This is a Feature, Not a Bug
America has broken the mold on forcing compliance from it’s population
In 2020, we saw a massive uprising of people in response to the death of George Floyd. Thousands flocked to the streets. Just 3 years later, when Roe Vs Wade was overturned, and women are dying from lack of access to healthcare, we did not see anywhere near the turn out, even though both of these issues are equally horrific.
Think about it? With all of the things we as Americans have to endure, all of the injustice, all of the pain, all of the fear, why haven’t we done something about it?
Because we have just enough to lose.
If you read my first post about my experiences with Aetna, You may be wondering why the fuck I am still here. The answer is simple: I have no where else to go. I rely on this job for the (barely livible) income, and the (very shitty) health insurance this job provides. While my condition is not necessarily life-threatening, being without proper treatment means my quality of life plummets. I become barely functional. And not only that, but our social safety nets are so poor, that if I lost my job, I will not be able to contribute to bills, and my partner cannot pay rent and bills on their own. This endeavor took a lot of thought and preparation, because writing about my working conditions could get me fired. I do joke about having to move into my mom’s basement, but it’s also a reality. And I’m lucky I have a fallback. Most don’t.
This is the insidious nature of the society we created is a feature. It’s meant to be this way. Whether it was done by accident or on purpose, we as a nation are held at gunpoint to work shitty, low-wage jobs with no hope of being able to affect change.
If we stand up, there is a real possibility that we will lose everything.
I don’t have kids. I know many people who do. Their kids lives depend on their parents’ ability to provide an income and healthcare. And with most of us one missed paycheck away from ruin, is it any wonder that we don’t see the same resistance here that we do in other parts of the world?
That’s why, in my opinion, seeing a rich person who caused so much suffering shot like a dog has had the reaction. All of us want change, but our government has neutered our ability to affect change.
In 2020, when we rose up, the ghouls in charge took notice. That’s why they once again removed the effective safety nets, like the extra $600 in unemployment, and made those safety nets even more difficult to obtain. It’s part of the reason why there is such a pushback on WFH, and a prevalence of bullshit jobs that force busywork for the sake of “productivity”. It’s also why they are slowly chipping away at our rights, our free time, and our sanity.
I wish I had an answer, for myself and everyone else.
Unfortunately, I don’t have any answers for any of this, aside from mass uprising. But like I said, this is so much bigger and deeper than people realize. Many of us can’t do what Luigi allegedly did. And that’s the whole point. We have just enough to lose, and no guarantee that there will be any change. This sickness is baked into our society. And until we lose enough, we’ll continue to keep our heads down and try to survive.