The "working poor" I see and study every day at the bus stop– now under major reconstruction in Kennedy Plaza, downtown Providence. They are still survivors of a bitter struggle for existence. They are more insecure under modern capitalism than their ancestors were many thousands of years ago as hunter-gatherers. They are more insecure than their ancestors after the invention of agriculture- with perhaps a modest plot of fertile land, owned back then by THE TRIBE -if not the individual.
If they lose their jobs, they soon feel and may be perceived as absolutely USELESS. As horrible as was ancient slavery, no slave could ever feel useless.
What happens to human dignity in modern times when global capitalism just does not NEED tens of millions of still healthy people anymore?
But just because you may be USELESS to capitalists, you are not USELESS in some absolute sense.
A sane Socialist society can and will make use of your human potential. You must protect this potential by guarding your mental and physical health. Is there anything more ruinous to working class people than drugs, booze, cigarettes, gambling, and brainless, indiscriminate sexual relations?
To be sure, the last thing a poor man needs is an unexpected kid to support. This alone must be a source of much hatefulness and drunken misery.
At age 67 I ask myself: how was I spared the Great Catastrophe? I see an absolute beast of a prole woman downtown with four kids beside her. "How did IT happen?" I wonder. And I think:DRUNKENNESS is responsible for half the working class population!
What if at 3:00 am in a seedy bar a very drunk Radical Ron-years ago- started seeing real beauty in a beast? And when not a drunken whore herself, the lady was an ordinary Good Catholic type? No, no,THAT is unthinkable. But so is a lifetime of slavery.
But this scene never happened. In my drinking habits I am truly my dear departed Ma's son. And she did say : "Keep yourself to yourself!"
And I did. And I told dear sweet Ma when she was nearly 90- and I was caring for her- FREED by regular SOCIALIST social security- that SHE was the only woman with a claim on my money. Ma just smiled sweetly at me.
So Radical Ron was SAVED by listening to the voice of his inner respectable Republican!
 |
| REUTERS |
What happens to human dignity in modern times when global capitalism just does not NEED tens of millions of still healthy people anymore?
But just because you may be USELESS to capitalists, you are not USELESS in some absolute sense.
A sane Socialist society can and will make use of your human potential. You must protect this potential by guarding your mental and physical health. Is there anything more ruinous to working class people than drugs, booze, cigarettes, gambling, and brainless, indiscriminate sexual relations?
To be sure, the last thing a poor man needs is an unexpected kid to support. This alone must be a source of much hatefulness and drunken misery.
At age 67 I ask myself: how was I spared the Great Catastrophe? I see an absolute beast of a prole woman downtown with four kids beside her. "How did IT happen?" I wonder. And I think:DRUNKENNESS is responsible for half the working class population!
What if at 3:00 am in a seedy bar a very drunk Radical Ron-years ago- started seeing real beauty in a beast? And when not a drunken whore herself, the lady was an ordinary Good Catholic type? No, no,THAT is unthinkable. But so is a lifetime of slavery.
But this scene never happened. In my drinking habits I am truly my dear departed Ma's son. And she did say : "Keep yourself to yourself!"
And I did. And I told dear sweet Ma when she was nearly 90- and I was caring for her- FREED by regular SOCIALIST social security- that SHE was the only woman with a claim on my money. Ma just smiled sweetly at me.
So Radical Ron was SAVED by listening to the voice of his inner respectable Republican!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments that are courteous, concise and relevant are always welcome, whether or not they agree with the views expressed here or not. Profanity is not necessary. Thank you for reading “Time Enough At Last!”
Ron