Tim Barrus: New York Times: Get Real
Michelle Goldberg at the New York Times tells us to hit the streets.
Nine million Americans live in the streets. Exactly how is it that they’re supposed to hit them.
The New York Times people are smart and they have good intentions.
But they live in a well-funded bubble, and we have given up. We suck.
I wail and bitch. But I am compelled to get real. It is becoming more and more difficult to be in the culture when there seems to be an overabundance of evidence that things can only get better for a very selected few. That is our history. That is what constitutes today. Tell me that tomorrow will be different. You can’t. You won’t. And either will I. Internal dialogues only go so far. Into the streets is more stretch than most of us can do.
He won.
America lost.
We are over it.
We can’t erase it.
We can’t start over.
We can’t send him to his tower.
There is an electoral collage.
There is no evidence to suggest the electoral collage can be dismantled.
Our elections are irrelevant.
Our leaders are numbed and awed.
We’re tired of being tired.
There is no hope.
We are screamed at to not become dispirited.
We are dispirited.
It’s like the doctor gives you a prescription. You go to get the prescription. You are informed of the cost. You don’t have that kind of money. You can only stay sick.
You know you deserve a raise because you are working harder (tech has made it worse) than you ever have. Corporations spend money buying back their stock.
No lives matter. We aren’t stupid. We get it. If we had known university would be so breathtakingly expensive, we would not have gone to college.
Peaceful protest is irrelevant. They are laughing at us in the White House.
They live lavishly.
We barely make it.
Inequality is entrenched because the aristocracy has entrenched it.
The aristocracy denies there is an aristocracy.
There is a lot of rhetoric (we know rhetoric) about the great economy.
We work two jobs. So when do we hit the streets.
Schools. Bullies. Strikes.
It isn’t just that Trump won.
They won.
We all know who they are.
We think social media is protest enough. Even if social media leaves us comatose.
We are incurious. Curiosity is the implication of hope. We are wary.
The future is menacing.
There is no future.