I was lounging around in bed in a Saturday morning kind of way when a streak of pink caught my eye and drew me to the window, where the east was erupting in a blaze of orange and scarlet that got me out the door and down to the beach just as a red sphere was rising from a gray sea into a pink and silver sky.
No one was around and a steady breeze was blowing and Koko was spinning and bucking and doing her mad dashing to and fro and the water was calm and clean and warm, just about the same temperature as the air, yet totally refreshing.
Looking mauka, it was a very different scene, with Waialeale and Makaleha gone missing behind big, black, ball-shaped clouds that were most likely dumping some serious rain.
In leaving office tomorrow, Sarah Palin is preparing to dump the constraints implicit in serving as governor, even of a minor league state, and begin building a power base via the vehicle that best suits her language skills and intellectual depth: Twitter.
”Ain't gonna shut my mouth / I know there's got to be a few hundred million more like me / just trying to keep it free," Palin said in a recent Tweet, quoting the song "Rollin'," by the country duo Big & Rich.
Hey, no one ever got elected by underestimating the vacuity of the American public and its propensity for jingoism and quick fixes. How else to explain the disillusionment that so many are feeling because President Obama hasn’t, in six months, fixed all the messes that were years in the making? As the Telegraph.co.uk reported:
Chris Redfern, the Ohio Democratic Party chairman, said: "When it's the president's economy, it's the president's trouble. Americans are eager for the change that they voted into office. They support him, they just want to see results sooner rather than later."
Ah, yes, ye olde quick fix mentality, the same approach that Americans take to most everything, including health care — just give me a pill, doc, don’t make me eat right or exercise — but excluding cutting greenhouse emissions — sure, we’ll do it, just give us 40 years.
I’m not feeling disillusioned, because I was never under the illusion that Obama was going to usher in any major changes. Symbolically, it was great to have an African-American ascend to the nation’s highest office, and psychically, it was fantastic to get rid of Bush-Cheney.
But while Obama seems like an earnest, committed guy — though I still don’t get why he sidestepped the whole torture-abuse of power-war criminals-Cheney as assassination ring leader thing, more deeply mired us in the muck of Afghanistan and moved to escalate the nuclear arms race between India and Pakistan — that which ails us is so deep and systemic that it can’t be fixed in the White House, but only in each and every house, with individual people changing how they think, and so how they live in the world.
And that's where my disillusionment sets in.
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The rise of the "Palin phenomenon" is not good sign for our future. She herself may be done for, but her "success" is sure to be emulated by the next round of "wannabeelecteds" at the national level.
The disillusionment is the province of those who thought Obama would actually do things differently. Six months in, the direction he’s going is now apparent- more wars, no single payer, kowtowing to the banks and wall street and screwing the debtors and homeowners, maintaining Bush’s solitary executive doctrine, continuing secret domestic spying programs, stonewalling on ridding us of don’t ask don’t tell and reversing a dozen other campaign promises.
I never expected anything different and it isn’t about “give him time”- he’s had time to indicate what direction he’s taking us- down the same old track to fascism and corporate control.
I was expecting change. So I was suckered. The Obama campaign then won a marketing award from Advertising Age. That made me angry. Because I don't like being used, and I guess I was.
Obama is better than McCain would have been and some good things have happened, but Andy said it quite well. He's had time, and he's basically made Goldman Sachs whole and prosperous again, killed their arch competitor Lehman Bros., and otherwise taken very good care of his rich supporters, while voters get foreclosed.
I don't expect mass upset about this, sheep are used to being fleeced in this country. I suppose I'll continue to bleat, though, what else is there to do.
"I suppose I'll continue to bleat, though, what else is there to do."
Stop bleating, grow a pair and stop expressing such sickeningly hopeless despair?
I'm surprised that anyone would expect Obama to work for anything other than the salvation of capitalism in a time of crisis.
No matter how progressive - or not - a politician is in the US, he or she is fundamentally beholden to capitalism, through the mechanisms of fund-raising, the social milieu of elite political circles, and the structural constraints inherent in capitalist economies (ie: the money for the functioning of society comes from capital.)
US capitalism is dependent on access to resource extraction abroad. Hence, war and empire are the name of the game.
It has nothing to do with who Obama is individually, so I don't see the point of focussing any angst toward him.
The one thing that his administration may end up doing better than a McCain/Palin administration is to smooth down, to some degree, the more jagged edges of capitalism within the US - in other words, there will probably be some social safety nets nurtured that wouldn't have been otherwise. This is not unimportant to the people in the US who suffer the most, and for that reason, I support it wholeheartedly (while still aiming toward revolution, of course.)
Another aspect of the Obama presidency that I find important is the fact that it gives people of color in the US greater "social capital" than they have ever had in this country before. I heard an interesting interview some months ago with a group of young grassroots organizers of color. Believe me, they were not "boosters" for capitalism or Obama. But one young Latina organizer from LA pointed out how strange it was for her to have only about two degrees of separation from Obama - through family and social connections. There are a lot more people of color in the US who can say that now. (Heck, as an organizer myself, I realized the other day that I have about three degrees of separation - and only two from Professor Skip Gates, for that matter!)
So these are small things that I believe we should view as opportunities to build on for a more powerful push to the Left in the US.
I don't think it makes any of us very interesting to hang our heads and bemoan the shock that Obama is doing exactly the job he was hired to do: protect the vital interests of the United States. Qualification number one for that job: You must be a capitalist.
Now get back to work.
wow, are these the smart kids commenting?
i dont even know where to start. 2 wars. health care. tanking economy. no intl respect. all being about as well handled as could be expected. his performance is far more impressive than the accuracy of your collective assessments
keep your day jobs
dwps
"No matter how progressive - or not - a politician is in the US, he or she is fundamentally beholden to capitalism, through the mechanisms of fund-raising, the social milieu of elite political circles, and the structural constraints inherent in capitalist economies (ie: the money for the functioning of society comes from capital.)"
You mean "elected" politicians. Nader for example took no corporate funding and other minor political party candidates have as well.
"So these are small things that I believe we should view as opportunities to build on for a more powerful push to the Left in the US."
I don't want a more powerful push to the left. The left wants a centralized welfare state and the right wants a centralized military state. I want neither and will oppose both.
Given the choice, I'd go for the military state.
"Given the choice, I'd go for the military state."
Unfortunately in a military state you will not be "given the choice" so your choice for such a state would be your last. Perhaps you should go back to North Korea or Burma where your wish has come true.
"Perhaps you should go back to North Korea or Burma where your wish has come true."
I'm going back to Sweden a welfare state that is much nicer than North Korea or Burma or even the USA.
You welfare pussy.
"You welfare pussy."
How did you guess! Here I am at my summer job in Denmark you misogynist, mouth-breathing, warmonger.
http://www.speedbandits.dk/
Well, while you work, I am entering my second decade of wonderful, debt-free retirement living in the lap of luxury on the Kona Coast.
Not being a welfare pussy such as yourself, but being a hard-core capitalist, I retired at 50.
Enjoy your summer job. I had one of those...in high school.
Pussy.
"Not being a welfare pussy such as yourself, but being a hard-core capitalist, I retired at 50."
You poor deluded running dog of the capitalist roader. Retired at 50. What a late blooming dullard! I have always been retired, never worked a day in my life preferring to live off the excesses of your greed. Sure it's a simple life but hey I place a premium on doing what I want and letting the man (you and your ilk) pick up the tab. Thanks for your modest contribution and busting your hump for my benefit.
It's a lifestyle thing. I prefer mine over yours.
I've been rich and I've been poor.
Rich is better.
I know...money can't buy happiness, but it does let you look for it in lots of different places.
Yes you prefer to pay to visit Denmark while I am having them pay me to be there, but to each her own.
Greedy people paying taxes to support my lifestyle is a life lesson best learned early.
"I know...money can't buy happiness, but it does let you look for it in lots of different places."
Try looking inside your head. That's where I found happiness and it was free.
I've always been happy in my head...happy to achieve...happy to win...happy to amass wealth...happy to enjoy a very long, first-class retirement.
It's always nice to hear from the Welfare Warrior class...the Govn't Cheese Whizes...the Shopping Cart Cadre...the Food Stamp Force...
"How to be Happy while being a Poor Loser with no Ambition"...maybe you should write a book. But no...it would be against your anti-work ethic.
So you welfare pussies can see the Paris sites because you are parasites.
We tax-paying capitalists "give" while you shamelessly "take" without providing any value back.
It doesn't seem like you can claim any moral high ground.
Reminds me of the song "King of the Road", praising the bum lifestyle.
Worthless...
I'm all for welfare existing for people who truly need it, but not for people making a voluntary life style out of it.
"It doesn't seem like you can claim any moral high ground."
I stand on no moral high ground so please don't hate me because I'm beautiful, people want to give me money, and I'm trying to improve myself by reading Das Capital in the original German here at the Copenhagen University Library. It seems Marx was poor and yet contributed what he could. You seem like and old bitter rich guy who resents a young woman who figured out what you obviously could not at a young age. Well gotta go remind the Dutch to slow down and smell the tulips. Its getting a little nippy here in Denmark 68% to be topless. Perhaps I will return to the warm beaches of Kauai after I get my Doctorate.
BTW - Sweden fully funds my Doctoral work, and my "job" here in Denmark funds my vacations to Kauai.
Adjö´! Sassa
Leech
"We tax-paying capitalists "give" while you shamelessly "take" without providing any value back."
Hmmmm.... I thought the definition of capitalism was giving more than taking. If you are paying taxes your must be a very unsuccessful capitalist.
Capitalism doesn't mean paying no taxes. It does mean leveraging resources to improve after-tax profit.
The customer gets what he wants at a competitive price guaranteed to provide a margin to cover all direct and indirect expenses - including taxes - and leave a healthy (or obscenely high, in my case) after-tax profit.
I was always happy to pay all the tax owed...supports the military, you know.
Fascinating to see the back-and-forth between the rich capitalist retiree and the sucking-from-the-welfare-teat-yet-proud person in Sweden.
Well, if suicide rate is any indicator, the happy-go-lucky Swedes have more problems. Suicide rate per 100K people is 26.6 for Sweden and 22.2 for USA. That's almost 20% higher. Maybe it's the long winter nights.
Even the UK comes in lower with 13.6, and they have vastly higher taxes to support their version of socialized health care.
Source:
http://www.who.int/mental_health/prevention/suicide_rates/en/
Overall, there are points to be made on each side, each of us carving out a niche and lifestyle in the world. But, my sentiment leans towards the one grows wealth through ingenuity and hard work rather than the one who survives off the wealth of others. This would include trust fund babys as well who do not grow the family wealth but squander it.
Wealth isn't everything, but living some lifestyle, even a "Hawaii Beach Boy", wherein one works for what he has and pays his own bills or goes without is better than one who feels society owns him a living.
More things are privileges than rights in the world..wherever you are.
And that is how it should be.
"More things are privileges than rights in the world..wherever you are."
I agree it is a privilege to live a simple life, get an education, and not destroy the planet through greed. Capitalism is taking more than you give and work is doing what you don't want to do for money. This helps the capitalist roaders destroy the planet by creating and then claiming to fill wants. It is a privilege that I am not forced to do this. - Adjö´! Sassa
What if one does what one loves and happens to make lots of money by doing it? That's the best kind of work. Sadly, many don't get to this level of personal fulfillment, but some do.
What if the application of such paid services increases the ability of client companies to better serve their consumers and employees via better products at lower costs?
That was my happy career as a management consultant. Clients paid me thousands...I saved them millions...countless consumers benefited by better/faster/cheaper products...countless employees benefited by anything between keeping their jobs to increased wages/profit sharing.
I'm glad you have achieved your version of personal fulfillment (on the backs of others, unfortunately) and I'm more glad that I've achieved mine.
As Zig Zigler once said, the best way to get what you want is to figure out how to give others what they want.
That suicide rate over there, though...
If capitalism is taking more than you give, than you appear to be a supreme capitalist.
You are taking a valuable education and giving no compensation to the university. You don't mention any full scholarship, which would have been earned by hard work.
All your previous statements allude to your taking other valuable things of life and not giving just compensation.
Just what are you giving in support of this alleged "good life" in Sweden, other than an "I'm a welfare recipient and you're not" attitude?
Pitiful.
In any case, most other Swedes must also earn your disdain since they do all those things you despise just to provide you benefits.
I think you could only live your parasitic lifestyle in capitalist countries.
"I think you could only live your parasitic lifestyle in capitalist countries"
If you consider my trying to save lives through my speed reduction "work" as well as living simply so that others may simply live then you are more disturbed than I thought. Fortunately I have many native Hawaiian friends on Kauai who do not feel as you do and welcome me with aloha on my yearly visits. It almost midnight here so may I say Adjö´? - Sassa
Saving lives through your work and trying to live simply aren't the issues.
The fact that you seem to crow proudly about taking things for free in a welfare state that you apparently could have paid for is the issue.
Joan C lives a simple life. She writes about it. I'd be shocked to learn that she is any form of a welfare recipient, trust fund baby or recipient of fat alimony checks.
At any rate - and this is the crux of the matter - she doesn't crow about it. She doesn't intimate that she is better than anyone else for choosing a simple lifestyle. She supports herself with no handouts.
You don't - and are proud of it. That is the crux of this whole exchange.
We have friends who manipulated the system and are proud of it. He needed 2 knee replacements. They could have afforded to pay, but didn't want to...it would cut into their lifestyle, you know.
So, they transferred their assets to trusted relatives to be retrieved later. Then proved they were destitute, thereby legally entitling them to free operations.
All who know of this treat them as they should be treated....leaches who avoided their own responsibility that could have been met without bankrupting them.
So, live simply or live high off the hog...but earn your own keep and pay your own way.
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