Anti Wage-Slavery, Pro-Freedom Quotations Of The Week 736-738

It was absolutely unheard of for one of us in the working class of Flint (or anywhere) to receive such a sum of money unless one of us had either robbed a bank or, by luck, won the Michigan lottery. On that sunny November day in 1989, it was like I had won the lottery -- and the people I had lived and struggled with in Michigan were thrilled with my success. It was like, one of us had made it, one of us finally had good fortune smile upon us. The day was filled with high-fives and "Way-ta-go Mike!"s. When you are from the working class you root for each other, and when one of you does well, the others are beaming with pride -- not just for that one person's success, but for the fact that the team had somehow won, beating the system that was brutal and unforgiving and which ran a game that was rigged against us. We knew the rules, and those rules said that we factory town rats do not get to make movies or be on TV talk shows or have our voice heard on any national stage. We were to shut up, keep our heads down, and get back to work.
Life Among the 1% ...a letter from Michael Moore

a long time ago when I was a fair maiden wearing rose colored glasses and tie dyed frocks, I was introduced to a swain of high pedigree and culture and exhorbitant wealth. Intelligent, disciplined,and focused, a Cornell graduate,second in command in the family (corporation) business. How impressed was I,the farm fresh country stock daughter of a working man who toiled at an honest day’s work and whose personna magnified integrity,fairness and kindness. As it was in the days of old(the 60′s) a fair maiden many times caught the eye of a privileged fellow who dwelled betwixt the land or peer and privilege and was not yet submerged in the water of well to do-ism as he sought out his future. A slight state of youthful comradery allowed acquaintance between the two opposing worlds of privilege and peasantry for a season.

Oh, but the inevitable… the clash of impetuous and opposing ideals..

The world of privilege is not a place for a princess of conscience and
perception of the principles of Golden Rules. Alas, the chameleon prince changed to ugly hues of dark and selfish nature and deed as he was programed genetically and socially to be “privileged”. Privilege status required occupying the top seat in the Castle of Corporation. The king,father placed the successor prince at the of his kingdom,after all..

Wrestling with understanding the distinction between the man and the mechanism(corporation/family business) became cleary indistinguishable. They were one and the same- symbiotic.” All for one,one for all ” was the motto. Soon the realization dawned that the future king was in fact, a robot , designed to perform dutifully and without emotion or calculation of his subjects’ humanity since they were soley serfs for the kingdom. Oh, horrid prince,the illusion of a knight vanished from before the very eyes who beheld him ! Then, to my amazement and instruction in the ways of privilege I learned a most valuable lesson..the prince and the power are one and the same. The umbilical cord could not be severed.The man is the mechanism who feeds the corporation,not vice-versa. Without the vile sustenance the offspring would expire.

With lessons learned, I, the princess of higher power,fled the kingdom of poisoned power and never looked back to this very day…(except to thank lucky stars for guiding me out of darkness) :)
Jerrye Barr

Comment on Gerry Spence's Blog

My dad has spent his life accumulating wealth, because to him, money is love.

My parents both grew up with the fear of not having enough. Their parents grew up poor.

When I was 25, my parents gave me a $100k check. There’s lots more where that came from.

The money sent me into a spiral of shame and denial.

Now at age 30, I’ve started giving it away to organizations working for ECONOMIC & RACIAL JUSTICE.

That’s something I can do, and it makes me feel better, but I know it’s not enough.

I don’t want to live in a world where money represents love.

I don’t want to live in a world where some people accumulate way too much - because they’re scared of not having enough.

We ALL should have enough.

I am the 1%

I stand with the 99%
We are the 1 percent

We stand with the 99 percent