IT (originally published in Pemmican)
The U.S. government should
balance its budget ...
just like the Coppolla family does,"
Eddie the custodian says.
The Republicans in the election
seek to win popular support
for destroying the gains of the New Deal
by raising the banner of a "Contract With America."
"There is no free lunch
in industry...
why should there be one
in government,"
says the Jamal the clerical.
The real aim of their campaign
against "Big Government"
is to institute taxcuts
and other government handouts
to big business and the rich.
I argue with my coworkers,
I throw everything I have into it.
If I can't convince those
whom I work with,
whom can I win,
I ask myself
as we tumble on.
I try.
But as the Republicans bang
the drum steadily,
as the Democrats march
along,
as the schools fall apart
as the cities implode,
something tells me
it is a stone dead end.
If the argument remains
within this context,
all is lost.
"What if I told you,"
I ask them,
"of a country which can do
anything it wants to
in the dazzling New World Order--
unless,of course, it flouts
the International Monetary Fund.
Then the gunships go on red alert,
the most fearsome propaganda machine
on the face of the earth
having sprung into furious action."
"l.) FREE TRADE.
A SHIRT MADE BY SOMEONE
AT l6 CENTS AN HOUR
MUST COMPETE AGAINST A SHIRT
MADE BY SOMEONE
AT $8 AN HOUR.
2.) SLOW GROWTH AND LOW WAGES.
IF TOO MANY PEOPLE GET A JOB
WALL STREET STOCKS GO DOWN.
A COMPANY THAT LAYS OFF WORKERS
HAS PROVEN ITSELF TO BE A GOOD COMPANY.
3.) SHRINK THE PUBLIC SECTOR.
ALL GOVERNMENT IS BAD.
PUT THE WEALTH BACK IN THE JAWS
OF THE MARKETPLACE.
- DEREGULATE THE LABOR MARKET.
THERE WILL BE NO RULES OR MINIMUM STANDARDS
AND ANYBODY WHO GETS TOGETHER
WI LL BE BEATEN DOWN."
"I would say it's awful,"
says the custodian.
"I would say it stinks,"
says the clerical.
"In this country a cabal attacks
the gains of the workers
in the name of fighting
"big government".
A movement for democracy and human rights
discovers it must fight
the banks and corporations
if it is to triumph."
"What if I told you all this
about a certain country?
"What people would you say
it was?"
"ARGENTINA ,"
says Eddie.
"RUSSIA , definitely,"
says Jamal.
"Wrong,"
I say.
"Wrong --
and again wrong."
"Where have you guys been
all these years?" I ask.
"In an ivory tower?
On a tropical island?"
"It is the same country
that downsizes its workers
so the stock market
can skyrocket."
"It is the same country
that balances its budget
on the backs
of the poor. "
It is the country
where racism is a scissors
that slices people
hourly from power.
It is the country
where cities fall apart
to pay for
Wall Street's wars.
"It is the country
where health care is a prayer
and the middle class
becomes fiction.
"It is the country
where every day
the rich grow richer
and the poor grow
poorer. "
"It is..."
