Read Online Walter Mosley by Twelve Steps Toward Political Revelation - Free Book Online
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versus self-confidence, or just the power of one opponent to psyche-out the other. These rivals will be more or less evenly matched (because the fight is the thing: the debacle that is our open market).
Our Opponents, the Joes, have an in with the promoter (the Great Shadow Joe) and have gone to great lengths to fix the fight in their favor. They have defined everything from the size of the ring, to the referee, to the judges. They own the experts who have written how we (the consumers) are the underdog. They have even created advertisements that show every blow we have ever received while, alternately, showing every punch that our Opponents have delivered. They have filled the auditorium with their supporters gratis while charging our followers a thousand dollars a seat.
Conversely, they have hinted, here and there, that their favorite might have an injury, that the underdog
has a sluggerâs chance, that this is a fair fight and anyone can win.
We are dreading defeat but given hope at the same time. In this way we keep on fighting but without much heart.
Â
The boxing metaphor, I believe, works. It leaves us with the suspicion that there might be other ways to win this fightâa fight whose very nature is the state of our economy. There are two major ways that we can begin to plan for victory: by realizing (1) that the Joe in the other corner is our equal and (2) that we donât have to fight the way he expects.
To speak to the first part of the plan for victory I believe that we should use a rule of thumb to gauge what is happening to us in the so-called open market: That is, for every dollar we make, the Joes take a dollar for themselves (maybe a few mils more) and for every dollar we spend we get fifty cents or a little less in value. And, even though these two claims have to be true in order for the Joes to challenge us, the wealth is all created by us. The wealth is ours and we have to begin taking it back. We have to begin to make a ceiling for profit on necessities just like there is a floor for wages. Food, for instance, should not exceed a 10 percent
profit margin; neither should primary-home real estate. Economic corruption by elected officials has to come with heavy penalties, and citizen review boards need to be set up to oversee the uses and abuses of our various branches of government and bureaucracy. All primary service providers (banks, hospitals, insurance companies, supermarkets, and natural-resource providers) must be held to this standard. You can profit, but only by a strictly maintained margin. I donât care about bling. If a jewelry store wants to charge $100,000 for a silver hoopâthatâs fine with me. But apples and pears, work shoes, and a one-bedroom apartment cannot be overpriced because of the demands of the market. If it costs $1.00 to bring a pear to market then you can charge me $1.10.
The second part of the plan is mixing up our approach to the fight. This is to organize against Shadow Joe with our own virtual entities like guilds, unions, brother- and sisterhoods, special-interest organizations, and watch-groups. We can organize just as well as they can. We can come together and consolidate our wealth. You donât like unions? Okay. Join a special-interest group that fights for your cause. You like to meet our opponent head to head? Create or join a third party that the sold-out politicians have to recognize.
If you want to fight the champions of Cost you have to go to the gym to get in shape, you need trainers and other fighters in your corner, you need to organize and to demand a fair shake in the open market. You need room to breathe, time to consider, and a sympathetic and understanding version of your story on the front page of the newspaper.
STEP ELEVEN
UNDERSTANDING YOUR WORTH
T his step develops from the section on Cost. Worth comes in two forms for the worker and Denizen-wanting-to-be-Citizen. The first of these forms relates to labor and the
Our Opponents, the Joes, have an in with the promoter (the Great Shadow Joe) and have gone to great lengths to fix the fight in their favor. They have defined everything from the size of the ring, to the referee, to the judges. They own the experts who have written how we (the consumers) are the underdog. They have even created advertisements that show every blow we have ever received while, alternately, showing every punch that our Opponents have delivered. They have filled the auditorium with their supporters gratis while charging our followers a thousand dollars a seat.
Conversely, they have hinted, here and there, that their favorite might have an injury, that the underdog
has a sluggerâs chance, that this is a fair fight and anyone can win.
We are dreading defeat but given hope at the same time. In this way we keep on fighting but without much heart.
Â
The boxing metaphor, I believe, works. It leaves us with the suspicion that there might be other ways to win this fightâa fight whose very nature is the state of our economy. There are two major ways that we can begin to plan for victory: by realizing (1) that the Joe in the other corner is our equal and (2) that we donât have to fight the way he expects.
To speak to the first part of the plan for victory I believe that we should use a rule of thumb to gauge what is happening to us in the so-called open market: That is, for every dollar we make, the Joes take a dollar for themselves (maybe a few mils more) and for every dollar we spend we get fifty cents or a little less in value. And, even though these two claims have to be true in order for the Joes to challenge us, the wealth is all created by us. The wealth is ours and we have to begin taking it back. We have to begin to make a ceiling for profit on necessities just like there is a floor for wages. Food, for instance, should not exceed a 10 percent
profit margin; neither should primary-home real estate. Economic corruption by elected officials has to come with heavy penalties, and citizen review boards need to be set up to oversee the uses and abuses of our various branches of government and bureaucracy. All primary service providers (banks, hospitals, insurance companies, supermarkets, and natural-resource providers) must be held to this standard. You can profit, but only by a strictly maintained margin. I donât care about bling. If a jewelry store wants to charge $100,000 for a silver hoopâthatâs fine with me. But apples and pears, work shoes, and a one-bedroom apartment cannot be overpriced because of the demands of the market. If it costs $1.00 to bring a pear to market then you can charge me $1.10.
The second part of the plan is mixing up our approach to the fight. This is to organize against Shadow Joe with our own virtual entities like guilds, unions, brother- and sisterhoods, special-interest organizations, and watch-groups. We can organize just as well as they can. We can come together and consolidate our wealth. You donât like unions? Okay. Join a special-interest group that fights for your cause. You like to meet our opponent head to head? Create or join a third party that the sold-out politicians have to recognize.
If you want to fight the champions of Cost you have to go to the gym to get in shape, you need trainers and other fighters in your corner, you need to organize and to demand a fair shake in the open market. You need room to breathe, time to consider, and a sympathetic and understanding version of your story on the front page of the newspaper.
STEP ELEVEN
UNDERSTANDING YOUR WORTH
T his step develops from the section on Cost. Worth comes in two forms for the worker and Denizen-wanting-to-be-Citizen. The first of these forms relates to labor and the
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