Dying wasn't the point I was making. The point was, I think, that life does not
reward us or punish us, for the choices we make. Whatever reward there may be,
is our own satisfaction in our behavior.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Wednesday, July 19, 2017 12:47 AM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: housing in New York City
Miriam, you have asked the question of the Century:
"You know, we're all exposed to the same mass media, the same government
propaganda. Why is it that some of us choose to see beyond it while others do
not?"
Here is my flawed attempt at an answer.
The difference is that sometime in our formative years we each decide the
direction we will follow in Life. Some people choose to question the most
basic things. They are not satisfied with slick, glib answers.
Some people decide to seek a life of material comfort. They listen to
different answers to their questions.
Why each of us sets out in the direction we do is a complicated, complex
subject, requiring many hours of jabber that will not fit in this email. But
suffice it to say that this is what we do. Because I am directed to want to
protect my family and my species, takes me down a different path than my
brother-in-law's, who chose to not think about his species, and barely about
his immediate family, in deciding to gather material stuff around him. He
believes that his material well being is a sign of his success in life. I
believe that my opposition to the violence and greed that is prevailing, is an
indication that I have lived a successful life.
As for death, none of us knows how we will die. Will we drop in our tracks,
while doing the work that is important to us? Or will we suffer painful, slow
death in a nursing home among poorly paid staff who wish we would hurry up and
die?
Since I can't see into the future, I plan to adopt the belief that each day I
wake up and am able to know who I am, it will mean that I most likely will
spend the day living, and go to bed that night.
As for the people who do not want to hear what I think? That's their loss!
Heck, I don't always agree with me. But I will go ahead and say what I think
at any given moment without worrying about who agrees or disagrees. My days of
being concerned over what others thought about what I say, are long past. But
since it's in my nature to care about others, I do try not to put folks down,
or belittle them. Well, I do have some exceptions, but no one on this list.
Today has been a hard day. Cathy is ill and her mother is grumpy. I grilled
pork chops for dinner and only my sister-in-law joined me at the dinner table.
But soon I'll snuggle beneath the covers and wait for tomorrow, knowing it will
be a better day.
Carl Jarvis
On 7/18/17, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Carl,
I don't send my material to anyone except Blind Democracy and, very
occasionally, to someone who might appreciate a particular article.
People don't want to read what I send. It makes them uncomfortable or
angry or they think I'm just crazy because what I send is so different
from what they've been reading or hearing. No, no one has ever asked
me not to send something except, perhaps once, a long time ago.
Someone has argued with what I sent, but it was obvious that she
didn't really understand it. I remember telling her that Obama was
increasing are nuclear arsenal. She told me that it was absolutely
untrue. I sent her the article with the information and she never said
another word.
Now for these people who go along with what the government and the
media tell them and whom you describe as good people, just brainwashed
and unknowing. How come no one described the Germans who went along
with what the Nazis told them as good people, just brainwashed and
ignorant of the truth? I remember a book written by the daughter of
the commandant of a nazi concentration camp. She grew up loving her
father. He was a good man, good to his wife and his children and to
his friends and his relatives. He was a good family man just doing his job,
being patriotic, serving his country.
When I am incarcerated in a nursing home, receiving inferior care,
lying in a diaper, imprisoned in bed because I do not have enough
wealth to receive individualized care in my home, will I be pleased
that I lived according to my values, never invested the money I earned
in companies with military contracts or that used enslaved workers in
a far away land to make their products so that I could have a secure
retirement income? Will I feel freer than the couple I know who lived
in a beautiful retirement home on a barrier island off the North
Carolina shore and are now, close to 90, living in a plush assisted
living facility in Connecticut because the husband was employed by one
of the companies with a military contract for decades and decades? I
know that couple and they have absolutely no qualms about how they
earned their money or about the foreign policy of the US. In 2008, they told
me that people who really wanted to work, could find a job.
You know, we're all exposed to the same mass media, the same
government propaganda. Why is it that some of us choose to see beyond
it while others do not?
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Tuesday, July 18, 2017 10:19 AM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: housing in New York City
Absolutely correct! The casual confessions of another in a friendly
conversation goes a long way to building an overall impression of who
that person is.
My brother-in-law and I are able to express our differences and still
remain on friendly terms. But there exists a chasm of lack of
understanding between us. On the other hand, his wife, my
sister-in-law, has emailed me privately and asked me not to send them any of
my, "Controversial Stuff".
She, on the other hand, sends out the wonderful 200 percent American
stories about mangled war veterans who have been abused by the uncaring
"leftist"
government. She also posts horror stories about the "riff Raff" who
are running amuck, robbing and murdering innocent folk...like her, and
why our bleeding hearts are allowing them to roam about the streets
forcing us "good guys" to hunker behind our barred windows and triple
locked doors, as if we were the criminals, not them.
I do not ask her to stop posting such crap to me. I read it all and
remind myself that this is the "mind" behind that friendly, smiling
face beaming up at me at family gatherings.
And their daughter, her husband and their young son are all living in
the same mind set. Are they bad people? I prefer to think that they,
along with millions of carbon copies, are victims of a monster Empire.
Certainly they are not going to listen to my views. What they believe
has worked for them, financially. My brother-in-law was a faithful
employee, in a management position, for what Cathy and I call, "The
Feather Factory', a maker of down comforters and winter clothing, and
upon retirement the company gave him a large enough bonus that they
paid off their home and banked enough to enable them to take world
cruises and live securely. On paper, they are far better off
financially than Cathy and I, Do I envy them their good fortune? Do
I believe that they are being rewarded for being "Good Americans"?
Not a bit of it. I would not trade places if I could. The one
important thing they had to give up in order to "live the good life",
was their personal freedom. They long ago forgot how to question what
causes our nation's troubles. They allowed themselves to be gathered
into the Empire's Fable. At Christmas and on her birthday, they give
Dorothy a gift certificate for $100 at Safeway. They drop by to see
her on her birthday and on Mother's Day...if Cathy really pushes. And
they consider themselves caring people. But since I only see them two
or three times each year, it's easy for me to welcome them into my
home and wine and dine them during their visit to dear old Mom.
I have no illusions that what I believe will make a difference in this
world, make life easier for the downcast, bring world peace and end
the corruption by the rich and powerful. But I can at least go to bed
each night with the knowledge that I am a Free Man. And I see the
seeds stirring in my eldest daughter, my son and my younger sister.
And of course, Cathy. Naturally, Cathy. Her Free Spirit is what drew
me to her in the first place.
Well, enough rambling. I need to get on the phone and set up
appointments with prospective clients, and then go back to beating up
on the brush that threatens to take over.
Carl Jarvis
On 7/18/17, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
He sounds like my daughter. And I have to say that when people
express such values, it does affect how I feel about them. I won't
stop loving my daughter, but when she expresses sentiments like that,
I like her less because the lack of concern for the welfare of others
says something about her values and who she is. It's a view of life
that infects one's actions, how one treats other people, and whether
or not one would object if government policy hurts categories of
people who aren't one's relatives or close friends. If you don't care
about the working poor, you don't believe that our society should
ensure that everyone's basic needs are met. All sorts of things follow from
that.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Carl ;
Jarvis
Sent: Tuesday, July 18, 2017 12:45 AM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: housing in New York City
If you work for $10 per hour, and you manage to get in 10 hours a
day, and a full 5 days per week for 52 weeks, you will earn a
whopping $26,000.
Working a 40 hour week at $15 per hour for a full 52 weeks will bring
you about $31,200. To make over $40,000 per year you will need to
get 52 weeks of 40 hours each, with an hourly wage of $20. This
brings in
$41,600 And that is before any taxes or medical or FICA. You can
count on at least $10,000 coming off the top for taxes, Medical, and
other fees.
Now you have close to $31,000 to cover house or apartment, utilities,
food and incidental expenses,transportation expenses, clothing, and
on and on.
You can plug in the numbers for you and your family, but
$41,600 a year is not going to enable you to save enough to pull your
family out of danger of the poverty line.
This afternoon my wife's family gathered at our house to celebrate
her mother's 91st birthday. My brother-in-law, a 67 year old Vite
Nam Marine veteran, said to me, "These people wanting $15 per hour
for entry level jobs are not doing work that is worth that much".
I said, "Look at it from the other side. The level of income in
order to live at or just above the poverty line is actually closer to
$20 per hour.
You were not responsible for a rising cost of living that requires
$20 per hour to survive. Your employer is not satisfied in running a
business that allows him to live at the poverty line, so why should
he expect you to be satisfied with it?"
Sure, the boss will need to adjust his prices a few pennies on the
dollar, but so will all the other businesses in town. Why should we
expect that you should sacrifice any bit of this bare bones living in
order to assist your boss in living a life style you will never
attain?" My brother-in-law made one more try at convincing me that
some jobs are just not worth such an amount of money. "Flipping a
hamburger doesn't take any real skill", he argued.
"But flipping hundreds of hamburgers each day, day after day, as well
as keeping current on sanitation regulations, and all of the other
foods you must prepare and serve is worth a decent living, if it is
important enough for the business to provide a service to the community".
We left it at that and went on to other topics. I doubt I convinced
him, and for certain he didn't sway my belief. But we like each
other and we both understand that our fighting over the minimum wage
will not change anything, but it could prove harmful to our family relations.
Besides, I know that I'm right!!!
Carl Jarvis
On 7/17/17, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I just heard an item on the WBAI Pacifica news. The Homeless have
been demonstrating because new low cost housing is being made
available to the poor. The housing is for families with incomes as
low as $40,000 or $45,000.
The problem is that many working people in the city don't make $40,000.
Their incomes are $30,000. There is no affordable housing for them.
Shelters
exist and a great deal of money is spent for them. But there's no
permanent housing The demonstrators were marching in front of an
empty lot, owned by the city, that had been just sitting there for
47 years.
They would like the city to build housing on this property in which
they could afford to live.
Miriam