Solitary Oysters

Solitary Oysters

The first clause of Article 1, Section 8, of the U.S. Constitution reads in part, “The Congress shall…provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States.” Welfare is defined as the “health, happiness and fortunes” of individuals or the overall population. With 43 million people at or below the poverty level, Congress is patently failing at its job.

You have read similar statements in this space before, so why do I approach the subject, yet one more time? I do so because it bears repeating: The single-minded purpose, with which Congress summarily keeps the general population subjugated, is unethical, immoral and inhumane.

The lifestyle effected by the wealthy in this country, combined with its intolerance and arrogance towards the poor, is repulsively sick. To allow conglomerates and individual families to accumulate fortunes that make Smaug’s treasure trove look like a child’s piggy bank, while 43 million people struggle to make ends meet, is a dereliction of duty, of the gravest proportions.

Huge corporations pay no taxes, and yet refuse to pay workers an honest wage, one that allows families to grow and prosper together, instead of producing latch-key kids who end up hanging out on the streets. And why not? There is no one at home to show concern and care, because jobs come first, not parenting.

Now the Republican Party is going after Medicare and Social Security, despite being a political party which claims to support “family values.” What that actually means, is that it supports families like the Walton family, which owns Walmart, and refuses to pay decent wages, despite having the equivalent wealth of the bottom 43% of the American populace.

Reprehensible, insidious, repugnant, repulsive and putrid all aptly describe the members of a political party, vermin who continue to perpetuate the myth that this is a free country. Free? What is free about it? Not the right to a manageable wage, that is for sure.

How about medication, especially for kids and the elderly? Is that free? American pharmaceutical companies thrive on kicking people when they are sick and down for the count. These are companies owned and operated by people who have hearts of stone. How could they not, knowing they are charging a king's ransom, for medication that people will pay, because they are over a barrel?

No, the wealthy of this country are as cold as solitary oysters, living solitary lives, either clutching at the pearl already formed inside them, or scratching at more of what it takes to complete the job. They do this at the expense of the poor, and our elected leaders promote their actions. 

How any elected member of our government can brutally and consistently ignore the U.S. Constitution, and refuse to actively promote the general welfare, defies explanation. Instead of having to “work” 126 days of the year, leaving 239 days in the year, unworked, they should be working seven days a week, 52 weeks a year, until there are no more starving kids.

It’s not hard; just sign your names to legislation, permanently banning families from flaunting their wealth while others starve.

Solitary oysters... Hmmmm... Hors' d'oeuvres, anyone?