Patriotism, Social Responsibility and the Stimulus Package

So things are turned for the worse, like many of us thought it would, and our government is going to give citizens $600 to "stimulate the economy." Hey... it is better than nothing, although the real beneficiaries of this break are the corporations which will get $50 billion dollars in tax write offs. And who will have to pay for those tax breaks? We will.

And what are people going to do with their money anyhow? Those families who are not on the brink of homelessness will probably spend it at Walmart on some cheap, made in China junk. How does that stimulate OUR economy? The "stimulus package" (so falsely called) was passed with the condition that the unemployed not receive extensions on their unemployment benefits and that food stamp recipients not receive an increase. In fact, only people who have paid $3000 in federal taxes are eligible for the credit, which discounts most of the unemployed whose benefits have run out. Once again, the poorest of the poor are getting the shaft.

When we entered an unjustified war against Iraq Americans were expected to be patriotic, stop thinking and just get behind the program. Our Commander in Chief adopted a "you are either with us or you're against us" attitude with regards to patriotism, and no one wanted to be on the wrong side. We were told (and we gladly believed) that Sadam Hussein and the people of Iraq were, after all, responsible for what happened that September day. Our government began a not so covert plan to spy on its own citizens, jail people and hold them without charging them or telling their families where they were, etc... We are all pretty familiar with the so-called "Patriot Act." In America, our politicians have redefined what it is to be patriotic, and we agreed with them.

This stimulus package is further proof that politicians are completely out of touch with America's working class. I am sitting here with a calculator trying as best as I can to figure out how is $600 going to help individuals. How long is that going to last them? How much food is that going to put on the table? How many heating bills is that going to pay for? No, the money is being spent on businesses, that is who benefits from this package. The people will gladly take the money they are given because they badly need it, and most people wont even complain out of fear that they wont get anything at all, but the true beneficiaries are going to be the huge megacorporations.

And while we are on the topic of patriotism, how come Joe Citizen has to park his brain and critical thinking skills when it comes to patriotism but corporations are encouraged to send jobs overseas where people too poor to resist exploitation can produce cheap junk without demanding a benefits package? What is Exxon, which reports record earnings every quarter while families are struggling to pay for the ever rising cost of fuel, doing to help stimulate the economy? What about Halliburton and its subsidiaries who are profiteering from the war? The irresponsible lenders who made money hand over fist with the prime rates: what are THEY doing to help out the American people? What are they doing to help stimulate the economy? How much of THEIR money is going toward this stimulus package? None. Shouldn't THEY be patriotic too? What seems like a hand out is nothing more than a loan WE will have to pay back in the form of taxes, just like the $50 billion dollars in corporate welfare that was attached to this bill.

You want patriotism? Me too. Let's start seeing these companies who are profiting from exploiting people and sending jobs overseas to save a buck flip the bill. That would be patriotic. In fact, wouldn't it be patriotic if every technical firm which boomed in the 90's decided that hiring people in India and abroad to do work once performed by the American worker was unethical during these times when Americans are struggling just to survive?

There is an assumption in this country by the people who are always doing well, that people who are poor are unmotivated and that they might be homeless and collecting food stamps because they are lazy. It is a double standard. The same people who make general statements like this gladly accept welfare in the form of write offs. But the fact is that Americans are anything but lazy. Even the immigrants that come here from all places have amazing work ethics. No one wants a hand out. Americans are too proud for that. But our own representatives, and the huge corporate interests they serve: they have made us all potential welfare recipients. That is what this stimulus package really is.