Tuesday, April 3, 2012

PROTECTING GEORGE

We seem to be staying in a shack of some kind out in the wilderness. It is night. I am aware of wild animals in the vicinity and am somewhat alarmed. One of the mesh screens that covers a floor-to-celing window, perhaps a narrow French door, is missing and I squeeze out into the darkness. George is with me, on his leash. There are several large coyotes out here. I shout at one to chase him away, and he backs off, growling. A second stands his ground. George, of course, is going crazy, barking, straining at his leash... I pull him back, aware of the proximity of the wild animal that could easily attack. It's a stand-off...

That's my dream. How about the state of the AMERICAN DREAM?

I have been thinking about that half-billion dollar lottery. I agree with Robert Reich: it's a scam, "Given who plays," he writes, "this is one of the most regressive taxes in the nation." It's the only hope--and a sham one, at that--for the vast majority of our citizens to achieve that much-touted "American Dream." Which suggests, forgive my cynicism, that the "dream" itself is no more than a scam, the tantalizing promise of great riches when the odds are stacked massively against you. There's more chance, I hear, of being struck by lightning than of winning the jackpot. And those who can least afford it throw their meager dollars in the pot. Talk about cynicism!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

That lottery frenzy was sad testimony to the current state of affairs in our nation. Everyday, when I think things can't worse, they somehow do. I never expected to live in a country so divided, so lopsided, so uneducated, malnourished, and religious.

Yesterday two coyotes walked down our little road. Not ten minutes later our kitty cat wanted to go out. Silly domesticated boy, unaware of the predators out and about.