Perspective

The responses here - wow. The tweet that got me to actually read it said that people in the replies were done with this shit, and they weren't lying.

I was talking to my brother the other day about something related. Like, I know there's all that stuff about budget reconciation, and that Democrats only have a slim majority...

But taking care of the American people in a massive crisis shouldn't be a partisan issue. 

There is something seriously wrong with what I keep referring to as the 'powers-that-be'. (I picked up the phrase from a sci-fi book ages ago, and I like it because it isn't strictly referring to Members of Congress, or the president. Rather, it captures all the movers and shakers who help decide what sorts of issues get attention and support. Politicians, lobbyists, corporations, media mogul,wealthy donors... All of it. And they're collectively doing a crap job of it, but good luck convincing them of that. 😕🙄😔)

I've talked about being a 'good shepherd' before, and husbandry, and the joy of helping someone grow into their full potential...

But somehow things that seem obvious and common sense get lost when people actually have power. Like... There's a difference between fighting for a larger share of the economic pie and fighting for policies to grow the pie, and they do too much of the former and not enough of the latter. 

And while I've been somewhat skeptical when I hear people talking about how the rich think the poor somehow deserve to suffer (I haven't heard actual quotes or credible sources for it, but I can't imagine anyone thinking that way would go public with it. Then again, people have been doing a lot of things I hadn't thought they'd be dumb enough to do, so maybe my expectations are wrong.)

Anyways, skeptical though I've been... The policies and political battles make it seem believable. I may personally be lucky enough not to need assistance, but giving all that money to businesses and hardly anything to actual people?

Its the 2008 financial crisis all over again. Doesn't matter if it's Republican or Democrat, they're influenced by people that will give blank checks to multi million dollar corporations and fight against anything for the people who need it the most. 

The worst part is I'm pretty sure they're doing it backwards. Like, not just in the 'this would benefit me, do of course I want it' kind of way. More like back after 9/11, when they wanted people to spend money to help grow the economy. You have to have money to spend it.

Economics talks a lot about privatization and business, and the classic historical example was changing from a feudal system where the aristocrats took everything, and shifting towards one where people owned their land,worked it, and were able to trade and sell the surplus. 

You have to have a surplus to do that with. 

I'm not saying corporations or banks or businesses aren't important. Having access to loans (to start businesses, improve them, etc) is also important.

It's just that if people had been given the money directly they could have paid their mortgages... And the business would have been fine. 

That's overly simplistic, I know. Part of the issue had to do with... Crap, I forget the terms. It's been too long since I read up on this. Oh, right. Part of it was how they packaged and valued the mortgages of people at risk of defaulting, and some of it also had to do with perception and the complicated ways banks loan each other money. And some of it is because the things they do to try and secure a profit all too often mean that we all suffer if they do. 'too big to fail', and of course nobody wants a recession.. The people who already aren't that well off tend to suffer the most then. Lost jobs, bankruptcy, etc. But it still burns that they create a system where they supposedly deserve high paychecks - for taking risks, or because of how much they know - but then they don't have the skills to back it up. Then they still get golden parachutes and government bailouts while good, decent, hard working Americans wind up owing more than their homes are worth and/or going bankrupt. (I'm typing this more to explain why people feel the way they do, rather than as a factual assessment of the situation. It's also why spite is more and more of a factor, like we saw with GameStop. And as the replies I linked to above show, people are angry/frustrated/fed up. It's kind of a shame Trump was a con artist who never intended to deliver for the populist sentiment he tapped into, because the powers-that-be have been failing us for a while now.) 

The powers-that-be protect their own, and give blank checks to those who wouldn't need them in the first place if they all did a better job of shepherding their flock.