Merry Christmas! I hesitate to say much today because anything I write will be unworthy and inadequate. Still, I think some things should be said.
Christmas is supposed to be a day of joy and peace, and thus serves as a poignant reminder that America has lost its way. Long-term unemployment and incessant poverty have a way of grinding people down. Americans must now learn to cope with massive economic uncertainty and many, like the 15 million who are jobless or the 43 million on food stamps, must constantly fend off overwhelming feelings of hopelessness and depression.
This is especially hard because we can readily see that those who are supposed to represent our best interests—those in Congress, the President, business leaders, others in authority—do not care about us. During the Great Depression, Franklin Delano Roosevelt spoke directly to the people through the radio. These "fireside chats" boosted morale, and gave people a sense that Roosevelt was on their side, that someone actually cared about them. And it was true—there was nothing fake about it.
Today the President is vacationing in Hawaii, "staying in a five-bedroom beachfront rental home (which goes for $42,000/week) in a town called Kailua, about 15 miles from Honolulu, far from the tourists who populate the center of the city"—and a million miles away from you. Justified feelings of being neglected or forgotten trouble those who are down and out in America.
So here's my wish that those who have been especially hard hit by the Great Recession and its aftermath have a happy holiday. My heart also goes out to those who are volunteering today at soup kitchens, homeless shelters, churches and anywhere else where human suffering is relieved, however briefly. This holiday provides a small opportunity to transcend our problems, if for only a day.
I'll start out with a couple Christmas things, but then thanks to Beethoven, we will joyfully leave this world behind. Enjoy.
It's funny, but as I'm listening to the Beethoven an ad bar is flashing across the bottom of the window. Today, of all days (real classy, Google).
Google seems worried that my supply of Mozart opera manuscripts is running low; would I like to buy some? And piano lesson are available for $20 a pop, first lesson free (as we all know, the first hit is always free). It never stops. Buy! Buy! Buy!
What would Linus have to say about that, I wonder?
Posted by: Skeeve | 12/25/2010 at 04:52 PM