Hey, everyone. Considering that I've been dealing with several domestic issues at home, it almost feels surreal that I'm returning full circle to where I started when I originally made this website. I don't know what it is about me, but it seems like for whatever reason, I seems like there's a big red target painted on my backside, because I seem to attract enemies wherever I go.
First of all, let me make it very clear that I do not enjoy having to stand up for myself. I do it largely out of necessity in order, so that I don't get crushed under pressure. Part of the reason I have managed to cling to life as long as I have these past 30 years or so is because I'm always fighting and struggling to be treated fairly and equitably. As I stated some time ago, a couple years back when I made this website, the reason why I make these blog posts is because I feel like I can impart wisdom from my past negative experiences on people who are undergoing similar issues. I do not enjoy self-advocacy when I have to do it, but I am passionate about it, because I don't want anyone else to experience what I have to experience every other year or so.
In an ideal world, I would love very much for this website to serve no functional purpose to me or any potential readers, but the reality unfortunately is much different.
I don't think I fully disclosed my graduate school story that led me to the creation of this website. Maybe sometime in the future, I might make a post or a series of posts on it, which you as the reader can use as a case study for you own personal benefit if you're curious what the entire process is like from start to finish.
I'm certain some of you can glean from my previous posts what I might have gone through, but the exact details and circumstances of my story is fairly clear and vague, even with the various clues you may have from finding my website. I do feel like since I am a whistleblower when I feel the situation calls for it, I do have to keep my identity anonymous so that I don't just suddenly "disappear", "silenced" or whatever else could possibly happen.
I will say that the world and society we live in is becoming more corrupt, and leadership within the private, business and academic sector is becoming increasingly more complacent, because this leadership feels like they can continue to get away with breaking the law since their pockets are deep, and their wage slaves, eh... I mean employees feel beaten down and defeated.
Personally, I feel like the way our federal government works is that it's a political scapegoat for wealthy corporate lobbyists that are trying to push their unpopular corporate agenda on people by making it legally enforceable. The puppets in Washington dance for wealthy corporations and contractors, such as Boeing, Raytheon, Amazon, Walmart, Tesla, etc., but in order to make it less blatantly obvious, these political puppets are placed under the media spotlight so that we direct all our hatred and ire against Washington and not our Corporate Overlords that are ruling from the shadows, again through their deep pockets.
Ever wonder why "Republicans" are so "pro-war"? Because military contractors like Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, Bethesda Ironworks and Boeing make a ton of money by selling weapons either to our own federal government (through the Department of Defense) or internationally to foreign militaries.
The 2023 federal budget in the US was approximately $6.1 trillion dollars [1] with approximately $466.3 billion of those funds spent on defense contractor federal funding [2]. This basically means that approximately 7.7% of the taxes you pay to the federal government go back to Big Military (i.e. Lockheed Martin, Bethesda Ironworks, etc.).
Ever wonder why Republicans are "pro-life"? Because babies and children make several already wealthy corporations even wealthier. Kids play video games. They watch cartoons on TV. They play with toys. They have birthday parties. Babies need diapers. They need special furniture, such as car seats, basinets, cradles, safety pens, strollers. Many of them need special formula and nutritional supplements such as enfagrow or pediasure. Let's also not forget that children (babies, toddlers and older kids alike), get sick often and, which means that Big Pharma and Big Medicine get their hands in the pot. Corporations and industries are the real movers, shakers and producers of our so-called "government". And the best part is, when the DOD buys another tank, missile or ship, it's coming right out of your pocket, into federal tax dollars, and into the government contractor's pocket. These are your tax dollars at work.
According to USDA [3], the average cost to raise a child in 2017 to an adult (0-18) is $233,610, before accounting for inflation. After inflation, the cost more realistically is $288,094 [4]. The USDA further breaks down expenditures by category per child (in descending order):
Housing (29%)
Food (18%)
Child Care and Education (16%)
Transportation (15%)
Miscellaneous (7%)
Clothing (6%)
Considering the median household disposable income in the US was about $55,583 in 2022 [5], and considering raising a child from infancy to adulthood takes 18 years, a parent will sp:"end an average of approximately $16,005.23 on an individual child per year, that means approximately 28.8% of a median household disposable income is spent on taking care of that child. This makes "big child" a very lucrative industry, being able to dip their hands into 28.8% (at least; more with more children and with lesser income households) of the median household disposable income pot.
What about democrats? They are "pro-choice", which means the more experimental side of big medicine and big pharma can be explored through various things such as stem cell research. They are also pro social-welfare, which means that more poor people get more of their expenses taken care of, such as housing, food, and medical care. Again, the government is spending your tax dollars so that businesses which cater to the poor become wealthier. "Cheap" fast food restaurants (Burger King, McDonald's, Wendy's, etc.), which the poor "everyman" can afford instead of healthy, nutritional food. "Poor people" stores, like Walmart and Target, which cater to poor people through their "always low prices". Because the government (which is again using our tax dollars) will pick up the tab on much of their cost-of-living expenses (this money again circulates back into the corporations), the poor people have more money in their pockets to spend on vices and irresponsible things, like trips to Disneyland, cigarettes and liquor. Are you seeing my point here? Don't worry, corporate overlords. Your secret is safe with me. No one is visiting my website anyway.
Anyway, you don't have to take my word for any of this. I would like to hope somewhere, somehow there are actual people within our state and federal government that are trying to make a difference, but it's becoming hard not to see the little strings projecting out of the puppets which are being controlled by the marionettes in the shadows. Call me a conspiracy theorist if you want. I don't care. I have no presence anyway.
Why do I bother with doing all of this stuff if I have no actual faith in our government? Because my hope is that if enough people collectively complain enough times to the government, using the proper, effective channels of communication, it will become harder and harder to serve the political agenda of the corporate elite and turn a blind eye to all the suffering, greed and corruption the corporatocracy is causing to real, actual, living, breathing human beings. People like me and you, who are treated like some dog shit that Bill Gates scraped off the bottom of his $50,000 shoes using a spoon made out of 24k gold.
I will continue to fight to the bitter end, because what choice do I have? When you give up the fight, you give up the ghost. The bad guys win and there's no happy ending for anybody. A lot of the time, I don't even necessarily care if I benefit from my actions. It's the principle of the matter. The corporate and political corruption needs to come to an end. The elite need to stop exploiting the other 99.9% of the US population and squeezing whatever few pennies out of our pockets that we have left. If we continue the way we're going, this society will collapse, and all of Karl Marx's chilling predictions about capitalism will come true. We're getting dangerously close to the last straw. How much longer until we break the camel's back? Will it be worth it? As Jesus of Nazareth once said,
For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Matthew 16:26, KJV
And with that, I will leave with these parting words: keep fighting the good fight. Do not go gentle into that good night. Always fight for a better future. If not for yourself, do it for your loved ones and your family. I will now step off my soap box.
References
1. Monthly Budget Review: September 2023. Congressional Budget Office. (n.d.). https://www.cbo.gov/publication/59544/html#:~:text=Outlays%20in%20fiscal%20year%202023,into%20the%20previous%20fiscal%20years.
2. International, F. (2024, March 27). Top 100 defense contractors 2023. Defense Security Monitor. https://dsm.forecastinternational.com/2024/03/01/top-100-defense-contractors-2023/
3. Lino, P. by M. (2017, January 13). The cost of raising a child. USDA. https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2017/01/13/cost-raising-child
4. EarlyBird. (n.d.). How much does it cost to raise a child?. EarlyBird. https://www.getearlybird.io/blog/how-much-does-it-cost-to-raise-a-child
5. Published by Statista Research Department, & 15, F. (2024, February 15). Per capita disposable personal income by state U.S. 2022. Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/303534/us-per-capita-disposable-personal-income/#:~:text=In%202022%2C%20the%20national%20per,income%20was%2055%2C832%20U.S.%20dollars.
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