I don't go where I'm not wanted and I don't want to go where they've told me.
What is a Democracy really? And who the f*ck is counting those votes? You have until April 15th each year to file and pay your taxes. If you don't, they'll get your ass eventually. When it comes to our elections, you've one day. All of you. And if you don't vote... well... your loss right? Meanwhile, you've got adults of all walks of life mailing in absentee ballots like letters to Santa. I pray someone reads. I wish you could tell them what YOU wanted instead of being told to pick a team.
I listened to Kay Foxx this morning as her co-hosts labeled her "the problem with this country" while she tried to file an absentee ballot (the morning of this election). Partially, she is the problem. She's the black woman who plays backbone to the morning show. As the representative of two major minorities (she is the Black compliment to the Puerto Rican and the Jew), she sits back and takes verbal abuse by pretend misogynist cowards. (I hate Hot 97 most days.) Overall, though, she is not the problem, the government is. Why can't Kay Foxx vote online just as easily as she pays her taxes? Why was James P Sinnot Junior High at 370 Fountain closed this morning with displaced, Spanish speaking voters asking me where they should go next? Why is is my (a civilian's) responsibility to educate voters? Why is it more important for police to ride through my neighborhoods searching for kids breaking curfew and humans living life than to guide voters to polling places so they may exercise this imperative American right? Why are there no signs telling you where to vote instead of who to vote for?
You don't matter as much as you think you do. Not if you don't make money. Not if you can't hold a fundraiser. People only shake hands with those who have something to hand off. Obama's never shaken mine. Romney probably wouldn't. The truth is, this is a capitalist society. We were once founded on the principles of freedom and equality, but taxes have become just as burdensome as they were back in England. Our President's platform's focus and preference for the "middle class" is proof in itself that we are not equal, no one wants us to be and no one really cares if we're not. Once every four years, the people get a chance to be "heard". But you aren't pushing your own platforms. You're given candidates but only two are highlighted. Wouldn't it be phenomenal if all the Presidential nominees were allowed to participate in the debates? Who's running for the Green party? Were they not invited or did they say f*ck it and opt out? Or is there an entrance fee? What is this? A Presidential showcase? They've got rappers and movie stars doing cameos during intermission and all that.
Washington DC is the new Hollywood. All we care about is who our favorite music star has endorsed and what labels pinching the backs of their necks. The President talks about social funding while his wife sets the table for four and a dog; pearls draped around her neck and an apron over her ball gown. Some people aren't eating. Sometimes I'm not eating. I was listening to some professor on BBC radio speak about finances in our country. Previous to this state, people seemed to have been prospering because the family was prospering. More people could go to work. Overtime, women have gone to work and employers have begun to employee workers they were too openly racist to hire before. I've never seen so many posters in New York promoting the NYPD, as they've officially presented themselves as an "Equal Opportunity Employer" (after a series of lawsuits). More families have started eating. It was also easier to get loans. More kids went to college. People bought houses and financed cars. Now though, there are less and less jobs. As we try to make room for more jobs, we have to figure out how to divvy up the profit. Companies that used to have 30 employees now have 200. While that's fabulous for corporate advancement, you've got to pay all of those people. Some people can't get much. The big bosses always want to make more. You only have what you've got left. Now, at a basic salary, people are still almost at poverty levels. I make enough to pay my rent, pay my car note & get groceries. But I always have to go back to work. People don't make shit unless they give their lives to it. But then all you have is things. No life. I feel like a f*ckin share-cropper working for mines.
The real problem with this country is that we are too dependent on jobs and finances and nice things. I love Gucci. I don't own any real Chanel, but I need that in my life. I don't care that the red scraped off the bottom of my $695 Louboutins (just about the cheapest they get), I simply like to know that I f*cked them up myself. The biggest divide between the two parties, that I saw, was in determining where the focus of the American people should be. On the Republican end, it is this year as it usually is: Corporations and profit. The Obama platform for 2012 seems to be focusing on government provisions for the people: Healthcare, Social Security, etc. While I know that those things are important, they don't affect myself directly nor immediately. The government can continue to manage the money they take from me every paycheck. They didn't ask to take it. I have no idea where it goes and have no guarantees anyhow. I expect them to f*ck me over int he long run. That's why I'd rather bust my ass and save for my own retirement. & "The Man" has kicked in with everything including Dental. Finally, I'm good. I know that's a lame excuse but... instead of trying to figure out how to take care of the less fortunate, I'd prefer to hold conversation about how to better those people so that they no longer need the assistance. We should all be good. To say that we can't all be equal is to give up on the very principles that shaped this country. To doubt our equality would be to destroy the very core of Democracy.
If you come from somewhere like I come from, you'll understand that government aid hurts as much as it helps. A reform is necessary. People have become blindly dependent on government assistance, not only in finances, but in morality. The only reason some people don't call me "nigger" out-loud is because it's a hate-crime. I sat in bed last night and wondered who's President Barack will go in down in history as: The President of the Gays. (#NoShade.) Barack has made strides in passing litigation for the equal treatment of Gays (in whatever term you prefer). My point is, he's simply not my President.
What I want to do is talk about the "In God we Trust" statement printed on that green paper, which our sons die for in too many ways. I don't think all Americans need to believe in one God, but I think we need to figure out what that means. Especially since the commonly-labeled, most influential Civil Rights leader of our time was a reverend and most of his messages came from church sermons. I want to talk about what it should mean to be an American person. Year after year, we draft laws to outlaw racism and corruption but those are character traits that need much more than a bizarre number tagged to it to change our social climate. There's a reason Trump wants to pay for Obama's birth certificate: Because he can't pay to see him hung. Allowing immigrant children to work & study in this country won't change that fact that some American's don't want us here and that even after we do get those degrees, some employers still won't hire us, especially if we still live in the ghettos that raised us because (let's be honest) the only numbers that matter more than our bank account balances are our zip codes and they fight against each other like Experian vs. Equifax. When you come from somewhere like where I come from, they won't give you credit even if you've earned it.
I, personally, no longer need governing. I'm not interested in "fighting for my rights". Rights are not to be fought for. I am a human and I have human rights as written out by the United Nations (who I fear will never do their real job, like if Captain Planet wouldn't show up when our powers combined) for the preservation of my "inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family...freedom, justice and peace in the world." The problem with America, is that we are only concerned with ourselves. I, too am guilty. But until someone has the gall to create a platform to address the psychological needs of our people, there isn't much I care about that they've touched on. Why is everyone in this country on anti-depressants? why is every other freshman a psych major? Are we looking to help others or find ways to help ourselves? I want to talk about teenage pregnancy: its causes and effects. I'd like to address the allocation of funding in educational facilities (schools should not be able to spend more money on ANYTHING than they do on books. I saw some players from CF High School at friendly's the other day with dope-ass sweatshirts, but all I could wonder is what year their texts books were printed in). Speaking of education, I don't recall taking any classes before my 18th birthday that taught me how our political system worked. That's a private-school kinda course. So at 18, you have all these kids who say "F*ck Calculus" running to the polls to vote for who has more swag and are most likely to end up dead somewhere, replaced by an American flag on their mother's mantel or an RIP t-shirt on their little sister's dresser. Our children need guidance. Let's talk about #ThugLife. Let's talk about making education more affordable and accessible. I want to hear someone's plan on how to to address how we stop giving a f*ck about endorsing "separate but equal" because when you have no choice but to attend the shitty school in your city, you've been f*cked over by the government whether you'd like to admit it or not. F*ck a pot-hole. Kids need books. F*ck health insurance, people need food.
All complaining with no plan, huh? I'm simply not participating in what you're doing. I'm gonna be filthy rich. The government is going to take as much of my taxes as they want because never have they ever asked what I think is fair, rather, assumed that 24% of what I earned should go directly to them. I say I no longer need governing because I own my soul. I trust myself with my finances. The reason we need government in everybody's pockets is because greed is a strong feeling and most people can't be trusted to overcome that. What we need to do is stop being so selfish and jealous. We need to benefactor our own hoods, get our own 22s and just kick it. It's time to be mafioso and take care of your own people. The American government isn't going to do it. They just pay their lawyers and try to complete their dream of Manifest Destiny. I can't say I won't buy more Gucci. My next vehicle will either be a Mercedes or a Porsche. Still, I'll give where I need to. I'll battle glutton because in God I trust. I only need so much. We each only need so much. Democracy is just as out-of-date as Communism. When a few manage the mass, the mass manage very little. Everyone needs to learn to manage themselves.
I don't know the stats of how people in this country don't vote, but if people aren't voting, that is something we need to look into. There must be a reason why: Either they can't, don't know how, don't htink they can, or would prefer not to. All of those are issues that need to be addressed by the government. Perhaps if voting were as mandatory as paying taxes, people would participate.
My President need not "Swag" nor to be Black, instead to be an authentic person who genuine consideration for the equality of people and their living conditions. Until there is a President like that, I'll be President of my damned self. People die everyday so that I can't understand the value of having my life. I'll live mine for me, thank you.
That or... bring back Bill Clinton.
