Hello from the valley. Yep, it’s Tuesday again, not unlike the Tuesday when I published my first post. The world has become a bit more unhinged and the stakes have risen exponentially. With a rogue band of unvetted, unelected miscreants running amok within our government systems, our electeds find themselves in uncharted waters.
Yes we want action now. We want something to be done about it, but what and how. The opposition is riding the wave thinking they are safe and the out of power majority have only the people to push back. There seems no legal recourse quick enough to kick them out and get our systems under control.
They knew this, they had a plan. It was to act swiftly on several fronts. An old fashioned smash and grab.
No different than a group of thugs descending like a swarm of locusts into a jewelry store and grabbing everything they can carry before running off and scattering to the winds. They have the loot and the store employees, heads still spinning, have no clue as to what just happened. They were caught off guard.
America has been caught off guard.
Millions of citizens depend on things like Social Security, Medicare, Medicare and Disability. My husband and I both receive social security, he receives a disability compensation from his military service as well as having paid into a civil servants retirement program. Also worth considering, my health insurance requires that I have Medicare Part B. So that payment is taken out automatically. If my social is lost, does my insurance company cancel me as well. Are civil service pensions and retirement funds at risk. Considering those millions of people who are receiving retirement benefits, what will happen if everyone loses their income.
The old adage of following the money could not be more vital to the survival of our way of life.
Personally I think (if this all goes down) we are about to witness an overused trope from tv procedurals come to life. You know the one where an elderly person living alone has an accident. His/her family are not close by or even involved in their lives, yet the helpers take it upon themselves to hunt down a son or daughter to give them the news and guilt them into taking care of their parent.
We have a generation and a half of adults with elderly parents on social security, living on their own. Are they ready to step up and take care of mom and dad, grandma, and grandpa when their social security is taken away and they can’t afford to live on their own. They can’t be put in to a nursing home because Medicare and medicaid are also gone.
It will fall to the children to take care of their own. Are they prepared or willing to make that kind of shift. I wonder.
I also wonder what it will take for those who voted for food stamp cuts and affordable groceries to finally realize that it was never about those things. It was about controlling the purse strings.
When they have to carve out a makeshift room for grandma, change their lifestyle and take on the extra financial burden, likely with no health insurance or benefits, what will be their priority. I can guarantee it won’t be cheap eggs.
By that time they will be screaming for food stamps, social security and government assistance. It will not be there because they voted against it. Their leaders will say, hey what’s the problem, you voted for this. Tighten your belts. You don’t deserve eggs. Get back to work.
So what will it take for some kind of grass roots unity to take hold. The mainstream media isn’t sounding the alarm. They are making a killing off of our societal and cultural division and too many (supposed) elitists still have their heads in the clouds.
People, that’s what it will come down to. The people really do have the power. Right now the power of the purse is with the people. but that will not last forever if things keep moving down the slippery slope.
Artwork: Snowball, Mixed media, collage on canvas. 60x54. Inspired by Snowball, the one who got away.
Snowball high res, digital print available to paid subscribers.
As I fine tune my substack, I will be setting up offerings for paid subscribers that include art downloads and prints. A work in progress as I figure it all out and become more familiar with all the bells and whistles.
My art is my day to day. The things that inspire me, inform me and make me mad. After experiencing a near death episode one year ago, I realized that I needed to pivot away from some of the work that I was doing, take care of myself and regroup. At first I was writing about my health issues, diet and wellness, but soon realized that the things that have always energized me were the same things that inspired my art. I scrapped the old blog and substack to start this new one. Regardless of my health issues, I am always going to be an activist, pragmatist and passionate creator at heart.
Thank You! For reading and supporting my new gig.