotic, and serve their own foreign UN-American greedy causes and demand more and more and more. I feel that this is not the nation into which I was born. I was born in America, the land of the free and the home of the brave. America, where people give as much as they receive. America, where all people work for the common good, and try to leave a better and more prosperous nation for the next generation. America, where people help their neighbors and show charity and mercy. This new America is alien to me -- it is an America of greed and corruption and avarice and mean spirited selfishness and hatred of the common good -- it is an America of savage beasts roaring and tearing at the weak, and bullying the humble and peacemakers and poor and those without means to defend themselves. I am not welcome here anymore. I don't belong here anymore. It's as if some evil beast controls government, the economy, and our lives now.

I must go now, my home is someplace else. Goodbye and God bless you all. God bless the unemployed and poor and elderly and disabled. God bless America and the American people except the tycoons and politicians -- may God retain the sins of tycoons and politicians and phony preachers and send them to the Devil.

Mark

[alsame]

1. Heartbreaking. And so true. nt

[villager]

2. Perhaps the line about not taking to the streets shows what's missing

Folks that desperate, with nothing left to lose, need to bring it to the Banksters' doors -- and the doors of their politico puppets...

[Javaman]

6. I get the feeling that people don't march because

they don't think anything will come of it.

Egypt certainly proves the opposite of that, but then again, the Egyptian military didn't fire on them either.

Somehow, I have a feeling the military, here, would respond differently.

It's just a feeling. Kent State, Bonus Marches and the Haymarket massacre come to mind.

[villager]

7. in an age of the Tweet and FB update, though -- what would "footage" of the US army firing on its

..citizens do to the collective (un)conscious?

You can keep the Haymarket Massacre away from people's minds by deleting it from history books.

But not the live massacres of 2012, etc...

[Javaman]

8. Very good point. nt

[Bandit]

12. We would hear from people like Inhofe that he would be Outraged at any Outrage

America does not hesitate to allow torture so do you really think anyone would even blink at citizens being shot down in the streets. It is just more for them you know...

[villager]

15. well, it's true the AM airwaves would be flush with "they all *deserved* it" talking points..

...before the pools of blood had congealed...

[virtus_contagiosa]

40. Im afraid we have been effectively divided

by the Corporate owned media by the "free market" vs "socialism" message that we could not get the numbers we will need to bring an end to the corruption and greed destroying the nation and its people. In 1970 the war mongers had effectively divided the nation on the notion of the commie threat vs peace and look what happened when National Guard soldiers shot down peace protesters...the protests stopped once people saw that they could get shot. Sadly I expect the same reaction when the first Socialist protesters get mowed down.

[Le Taz Hot]

43. Oh, my dear.

You are SO wrong about your history. No, Kent State ENRAGED the country and protests erupted all over the country. The murder of 4 innocent students made even the most pro-'Nam person stop to think . . . do I want to support a government that turns its guns on its own people?

There were less protests in the early to mid 70's because we had 1) established Civil Rights legislation, 2) legalized abortion for women, 3) opened up employment and credit opportunities for women that previously did not exist, 4) established student rights and 5) by 1973, were beginning to get out of Viet Nam.

[former9thward]

80. The protests stopped for the most part because the draft ended.

Once students/young men were no longer threatened by conscription they stopped going into the streets.

[virtus_contagiosa]

81. Not really how I remember it...

but you may be right LTH. I was only 14 at the time so I should prolly be careful. I remember the news media was freaking (this was before it was a wholly owned propaganda arm of the corporates) but in the end was anyone held accountable?

I'll do a little digging...you have me curious now as to what transpired concerning efforts to hold anyone accountable. Seems to me it was swept under the rug. It could be argued what brought the protests to an end but I have to believe Americans seeing 4 innocent children blown away had to have a chilling effect.

I do appreciate your input and will check it out.

[SugarShack]

22. People don't march because the pain is still too scattered. Support Rangel bill: DRAFT

People will march once again, just like the sixties.

[nadinbrzezinski]

23. We are very close to crossing that line

and some dare call it revolution, but people are hitting a breaking point... add to that attacks on unions.

We are being pushed there.

[Citizen Worker]

32. We don't march because we don't see the struggles of others as our own. That's why Raygun got

away with firing the air traffic controllers. Had we marched and raised hell until each and every one of the controllers was rehired things would be alot different now.

In Michael Moore's doc film, Sicko, an American expatriate living in Paris defined the difference between Americans and the French when she said, "In France the government is afraid of the people. In the United States the people are afraid of the government." So true.

[Blue_Tires]

54. The Egyptians were also out for EIGHTEEN days

and were prepared to be out for eighty-eight....

It's one thing to go march for a day and then go home, it's another thing to bring the bulk of the nation to a halt with a unified voice...

[OwnedByFerrets]

56. In America, the percentage of people who would DIE

for an ideal is, I believe, miniscule. Would you? Would you leave your family to possible poverty (with your death) for an ideal? Would you leave them to the heartache and suffering that would occur with your death?
I wont. Not until I have NOTHING else to lose. I am not there yet.
This is why Americans wont protest in masse. It's my opinion.

[roguevalley]

9. its rather not in our culture to set ourselves on fire but it might take

that to make a dent on the stoopid. I agree 100% with the 99'er. And the president we have is part of the problem, not the solution we all dreamed of.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

63. Some of us are trying --

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x413773

Join us.

[CrossChris]

3. I feel like this is exactly what the GOP wants

They want population control, and they want people to go quietly. Blogging is still relatively quiet. As long as no one will make them feel anything, they're not too worried about what effect their policies have on anyone.

[fasttense]

4. This is why it continues:

Isn't it amazing that we Americans who suffer so much, have not taken to the streets... (the violence needs to stay with the crazies on the right) and marched on tycoons and Washington in revolt as would happen in most other nations? But rather we plead with deaf politicians to please help us.

This is exactly what Obama does with the RepubliCONS and banksters - pleads.

President Obama is merely imitating our example. We are our own leaders. Obama is NOT leading US, we are leading Obama. So far, we haven't been doing such a good job.

Maybe it's time we showed President Obama how to stand up to greedy, spoiled, crazy idiots.

Obama needs us to protest like Egyptians.

We need to show him how it's done. The longer Americans put up and shut up, the worse it's going to get and the more President Obama will give in to the fanatical right.

[Badfish]

46. I disagree.

The REAL problem is with the people.

They will show their outrage when Palin calls Obama a fascist , or when Bush bombs little kids , but when their own family members support the very same actions , they end up treating them as equals , and show them the same respect a rational person would receive.

I always wondered how Bush could be a monster , but their family members who support him could be loved and showed respect ?

Sometimes a family member takes a path that we can't follow , just like President Bush , we need to start standing up for our principles.

Either everybody that supports torture is a monster , or nobody is , the Americans who want it both ways are the problem.

[northoftheborder]

5. Too sad for words. Truths spoken by writer are angering.

[reggie the dog]

10. Being born in 1979 i have to say i never knew that earlier america

but i have known this one "it is an America of greed and corruption and avarice and mean spirited selfishness and hatred of the common good -- it is an America of savage beasts roaring and tearing at the weak, and bullying the humble and peacemakers and poor and those without means to defend themselves. I am not welcome here anymore. I don't belong here anymore. It's as if some evil beast controls government, the economy, and our lives now. "


i haven't felt welcome in the usa since i was about 14 and realized that greed and preying on those less strong than you were championed. I felt so out of place that i tried to kill myself twice as a teen. I grew up in such a dark, hate and greed filled usa in which i was supposed to make everyone with less than me envious by showing off my economic status by buying the most i can get on credit.... for years i have argued that there must be millions of people like me all across the usa, people who grew up alienated in this modern usa....I still feel out of place now in the usa but just moved away instead of killing myself, i live in France now and can breath a bit easier

[LooseWilly]

24. Born in 1970— I never saw that mythical USA with my own eyes either.

Then again, I'm a half-breed and my single mom had to clear out on her own and try to earn while trying to weather the withering, unspoken, judgementalisms of the neighbors and their neighbors in their turn.

Maybe those neighbors knew that mythical USA? Hard to keep from realizing that in the USA that people speak of having been born into, black and brown and yellow and red folks were expected to keep their mouths shut while they worked for their betters... and to keep the hell out of sight the rest of the time.

My sympathy is mixed, when the expected comfortable wealth is ganked from the folks that took it for granted for so long... but who didn't seem inclined to bat an eye about those who never had access.

Just saying, hard to go out on a limb for those who are liable to proceed to saw the limb off from under one— if there's even a hint of a few bucks in it for them. Again.

[gtar100]

26. Born in '63, I saw it. And the goodness of America was taken for granted.

And in the midst of liberal Boulder, home of the student protests on Folsom Street, a conservative principal took over our school and immediately cut the after school programs, the music programs and the limited art school. It didn't matter because it was one of the poorer neighborhoods of the town. I couldn't understand it, I felt punched in the stomach even at such a young age. But he got away with it. It saved the school money was the excuse. And all the conservative parents said it was a good thing.

Just remember, conservatives are relentless because they are never satisfied. Nothing will ever appease them or bring them satisfaction. We lost our footing in the world by not seeing the signs early enough, by not asserting ourselves enough. And now asserting ourselves has become imperative. The cynicism of conservatives has taken over our country and their short-sighted vision of this world is steering our government. If they crash it, they will take no responsibility but blame us instead. It's what they always do. Brats! Childishness! But we must take the responsibility to make things right again. They will not. They are selfish, immature and ignorant. Are these the kind of people we would want to give up our lives, our treasure and our future to? We have got to raise the consciousness of the people who hold even the slightest possibility of doing so.

And if you don't see it come to fruition in your lifetime, will that make you dispair?

[LooseWilly]

30. "We have got to raise the consciousness of the people..."

Sounds like you're channelling Marx friend.

I'm down. Everywhere I look though, everyone's buying into the "corporate model of governance"... which seems to be only a slight permutation of the corporate model of business profitability— squeeze those at the low end (who're always the greatest numbers of the "organization") and "suck" the "profits" to the top (either in terms of salary & bonuses, or in the form of tax-cuts).

Individual resistance in the face of that amounts to Dillinger-itis, or Capone-itis (in the sense of tax-evasion/shop-lifting). I've played that game plentily... but your generation who had it so well seems mighty complacent about doing anything about replacing what's been lost.

Heh, and I drink despair under the table every night—tonight included.

[wryter2000]

83. 48 here

It was better for most of us, but then, society was so segregated, we white folks didn't know what non-white people were going through.

However, the national narrative was strongly anti-war and full of our goodness. Dwight Eisenhower and his contemporaries hammered on the importance of peace. When the true evils of racism penetrated into the general population, people were aghast that there was poverty in this country. Seriously, the idea that people in America were poor was a shock and an outrage. So, LBJ tried to do something about it, and we know how history came out after that.

This ugly narrative has always been with us, but it took Ronald Reagan to make it popular.

[gtar100]

92. I am very happy for you that you have found a better place.

France is beautiful (has it's own issues but that's another topic). I hope my own children, who have already traveled a great deal more than me, can find opportunities elsewhere if necessary. Your story gives me hope.

[Starry Messenger]

11. k&r

[raouldukelives]

13. K&R

I sadly agree.

[CrispyQ]

14. But Obama gave the rich their tax cuts so the unemployed could get an extension on their benefits!

Oh, that's right - only some of the unemployed got an extension - not the 99er's. Too bad for you, suckers.


Is this necessary? :sarcasm:

[butterfly77]

16. ...

:kick:

[Horse with no Name]

17. Wasn't Tyler Durden an active poster here at one time?

Brilliant, poignant piece.

[PassingFair]

18. Probably not the same guy...

it's a pretty popular on-line name.

[Hannah Bell]

28. the name is from the movie "fight club"

[eilen]

37. Yes, although it is a popular name there was a poster

by that name that posted a lot and in fact, was one of the first who welcomed me here. I haven't seen him but there are many that have been purged from these pages in the past year. There is much silencing going on often without warning in places you would not suspect.

[mike_c]

19. some of the comments illustrate WHY we're in this position....

For example:

I agree Ironman! This guy just wants more handouts and he could care less who gets robbed in order to pay for it. What a friggin' whiney liberal. All I want is to be free from losers like this guy. If I am to give charity for lost causes, then please let me decide and don't steal it at the point of an IRS pistol.

Two hundred and eleven and social services cannot help single men.

Give me a fucking break. That is 211 "services" that exist by stealing from those who do work.

Wow. Truly Reaganesque compassion.

[Karmadillo]

20. I always want to say

that if we had real leadership, we might develop a collective compassion that would benefit people in the situation of the author of the OP and diminish the number of people who make the sad comments you quote. I think, however, I'm probably wrong. I'm thinking it has to come from the bottom up. We have to create the structures of decent living and compassion that can rescue our own communities while imposing discipline on those we allow to exercise power on our behalf so that they have no choice but to address larger problems here and abroad. Of course, I don't much have a clue how to do that, but banging our head against the brick wall myth of deliverance by politicians sure doesn't seem to be getting us anywhere.

[mike_c]

59. you've just described the dreaded sooshilism in a very succinct nutshell....

Bottom up structures of compassion and decent living that maintain discipline for those we allow to exercise power on our behalf. Democratic socialism, in fact.

[sarcasmo]

21. Greed, the American way and it will destroy this country.

[CommonSensePLZ]

25. Anyone have Bill O'Reilly's email address? I wanna send this to him! nt

[canetoad]

27. Unrec for maudin claptrap

sorry about the kick.

[eilen]

41. Perhaps you need to walk in his shoes.

I've never seen this country as the place he describes. From the time I was born it has all been down hill. It started from a benign neglect to an all out assault. I would not expect to see the people who post on DU to be part of the assault. You are part of the problem.

[Fuddnik]

49. You're a weed farmer in Australia?

Dude, put down the pipe and get out more.

[Starry Messenger]

76. Thank you.

:thumbsup:

[avaistheone1]

84. Heartless.

:puke:

[jtuck004]

29. Well, ok Mark, we'll miss ya buddy. The rest of us will stay here and do the work.

You coulda hung around and delivered some meals-on-wheels or somthin', maybe volunteer for AARP tax prep assistance. Make it a little better place on average. Unemployed, you had the time, eh?

Maybe that is how we take to the streets...

[nadinbrzezinski]

31. In case you missed it, HE IS unemployed

a 99er

[jtuck004]

33. So am I. Nearly two years now. What's your point.?

While unemployed I borrowed the books from the library on how to start a nonprofit, received a 501c3, had a spay/neuter event where we did 138 pets for people who, mostly, either could not afford it or weren't getting it done. Frankly, if I had $25,000 I would buy 4 machines and 50 sets of instruments and do more - its incredibly efficient this way. But we do what we can while I track down funds.

That had to go to the side because our money started running low, and I had to find someway to vent my frustration that wasn't so expensive.

Now I am volunteering for AARP doing tax preparation. We are one good medical bill away from losing the house, which is bit scary. We take care of my aging mother-in-law since we moved her in with us.

All the time I keep my DAMN RESUME WITH ME.

So, again, what's your point?

[ipaint]

34. Not all 99'rs are middle class home owners with sufficient bank accounts.

At 58 my husband can't find work. We don't own a home. Up until 2 weeks ago food stamps was all we had to buy food. At 55 I found a job cleaning rich people's toilets and as a result we are not living in our truck which would have been the case as of Feb. 12th had I not found a $10 dollar a hour shit job as an "independent contractor".

This country sucks. The rule of law is a joke. And pull yourself up by your bootstraps is rightwing garbage especially when directed towards the long term unemployed.

[jtuck004]

35. True.

Would that I were in that group. And I have done shit jobs for shit bosses for years. Literally.

Hell, I would have appreciated being able to get unemployment for those two years, but we got by on 1 not so hot paycheck, (smaller with government cuts and furloughs), crappy little house, and I cook a lot. At 56 I think I know a little about it. I have lived in the car before, though I wouldn't recommend it long term. But I feel very damn fortunate to have the house still, thanks to the bankruptcy.

But not having anything has nothing to do with your state of mind. You choose that. Ask anyone in any prison.

The whole bootstrap thing is getting really tiring, and so are a lot of the excuses. No, the rethudites shouldn't throw that at people, but dang, at some point reciting a littany of wrongs takes time away from thinking about how one could change something.

The government needs to step in and create several strategic programs around jobs, energy, transportation, and that's who people need to figure out how to affect. Wall Street did, and we are as smart as they are.

Good luck.

[ipaint]

89. Yeah, look on the "bright side'.

Another load of horse shit dumped on the lower classes by the comfortable classes who want to make sure their readily available pool of wage slaves doesn't disappear.

Individual attitude controls everything. How convenient for the criminal upper class.

As for low paid workers you folks in the cushy classes couldn't exist without them.

"When someone works for less pay than she can live on — when, for example, she goes hungry so that you can eat more cheaply and conveniently — then she has made a great sacrifice for you, she has made you a gift of some part of her abilities, her health, and her life. The 'working poor,' as they are approvingly termed, are in fact the major philanthropists of our society. They neglect their own children so that the children of others will be cared for; they live in substandard housing so that other homes will be shiny and perfect; they endure privation so that inflation will be low and stock prices high. To be a member of the working poor is to be an anonymous donor, a nameless benefactor, to everyone else."
— Barbara Ehrenreich (Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America)

[PatSeg]

42. Did you click on the link

and read the entire letter? He has $4 in the bank, hasn't eaten in a week, is about to be evicted, and is extremely ill. He has no family and his partner died ten years ago. He has applied for any and every job he could find, but his age, health, and long term unemployment have kept him from even getting a job at McDonalds.

Also this letter wasn't a whiny rant, it appears to have been a suicide note.

[jtuck004]

66. And a damn clever suicide note at that.

Did it REALLY read to you like someone in despair? No mis-spelling, thoughts laid out well, etc.

I think it was crafted, not genuine.

And even if it was, is all this wailing and gnashing of teeth the APPROPRIATE response. He/she gave up. Quit fighting.

Our opponents on the other hand, NEVER, EVER, QUIT. They don't make excuses. They don't feel bad about themselves. They put people in the government to influence the policies that drove the person in this post to write this letter. You want a strategy that will guarantee a sure loss? This is it.

IF it is a suicide, it's tragic. If it's not, you are all so gullible it is hard to believe.

Regardless, the appropriate response to giving up, quitting, and blaming others for how YOU feel about your misfortune is not to feel sorry for the writer, if you expect to win\change anything.

We just watched people in Egypt change their life. I didn't see a mass "writing letters of despair campaign", I saw people in the streets taking hours of abuse, finally reacting, and then, at least apparently, winning.

And that made all the difference.

[PatSeg]

69. It was very well written

and I was not sure if it really was a suicide note or not. If, however, everything he said was true, I do understand reaching a point where you just have no more resources to draw upon. The prospect of living on the street with diabetes and dying a slow, lonely death is not very appealing.

As for the people in Egypt, they were very inspiring, but most of them were much younger than this man. I remember being that young, but people do change with age, and sometimes they just wear down.

[russspeakeasy]

67. PatSeg; I read the entire letter. You are correct .

Born in 1943, I do not recognize this country as it is today.
It was a great experiment that failed because politicians
discovered the way to riches was to accept bribes and use the
age=old excuse, "everybody does it, it's the way business
is done". I worked to get this president elected because
I believed him to be a cut above. I was wrong. I thought he
would stand up to the corporations and lobbyists and special
interest groups. I was wrong. I thought he would fight for the
middle class and the poor and disabled and the out of work...
I was wrong. I thought it would take some time, but we would
see progress...I was wrong.

[PatSeg]

73. I know what you mean

about not recognizing this country and I can't remember when it started to change exactly. Its not like everything used to be so wonderful years ago. There were lots of problems, but there was a sense that those problems could be resolved, that we were evolving. Now it feels like we are in reverse and devolving rapidly.

I think the different opinions expressed here could be more generational.

[walldude]

74. Two years out of work? How do you afford an internet

connection? Or a computer? Pretty much everyone I know would be homeless after two months of unemployment, let alone two years. Who is covering you? And how do you justify your snide comments to a person who has no safety net when you apparently have one that will keep you in food and shelter for as long as you need? One medical bill from losing the house? Most people are way past that.

[Mulhane]

82. You post from the library, if austerity hasn't closed it....

eom

[nadinbrzezinski]

75. So you have healthy savings and a home

and can AFFORD to do that. Not every body can. THAT IS THE FUCKING PONT. I see then in the STREETS where I live. THAT IS THE DAMN FUCKING POINT.

[jtuck004]

90. Millions of people live with less than this person. That is no reason to commit suicide.

You pretty funny though. And don't take this wrong, 'cause I like what I read in some of your posts, but do you think because you are writing a book you can divine the size of my bank account? Betcha can't. Tell me, Great Swami, how much is my home worth today? How fat are we, after the bankruptcy, and the early 90's salvage car that has 300,000 miles on it, and how far are we from losing (again) the crappy little 1947 rehab house with the little loan. Note: When the money in the account is from a small loan you are behind. But then, that new book isn't about math, eh? LOL. Do I think TPTB had a big hand in this? You bet. Will I ever kill myself from despair? No.

But I will sit with a free booth at an animal show all day to collect $35 in donations, which goes into a bank account. A few generous donors later we do something. No pay, no building, no overhead, strictly volunteer except for the vets, techs, supplies. And volunteering for AARP is even less overhead. Bet I can do more with a little than a lot of other people, nice skill to have.

I don't just look at the homeless people. We invite pet owners in, no cost to them. We fix (break?) their pets, putting the pet owners to work in areas of responsiblity where they need to pay attention, such as waking up dogs or helping the vets in surgery. We watch them, of course, but mostly we respect them, and when they leave their head is a little higher. Most of the people are working poor, sometimes homeless, sometimes people that have a little bit. We still all eat together, work together. It doesn't take as much money as you might think.

(Just an aside - you write in your answer here that you "see" the people in the streets. Yesterday you wrote "But today I took hubby to school, parking is a nightmare. And on the way out I found a parking spot, so took it and went over to the college cafeteria. I will do all I can to drive less... So I went and got my coffee and proceeded to take a seat at a booth, to do some work, mostly editing.". May I assure you, there are worse nightmares than parking.)

With all respect, you sound like you are living a moderately comfortable life. Congratulations on your hard work, and, just maybe, a bit of luck. But even if you lost it all tomorrow it would be no reason to commit suicide.

Millions of people live with less than this person. That is no reason to commit suicide.

Pain you can't manage. Sure. A depression that leads to suicide. Yes. For love? I'm not sure it's real love if it ends in suicide.

But so you don't have to go to live by the tracks, maybe in the park, maybe be hassled by the cops, while you figure out something else?

That's not a reason for giving up.

Is the condition sad? Yes. Tragic. Absolutely.

But I will not agree to his\her solution. Period. Wanna call that "encouraging bootstrapping"? Sure, if it makes one feel better. I have just never seen quitting as an option.

THAT. IS. WHAT. OUR. OPPONENTS. WANT. US. TO. DO.

May I suggest something? Consider please, someone who write the above letter, but ends with "And I am Gonna Go KILL Me Some of them People!!!!".

Most here, I hope, would be horrified. Should one cheer this killing of, say, Wall Street Bankers? Ok, bad example, but you get my drift. I mean in writing, here on the web? Would you then feel sorry for him/her/them? Would that be appropriate? Could she pick them as a target, much as South Dakota wants to make killing abortion doctors legal as "justifiable homicide"? Bankers, that is the CEOs, management, and employees of the financial sector that brought us our ongoing financial crisis. They may be the least innocent of people. The people he is talking about have likely been responsible for at least hundreds of deaths, a million people a year losing their homes (still), at least half the unemployment that has gone on for far too long, and are probably the reason thousands of kids won't eat all their meals this week and still must rely on food stamps or school lunches. I think it is possible that the writer of that letter could have rationalized that instead of killing himself (herself?) as a solution.

I get the impression from comments to "the letter" that people think that particular suicide would be sad, perhaps inevitable, but certainly an acceptable or at least UNDERSTANDABLE course of action. I don't really see any disagreement, just people agreeing with the reasons given in what was most likely another piece of creative writing.

Not me.

$4 in a bank account is twice the daily wages for some in Egypt, more in China, and that;s IF they have a job. They are in mud huts or outdoors, certainly living in group housing. He could do that - he is college educated. I stood on the steps of a building in Washington D.C. with 5 cents in my pocket, homeless, no prospects, and, perhaps worst of all, from Oklahoma. (Somewhat of a cultural divide). More than once. 50 years later, we have been on the edge of up and down for a long time now. And if I need to start again, I will.

I talk with dozens of people in a week with circumstances similar to his and there is ALWAYS something else to do other than succumb to quitting.

Don't give in to the bastards. There was nothing good about the final solution in that letter. Not really.

Btw, to the other poster. I liked Ehrenreich's book. I have it on my shelf. But she always kept something in reserve, had a place to return to, and frequently expressed her amazement at the resilience of the subjects of her book. She was never one of, or even really, with, them. If she, or anyone else really, wants to help, she they would go find a way to train those people in what she observed, let them find their own solutions to change, teach them how to become political.

Not just talk about them from a distance.

I like Jack London's account of life in The People of the Abyss. (Free, as a Project Gutenberg eBook). Can you imagine mothers wrapping their dead children up and storing them in the cold area of the home because they didn't have enough money to bury them, (even when burying was done quite cheaply), where pennies were used to run the burner for the home to make a little food - too expensive for heat, really. The era of the poorhouses make our life look much better, btw.

Interesting answers.

[eilen]

38. I can't believe this is written here. nt.

[superduperfarleft]

51. You stay classy. n/t

[LanternWaste]

87. Your own self-validation is quite touching...

One's own self-validation at the expense of others is quite touching...

[rpannier]

36. This post should be permanately pinned to the top of the front page at DU

And stapled to the foreheads of Jamie Dimon, members of Congress and the administration

[glinda]

68. If true then Bernie should read it out loud and enter it into record for all the assholes to hear.

[ReggieVeggie]

39. That America this person believed in...

never existed. It was what was programmed into all of us when we were young that the US was wonderful and the best, etc. It's only through knowledge and experience that we know that the propagnada was largely always false.

[tomp]

44. agreed. that is the fallacy of the post.

it never was substantially different here, essentially different.

there have always been cold-hearted politicians and greedy business men stealing from the poor and working class. even the scale is not so different. perhaps they are stealing more from the middle class now.

but it is the openness, the tearing away of the facade that is different. it's all out in the open now for all to see, yet people still don't get it. probably 75% of du is still shackled to the illusion that the democratic party are the good guys. and we are supposed to be the conscious ones. the ones paying attention. this is what disheartens me.

[mmonk]

45. There was one that was in a lot better shape.

There was one where state and local budgets were ok because we had higher federal income tax rates at the top and federalism. We didn't have massive budget cuts all the time. We had people that could afford to retire. There was one where wages weren't in free fall. There was one where state universities weren't too expensive for many. Sure, there were poor but not as many and growing. Yes, there has always been a mythical one. A lie proferred as a dream. But there was a better one too at times. At least one where we were moving forward instead of heading towards a banana republic at warp speed.

[SOS]

64. Income

From 1946 to 1973 median income in this country doubled in inflation adjusted dollars.
From 1973 to 2000 median income stagnated.
Since 2000 median income has act actually declined.

Certainly the post war era was not nirvana.

But a working class or middle class worker had a future.
The hope for a better tomorrow is dead.

[Catherina]

47. Rec'd with great sadness n/t

[Name removed]

48. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Octafish]

50. This country changed on November 22, 1963.

JFK battled Wall Street and Big Business

It's more than my opinion: greedheads and warmongers run the show.

[Rex]

70. And again in 2000.

They don't just run the show, they pay people money to get on sites like DU and argue against us day in and day out. It is sick how much control they have over everyday life.

[Maineman]

52. USA: Greed, guns, war, corruption, and religious paranoia

Corporate money in government (elections) is called corruption.
Government support of wealthy corporations and industries indicates corruption.
Supreme Court Justices participating in political campaigns indicates corruption.
Choice of news items being influenced by corporate sponsors supports corruption.
Do you think maybe we have a problem?

[defendandprotect]

58. And every bit of that is orchestrated by the elite -- right wing --

from right wing religious insanities including "pro-life" murderers --

to T-BAGGERS -- it's all part of the same package.

[Myrina]

53. Heavy Sigh.

:( Bless him.

[OwnedByFerrets]

55. Heartbreaking and sobering

[defendandprotect]

57. There is no media drum beat every day reminding Americans about the 99'ers or homeless...

when was last time we heard Obama say "homeless" -- or "impoverished" -- ???

Obama is turning the Democratic Party on its head!! Up is now down -- !!

[October]

60. I hear you.

Peace.

[Xenotime]

61. Kicked and Agreed. At some point, you have made enough money.

Time to give some of it back.

[blackspade]

62. He's right. It's a travesty.

[florida08]

65. the destruction of hope

Can't get a job at McDonalds and is a college grad. Has diabetes and no health care, no food and soon no place to live. He has been used up and has no reason to fight and just can't anymore. He's not alone.

Today, 43.6 million Americans are living under the poverty line of $11,000 for an individual, or $22,000 for a family of four.

Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2010/09/16/poverty-in-america-at-its-highest-peak-since-1960s/#ixzz1E2ugjNpS

This is not the America I grew up in it's what it has become.

[Tsiyu]

71. I hate that this person wants to give up

The deck is stacked against us, however he spoke of people "Sharing what little they have, and being charitable -- being kind and patient and supportive."

You stick around for those people.

Poverty sucks. It kills. Some would rather kill themselves than face long-term poverty.

I'd rather try to work around the system we have, build what others can use later, try to turn despair into determination.

Change what you can change around you.

If and/or when protests happen, I will support them. In this vast nation, we will need some symbolic universal circumstance to motivate people. It has not occurred yet, but America is ripe for a symbolic, universal event.

The Gifford's shooting was one such event recently, and it has led to a conversation about the hate and violent rhetoric. Overwhelmingly, Americans indicated they don't want that sort of political discourse. That event changed some people's way of thinking and exposed others as unabashedly hate-filled.


So we are primed for further "tell tale events." Who knows what the event(s) will be?

Until then, don't give up. Try, every day, to make something better, write a letter, call a congressperson, help your neighbor.

I just hate that this person is giving up.

[Vinca]

72. One of the most upsetting things I've read. What have we become?

John Edwards was right about the "Two Americas" and it seems the America that needs help is being kicked to the corner. I feel so sorry for this man.

[DTinAZ]

77. This appeared on HuffPo last November

I'm not saying that it's bogus or a chain letter, but just that it's apparently not new. Here's the HuffPo link, posted 11/29/2010:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-thornton/an-emotional-letter-from-_b_788653.html

(on edit) and here's another appearance, from a few days before that:
http://www.layofflist.org/2010/11/26/a-heartbreaking-letter-from-an-unemployed-99er-who-has-given-up-all-hope/

The source website, "acompanyofone.org" has been suspended by its hosting company, as has that of its registered owner (Buddy Meyers, of "tobuds.com"), apparently due to lack of payment, in that the owner is also a 99er. I found evidence that people have offered to put his site back online for free, but I'm not sure he's aware of that.

Update: I found Bud's blog: http://bud-meyers.blogspot.com/

Peace,
DT

[Mulhane]

78. John Brown didn't plead

It was the ballad of John Brown that was the basis of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic." We have the same pro-slavery Confederate Christian Conservatives that used to hang Abolitionists (Liberals)in the name of maintaining their wealth. Yet at the time, John Brown's revolt was vilified by the press even in the North. It sure shook up the Plantation Profiteers, though. This was the America that Afro-Americans and poor people had to grow up in.

Our (non-wealthy) kids are joining the military and killing for Halliburton. They have to refuse this economic draft and fight for their country. I would rather go down fighting but understand if someone exercises his/her right to end life if it becomes torture, or faces imprisonment. I say that because it is my belief that prison will increasingly be the Con's answer for homelessness and mental illness.. . .get them out of sight and off our streets and parks (out of sight, out of mind). Homelessness leads to mental illness, and you become invisible.

[santamargarita]

79. Goddamn I HATE Republicans - I hope these evil bastards get theirs soon!

[femrap]

85. Just too

f*cking sad. Politicians....all talk, no action. Blood is on ALL their hands.

I hate what this nation has become.

[mochajava666]

86. The fish rots from the head down

Obama has betrayed everything he ever stood for.

[myrna minx]

88. This is heartbreaking.

:cry:

[WinkyDink]

91. The thievery, the chicanery, cannot happen WITHOUT THE GOVT'S COLLUSION.

THAT is the true evil.

[sasha031]

93. I can't recommend this enough,

it is tragic beyond words:-(