Right now, millions of poverty-stricken children are slowly starving in the US while the rich are getting richer and the SEC is potentially covering up white-collar crimes. Can anyone tell me what's wrong with this picture?
And people say there's no such thing as class warfare. Pfft.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
re: "stop coddling the super-rich"
I'm not sure what his agenda is (I guess you don't actually have to like the system just because you're good at gaming it), but I pretty much agree with everything Warren Buffet said in his recent New York Times Op-Ed.
Reminds me of something I wrote back in December when they were arguing about whether to allow the Bush tax cuts to expire. Also, this.
Reminds me of something I wrote back in December when they were arguing about whether to allow the Bush tax cuts to expire. Also, this.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
london riots
If you're interested in what's going on in London right now, I suggest reading this. I think Laurie Penny has an insightful take on why this is happening. As for myself, the whole thing reminds me of something MLK Jr. said (especially considering the unemployment statistics and poverty index of the affected areas/population):
[A] riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear 3 of 8 that the plight of the negro poor has worsened over the last twelve or fifteen years. It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. And it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice and humanity.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
into detroit
Some good friends of mine have decided to start looking at houses in Detroit. Their current mortgage is a mess and they're seriously thinking about moving to the Woodbridge/Midtown area. They've also launched a new site for those who want to be a part of Detroit's 'renaissance.'
Personally, I'm a bit skeptical that Detroit will ever be the city it once was; but Detroit will never recover if people don't start taking a chance and moving back. That way, the city can start to regain some of its tax revenue and begin trying to improve its failing schools and infrastructure. Then maybe the job market will improve as companies start to see that it's worth investing in the city again.
So, as much as I have reservations about people idealizing Detroit's so-called renaissance, I don't think such a rebirth will be possible without people moving back and becoming passionate about making Detroit their home.
I just hope this potential renaissance doesn't become a negative example of gentrification, where an influx of wealthier, predominately white families start to flood the nicer areas, driving up property values, rent, taxes, etc., pushing out the poor and predominately African-American families who can no longer afford to live in the 'up and coming' areas. That would almost certainly inflame the racial tension that's existed since at least the 60s, and create the political conditions for a return to the reactionary policies of Coleman Young.
At the very least, I think the city needs a combination of things like strong rent-control laws, a strong push to develop frequent and reliable public transit and people who are willing to reach out to their community to really make this thing work. And if you happen to be one of those people, then I say more power to you.
Personally, I'm a bit skeptical that Detroit will ever be the city it once was; but Detroit will never recover if people don't start taking a chance and moving back. That way, the city can start to regain some of its tax revenue and begin trying to improve its failing schools and infrastructure. Then maybe the job market will improve as companies start to see that it's worth investing in the city again.
So, as much as I have reservations about people idealizing Detroit's so-called renaissance, I don't think such a rebirth will be possible without people moving back and becoming passionate about making Detroit their home.
I just hope this potential renaissance doesn't become a negative example of gentrification, where an influx of wealthier, predominately white families start to flood the nicer areas, driving up property values, rent, taxes, etc., pushing out the poor and predominately African-American families who can no longer afford to live in the 'up and coming' areas. That would almost certainly inflame the racial tension that's existed since at least the 60s, and create the political conditions for a return to the reactionary policies of Coleman Young.
At the very least, I think the city needs a combination of things like strong rent-control laws, a strong push to develop frequent and reliable public transit and people who are willing to reach out to their community to really make this thing work. And if you happen to be one of those people, then I say more power to you.
Monday, August 1, 2011
trip blog: an exercise in banality
Thursday July 28, 2011 (8:30-9pm): Sitting on the ‘empire builder,’ travelling much the same path as Lewis and Clark did on their journey towards the Pacific, I have nothing but time—time to think, to listen to old Megadeth albums and to enjoy the beauty of the Columbia Gorge in the light of the setting sun. Sitting here alone, Cryptic Writings blasting through my headphones and one of the most majestic rivers I’ve ever seen outside my window, I can’t help feeling a little badass, as if I there’s nothing I couldn’t do or be.
I’m glad I decided to take the train, even if I do end up getting stranded in Chicago. I don’t mind. This unadulterated time is more precious to me than getting somewhere ‘on time.’ In our fast-paced, 21st century world, it often seems to me like we never have enough ‘time’—like we’re always moving, from one task to the next, like a shark that’ll die if it stops swimming or something. But at least for tonight, I feel like I have all the time in the world. I don’t really have anywhere I have to be, or any time that I have to be there (although there’s a time I’d definitely like to be somewhere).
P.S. Happy Birthday, Mom. See you soon.
Friday July 29, 2011 (7am): Woke up to the sunrise over some anonymous mountain range, then had breakfast with some random family before retiring to the lounge car. Although slightly overpriced, the breakfast wasn’t half bad. They even had grits. (A seriously underrated breakfast item, if you ask me.) There’s nothing better than enjoying some eggs, grits and a hot cup of coffee while whizzing through mountainous farmland. Now I’m just sipping on my third cup of coffee and taking in the sights from the lounge. I have no idea where we are (somewhere between Idaho and Montana I’m guessing), but we’re travelling through a valley alongside a beautiful green river surrounded by even greener forested hills. Pretty awesome.
(8am): Coming up to Libby, MT. Not sure if we’ve made up any of the time we lost leaving so late last night, but I find myself hoping so. I retract what I said yesterday when I said that I feel as if I there’s nothing I couldn’t do or be and that I don’t mind if I get stranded in Chicago. A combination of hunger, weariness from lack of sleep and a vague feeling of anxiety were sufficient enough to remind me of my fragile humanity. I don’t feel bad per se; but I certainly don’t feel invincible, either. A few daytime cocktails might take care of that, however. I’m still glad I took the train, but I can’t wait to get where I’m going. Then again, I wonder if I’ll feel the same once I get there. Heh.
I’m listening to Sunnypsyop by ohGr as I write this. I really love this album. I’m glad Zach reintroduced me to ohGr/Skinny Puppy. I’d moved away from industrial over the years, listening more to black metal and electronic dance music than anything else; but recently (especially after seeing that industrial show at the Fez), ohGr, Dead When I Found Her and Zeromancer have been my constant companions (although Lady Gaga still makes an appearance every now and then, as well). Reminds me of the mid-to-late 90s, when I was really into bands like KMFDM, Ministry and shit like that. God, I suddenly feel so old. Where did the past decade+ go? Time is like a thief in the night—robbing you blind while you sleep through it all. Sneaky bastard.
Apparently, the elk population outnumbers the human population of Montana. That’s how it should be.
(Noon): Finally got around to reading some more of Dostoyevsky’s final novel, The Brothers Karamazov. What a great book. Hell, what a great writer. My words could never do either of them justice.
(1pm): A lot more people boarded the train earlier today at Whitefish, MT. Met one of them in the dining car during lunch from Rochester, NY. Can’t remember his name (if he even told me), but he’s an architect who has his own firm, employing approximately 16 people, and has spent the past few weeks (months?) camping and riding his bike from Washington (Seattle?) to Whitefish, MT, covering about 800 miles in all. It sounds absolutely brutal, but it’s easy to see why the crazy bastard would do it; we’re passing through Glacier Park and the scenery is incredible. I also just realized that I need to listen better and stop being so self-absorbed.
For lunch, I ended up going for the salad (lettuce with orange slices, sugar beets and feta cheese), followed by bread pudding and a cup of coffee.
(1:30pm): Looks like we might be passing through the Rockies. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look as if we’ve made up any of the time we lost due our late start yet, but the view alone almost makes up for it. A little Cut Copy seems like an appropriate choice here for some reason.
(2pm): And back to ohGr (undeveloped). Just can’t get enough. We’re in Blackfeet territory now.
(2:30pm): Arriving at East Glacier. The park is said to be a “hiker’s paradise” with over 700 miles of trails. Picking up another large group of travelers, it seems.
(3pm): I feel happy. I guess that seems noteworthy to me since I have nothing but time to explore what happiness itself actually feels like.
Listening to Gary Numan and eating beef jerky as we pass fields of grazing cattle. Is that a twinge of guilt I feel? Whatever the case, it goes really well with the dried mangoes.
(3:30pm): Passing through Cut Bank, an area noted for “the coldest midwinter temperatures in the country.” It seems pretty desolate. I feel sorry for the people who live out here.
(4pm): Windmills and cows as far as the eye can see. Sigh. If only life could always be this carefree.
(5:30pm): Dozed off for a bit after Shelby, another dull looking town that was (a) the host of the 1923 championship fight between Jack Dempsey and Tom Gibbons and (b) 1 of only 3 locations in the US that has an antipode (which happens to be the Kerguelen Islands). Not even windmills or cows to look at now; mostly just parched-looking farm and grassland, although an occasional mountain or two can be seen in the distance. I’m kind of pissed that I may get screwed out of dinner, though. Apparently, unlike breakfast and lunch, which is first come first serve, they go by taking reservations for dinner, and they totally skipped me. I heard one lady behind me say that dinner is fully booked up and they’re on a waiting list. They probably took one look at me and thought, “Fuck that guy. He ain’t eatin’ shit for dinner.” And I was really looking forward to the pasta, too. I guess I’ll settle for a microwaved vegan burger from the lounge, which my stomach will then hate me for. Fuckers.
Listening to Bizaar by ICP. Haven’t heard this album in forever. Shit still cracks me up.
(6pm): Stopped at a place with rolling hills called Havre. I’m official tired of sitting.
(6:30pm): All the attendants seem to be pretty worn out at this point. Questions especially get on their nerves, and they seemed skeptical about not getting asked about dinner reservations. The good news is, I asked about dinner and got myself put on the waiting list. I’ll be eating around 9pm if I’m lucky. (I may have eaten that vegan burger in vain.) The bad news is that we’re being held back again, this time due to having to “water the train.” It seems the station in North Dakota they usually do this at is closed due to all the flooding, and a westbound train just beat us to the filling area. I’m all but guaranteed to miss my second train now. Options include spending the night in Chicago and waiting for the next train to Michigan or getting bused there if there are enough people who are stranded with me to warrant chartering one. Nobody I’ve talked to yet is going that way, however, so I doubt the latter will happen. I thought trains were supposed to be all efficient and shit. Fuck. Hopefully this Corona will help subdue the enormous amount of irritation that’s building up inside of me.
(7pm): For some reason, the Border Patrol is making rounds on the train. Our tax dollars at worker, right? Pfft. I mean, seriously. What in the hell could they possibly be looking for? It’s not like we’re coming from Ciudad Juarez or anything.
On a lighter note, I saw an Amish lady sporting a fresh-ass pair of Filas. You know it’s sad when the Amish have better kicks than you.
(10pm): Made it to dinner. They ran out of the pasta, though. I ended up going with the children’s mac & cheese and tiramisu for dessert. Ate with a really nice older couple and a young girl who was studying to be an entrepreneur (and who I just discovered is sitting right behind me when she told me the ETA to Chicago is now at least 3 hours past schedule with floss hanging out of my mouth) even though her family just gave her their old business in Washington while they pursued some other opportunity back in North Dakota. Must be nice. I feel like the only unemployed asshole on this train. Sigh. I guess I’ll try to sleep since there’s not much else to do. Good night, cruel, beautiful world.
Saturday July 30, 2011 (4:45am): Managed to sleep a little. Finally ran into some bad weather. The sky is filled with heat lightning. The girl sitting behind me got off in Rugby, ND, the geographical centre of North America. I felt a little sad. Funny how things like that happen. Just because she showed me an ounce of kindness by looking up the ETA in Chicago on her smart phone for me, I was emotionally invested enough in her as a person to almost give a shit that she was gone, while I could seemingly care less about the hundreds of other passengers who are probably equally worth a moment of my fleeting attention.
(7am): Passed through Devils Lake, the site of a “mammoth struggle between thunderbirds and water monsters.” Had eggs and grits again for breakfast. Less enjoyable this time, though. Everyone’s tired and pissed off, especially because were so behind schedule. I don’t know what I’m going to do in Chicago. I hope the station is still open when we arrive; otherwise I’m sleeping on the streets of the Windy City with damn near half of everything I own. It doesn’t help that I've already spent what little money I had on food, either. Damn my insatiable gluttony.
(8am): Listening to Portrait of an American Family and wishing I was 18 again. Almost to Grand Forks, ND—yet another prime piece of real estate important to Native Americans ‘settled’ by the White Man. They don’t call it the ‘empire builder route’ for nothing.
(11am): Just left Fargo, ND, 9 hours behind schedule. Not sure how I’m going to get from Chicago to Detroit now, let alone what time or even day. I probably won’t know anything until I get to Union Station in Chicago. Starting to wish I’d flown.
Passed a couple of hours after breakfast talking to a scruffy looking nerf herder who sounds like he’s got tuberculosis that got on the train at Rugby, ND. I think his name is Tim. I think he might be a vet, too. The train was 5 hours late getting to Rugby, so the poor guy had to sleep outside in the rain. He seems used to it, though. He showed me some pictures he took on his cell phone of all the flood damage near the place he was staying in ND. I offered to buy him a coffee, but he said no and later ate some instant coffee straight out of the jar. Pretty hardcore.
(1pm): We stopped at Detroit Lake, MN, right around noon. What a tease. They must have named it that just to taunt me.
Had lunch with a nice bloke from Chicago and a gentleman from North Carolina. The former was a history major while the latter was in the restaurant business (and who mentioned that he lives in the same home his family has lived in since before the Revolutionary War). I’m starting to get the feeling that most of the people on this train have the time and money to just travel. As for myself, out of the $140 I brought with me, I have $35 left. I’m trying to take the attitude of ‘Whatever happens, happens,’ but I’m such a control freak that the not-knowing is threatening to cause me a fair amount of anxiety. My sanity hinges entirely on what happens after I get to Chicago, so I guess I can relax until then.
(4:15pm): Arrived at St. Paul-Minneapolis’ Midway Station, which is not only midway between the two cities, but the Equator and North Pole as well. Still 9-10 hours behind schedule. An announcement made a little before we arrived said that we wouldn’t have to spend the night at Chicago’s Union Station unless we wanted to, but didn’t provide any more information than that. I assume it means putting us up in a cheap room for the night or throwing us on a bus depending on where we’re going. Connection information may or may not be provided by the time we reach Milwaukie. Sooo informative. Tim got off here. He came up with a good idea for a Twilight Zone episode where a guy is on a train and each stop is the same town no matter how long or how far they travel. That’s kind of how it feels to me right now, like I’m never going to reach my destination. He was good company. I just hope I don’t end up getting TB.
(5:30pm): They announced that since we’re so behind schedule, they’re offering a complimentary dinner to all the passengers, starting with the sleeping cars first and then working their way through coach. I’m not sure what I’ll end up getting, though, since I’m in the last car and they tend to run out of things fairly quickly. But I should look at the bright side; at least I’ll be full while I’m stranded in Chicago.
Speaking of dinner, since I’ve been eating breakfast, lunch and dinner in the dining car, I’ve gotten fairly acquainted with the dining room staff. One lady, Joyce, is really nice. I like it when I’m put at one of her tables. Rudy, on the other, is a complete dick that’s apparently hard of hearing and acts like it’s your fault he can’t hear what you’re saying. It doesn’t help that he stands as far away as possible when taking your order, either. The main host, Magan, is relatively nice, as well; although she’s running on empty at this point and chugging Red Bull just to keep going. I feel bad for them since it’s the same four people working each food service, which usually starts at 6am for breakfast and ends about 10ish for dinner, and with only a couple of hours rest in between.
One interesting aspect of this trip has been observing the conflicting range of emotions and thoughts that have continually arisen, as well as the interplay between external circumstances outside my control and my reactions to them. I began this trip full of high hopes and feeling invincible; now I’m just hoping for a shower and a change of clothes. It’s been a good test of character in a way, seeing how I really act when push comes to shove and I’m confronted with less than ideal circumstances. (I’ve failed some, and passed others.) It’s also been a good opportunity to practice patience. (I just hope I don’t use all my patience up surviving this train ride and then act like a total prick once I finally make it to Michigan.) It’s funny how a simple train ride has become an exploration of what it means to be human, from my social interactions with other people on an emotional level to seeing just how much care this physical body of mine needs.
(6:30pm): I’m starting to get hungry. Yeah, I’d totally resort to cannibalism if I ever had too. Just saying.
(8:30pm): Got lucky. They decided to start with our car, the last, and work their way towards the dining car. Dinner consisted of mashed potatoes covered in some kind of stew (beef?) and a roll. Not bad considered it was free. Ate with a lady from Chicago and a couple from Florida heading to Virginia. They all seemed pleasant enough. On my way out, I said hi to Joyce, who told me to come back in about an hour and she’d hook me up with a free coffee since she knows that I like it. Going back to what I was thinking about earlier, particularly my social interactions with other people, this just goes to show that even small acts of kindness – a ‘Hello’ here and ‘How are you holding up’ there — can and does make a difference (and, for people who need some kind of incentive to be nice, they can pay off too).
Relaxing with some Varttina.
(9:40pm): Just as I was on my way to get my coffee, they announced that everyone with a connection in Chicago will be put up for the night since we’re 10 hours late and everyone will have missed their trains. Not sure where, yet, but I could really use a shower. Finally got some cell phone reception, and according to Annie, it looks like there are 3 trains that run from Chicago to Detroit/Royal Oak tomorrow: one at 7:30am, one at 12:16pm and one at 6pm.
On a completely unrelated note, I like how they point out in the “Empire Builder Route Guide” that, “Milwaukee is the only major city in the U.S. to have elected three socialist mayors.” Hellz Yeah.
Sunday July 31, 2011 (10am): Thankfully, I ended up being one of the first off the train and to customer service at Union Station last night. There was huge line of stranded passengers behind me. Ran into one of them I ate with on the train, a civil engineer on vacation. Amtrak gave us all a room at the Hyatt Regency and $36 for food and cab fare. I went straight the hotel, watched a bit of TV and then went to sleep. I woke up at 9:15am, took a shower and am currently drinking coffee and watching RT News. I plan on heading back to the station in a few minutes to catch my lunch-time train to Royal Oak. If all goes well, I’ll be arriving at my intended destination a little past 7pm (although I wouldn’t be surprised if we got in a lot later than that).
(6:36pm): Sitting in Jackson, MI, getting an additional 30mins behind schedule waiting for a freight train to pass that has ‘priority’ (commodities over people), and that’s on top of leaving Chicago late and at least an additional hour delay due to speed restrictions placed on Amtrak by Norfolk Southern, which owns the tracks between Kalamazoo and Ypsilanti. After everything that happened on the Empire Builder, I’m no longer surprised or pissed off, but resigned to the fact that travelling by train is my punishment for whatever I did to offend the universe. Bumping some Twiztid on my way to the D.
(10:30pm): Destination reached. It was definitely an interesting trip – 2 trains, 10 states and 65hrs of actual travel time – but I’m glad it’s over. I was starting to think I wouldn’t make it.
I’m glad I decided to take the train, even if I do end up getting stranded in Chicago. I don’t mind. This unadulterated time is more precious to me than getting somewhere ‘on time.’ In our fast-paced, 21st century world, it often seems to me like we never have enough ‘time’—like we’re always moving, from one task to the next, like a shark that’ll die if it stops swimming or something. But at least for tonight, I feel like I have all the time in the world. I don’t really have anywhere I have to be, or any time that I have to be there (although there’s a time I’d definitely like to be somewhere).
P.S. Happy Birthday, Mom. See you soon.
Friday July 29, 2011 (7am): Woke up to the sunrise over some anonymous mountain range, then had breakfast with some random family before retiring to the lounge car. Although slightly overpriced, the breakfast wasn’t half bad. They even had grits. (A seriously underrated breakfast item, if you ask me.) There’s nothing better than enjoying some eggs, grits and a hot cup of coffee while whizzing through mountainous farmland. Now I’m just sipping on my third cup of coffee and taking in the sights from the lounge. I have no idea where we are (somewhere between Idaho and Montana I’m guessing), but we’re travelling through a valley alongside a beautiful green river surrounded by even greener forested hills. Pretty awesome.
(8am): Coming up to Libby, MT. Not sure if we’ve made up any of the time we lost leaving so late last night, but I find myself hoping so. I retract what I said yesterday when I said that I feel as if I there’s nothing I couldn’t do or be and that I don’t mind if I get stranded in Chicago. A combination of hunger, weariness from lack of sleep and a vague feeling of anxiety were sufficient enough to remind me of my fragile humanity. I don’t feel bad per se; but I certainly don’t feel invincible, either. A few daytime cocktails might take care of that, however. I’m still glad I took the train, but I can’t wait to get where I’m going. Then again, I wonder if I’ll feel the same once I get there. Heh.
I’m listening to Sunnypsyop by ohGr as I write this. I really love this album. I’m glad Zach reintroduced me to ohGr/Skinny Puppy. I’d moved away from industrial over the years, listening more to black metal and electronic dance music than anything else; but recently (especially after seeing that industrial show at the Fez), ohGr, Dead When I Found Her and Zeromancer have been my constant companions (although Lady Gaga still makes an appearance every now and then, as well). Reminds me of the mid-to-late 90s, when I was really into bands like KMFDM, Ministry and shit like that. God, I suddenly feel so old. Where did the past decade+ go? Time is like a thief in the night—robbing you blind while you sleep through it all. Sneaky bastard.
Apparently, the elk population outnumbers the human population of Montana. That’s how it should be.
(Noon): Finally got around to reading some more of Dostoyevsky’s final novel, The Brothers Karamazov. What a great book. Hell, what a great writer. My words could never do either of them justice.
(1pm): A lot more people boarded the train earlier today at Whitefish, MT. Met one of them in the dining car during lunch from Rochester, NY. Can’t remember his name (if he even told me), but he’s an architect who has his own firm, employing approximately 16 people, and has spent the past few weeks (months?) camping and riding his bike from Washington (Seattle?) to Whitefish, MT, covering about 800 miles in all. It sounds absolutely brutal, but it’s easy to see why the crazy bastard would do it; we’re passing through Glacier Park and the scenery is incredible. I also just realized that I need to listen better and stop being so self-absorbed.
For lunch, I ended up going for the salad (lettuce with orange slices, sugar beets and feta cheese), followed by bread pudding and a cup of coffee.
(1:30pm): Looks like we might be passing through the Rockies. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look as if we’ve made up any of the time we lost due our late start yet, but the view alone almost makes up for it. A little Cut Copy seems like an appropriate choice here for some reason.
(2pm): And back to ohGr (undeveloped). Just can’t get enough. We’re in Blackfeet territory now.
(2:30pm): Arriving at East Glacier. The park is said to be a “hiker’s paradise” with over 700 miles of trails. Picking up another large group of travelers, it seems.
(3pm): I feel happy. I guess that seems noteworthy to me since I have nothing but time to explore what happiness itself actually feels like.
Listening to Gary Numan and eating beef jerky as we pass fields of grazing cattle. Is that a twinge of guilt I feel? Whatever the case, it goes really well with the dried mangoes.
(3:30pm): Passing through Cut Bank, an area noted for “the coldest midwinter temperatures in the country.” It seems pretty desolate. I feel sorry for the people who live out here.
(4pm): Windmills and cows as far as the eye can see. Sigh. If only life could always be this carefree.
(5:30pm): Dozed off for a bit after Shelby, another dull looking town that was (a) the host of the 1923 championship fight between Jack Dempsey and Tom Gibbons and (b) 1 of only 3 locations in the US that has an antipode (which happens to be the Kerguelen Islands). Not even windmills or cows to look at now; mostly just parched-looking farm and grassland, although an occasional mountain or two can be seen in the distance. I’m kind of pissed that I may get screwed out of dinner, though. Apparently, unlike breakfast and lunch, which is first come first serve, they go by taking reservations for dinner, and they totally skipped me. I heard one lady behind me say that dinner is fully booked up and they’re on a waiting list. They probably took one look at me and thought, “Fuck that guy. He ain’t eatin’ shit for dinner.” And I was really looking forward to the pasta, too. I guess I’ll settle for a microwaved vegan burger from the lounge, which my stomach will then hate me for. Fuckers.
Listening to Bizaar by ICP. Haven’t heard this album in forever. Shit still cracks me up.
(6pm): Stopped at a place with rolling hills called Havre. I’m official tired of sitting.
(6:30pm): All the attendants seem to be pretty worn out at this point. Questions especially get on their nerves, and they seemed skeptical about not getting asked about dinner reservations. The good news is, I asked about dinner and got myself put on the waiting list. I’ll be eating around 9pm if I’m lucky. (I may have eaten that vegan burger in vain.) The bad news is that we’re being held back again, this time due to having to “water the train.” It seems the station in North Dakota they usually do this at is closed due to all the flooding, and a westbound train just beat us to the filling area. I’m all but guaranteed to miss my second train now. Options include spending the night in Chicago and waiting for the next train to Michigan or getting bused there if there are enough people who are stranded with me to warrant chartering one. Nobody I’ve talked to yet is going that way, however, so I doubt the latter will happen. I thought trains were supposed to be all efficient and shit. Fuck. Hopefully this Corona will help subdue the enormous amount of irritation that’s building up inside of me.
(7pm): For some reason, the Border Patrol is making rounds on the train. Our tax dollars at worker, right? Pfft. I mean, seriously. What in the hell could they possibly be looking for? It’s not like we’re coming from Ciudad Juarez or anything.
On a lighter note, I saw an Amish lady sporting a fresh-ass pair of Filas. You know it’s sad when the Amish have better kicks than you.
(10pm): Made it to dinner. They ran out of the pasta, though. I ended up going with the children’s mac & cheese and tiramisu for dessert. Ate with a really nice older couple and a young girl who was studying to be an entrepreneur (and who I just discovered is sitting right behind me when she told me the ETA to Chicago is now at least 3 hours past schedule with floss hanging out of my mouth) even though her family just gave her their old business in Washington while they pursued some other opportunity back in North Dakota. Must be nice. I feel like the only unemployed asshole on this train. Sigh. I guess I’ll try to sleep since there’s not much else to do. Good night, cruel, beautiful world.
Saturday July 30, 2011 (4:45am): Managed to sleep a little. Finally ran into some bad weather. The sky is filled with heat lightning. The girl sitting behind me got off in Rugby, ND, the geographical centre of North America. I felt a little sad. Funny how things like that happen. Just because she showed me an ounce of kindness by looking up the ETA in Chicago on her smart phone for me, I was emotionally invested enough in her as a person to almost give a shit that she was gone, while I could seemingly care less about the hundreds of other passengers who are probably equally worth a moment of my fleeting attention.
(7am): Passed through Devils Lake, the site of a “mammoth struggle between thunderbirds and water monsters.” Had eggs and grits again for breakfast. Less enjoyable this time, though. Everyone’s tired and pissed off, especially because were so behind schedule. I don’t know what I’m going to do in Chicago. I hope the station is still open when we arrive; otherwise I’m sleeping on the streets of the Windy City with damn near half of everything I own. It doesn’t help that I've already spent what little money I had on food, either. Damn my insatiable gluttony.
(8am): Listening to Portrait of an American Family and wishing I was 18 again. Almost to Grand Forks, ND—yet another prime piece of real estate important to Native Americans ‘settled’ by the White Man. They don’t call it the ‘empire builder route’ for nothing.
(11am): Just left Fargo, ND, 9 hours behind schedule. Not sure how I’m going to get from Chicago to Detroit now, let alone what time or even day. I probably won’t know anything until I get to Union Station in Chicago. Starting to wish I’d flown.
Passed a couple of hours after breakfast talking to a scruffy looking nerf herder who sounds like he’s got tuberculosis that got on the train at Rugby, ND. I think his name is Tim. I think he might be a vet, too. The train was 5 hours late getting to Rugby, so the poor guy had to sleep outside in the rain. He seems used to it, though. He showed me some pictures he took on his cell phone of all the flood damage near the place he was staying in ND. I offered to buy him a coffee, but he said no and later ate some instant coffee straight out of the jar. Pretty hardcore.
(1pm): We stopped at Detroit Lake, MN, right around noon. What a tease. They must have named it that just to taunt me.
Had lunch with a nice bloke from Chicago and a gentleman from North Carolina. The former was a history major while the latter was in the restaurant business (and who mentioned that he lives in the same home his family has lived in since before the Revolutionary War). I’m starting to get the feeling that most of the people on this train have the time and money to just travel. As for myself, out of the $140 I brought with me, I have $35 left. I’m trying to take the attitude of ‘Whatever happens, happens,’ but I’m such a control freak that the not-knowing is threatening to cause me a fair amount of anxiety. My sanity hinges entirely on what happens after I get to Chicago, so I guess I can relax until then.
(4:15pm): Arrived at St. Paul-Minneapolis’ Midway Station, which is not only midway between the two cities, but the Equator and North Pole as well. Still 9-10 hours behind schedule. An announcement made a little before we arrived said that we wouldn’t have to spend the night at Chicago’s Union Station unless we wanted to, but didn’t provide any more information than that. I assume it means putting us up in a cheap room for the night or throwing us on a bus depending on where we’re going. Connection information may or may not be provided by the time we reach Milwaukie. Sooo informative. Tim got off here. He came up with a good idea for a Twilight Zone episode where a guy is on a train and each stop is the same town no matter how long or how far they travel. That’s kind of how it feels to me right now, like I’m never going to reach my destination. He was good company. I just hope I don’t end up getting TB.
(5:30pm): They announced that since we’re so behind schedule, they’re offering a complimentary dinner to all the passengers, starting with the sleeping cars first and then working their way through coach. I’m not sure what I’ll end up getting, though, since I’m in the last car and they tend to run out of things fairly quickly. But I should look at the bright side; at least I’ll be full while I’m stranded in Chicago.
Speaking of dinner, since I’ve been eating breakfast, lunch and dinner in the dining car, I’ve gotten fairly acquainted with the dining room staff. One lady, Joyce, is really nice. I like it when I’m put at one of her tables. Rudy, on the other, is a complete dick that’s apparently hard of hearing and acts like it’s your fault he can’t hear what you’re saying. It doesn’t help that he stands as far away as possible when taking your order, either. The main host, Magan, is relatively nice, as well; although she’s running on empty at this point and chugging Red Bull just to keep going. I feel bad for them since it’s the same four people working each food service, which usually starts at 6am for breakfast and ends about 10ish for dinner, and with only a couple of hours rest in between.
One interesting aspect of this trip has been observing the conflicting range of emotions and thoughts that have continually arisen, as well as the interplay between external circumstances outside my control and my reactions to them. I began this trip full of high hopes and feeling invincible; now I’m just hoping for a shower and a change of clothes. It’s been a good test of character in a way, seeing how I really act when push comes to shove and I’m confronted with less than ideal circumstances. (I’ve failed some, and passed others.) It’s also been a good opportunity to practice patience. (I just hope I don’t use all my patience up surviving this train ride and then act like a total prick once I finally make it to Michigan.) It’s funny how a simple train ride has become an exploration of what it means to be human, from my social interactions with other people on an emotional level to seeing just how much care this physical body of mine needs.
(6:30pm): I’m starting to get hungry. Yeah, I’d totally resort to cannibalism if I ever had too. Just saying.
(8:30pm): Got lucky. They decided to start with our car, the last, and work their way towards the dining car. Dinner consisted of mashed potatoes covered in some kind of stew (beef?) and a roll. Not bad considered it was free. Ate with a lady from Chicago and a couple from Florida heading to Virginia. They all seemed pleasant enough. On my way out, I said hi to Joyce, who told me to come back in about an hour and she’d hook me up with a free coffee since she knows that I like it. Going back to what I was thinking about earlier, particularly my social interactions with other people, this just goes to show that even small acts of kindness – a ‘Hello’ here and ‘How are you holding up’ there — can and does make a difference (and, for people who need some kind of incentive to be nice, they can pay off too).
Relaxing with some Varttina.
(9:40pm): Just as I was on my way to get my coffee, they announced that everyone with a connection in Chicago will be put up for the night since we’re 10 hours late and everyone will have missed their trains. Not sure where, yet, but I could really use a shower. Finally got some cell phone reception, and according to Annie, it looks like there are 3 trains that run from Chicago to Detroit/Royal Oak tomorrow: one at 7:30am, one at 12:16pm and one at 6pm.
On a completely unrelated note, I like how they point out in the “Empire Builder Route Guide” that, “Milwaukee is the only major city in the U.S. to have elected three socialist mayors.” Hellz Yeah.
Sunday July 31, 2011 (10am): Thankfully, I ended up being one of the first off the train and to customer service at Union Station last night. There was huge line of stranded passengers behind me. Ran into one of them I ate with on the train, a civil engineer on vacation. Amtrak gave us all a room at the Hyatt Regency and $36 for food and cab fare. I went straight the hotel, watched a bit of TV and then went to sleep. I woke up at 9:15am, took a shower and am currently drinking coffee and watching RT News. I plan on heading back to the station in a few minutes to catch my lunch-time train to Royal Oak. If all goes well, I’ll be arriving at my intended destination a little past 7pm (although I wouldn’t be surprised if we got in a lot later than that).
(6:36pm): Sitting in Jackson, MI, getting an additional 30mins behind schedule waiting for a freight train to pass that has ‘priority’ (commodities over people), and that’s on top of leaving Chicago late and at least an additional hour delay due to speed restrictions placed on Amtrak by Norfolk Southern, which owns the tracks between Kalamazoo and Ypsilanti. After everything that happened on the Empire Builder, I’m no longer surprised or pissed off, but resigned to the fact that travelling by train is my punishment for whatever I did to offend the universe. Bumping some Twiztid on my way to the D.
(10:30pm): Destination reached. It was definitely an interesting trip – 2 trains, 10 states and 65hrs of actual travel time – but I’m glad it’s over. I was starting to think I wouldn’t make it.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
see you on the other side
Getting everything packed and ready for my trip to Michigan in a few hours. I'm taking a 51hr train ride from Portland, OR, to Royal Oak, MI, along Amtrak's Empire Builder route. The ride itself, while insanely long, promises to be quite scenic, and I'm looking forward to it. The closer it gets to departure time, however, the more anxious I'm starting to feel. I think part of it is the fact that I'm going to be away longer than usual this time. Instead of the normal 2 week visit, I may be there for a month or more depending on how things go. It'll be nice having more time to spend with my friends and family; but at the same time, I've never been away from Annie for more than a couple of weeks since we set out West almost 8 years ago, and I'm definitely not looking forward to that part. I haven't even left yet and I miss her already. It should be an interesting adventure, though. I can't wait to see where the road will take me. See you on the other side.
Friday, July 22, 2011
a recent conversation i had with a friend about my political views
I don't know who in the hell would ever be interested in this, but here's a recent conversation I had with a friend of mine over Facebook about my political views. I began the conversation by writing:
My friend, James, who's fairly well-educated, relatively successful and leans more towards libertarianism, replied with:
To clarify my position a bit further, as well as address some of the counterpoints that were raised, I responded:
Annie told me you think my political views are essentially anarchistic. To clarify, I identify as a democratic socialist, which essentially means that my politically and economic views are more or less democratic in nature. In essence, I'm not completely against government, nor am I a statist in the sense of advocating for a strong central government; I advocate for a more decentralized form of government, as well as a more decentralized and democratic economic system. My philosophy of government is fairly positive, actually. The way I see it, civil society is the establishment of a cohesive social structure in which the interests of the community as a whole are weighed against that of the individual in an effort to maintain social stability. Government, then, is the physical manifestation of community interests. It creates stability through the establishment and enforcement of laws, and acts as a mediator in disputes between groups and individuals within the community. Of course, like most people, I think it's preferable if a balance can be struck where individual freedoms aren't too restricted and the continued survival of the community is reasonably assured, and how far the government should go in meeting the needs of the community is an open question.
The problem is that, for the most part, our government is a manifestation of ruling class interests, that is to say, those who own and control the means of production, finance, natural resources, etc., and not that of the entire community. In fact, the interests of the ruling class, the interests of capital, are often in conflict with those of average citizens. And one of the main issues I have with the current economic system is that its entire legal and political edifice is built upon private property rights. While this may not seem like a bad thing at first glance, it's has the tendency to lead to an extremely top-down structure, with often overpaid owners and CEOs and underpaid workers (the average CEO now makes roughly 275x that of the average worker); and, philosophically, it links private property to liberty, and through private property rights, secures the liberty of the propertied. Consequently, the greater one's property, the greater one's means of self-determination. It should be made here that by 'property,' we're not talking about personal property such as cars or homes, but private property, i.e., means of production, finance, natural resources, etc. Moreover, it tends to idealize and promote greed (self-interest) over altruism (common good), competition over cooperation, privatization over public ownership, etc.
While 'liberals' try to reform the system, they generally don't see anything inherently wrong with system itself. They fail to see that Keynes and Hayek are two sides of the same coin, and that the system has contradictions which naturally lead to boom and bust cycles and financial crises, especially what Marx calls the 'crisis of overproduction,' i.e. the tendency to produce too much of a commodity or too efficient a service for it to be profitable. For example, industrial farmers can produce too much wheat for them to sell at a profit, even though there's no shortage of demand for food (and some people are actually going hungry or starving). According to Hayek, boom and bust cycles are natural and must be endured, and interfering will generally just prolong them or make them worse, unemployment being an unfortunate yet contemporary consequence that'll eventually take care of itself when things recover naturally. Keynes, on the other hand, thought that by pumping money into the system, the government could stimulate aggregate demand and help put people back to work, and their subsequent spending would further help recovery. Both ideas have pros and cons, but they're based on the assumption that capitalism is the the best possible system and should be preserved at all cost. The difference is that Hayek basically believed it'd be fine if left alone, whereas Keynes believed that government could (and should) help it in times of need. They disagree about other things as well, but the real problem is people and their unpredictability.
If people are unemployed, having their homes foreclosed on, unhappy and generally disillusioned with the present system, there could be instability and eventually some kind of revolution. If trying to help by pumping money into the economy and creating work projects makes things worse, not doing anything could lead to lots of really pissed off and unhappy people. This has happened time and again, from France and Britain, to the Colonies, Russia and India just to name a few. I don't think that socialism can be forced onto people through a violent revolution by a small band of professional revolutionaries and their followers, however. Like democracy, for socialism to have any chance of being successful anywhere, it must be an experiment conducted with the consent of the majority of the people. Positive change rarely comes from the barrel of a gun, and not all revolutions are violent, e.g., think of Gandhi's nonviolent challenge of British rule, for example. Hence, my position is to advocate for a move towards socialism via democratic means, meaning that I think it can only be a successful experiment if it's done with the consent of the majority of people (unless, of course, shit hits the fan and things collapsed on their own).
I also tend to border on being a social democrat (or a reformist) in that sense; but I think pure reformism has its own limitations in that the we can do our best to enact reforms and try to limit their power and the damage done by the 'enlightened self-interest' of capital and powerful corporations, but it's essentially a lost cause seeing as how corporations themselves are now considered 'natural persons' and have managed to acquire certain constitutionally protected rights. A company and a CEO can get away with things no average working class citizen could, and that's because the legal superstructure is built decidedly in their favour—always has been considering that the Founding Fathers themselves were mainly wealthy, ruling class elites, and the 'aristocracy of the moneyed corporations' that Thomas Jefferson was so worried about was simply the next evolutionary step in a long line of wealthy, ruling class elites. Basically, all this is really saying is that the game is rigged. To fix these problems, we need to change the rules; and to change the rules, we need to change the system.
And while I'm not entirely sure how such a system could be successfully implemented, I like David Schweickart's ideas on what he calls 'Economic Democracy' (e.g., see "Economic Democracy: A Worthy Socialism That Would Really Work"). I also think Peter Kropotkin and Edward Bellamy had some good (albeit slightly outdated) ideas in works like Conquest of Bread and Looking Backward. I've also seen some promising examples of successful worker-owned companies whose dynamics are a lot different than the typical top-down structure, e.g., Alvarado Street Bakery, Big Carrot, Brainpark, Cooperative Home Care Associates, MONDRAGON and, to some extent, Weirton Steel, even though it eventually went out of business.
Another issue I have is the potential exploitation inherent in the system itself. In the Marxist sense, at least, exploitation refers to the worker's lack of ownership and/or distributive control over the surplus created by their labour. (That's why Marx defined slavery, feudalism and capitalism as exploitative systems of production, i.e., in each, the producers/workers have no ownership and/or distributive control over the surplus created by their labour). In this sense, exploitation is an inherent part of the capitalist mode of production, which in turn, ties into Marx's theory of alienation. It's rather complicated, and I don't fully understand everything Marx wrote on the subject as much of it is very abstract, but in short, exploitation is the idea that the capitalist profits far more from a worker's labour than the worker does, and it doesn't really matter whether it's voluntary or not.
Adam Smith et al. assumed that labour creates wealth (surplus value). But according to Marx, in a capitalist system, labour itself becomes a commodity, an object that's bought and sold on the market. Moreover, due to private ownership of the means of production, the product of the worker's labour doesn’t legally belong to them (alienation), nor does the surplus value their labour creates (unpaid labour), which is kept by the capitalist. Consequently, the product of the worker's labour becomes a commodity that's divorced from the labour expended on its production, thereby obscuring the social relationship between producer and consumer (commodity fetishism). Furthermore, the employer has the ability to increase their profit exponentially by reinvesting the surplus value extracted from the worker's labour into their company while the labourer is forced to spend their (more often than not) meager wages on the necessities of life such as food, clothing, shelter, etc.
I should stop here, however, and note that proving this kind of exploitation is rather difficult, especially when it comes to the various labour theories of value (the idea that commodities have a value that's relative to the amount of socially necessary labour-time involved in their production, as well as to their use value and exchange value) vs. the marginal utility theory (the idea that the value of commodities are determined by their marginal utility). Marx's theory of exploitation is derived from his labour theory of value, which is itself a critique of both Smith's and Ricardo's labour theories of value; but the labour theory of value itself has since been challenged by the marginal utility theory. Unfortunately, I don't know enough about either yet to declare a winner in this particular debate; although I will say that I think even if Marx's theory proves to be incorrect, his dialectic method of analysis still has a great deal to offer our modern understanding of economics. Critiques, by their very nature, reveal weaknesses, and can help open up discussions on subjects that otherwise would go undiscussed.
As for anarchism itself, it's true that I'm sympathetic to certain aspects of it as a political philosophy. For example, I agree with its anti-authoritarianism and the idea that citizens shouldn't be coerced into any kind of 'social contract.' This type of free association is in direct contrast to the Hobbesian idea of the social contract, in which, by way of your birth into that particular state, it's assumed that you've entered into said social contract. (Hobbes thought that people are naturally aggressive and violent and that they should give their obedience to an unaccountable sovereign in exchange for relative security.) It's little more than an abstract ideal, however, and not an actual contract since it's assumed that one's morally obligated to obey the state without any actually agreement on the part of the citizen. Anarchists, on the other hand, believe strongly in the right of free association and self-determination, and strongly distrust an armed state that's ready to take away their freedom whenever it likes (e.g., imposing 'laws' that restrict their movement, associations, certain behaviours, etc.). There are many different kinds of anarchists, however, and some, such as certain 'philosophical anarchists,' aren't so much against the existence of a state as they are an expansive, authoritarian state, i.e., they'd be content with a more decentralized and minimalist state that was more directly democratic and recognized that it could be eliminated via revolution if it became too oppressive and over-stepped its bounds; while others see the state as a necessary evil that they're not morally obligated to obey when its laws conflict with their individual autonomy, etc.
Whatever the case, I wouldn't classify myself as an anarchist simply for the fact that I'm not inherently against a state per se; although I'd definitely like to radically change the organizational structure of the present one, and I hope that one day we can eliminate the need for such a social structure in the future. In that, I suppose I'm closer to the philosophical anarchist or the anarcho-syndicalist than I am the purely anti-state anarchist. Like most philosophical sophisticated anarchists, I'm not against organizational structures as much as I am inherently authoritarian and repressive ones that are designed more to protect property from people than people in general.
My friend, James, who's fairly well-educated, relatively successful and leans more towards libertarianism, replied with:
I must say, this was quite the insight. I don't agree with all points but I have a firmer understanding of where you stand with regard to government and economics. [...] I think the capitalist and worker dynamic you allude to is alive and well but I don't really see any problem with it. Without the capitalist, in general, I don't think that most workers would have a way for their labor to be utilized. The capitalist sets up the system/factory/whatever and people have the option to work for the capitalist (or not).
Pure capitalism puts far too much power in the hands of the capitalist. We've come up with a controlled and regulated form of capitalism that puts rights back in the worker's hands (minimum wage, standards of treatment, etc). Workers offer their services to capitalists and capitalists can choose to accept or not (and vice versa).
It's not a bad system (not perfect either) but socialism itself I don't know is the answer. Eurosocialism isn't the answer either. I don't know that there is a perfect system out there, to be honest, that could work on a massive scale. But capitalism so far seems to work the best. We'll see if that's true in the long run.
To clarify my position a bit further, as well as address some of the counterpoints that were raised, I responded:
I figured you wouldn't agree with much of it, but I'm glad that it's given you a better understanding of where I stand. I should also mention that I don't hate capitalism; I appreciate the level of economic and technological advancements it's fostered, and it's only through these advances in equipment, methods and overall efficiency of production that socialism is possible. Marx was the first to admit that.
I also don't believe there's a 'perfect system'; all economic and political ideologies are going to be flawed in some way, and even socialism would have its own contradictions (dialectic relationships are inherent in any kind of system characterized by change, nothing is ever truly static). The issues I have with the present system are what I've mentioned above, along with other things I didn't have time to touch upon, such as capitalism's need for constant growth (which is inherently unsustainable) and how it actually creates structural unemployment, which hardly existed on a mass scale before it became the dominant mode of production.
So while I think they you make some valid points in regard to how the system current operates, I'd say that it's not working as well as you might suppose. For example, you say that most workers wouldn't have a way for their labour to be utilized without capital, but one could just as easily argue that their labour isn't able to be full realized precisely because of capital since (1) capital dictates most of the terms and (2) capital benefits from high-unemployment (i.e., it creates an insecure labour pool that can be hired and fired at will, at whatever wage the employer deigns to give). Moreover, if capital wasn't so concentrated into such few hands, it's possible that more workers would not only be able to utilize their labour, but would have more of a chance to profit from it.
To put it another way, under the present system, opportunity is essentially privatized along with everything else the capitalists and free-market advocates can get their hands on, making it just as concentrated as wealth (and, if you've noticed, income inequality is rising while median family income is lower now that it was 30 years ago). Sure, things have improved since the 1900s, when workers (which included large numbers of children) essentially had no rights whatsoever, and were forced to work over 12 hour days in absolutely appalling conditions, but that's been due to the struggle of workers themselves, not due to the benevolence of capitalism. Moreover, there's been an on-going and relatively successful push by the agents of capital to strip labour of their hard-won gains, most visibly (and successfully) against unions.
Capitalism isn't a 'bad' system, but I think we've definitely outgrown it, just like we did feudalism. And while socialism isn't going to be a perfect replacement if it ever takes its place, I think it has the potential to revolutionize society much the same way feudalism and capitalism have. For me, socialism isn't so much about the equality of wealth or outcomes as it is the de-privatization (i.e., socialization) of opportunity and the weakening of class antagonisms and hierarchies arising out of social relations unique to capitalism and other predominately exploitative systems. As Marx wrote in The Poverty of Philosophy, "Social relations are closely bound up with productive forces. In acquiring new productive forces men change their mode of production; and in changing their mode of production, in changing the way of earning their living, they change all their social relations. The hand-mill gives you society with the feudal lord; the steam-mill, society with the industrial capitalist."
In this, you may think I'm some naive and uneducated idealist who blames 'society' for my misfortunes and lack of opportunity, but I can assure you that my views are as educated and rational as they are conditioned by personal experiences living and working in four states across the US; and it's out of an optimistic hope that humanity will eventually get its collective head out of its ass before its current infatuation with greed and competition destroys itself that I take such a position. But as you say, we'll see if that's true in the long run.
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