hedgehog
hedgehog's JournalA different approach to explaining the problem with income distribution -
It's hard to convince some people that there is massive inequality in income distribution and that the middle class is taking the hit. Too many people in their heart of hearts figure that some day, they too, will be in the 1%.
But tell me if this makes any sense:
1. The 1% kept profits very high by keeping prices too high.
2. Since the 1% couldn't spend all their money on themselves if they used gold leaf for toilet paper, they had to spend their money elsewhere.
3. So, the 1% is out there gobbling up companies left and right, giving them the power to keep prices high.
4. So every dollar you spend goes to help someone charge you more for what you need.
White middle class medical people and the lower class:
Many poor people are very mistrustful of anyone in the medical field. I've heard comments from lower class people expressing a fear of eugenics (using a needed appendectomy to perform an unwanted abortion) to withholding care because the person was poor (my father-in-law unsure whether his wife was receiving proper care). The specific cases may have been unwarranted, but there are solid grounds for the general mistrust;
http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/26/us/north-carolina-sterilization-payments
http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/2002/jul/tuskegee/
But I'd like to suggest another reason: the poorly hidden contempt that many middle class whites have for the poor. I have many acquaintances in the medical field, doctors, nurses, etc. All too often, I hear an anecdote (often apocryphal) illustrating the stupidity of the poor. The classic example of such an anecdote is the one claiming that the mother was going to name the child "placenta" after hearing the term used during delivery. I heard one doctor drop a series of such comments over the course of an evening, only to wonder at one point why her African American patients were so reluctant to accept her advice. Consider also the term "frequent fliers" applied to those who make frequent use of emergency rooms. Often, the problem is the failure of the system to address underlying problems of mental illness, homelessness, lack of education and poverty, but somehow the blame is placed on the victim.
Not every medical person is guilty, of course, and many object to this attitude. I'm guessing some would claim there is no contempt, only harsh humor in reaction to the stress of working in the medical field. Such humor was once a feature of anatomy labs, and has been driven out by efforts to restore respect for the people whose bodies are used to educate doctors.
https://www.aamc.org/newsroom/reporter/october2012/308520/donor.html
It's well past time for all medical people to accord such respect to the living, as well.
I know about the bees, but has anyone else noticed an absence of dandelions?
My side lot is an old pasture, green but hardly a typical lawn. For 25 some years, it's been covered with dandelion flowers in the Spring, and sporadic blooms all summer.
This year, not a single one.
On the half mile power line right of way, plenty of other wild flowers a/k/a weeds, but no dandelions.
We have never put anything, fertilizer or weed killer on this lawn. My husband says the dandelions are still there, that they just never bloomed.
We did have some chilly weeks in spring, but it's warmed up since then. If they need an extended time of dry weather to bloom, that might be the problem since we haven't gone more than a few days without rain this year.
How you going to keep them down on the farm....
I have a flock of chickens that free range on the 5 acres around the house. Usually they stay in bounds, but lately 1 rooster and 1 hen have been wandering. I found out the hen is crossing the road to get at bird seed dropped on the ground from a neighbor's feeder.
Any ideas short of penning the flock?
Pen the trouble makers?
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Gender: FemaleHometown: Oswego County, New York
Home country: USA
Current location: Lake Ontario Snow Belt
Member since: Fri Apr 23, 2004, 11:56 PM
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