And So, It’s Not Christmas, But What Have You Done?

Today we are told to remember and honor those people who have passed on from this earthly existence. Nobody needs to tell you to do that if you have lost loved ones in your life. You do that every day, but what we do need to remember - and we might not do that without their prompting - is to pay tribute to capitalism by purchasing flowers, American flags, and red, white, and blue mementos to honor those who are gone. There are some people here where I live doing that, but mostly they are taking vacations, making a mad dash to the lake to water ski and live a glorious few days in the sun with lots of beer and food. We can’t help it. The death of loved ones just makes us want to run out and prove that we aren’t the ones who are dead. We won’t get to do this again until July and September, but the good news is that when those holidays come around, we will also be prompted to buy very overpriced fireworks and accidentally start fires and terrorize any animals who might be close by. We have earned these rights by way of losing our loved ones in death, though their deaths were not in vain. At least, we don’t think they were. Best not to look at that too closely!

I understand that in order to receive food stamps now you will have to be over the age of 54 to get them without being subject to a work requirement. I hate to tell everyone this but in some states you had to be at least 60 to escape that requirement more than a decade ago. Even better than that, until Jimmy Carter became President in the 1970s you had to pay for food stamps. A family of three, depending on their particular circumstances, could be charged $94.00 for ninety-five dollars’ worth of food stamps. Even the social workers who had to deliver that information to the families in crisis were horrified and embarrassed by it. But hey, what do you expect, you poor person? You are lucky to be alive. You survived Covid-19, several wars, and September 11th if you are over the age of 35 or so. We don’t want to hold your hand or give you anything to eat if you aren’t an essential worker here. And believe me, the kind of work you do has to be something we deem important. Do not think that an Etsy or EBay shop is going to cut it. You should be grateful that we aren’t remembering you today while we are on vacation!

So, let’s be honest, if we can’t use you to make money for the economy or give us an excuse to celebrate away from our work for at least a day, do not assume that you are worth feeding or housing or providing medical care for. Go get a job, slob! Earn your holiday like the rest of us and be glad that you are still here to witness this momentous occasion when your government can once again pay the interest on its debts because it all was dependent upon whether or not you get to eat.