There were so many things on my mind to write about this week—military spending, norms, voter suppression, gullibility, history and so much more—it was hard to decide which topic to choose. I’ve settled on labor and food supply.
Some of what I’m about to say may seem controversial and has the potential to be interpreted in a certain way, which is not my intent. My intent, and full disclosure I am a white college educated married man with an office job, is to discuss the realities of our current situation and the people who are actually doing much of what many might call “menial” work from a dominant culture point of view, and especially from a billionaire class point of view.
I believe most of us would agree there is certain work that we would never want to do, and in some cases, would never do no matter what. Jobs such as cleaning bathrooms, slaughtering chickens, picking fruit and vegetables by hand, or putting on roofs all day, often in the extreme heat of the middle of the day. Few of us aspire for ourselves or our children to work at these types of labor intensive jobs from the time we enter the work force through retirement. Although I have done a couple of those jobs throughout my life, they are not jobs I would want to do every day, for long hours at a time, for any extended period of time. Growing up poor, I do have a survival instinct and am not too proud to take on a job to cloth and feed my family if absolutely necessary, but only as a last resort.
In my life’s experience, I am not the only one who feels this way. This makes me extremely thankful that there are people who are willing to do those jobs. I am thankful there are people who, due to circumstances not always of their choosing, who will help bring or make food, clothing, and shelter available for me and my family. They work hard and long hours, often with very little gratitude or breaks, for almost no pay so they may start to build a future for themselves and their families. Which in the end, is the American dream we all strive to achieve, to better ourselves to make it easier for our children.
This is why I have never understood the animosity towards immigrants and migrant workers in the United States. Yes, many of these groups of workers may be what our society calls undocumented or “illegal” people living in our country. And no, before you go off on these groups also being criminals, and if you still believe in facts, all of the information and data out there shows citizens commit a much much much higher percentage of crimes than those deemed undocumented.
My main question to those of you who believe these groups of people are taking jobs away from citizens, where is your proof? Raise your hand if you see white folks standing at the corner Lowe’s or Home Depot ready to come work at your house on a job you don’t want to pay a union laborer to do? Raise your hand if you see white folks showing up at a farm (and I acknowledge many small family owned farms do this) to work in 100 degree shadeless heat harvesting fruit or lifting heavy plywood to build a roof? Raise your hand if you see white folks applying for jobs where they will be subjected to pesticides and non-OSHA standards in the workplace? Raise your hand if you know white folks who are okay working for piece-work wages, no insurance, and under threat of being raped or harmed because their boss knows they most likely will not go to the police and that they will be back the next day because they need to work?
I ask these questions because we are seeing an increase in ICE agents, or people cosplaying at being ICE agents, showing up at workplaces (in which usually white folks are the bosses or hiring agents and don’t get arrested, but that is story for another time). They are arresting non-citizens, and even citizens now, in their quest to meet an arbitrary arrest rate of 3,000 (latest news accounts stating this quota number) of what appears mainly non-white human beings a day.
At what point will citizens and white folks start applying for those jobs most consider beneath them? At what point will citizens and white folks realize these policies are hurting them personally with the cost of food being so high it is hard to feed their family? At what point will citizens and white folks realize when non-citizen non-white workers are harmed, we are all harmed?
Or will it be that to admit we all need one another to survive, non-citizen and citizen alike, non-white and white alike, is a bridge that can’t be crossed even when family members are dying of starvation or family members needing intensive healthcare assistance are living at home with no one to help them with their needs? That death and destruction is acceptable as long as “those” people “get” what they “deserve?”
As with most things, only time will tell. Let’s just hope the folks that think only whites are supreme can see the realities of living and survival sooner than later. All of our lives, sad but true, depends on this shift in their thinking.
Thankfully, maybe, just maybe, some are awakening to what they have done and supported, and are realizing they might have been lied to by the Trump Republican administration. This is summed up by a recent comment someone in a Missouri town in which a mom was abducted by people who identified themselves as ICE agents, ““I voted for Donald Trump, and so did practically everyone here,” one woman told Healy. “But no one voted to deport moms. We were all under the impression we were just getting rid of the gangs, the people who came here in droves.”“
I’ve often said we all need to be involved in saving democracy in the ways which fit our lives and our comfort levels. These can be blogging, reposting on social media, calling your elected officials, letters to the editor, donating to organizations, and/or marching in the streets. Nothing is too little or too much. Here are some ways to get involved whether from the comfort of your own homes, or on the streets, over the next few weeks:
- Call your U.S. Senator to demand they vote against the “big beautiful bill” that will harm most everyone living in the United States. The switchboard number is 202-224-3121. They will connect you with the correct senators. If you get their voicemail, which I do often, make sure to leave your name and address for your call to be registered as received.
- Call your U.S. Senator to demand they fight the Republican administration’s defiance of the court in following laws and the Constitution. The switchboard number is 202-224-3121. They will connect you with the correct senators. If you get their voicemail, which I do often, make sure to leave your name and address for your call to be registered as received.
- Call your congressional members and let them know as one of the people they represent, it is past time for DOGE to be dismantled. Call this number and the switchboard will connect you to your representative or senator: 202-224-3121. Even if you don’t know who your members are, they will find them for you based on your address, which they will ask you to provide.
- Call the White House switchboard to express your disappointment in what is happening and that DOGE must go: 202-456-1414 (switchboard) or 202-456-1111 (comments). I recommend the switchboard myself.
- Sign up for General Strike and commit to participating.
- Download the app Five Calls to help let your elected officials know you are paying attention and don’t approve. Website: https://5calls.org/
- Join a local group of Indivisible.
- Participate in the action items of50501: 50 Protests, 50 States, 1 Movement.
- Continue to boycott companies who have bent the knee or no longer believe in equality. Don’t buy from national chains or companies, such as Target, Amazon, Tesla, Walmart and any others who are bending the knee and capitulating to authoritarianism and the billionaire class.
- Write letters to your local papers expressing your disappointment and tell your stories of how the Republican administration is harming your families.
- Please say thank you in some way to the universities, law firms, companies, and organizations not bending the knee and capitulating to the Republican Administration.
- Mark your calendar for the next big nationwide protest, Saturday, June 14.
- Do something, anything, peaceful to fight back!
Personal Reflections of a Middle-Aged Man 