Tuesday, February 26, 2008

What, More Whining?

I'm trying to cheer up, down here in Arkansas, where gas is $3.09 a gallon these days, and milk is fifty cents past that, and I don't even want to consider what my heating bill will be this month, which is not easy, since I had not one but two stories rejected this week.

Well, at least I have a good book to read: Emma Bull's Freedom and Necessity.

If I had the strength, I would review it for you. As it is, I barely have the strength to read it.

And update: over on Crooked Timber they're talking about that idiot Kristol bit in the NYT, where he went after Michelle Obama b/c she noted things have not gotten better lately -- he claimed things are better, have been getting better. The old "every one has TVs and cell phones now! The poor all have cars and DVD players! See! Americans are doing great!" That stupid fucking argument.

Who believes this?

Well I know who believes it. 19% believe it. Right-Wing idiots believe it. Anyone who hasn't had to decide between paying a clinic bill and paying a heating bill and paying the cable bill, that's who believes it. Oh, we all have cell phones, sure, because we'vce dumped our land-lines because nothing comes over the landlines except sales calls from desperate people making less than minimum wage to try to sell us aluminum siding -- so we all have cell phones now, and we all have color televisions, though mine, frankly, is 15 years old and I didn't buy it, it was given it me by my FIL; and we all have cars, though many of us have exorbinatant loans we're paying for them; and we all have big old houses, yes, and have you heard about the housing crisis, and we all have health care, and isn't that hilarious?

And we all have microwaves and washing machines in our own houses! And we all have iPods! But half our incomes go to healthcare and the other half to credit card companies and we get no vacation at all -- zero, I can't remember the last time I had a fucking day off -- and we're terrified all the time about what will happen when all this crashes and our government is evil and most of us work two jobs or a job and a half and Mr. Kristol thinks we're better off?

I'm sure that's so on his planet.

Then the 19% tell us if we just managed our money better -- learned to do without the bling, learned to say no to what we didn't have the money for (like, I guess, Amoxicillian, or, you know, gas for the car) -- we'd be fine.

Better off my back teeth.

We'd be better off without a fucking war in Iraq, that's what we'd be better off without.

4 comments:

CB said...

I'm moving. I just paid my deposits. 120 dollar deposit for gas. 50 dollars for my water, 78 for my elelctric.

Also, my grandma is all sick like, so I've been going to see her alot on the weekends. Gas per week for the past month: 50 dollars. And my car is little with good gas mileage.

delagar said...

Ouch. Is your new rent better than your old rent at least?

We've been thinking of moving, for gas and rent purposes, but no new rent is any better.

CB said...

eh, depends on how you look at it: 415 for a two bedroom apt all my own without the unwanted, or 300(no utilities) for one bedroom in a townhouse with my buddy and the unwanted.

One bedroom apts run about 400 anyway.

delagar said...

That's not too bad. I was paying 200 for a two bedroom fifteen years ago in Fayetteville, so 415 is damn good, I think.