The Psychosis* of Black Friday: Why Pay More?

*8 minute history of Black Friday*

Is history bound to repeat itself? Should we continue to fight against the powers-that-be? Is society really progressing? Who the hell knows? This Black Friday, millions of people stormed the doors of faceless corporations in hopes that they will save a few dollars on material items that the market convinced them are a “must-have” this holiday season.

They pack the aisles of Walmart, America’s largest corporation, fighting each other to save $10 on a video game or some other pointless item that will not make the world a better place. At the same time, the same corporation exploits their employees and pays them a wage that they cannot live off of.

The workers risked their jobs and walked out of Walmarts all across the country in a mass strike. They asked people to boycott the heartless corporation and refuse to spend money there. They were ignored by the masses. Ultimately, Walmart will make billions on Black Friday, Wall Street will skyrocket, the Wal-Mart worker’s plight will be ignored and low-income individuals will go further into debt.

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Why do we continue to do this to ourselves? This morning I was reading Clarence Darrow, Attorney for the Damned, by John A. Farrell. It was stunning how the people of the late 1890’s and early 1900’s fought against the same type of injustices as we do today. The Populist platform during that time (1894) stated (this is just a restatement of their platform and is not an endorsement of all of their ideals):

“We meet in the midst of a nation brought to the verge of moral, political, and material ruin. Corruption dominates the ballot-box, the legislatures, the Congress and touches every ermine of the bench.

The newspapers are largely subsidized or muzzled, public opinion silenced, business prostrated, homes cover with mortgages, labor impoverished and the land concentrating in the hands of the capitalists. The urban workmen are denied the right to organize for self-protection; imported pauperized labor beats down their wages, a hireling standing army, unrecognized by our laws, is established to shoot them down.

The fruits of the toil of millions are boldly stolen to build up the colossal fortunes of the few… and the possessors of these, in turn, despise the Republic and endanger liberty.”

Although some of the references may be a little outdated, don’t they sound familiar? Police brutality, the mortgage crisis, wage stagnation, debt, and the wealth gap still exist.

The mindless mob is spoon-fed capitalist ideals and blindly supports the system. The rich sit back and laugh, as they get richer. They do not need to participate in Black Friday. They are sheltered from police brutality and an unjust court system. They love the debt that destroys families across the country and bang the drum of “Right to Work” policies. They own the government and know that they will dictate whatever change occurs in the future.

The Populists of 1894 believed:

“The President and his Wall Street allies are a small band of schemers… who have not a drop of Democratic blood in their veins, whose sympathy are entirely with the great corporations which treat the American republic as a foraging ground.”

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 The players may have changed and certain issues have evolved, but the premise remains the same; Capitalism exploits and subjugates people. Can we ever change that? When will the People finally think for themselves and fight back? Will the revolution ever succeed? Who the hell knows! All that I know is that we cannot believe that it is pointless to fight back or they will definitely win! We Must Keep up the fight!  #WalmartStrikers #Ferguson

Visit www.blackfridayprotests.org to support striking Walmart Workers!

*The definition of psychosis is:”a serious mental disorder characterized by thinking and emotions that are so impaired, that they indicate that the person experiencing them has lost contact with reality.”

We MUST Fight: 4 More Reasons NOT To Vote For Susana Martinez

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If we do not do something quick…Be afraid…very afraid. Recent polls show that Governor Martinez has a comfortable lead over Gary King. WHY??? How can any person in their right mind vote for her? I have decided to continue the attack in hopes that the People will rise up and defeat Susana this year. Here are 4 more reasons NOT to vote for Susana Martinez:

1.  She and her “Friends” are rich and believe that “the rich should get richer”

Susana Martinez vetoed a minimum wage increase in 2013 because she believes that $8.50 per hour is just way too much money to pay poor people. She blamed the Democrats for the veto because she was willing to compromise with $8.00 per hour and they wouldn’t budge fifty cents.

How stupid can she be?? She wasn’t willing to give the most vulnerable group of people in her state fifty cents more per hour. That amounts to $20 more per 40 hours of work. That’s it. The fifty cent difference wouldn’t even pay for a full tank of gas in most cars, but good ol’ Susana thinks that she was being fair by compromising at $8 per hour.

She whined that $8.50 per hour was more than our neighboring states were paying poor people. She was basically making an argument that an elementary school student would make: “It’s not fair! Why should I have to do it if they don’t?”

The reality is that in real dollars, the federal minimum wage was actually $10.56 per hour in 1968. How can she complain that $8.50 per hour is too much money now just because some other republicans think the same way as her? She is just a lemming following the GOP narrative.

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A vote for Susana will make the poor even poorer. How could anyone vote for a politician who would do that?

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2. Susana could care less about the education of New Mexico’s children

Susana has been running around bragging about the improvements in graduation rates. Although that is good, the reality is that even though more students are graduating, they are still unprepared for college.

A report by the NM Legislative Finance Committee indicates that 51% of NM high school graduates are not prepared for higher education. If I do the math correctly, that is 1 out of 2 kids that have received a poor educational foundation in grades K-12.

Yeah…that is something to brag about. Way to go Susana. You can spray Febreze on a pile of crap to make it smell better…but it’s still a pile of crap. Our kids deserve better and Susana will not provide it.

3. Susana is declaring war on unions like a good Koch Brothers soldier 

Staying on the education subject, we need to address Susana’s war on teachers and the union that supports them.

Susana believes that union dues should not automatically be deducted from public employee pay. Why? The unions were created to give the working class a collective voice when dealing with the elite class. The union dues are used to help maintain a functioning union and to give the union a voice in the political process.

So why does Susana hate union dues so much? Because the Koch Brothers hate union dues. The Koch Brothers have declared a war on unions in Wisconsin, Michigan and and other states.

The Koch’s have contributed almost $10,000 to Susana and her PAC this year because they want their puppet to dance. They even pulled her strings as the guest speaker at a secret Koch Brothers function held in Albuquerque.

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4. Susana believes in saving money at the expense of educating New Mexico’s children

To make matters worse, the little fireball Susana believes that overworked, dedicated, and amazing teachers make “too much money”. In a secret recording, Susana can be heard saying:

“During the campaign, we can’t say it, I guess, because it’s education, but I really keep going back to that . . . keeping the teachers from feeling the pain when they already don’t work, you know, two and a half months out of the year or three months out of the year but earn salaries at the same rate of people who do work 12 months a year.”

How can she belittle the people who are responsible for the future of New Mexico? Has she ever had to deal with an over-crowded classroom full of noisy kids all day? Has she had to deal with their equally loud parents? Has she had to grade papers all night?

Teachers work extremely hard for very little compensation. In reality, they should be highly paid professionals responsible for improving the future of this wonderful state. They deal with our most precious investments in the future on a daily basis.

Maybe we should evaluate the soaring salaries of administrators and shift the money to the teachers. Susana is out of touch with reality and is more worried about oil than children.

Fight, Fight, Fight

The recent poll scares the hell out of me and the expected low voter turnout is just as demoralizing. BUT we can do something about it. We may not have $5 million dollars of Koch Brothers and Big Oil money to spend brainwashing the general public.

BUT…

What we do have is the power of social media. It is free and easy to use. Continue to fight her by developing an online war that she cannot defeat with money. If we spread the truth and energize voters, WE WILL WIN!!

UPDATE:The Washington Free Beacon wrote a story about “We MUST Fight: 4 More Reasons NOT To Vote for Susana Martinez”! The ONLY negative comment that they could come up with is the poorly made picture of Susana as the Wicked Witch. I guess the actual facts of the story are just to dead on to argue with. http://freebeacon.com/uncategorized/gary-king-posts-story-attacking-martinez-as-the-wicked-witch-of-the-west/

New Mexicans Ask: Does it really matter if I vote?

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Does it really matter who I vote for? Will there be any difference if Gary King wins? In response to my last post, a reader has commented that they will not vote in the upcoming election out of protest. The reader states that voting for Gary King is not a better alternative to Governor Susana Martinez.

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I will admit, I am not thrilled with the Democratic candidate. He does not represent the majority of New Mexicans. What does he know about struggling to survive, poor education, and police brutality?

But… that does not mean that I will refuse to vote for him. I cannot sit by and watch Governor Martinez get re-elected. Absolutely no good can come from another term of right-wing politics. By refusing to vote, you are essentially casting your vote for Susana Martinez. Gary King needs every voter to show up and cast their vote.

Also, there is a difference between the two candidates. Maybe he is not the ideal candidate, but he does believe in some policies that will be a MAJOR help to those who are struggling. He wants to raise the minimum wage to help people survive. That may not be the only answer to fixing our struggling state, but if it is the only thing he ever gets through, it will be worth it.

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We MUST vote. If we make our voice heard, we can make a difference. We can fix New Mexico, but it will take time. Small steps in the right direction are what matters.