ALPERN AT LARGE-As we slow down, or shut down, for the Christmas/New Year's Season, it's time to reflect on whether our lives, our families, our communities (and, if you're interested) our nation are happier, more prosperous, and--most importantly—more fulfilled. Without the fulfilled part, everything else means nothing ... but it's certainly easier to feel fulfilled if one has no worries about food, shelter and paying the bills.
Having no worries, and having a "sure thing" is what we all want, and yet the formula of "who deserves what assurance" is anything but defined. Both Republicans and Democrats, and both conservatives and liberals, have differing formulas of fixing our safety net, and/or defining what our safety net should be, and/or defining which groups of individuals deserve that safety net the most.
But what's hurting the American psyche the most, and carrying over into our holiday spirit, is the uncertainty of our economic future--both as a nation and in our own personal lives.
The so-called "1%" continue to stockpile their wealth while failing to deliver on jobs that pay an "independent wage" that keeps individuals and families independent of food stamps and Medicaid (I despise the term "living wage" but feel free to substitute it if you're so inclined).
Meanwhile, labor goons are being bussed in whenever and wherever to support a prima facie ridiculous salary demand of $15/hour for entry-level work to individuals who fail to expand their skill set.
And the rest of us continue to suffer through an entrenched mindset of pessimistic "clinging to what you've got" and/or working 2-3 jobs to get ahead...oh, yes, those increased healthcare premiums or Obamacare Exchange options are quite affordable, right (so no stress there!)?
Just as conservatives and Christians are increasingly abhorring the out-of-touch, tax-dodging rich (one of the reasons many Republicans stayed home and didn't vote for Mitt Romney during the last election), the liberal state of California is increasingly demanding a break from self-serving, bullying public-sector unions--as George Skelton of the Times notes.
The 1% and the public sector unions can keep pointing fingers at the other as the cause for our economic malaise, but it's safe to say that BOTH are abhorred right now by the general public.
Yet we're not so socialistic or clueless to yet ignore that states and nations who make it easier for the 1% to invest and hire get better results than if that 1% is smacked around and taxed to prohibitive levels.
We're also not so heartless that public sector union retirees (particularly senior citizens) getting their pensions cut doesn't concern us as well.
Certainly we've got enabling union thugs like Brian D'Arcy of the IBEW to contend with, and teachers unions in Sacramento who are clearly losing support from the voting public, but so long as they keep winning in governmental elections and subsequent contract agreements, the taxpayers will continue to take it on the chin.
But for the average worker? The average public civil servant? The average small entrepreneur?
I doubt we've lost faith in ourselves and in these individuals. I doubt we've even lost faith in larger employers, so long as they come up with innovative ways to share any earned wealth with all those who earned it. Perhaps we need better communicators, and better visionaries, to figure out how to employ and empower a 21st-century working America.
(For those who adhere to the notion that jobs will never come back, and there's nothing we can do about that, thanks for sharing ... and please just go away and keep your unhelpful thoughts to yourselves.)
We need a break, we need a rest, and we need some assurance that everything will be OK. And that is NOT happening from our elected leaders, and that is NOT happening from the Big Hollywood crowd or the Reality TV nobodies that so many of us have suddenly latched onto.
Of course, we still have ourselves, and for those of us who still believe we have our churches and temples and mosques ... and perhaps those institutions--the family, the community, the religious institutions--are where we should find the comfort and joy so needed during this Christmas season.
We all have our humanity--which is something that can't be stripped away by feckless politicians, greedy employers or union thugs. And if we can tear ourselves away from those who have more, who want more, and who "need" more, perhaps a Merry Christmas can be achieved, one person and one family at a time.
Tomorrow is another day. 2014 is another year. But for now, it's best to do what's necessary to face whatever optimism we can muster and embrace. Perhaps it's always been this way, but it's certainly true now. While I certainly wish you a Merry Christmas, I hope we can all enjoy a Merry Christmas.
Not just for those who believe in Christ, but for all of us who desire nothing more than Comfort and Joy during these trying times.
(Ken Alpern is a Westside Village Zone Director and Boardmember of the Mar Vista Community Council (MVCC), previously co-chaired its Planning and Outreach Committees, and currently is Co-Chair of its MVCC Transportation/Infrastructure Committee. He is co-chair of the CD11 Transportation Advisory Committee and chairs the nonprofit Transit Coalition, and can be reached at [email protected] This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . He also co-chairs the grassroots Friends of the Green Line at www.fogl.us . The views expressed in this article are solely those of Mr. Alpern.)
-cw
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CityWatch
Vol 11 Issue 103
Pub: Dec 24, 2013