I note that Richard (RJ) Eskow has already written (and published) my article for the day, May Day, Mayday--the former being, of course, the ancient spring celebration of renewal when we dance around the maypole in joyful tribute to its phallic splendor; and the latter being the international distress call. As Eskow points our, more eloquently and more knowledgeably than I could, the ship of our state is foundering, and our distress is dire. I'll quote only his peroration, and beg that, if you haven't already done so, you click on this link and read the whole thing, from beginning to end. He has it right. Here's his final distress call
Mayday. Mayday. Mayday. This is the United States of America. Our democracy and economy are failing. Our lives are endangered by greed and weather. We are abandoning our old and our young, our poor and our disabled. Our blood and wealth are being squandered in deserts and mountains.
Our rights are being sacrificed on a cash-and-carry altar. We're threatened by faceless corporate entities, by the technologies of espionage and intrusion and remote-controlled weaponry. Our political offices are "remote-controlled machinery" too.
Our pilot and crew are under the influence of unseen forces. Our position is unknown and our time is growing short. We have 311 million souls on board. We are in urgent need of assistance.
In other news, we've been told that the White House Correspondents' Dinner was very entertaining.
It's May 1, 2012. It's May Day. Mayday.
To Eskow's words, I add only the note that the "Occupy Wall Street" movement is attempting a resurgence on this propitious day. According to this report in the San Francisco Chronicle, the event is dampened somewhat by the train. As I told my friend Michael on the telephone yesterday, there are signs of discontent and renewal, even in today's bleak political scene in America. I wish the Occupy Wall Street people well. It's my hope that their blunt message has already left its mark on our common political consciousness, and that the results will show up in November. Long live "Occupy"! And yes, thanks to Richard Eskow for putting it all down with such passion and outrage.
SOS, of course, is the other distress call. Save Our Souls. May Eskow's distress call be heard, and may our souls be saved.
1 comment:
I just read Richard Eskow's "May Day, Mayday" and feel it may be the most precise definition of our country's polarized and compromised democracy to date. His description of a government bought and sold by the MIC on a daily basis is accurate and painfully true. All thinking people I speak with are deeply troubled by the world their children are trying to inhabit. My oldest son is in high school and at 16 is already working part time to assist our family as I did in 1958 when I was 16. I've a close friend who has a 24 year old son that moved back home with his wife and child because the insurance company he worked for failed to succeed (AIG). He was a graduate of Harvard
and 45th in his class. Now he works part time as a gardener and plumber while seeking work in the insurance industry.
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