Voiceless

Since I so rarely get sick, I'm not very good at it. I usually get two colds a year. My fall cold didn't seem too bad at first. My usual symptoms (sore throat, plugged-up ears, low fever, constantly hacking my brains out) were blessedly absent. I had a husky voice for a couple of days. It was kind of fun in a way sounding like I'd been out partying all night.

Last Saturday evening, Paul & I went to an Oberlin Alumni Potluck in Cleveland Heights. This was the second one I've been to, and I always enjoy the conversations with articulate, like-minded people. We had met a few of the people last time, including our hosts, who happened to live in the house next door to the house I had shared with 3 roommates over 20 years ago.

We met one 50-something woman in a beautiful bohemian-looking blouse who used to work at Delphic Books in Coventry. She introduced us to her companion, a man of about the same age. He was very pleasant, so when we got plates of food, we sat near him.

Well, he just started venting about illegal immigrants, lazy welfare moochers, etc. Now keep in mind that by now I had only about half my voice left, and the room was very loud. I really had to think about whatever I said, since I had to save my voice and I couldn't project. I could see his point of view, but it was really off-putting how sneering and contemptuous he was of other human beings. I made non-committal comments, but he wasn't interested in hearing my point of view.

It was weird that by his age, he hadn't yet learned that it's not the best idea to vent about politics with people you don't know--what made him think I agreed with him? Couldn't he see by my body language that I was trying to disengage from the conversation? He was absolutely clueless. Then he started dissing Ohio as a place to live. I said, "Well, I'm happy here and I chose to live here." You'd think he would get a hint.

When I mentioned an article I had read in the New York Times to support my thesis that if we got rid of illegal immigrants, Americans don't want to/don't have the physical stamina to work those migrant farm worker jobs he started dissing my NYT. That was it. I said, " I don't agree with you, and I'm ending this conversation," got up, and went to the other room.

I don't like to think of myself as someone who refuses to talk about politics with someone I don't agree with. I think it was his tone that got me. And his assumption that I would be on his side. Really, dude? At an Oberlin function in Cleveland Heights? I really wonder what Ms. Delphic Books sees in him.

I proceeded to talk for three more hours (with other people), which was a blast, but by the end of the evening, my voice was gone and I've been totally mute ever since. It gets me thinking about people who really don't have a voice. Maybe next time, I will take the risk to speak up when someone is speaking contemptuously of others. And I should be more mindful before opening my mouth, because sometimes I do the same thing.

Column A Total Must Equal Column B Total--A "Duh" Concept

After agreeing with everything in this Newsweek column last week, I was moved to sign and add my comments to a MoveOn petition yesterday. It seems that our Congress is still planning to push through more tax cuts for the wealthy (which I think was a stupid idea even before the Gulf Coast devastation), and then--get this--plans to pay for it by cutting crucial social services which of course mostly benefit the poor.

I am a liberal except when it comes to finances. To me it seems painfully obvious that if you need to increase your expenses (Column A) you need to either increase your income (Column B) or cut down on non-essential expenses in column A. Food stamps and Medicaid are not optional expenses--they are the equivalent of emergency health care in my personal budget.

The MoveOn petition suggested I write my comments for our congressional leaders, so here is what I wrote:


Please, please do not support any more tax cuts for the wealthy. It's obvious that supply-side economics don't work, with more people in poverty every year since Bush has been in office.

If the government has a non-optional added expense (reconstructing the Gulf Coast), common sense says that reducing the government's income would be the worst idea possible. If you need to spend more money, you need to earn more. Seems like such a "duh" concept to me.

I don't particularly enjoy paying taxes (and we are one of those DINK couples who therefore pay higher taxes than those with children), but that is part of living in a society, so I don't complain.

We as moral human beings cannot just say to poor people, "Oh, too bad for you" when they don't have the fortunate circumstances and connections some of us are privileged to have. Cutting back safety net programs would just be inhumane. I don't know how you can live with yourself if you choose to do that.

Doesn't the wild fiscal irresponsiblity of this administration keep you up at night? It should. Just think of all those interest payments spiralling out of control, taking up a bigger and bigger chunk of the budget every year. Don't you care? At this rate, someday the entire country will suffer a storm surge of fiscal disaster when foreign countries currently investing in our treasury bonds decide it's not worth the risk. What is the government going to do, declare bankruptcy?