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Brunch Has Been Suspended Indefinitely
By C.A. Matthews
I have always hated Black Friday. It's morally bankrupt America's ultimate expression of a capitalistic Bacchanalia. Why should we waste valuable time, money and resources on buying material items we can neither afford, nor need, nor ultimately want? Why force said worthless trinkets onto our friends and family members in order to demonstrate our high regard for them? Is going into debt merely for creating massive profits for Big Business worth it?
All this buying just seems pointless and ultimately destructive to our planet. In the end, the purchasing and gifting of mass-produced consumer products does nothing to show our true compassion toward others. Issuing a simple card with a statement to our significant others along the lines of, "I truly care about you and want you to know it," would serve as well, if not better. We should give up this whole Black Friday charade once and for all.
"Ah, but that's not how our world works," I've been told several million times. I get it. Really, I do. Capitalism isn't about showing love and gratitude toward others. Sure, we've created "Giving Tuesday" several days after Black Friday in order to assuage our guilt for blowing large sums of cash (or credit) buying worthless things, but what does it really mean? That we are only expected to be generous with our monetary resources once a year? All we need do is to write one big (electronic) check to charity and then chill out, congratulating ourselves on our generosity?
Sorry to say, this is how Giving Tuesday comes across to me. All the whining emails I've received from various non-profits haven't changed my mind, either.
To be truly generous, our giving should be year round and as natural as breathing. This is where Giving Tuesday--and the whole ideology of neoliberalism that embraces it--starts to wear thin. Neoliberals may talk a good head game, but, in the end, they're nothing if not shallow. I find no heart behind their well-manicured words.
The ultimate testimony to neoliberal superficiality comes when neolibs attempt to demonstrate their compassion toward their fellow human beings. This is especially evident when it comes to how they show compassion those who are suffering immensely under the burdens of capitalism. Perhaps the best example of what I mean came in early 2017 in the form of a simple protest sign from the Women's March:
"We'd be having brunch now if Hillary won," the sign declared.
"Yeah, I'm positive you would be
at brunch now if that was the case," was my first impression of that sign. It hasn't changed since.
Politics to neoliberals is apparently all about elevating rich, white, establishment-loving war hawks who look, dress and think like them to high office. (Gender/race are sometimes--and sometimes not--important to their identity politics.) Certainly their politics have little to nothing to do with helping the poor or people of color who have suffered from former Senator Biden's Crime Bill and soon-to-be-former Senator Harris's tactics to keep the poor/POC locked up as long as possible in California for use as slave labor. These unfortunate people and their less-than-edifying issues rarely appear on the neolibs' radars, except when the issue might possibly create a viral sound bite for mainstream media outlets. And like mayflies, these feel good sound bites live for a day before disappearing into the obscuring mists of pro-capitalist propaganda.
Neoliberals seem to think serving the public is all about enjoying celebratory champagne brunches with their pals from the Country Club (or local Democratic Women's group) after a successful run for office. They'll brunch and then pat themselves on the back and drive their latest model gas-guzzlers back to their suburban McMansions, far from the crumbling infrastructure of the inner city where the struggling still exist, many lying sick and homeless on the streets. Neoliberals tend to never look back. It's too much rain on their brunch parade, I suppose.
(It's almost as if American neoliberals hoped to make massive profits from cheap prison labor and private health care businesses, if such a thing were possible...)
In the past four years, the word "brunch" has taken on a sinister meaning in much the same way Black Friday has. It signifies nothing worthy of note and everything unworthy of praise. The true Left must force neoliberals to concentrate their time, talents and resources on dealing with the issues of those who aren't--and have never been--invited to their brunch.
First off, we should stop glorifying Giving Tuesday. Financially sound Americans need to give of our resources every day by doing everything they can to alleviate hunger. This past week, millions of Americans stood in lines and waited in traffic jams to pick up a Thanksgiving meal. Millions more Americans will be standing in even longer lines and waiting in even larger traffic jams to get a free meal come Christmas and New Year's Day, too. The coronavirus pandemic has destroyed the last of the social safety net. The working classes struggle constantly to put food on the table and secure health insurance to cover medical expenses. Many full-time workers are forced to be on federal aid in order to survive already.
How long do we allow this tragedy to continue? Until seventy-five percent of the US population is living below the poverty line? Ninety percent? Ninety-nine percent?
The fact that anyone can even consider putting a number on their fellow human beings who are allowed to go hungry or go without health care speaks volumes about the morality of American society. Yet neoliberal politicians have stated repeatedly that they are not interested in implementing Medicare For All and a universal basic income (UBI) that could keep millions in their homes.
Are neolibs really okay with those who
aren't invited to their brunch dying en masse? They certainly act like the idea of their working class neighbors going hungry or freezing on the streets this winter isn't a big deal.
I don't know about you, but anyone who is okay with allowing their fellow Americans to starve or die for any reason hasn't earned my respect. Anyone who has the means and the ability to bring an end to the suffering of millions of human beings, and doesn't exercise their abilities for the good of all, doesn't deserve my support at the ballot box or statehouse or in Congress or the White House.
If the neolibs' affluent lifestyles and self-serving attitudes have become a roadblock and prevented them from developing empathy, then it's time brunch was suspended-- indefinitely. And it's time for those who brunch to learn what hunger is like firsthand by leaving their comfortable bubbles of suburbia and getting their hands dirty passing out food boxes.
For more on this topic, read Why Are The Rich So Scared of Socialism?
Related Links Revealing the Dangers of Neoliberalism:
Food Banks Are So Overwhelmed That They Are Resorting to Rationing
According to Feeding America, the largest hunger relief organization in the U.S., more than 50 million people will experience food insecurity by the end of the year. Among U.S. children, the figure rises to one in four. The group, which runs a network of some 200 food banks across the nation, says it distributed over half a billion meals last month alone, a 52% increase from an average pre-pandemic month.
"It's going to be a billionaire Thanksgiving." Wealth of US Richest Just Hit $1 Trillion Since the Start of the Pandemic
Potential Biden Officials' Firm Is Promising Big Profits Off Those Connections
https://www.dailyposter.com/p/breaking-potential-biden-officials
"I Lied to Americans to Block Universal Healthcare."
Biden's Cabinet: War Hawks, Corporate Lap Dogs & Swamp Creatures https://youtu.be/YIDMwaHDHX0
Biden Taps Neolib Neera Tanden In Slap To Working Class
"What
Was Your Normal?": Black Activist Goes Viral After Rejecting CNN
Commentator's Claim That Things Will Go Back To "Normal" Because Biden
Won The Election
Jimmy Dore shows us a way for House Progressives to force a Medicare For All Vote Now. (But will they do it?)
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There exists a poison so powerful, it can't be broken down. Dubbed "the forever chemical," it's present in the blood of nearly every person in the U.S. — it's even found in mothers' wombs and newborn babies. And, on top of everything else, a leading Harvard researcher says this toxin may actually reduce the effectiveness of vaccines against COVID-19, which is terrifying. This chemical is called PFOA and it's produced by mega-corporation DuPont. One of the reasons it's seeped into our waterways with barely any governmental oversight is because of a man named Michael McCabe. Right around the time when DuPont dumped tons of PFOA-laden waste that poisoned the people of West Virginia and resulted in devastating illnesses, it hired McCabe to improve its image. That was decades ago. Now, he's lined up a new job: working for President-Elect Joe Biden as he creates a transition board for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). But as Erin Brockovich, the famed environmental justice lawyer, writes: "It should go without saying that someone who advised DuPont on how to avoid regulations is not someone we want advising this new administration." Tell Joe Biden to dump Michael McCabe and to assemble a team of scientists and true eco-champions instead! Thank you for all that you do,
P.S. Joe Biden says he wants to prioritize our health and environment. So why is he hiring an industry insider who helped polluters avoid regulation? Sign the petition! |
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Let's make certain that we're the ones who make the "cuts" from here on out--starting with cutting "brunch" from the menu.
If you agree that we can't just sit back, fall asleep, and let the neolibs/neocons destroy our country, our lives, and the planet, then please consider making a donation to keep The Revolution Continues going. Donate at the Paypal.me link below. Thank you and Power to the People!
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