They are amplifying your economic hardship to keep you distracted

Thomas Cole. The Course of Empire Destruction. 1836

For the past several months we've tackled some major changes, confronted problems, modified our lifestyle, and changed habits & our mindset. It has taken a lot out of us. Mentality, we have been distracted by these changes, some of which were positive. Physically, we're exhausted. I set aside my personal writing opting to read more as I sought distraction. I've greatly ignored this online blog. I've also pared down my overall creative output. Some goals have gone unmet or were reset. Now that the majority of these issues have been dealt with, I am using the new year as a fresh start. 

As I looked back over the past year, I realized that I had joined the mindset many Americans haven fallen into. Too many people are caught up in their personal economic struggle to stay alive, housed, employed, and fed in Trump's disastrous economy. It starts to feel as if one must cut out the extraneous, the distractions, the things which add negativity. So we stop following the news and stop getting involved. We become passive, apathetic, or just too damned tired to give a shit about anything outside our immediate perspective. But isn't that the point? They are amplifying our economic hardship to keep us distracted. The economic struggle imposed upon ordinary Americans is a generated crisis to deflect our attention from the graft and power grabs of politicians and the hoarding of money and resources by the grubby, greedy, filthy ultra wealthy.

Our government could serve the people but it chooses not to. 

The wealthy could be taxed to pay for social services and infrastructure projects. Monies being funneled to the billionaire owners could be redistributed from surveillance state spying to building programs which could help bring back some American production sent abroad. The war machine could be redirected from city occupations and ICE actions to civil engineering projects and disaster relief. Healthcare for all Americans should be funded. Education programs must be expanded. So much more could be done for the ordinary, average American in the 99%. Unfortunately, the political ruling class and the wealth hoarders choose not to act in everyone's favor, but only for the favored few, solely for themselves.

When the politicians and their big money sponsors act or speak, it is to steal headlines or stir up their followers on platforms they control and media networks they own. We are told those people are gaming the system to get food, child care, healthcare, and education at our expense. Meanwhile the cost of AI datacenter infrastructure falls on everyday consumers instead of the billionaire owners. Water is diverted to big ag and away from homeowners. Sports stadiums are built with taxpayer dollars. Tax cuts for the wealthy go into effect while most Americans pay more for smaller items with our ever shrinking wages. 

They say the immigrants are stealing our jobs and harming fellow citizens. Yet, the power brokers garnish your wages over student debt incurred to get you a better job. And kids in schools and employees in workplaces have shooter drills where you learn to run, hide, and fight. As always the politicians run away from their responsibility. They hide from enacting hard gun control measures. And they fight against real bullets with thoughts and prayers. 

They want us poor. They want us as wage slaves, relinquishing our rights and our freedoms. They want us distracted from what they are doing against us and for themselves.