Nov. 03, 2004 - 21:14 MST

THE WONDERING JEW

The Next Four ?

Pretty hard to talk tonight.

Over the past few years I have seen and heard about the various abuses of us common folk, and seen them multiply while the biggies do their things.

From now to aways back it seems that our rights are being taken away. Overtime under attack, folks who once were covered and now are classified by their companies as "management," governmental rules set up to divest some of us of a decent wage for working indecent hours, for instance.

And the Patriot Act, with the behind the scenes work of our beloved administration's henchmen trying to effect a more restrictive set of rules than we have now.

It is becoming a bit more public this bit about health care being cut by the businesses, to the point if we lose more, health care will be beyond our reach. So, then what can we do ? What do we do ?

I think that most of us realize that no matter which party put a man in the White House, the specter of disastrous terrorism yet hovers over us like an obscene cloud. Oklahoma City comes to mind for instance.

Still roiling like an upset stomach are the dreadful abuses of the "Golden Parachuters" who put their companies down the tubes while reaping dishonest benefits in many forms. Who causes such things to happen such as the Enron fiasco and above all who the heck lets them do so ? Makes me wonder if what they all did doesn't have a lot to do with the economic situation this country is in now.

The policies in this country of businesses selling pieces of themselves off, causing a reduction in employees and letting their once employees be taken over by a new company which offers much less in wages, job security, benefits and working conditions. Then each one claiming that to remain profitable they have to quit giving employees what they have worked years for.

The business from which I retired is talking about dumping all the health care on the shoulders of the employees, which will also include we who are retired. I know of very few, if any folks that can come up with the $1,000 more or less to pay monthly HMO fees or whatever protection they are under now. Like all things it seems that the courts are protecting the businesses because, BY ALL MEANS THE COMPANIES MUST REMAIN PROFITABLE.

Do I want to be a passenger on an aircraft anymore ? Guess I'll have to wait and see if the present employees get what is due them or they once again get screwed out of what they bargained for. They have made concession after concession and their top dogs are demanding more and legally not paying into the once sacrosanct retirement funds.

All these companies, corporations and so forth are playing by the procedures of the old kid's games - - - - - "King's Ex." "I get to do what I want under that protection," "Sorry peon."

There is no "King's Ex," for a hungry, homeless, sick, unemployed or aged retired person, or their mate and children.

We are at this point in our existence and the urge to just give it up is strong. For me at the age of 83 there are not many more years for me to have to put up with this sort of thing. Especially if my health care disappears. But those younger than me ? I pray they can find ways to exist and be happy in the future. I hope they band together and find ways to make themselves heard by our government, if we still happen to have a democracy.

Makes me wonder, that as years pass. what will our level of common sense and knowlege be after The Next Four ? . . . . . . . . . .

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