(#1551-) March 7 2015. I tend towards the view that you need to live before you write. On the other hand, learning to write well can take years—if not decades.

ALMOST EVERYONE THINKS THEY COULD WRITE A BOOK IF ONLY THEY HAD THE TIME.

THEY ARE WRONG.

WRITING A GOOD BOOK IS HARDER STILL.

STILL, WRITING IS SUCH A JOYOUS ACTIVITY THAT I ENCOURAGE ANYONE, WHO IS SO INSPIRED, TO TRY

(#154-1) March 6 2015 On paper the economy is booming. As far as most Americans are concerned, things are tough—and getting tougher. Sooner or later—and it seems likely to be later—something has got to give.

USA—A  PREDATOR ECONOMY

IF AN ECONOMIC SYSTEM DELIVERS FOR THOSE WHO CONTROL THE LEVERS OF POWER—IT WILL CONTINUE INDEFINITELY—UNLESS STOPPED BY THE LESS FORTUNATE

BUT IF THE LESS FORTUNATE ARE POWERLESS—(OR OTERWISE NEUTRALISED) WHAT THEN?

Leisure and hospitality - the fastest growing major blue-skill industry - is the worst sector. The average leisure and hospitality worker makes just $18,900 a year (gross, before taxes). This is not even enough to keep a family of three above the poverty level ($19,790 in 2014). Similarly, retail, the largest blue-skill sector, is second-worst in terms of pay, with average annual earnings of $27,700. - Mike Cassidy, Where Are the Jobs? 2015 (1)

I started to research the U.S. systematically back in 2004 because I though there was something deeply wrong with the U.S. economy. I had had my suspicions earlier, of course, but had been rather distracted by terrorism and military related matters.

Recently, I have been going though a book I subsequently wrote about my findings—and I have been struck by the degree to which matters have deteriorated pretty much as I expected—if nothing changed.

However, I had expected that some action would be taken in relation to the more egregious issues—and am quite taken aback to find that almost no remedial action at all has been taken over the last decade.

The predator environment continues. On the one hand, we have the ultra-rich and their followers (they have plenty) doing remarkably well off the masses—and then we have the masses losing ground by the day-but making no attempt to fight back.

This is a socially controlled population par excellence—and the result is an ongoing tragedy—with matters getting ever worse.

I can’t help feeling that if global corporate power isn’t constrained, it’s going to morph into a power and an ideology at least as dangerous and anti-democratic as communism or fascism.

Or are we there already?

I note, in passing, that U.S. corporations have something like $2.1 trillion stashed abroad to avoid U.S. taxes—and that corporate expenditure on training—despite much moaning about the skills shortage—has dropped again.

If there was a genuine skills shortage, surely it would make sense for corporations to train their own workers. Our competitors do just that. But U.S. corporations prefer not to.

Much as they are cutting back on investment—including R&D to boost quarterly results (thus driving the share price up) so they are cutting back on training. And they wonder why so may other nations out-export us despite having higher labor costs!

 

All the pieces fit together and what is emerging is an economic monster—an ignorant, dangerous, and destructive, monster as far as most Americans are concerned.

But, they don’t seem to notice.

VOR words 453.

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(#153-1) March 5 2015. Once again, egregious corporate behavior—one again they are getting away with it. Once again, the Supreme Court’s judgments undercut the public interest. Once again, most Americans are ignoring the issue. It’s a pattern. And, by the way, this stuff is making us sick—and killing us.

POISONING PEOPLE FOR PROFIT?

206 million pounds of toxic chemicals into our waterways every year

WHY NOT! IT’S THE AMERICAN WAY!

A feature of my ongoing research is that however egregious I find some corporate behavior to be—to the point where I feel that what I’m writing lacks credibility—because it seems too outrageous—the reality often tends out to be decidedly worse.

Corporations continue to behave this way because:

• Such behavior, even if illegal, is profitable.
• It’s easier.
• They have enough power and influence to blunt or neutralize the impact of the law.
• Corporate executives are not punished personally—and corporate fines are paltry and regarded as just a cost of doing business.
• They have no sense of social concern.
• They are arrogant.
• They are careless of the consequences—even to themselves.
• They don’t care.

Recent corporate behavior—despite the 1972 Clean Water Act—illustrates what I’m saying perfectly.

The important word here is ‘despite.’ Where large corporations are concerned, the law—in all too many cases—is regarded as little more than an inconvenience—which, all too often, can be overcome.

From www.ecowatch.com commenting on a new report from Environment America, Polluting Politics: Political Spending by Companies Dumping Toxics in our Waters

Those are regulations the public likes and wants. But to a large degree, the public interest has been trumped by several U.S. Supreme Court decisions since 2006 that have left half the country’s waterways—which provide drinking water for a third of Americans—vulnerable to toxic pollution. And these big spender have swooped in to try to exploit those loopholes.

The report reveals that currently, half of the U.S.’s lakes, rivers and streams are unsafe for fishing, swimming and drinking, and that 206 million pounds of toxic materials are dumped in our waterways each year. Polluting Politicsties some of the polluters to investments in political candidates who might work to minimize CWA protections.

“As it turns out, the same companies that are polluting our waterways with toxic chemicals are also polluting our politics with their spending,” said report author Ally Fields, clean water advocate at Environment America.

What these companies want is to stave off regulations that would limit the discharge of industrial  chemicals from fracking and agricultural runoff (especially from factory farms), and restore wetlands and protect them against development. Those are regulations the public likes and wants. But to a large degree, the public interest has been trumped by several U.S. Supreme Court decisions since 2006 that have left half the country’s waterways—which provide drinking water for a third of Americans—vulnerable to toxic pollution. And these big spender have swooped in to try to exploit those loopholes.

The Rich apart (which, generally speaking, they are—because they both choose, and can afford, to be) Americans live sicker—and die roughly three years sooner than the citizens of other developed nations. Lifestyle is certainly part of it—but 206 million pounds of toxic chemicals can scarcely be ignored.

Yet issues like this are largely ignored.

‘Largely ignored’ is a phrase which could well be inserted after most pieces that I write about issues of public concern. We are not a ‘can-do’ nation any more—and haven’t been for a very long time.

It often seems to me that we were not just defeated militarily in Vietnam, but lost our confidence too. That gave the Right Wing an opening—which they have certainly availed of. All that nonsense about We The People has been stripped out.

The U.S. is now a corporate profit center run by the Ultra-Rich and their followers for their own benefit.

It’s the American Way. It’s yet another part of the American Tragedy.

Such a great experiment—yet such a fatalistic decline.

VOR words c. 350.

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(#152-1) March 4 2015. Just in case you haven’t noticed, an economy can boom—and bleed—at the same time.

THE STANDARD OF LIVING OF THE TYPICAL MIDDLE-CLASS AMERICAN IS COLLAPSING

THE FIGURES ARE FRIGHTENING—AND ARE GOING TO GET WORSE

This is my eleventh year monitoring this country’s decline in reasonable detail—and the most remarkable thing about it is the fact that, although it is happening in plain sight—and is hurting the majority of the population, there is no serious sustained discussion about it—and no political movement to put things right.

If I hadn’t witnessed it for myself, I would never have believed that Americans would have behaved this way—as victims waiting for the economic slaughter—while being slaughtered.

Even more surprising is the happy habit of many Americans of voting against their own interests—especially in the Midterms—or not voting at all. All too many Americans have lost faith in American democracy—and for very good reason. We don’t have democracy any more.

I get my information from many sources—because cross-checking is the name of the game—but let me draw your attention to a consistently useful one www.mybudget360.com This is written by Edward Jones, author of 10 Day Money Boot Camp and claims to reach 7,000,000 readers—no mean achievement, if true.

I know absolutely nothing about him—except that he covers issues concerning the basic business of economic survival with some clarity—which is more than most politicians do.

Let me quote from a recent piece.

What is important is to look at income in relation to the cost of living.   A new home was about twice the annual average income.  Today, with the median household income being $50,000 and your typical new home costing $298,000 we are definitely on the more expensive side (6 times annual income versus 2 back in 1938).  Look at the new car costs.  A new car cost about $860 or half of annual income.  Today, a regular car can cost $32,000 and most will need to finance it.  Tuition to Harvard was $420 per year and today Harvard tuition is nearly $62,000 with room and board:

This decline has been taking place since the Seventies. Initially, it was less apparent because a second (or additional) household member went to work. Much later, the most common practice was to borrow against the supposed ever-rising value of one’s house. Both temporary solutions delayed the reality that household income—which was virtually static in real terms for decades—was not keeping place with inflation.

Then came the Great Depression. That officially ended in 2009 (believe it or not) but a significant percentage of the population is scarcely aware of that fact—except through the media.

Currently, we are back to ever increasing debt, the Middle Class continuing to lose ground regardless—and the rich getting ever richer. Meanwhile, crucial costs continue to rise—while the Fed continue to state that inflation is not a problem.

How do they get away with this absurd claim? First, they are the Fed—so have enormous power. Secondly, the way they define inflation does not include certain costs, like housing, which are rising rapidly.

This is intellectual dishonesty on an epic scale. It is just one tiny example of how the system is rigged to favor the rich—and bleed the typical American.

Will the next presidential election in 2016 change all this? I doubt it very much. The issues are scarcely being discussed—and almost no politicians are raising the issues.

It is mind-boggling.

Could anything be done about it? A very great deal. This situation is primarily a consequence of political decisions—not unstoppable economic forces.

The worrying thing is that, at a certain point, sheer momentum takes 0ver—and the speed of the collapse accelerates.

The economy won’t collapse in the matter of a house. Superficially, life will continue much as normal. However, the quality of life of an ever increasing number of people will be grim—and become grimmer.

That process is well underway. The darker the color of your skin—the grimmer the situation.

It upsets me greatly to have to write this way. Why do I do so? Because it is the job of writers like myself to illuminate the human condition—whether we like it or not.

As the military would say—it’s our mission. Sometimes, it is a depressing one.

VOR words c. 600.

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(#151-1) March 3 2015. The long, quick, slide. As a student of history, I find this fascinating. I’m witnessing an empire in rapid decline. The reaction of most of us? We are paying as little attention as possible—and being highly successful at it.

THE CURRENT AMERICAN BUSINESS MODEL—AS FAR AS MOST AMERICANS ARE CONCERNED—IS FAILING US BADLY

ARE WE DOING ANYTHING ABOUT IT?

VIRTUALLY NOTHING

Do we understand what is going on? It appears that most of us prefer not to. We’ve opted for a blend of silent panic and escapism. 

$1 in 1930 is now the equivalent of five cents

From 2000

• College Tuition is up nearly 140 percent
• Housing is up nearly 60 percent
• Medical Care is up over 70 percent
• Pay—for most of us—is stagnant or down

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(#150-1) March 2 2015. Do voters have to be well-informed for democracy to work? Can it work if voters are just, plain, ignorant?

MOST AMERICANS SEEM TO BE UNAWARE

THAT U.S. HEALTHCARE IS MASSIVELY GOVERNMENT SUBSIDIZED. THIS IS VOTER IGNORANCE ON A TRULY EPIC SCALE. IT BOGGLES THE MIND—AND IT CERTAINLY BOGGLES THE POSSIBILITY OF A WORKING DEMOCRACY

It is scarcely news that we live in a profit-driven propaganda dominated economy—whether that propaganda be government, corporate, academic, or religious (and it can be hard to tell the difference at times)—and it is self-evident that such a barrage of deliberately misleading information must have consequences and result in a poorly informed electorate.

Nonetheless, I confess I am absolutely stunned at the above findings which illustrate a truly catastrophic level of ignorance—to the point where I have to question the source. However, the original work stems from a recent Economist/YouGove poll, and is presented by the highly regarded vox.com—so I’m forced to give these figures credibility.

This raises the issue of significance. Clearly, if these figures are representative of the reality, any U.S. debate about healthcare is pointless because voters are so ignorant of the facts that there is not even a basis for moving things forward.

This leads me to question the degree to which we are informed about  other matters. Are we, in fact, sufficiently cognizant of the issues to be competent to vote in any rational way—on anything?

In the absence of more data, I am reluctant to answer that question. It may be that Americans are particularly ignorant of healthcare issues—and are regular encyclopedias when faced with other issues of concern. There are numerous reasons to doubt that option—but I am shaken enough to prefer not to explore them today.

Alternatively, I could take the view that such a debate is academic because we no longer have a functioning democracy anyway—merely the trappings of one—since the ultra-rich now control the American political system entirely in their own interests.

I am far from alone in regarding this as the reality.

The following extract expresses the charitable view that vox.com takes of the above findings. I would like to think their interpretation is correct. I am far from sure that it is.

The way people in the policy community see it, this is totally backwards. Almost everyone who has health insurance in the United States gets help from the government to afford it. For the elderly, that's Medicare. For the disabled and the poor, that's Medicaid. For full-time workers it's the tax subsidy for employer-provided health insurance.

Some of what you see in this poll is a simple misunderstanding — older Americans either don't know what Medicare is or mistakenly believe they have "paid for" their benefits with earlier taxes.

But Americans who get insurance from their jobs are also benefitting from a massive government program. A program whose existence is hidden from sight but is nonetheless quite real and substantial.

VOR words 314.

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(#149-1) March 1 2015. The proud father—quite a nice piece on my son, Christian—and his play.

A REVIEW OF MY SON CHRISTIAN’S PLAY, THE GOOD FATHER

(And no, it certainly isn’t about me. In this case, I am merely the proud father. My son, Christian O’Reilly’s play is being reviewed here. Christian is an award-winning playwright of some distinction)

Antipasti, the class divide and John B's advice

Maggie Armstrong independent.ie March 1 2015

There is an awkward scene in The Good Father by Christian O'Reilly. Out at an Italian restaurant, Tim decides to order the antipasti. Jane asks, 'As a starter?' Tim hesitates. He doesn't know what antipasti are. He's never eaten them. Maybe you haven't either.

Tim's a working-class boy, a painter and decorator. Jane's a middle-class girl, a solicitor. They're different. But he got her pregnant after a drunken night and they're having a baby together.

It's often said that we don't talk about class in Irish society, and while the C-word isn't used explicitly in The Good Father, the play is founded on its tensions.

Written about 13 years ago, the two-hander gets a lick of modernity from director Mark O'Brien at the Axis, Ballymun, a playhouse but 20 minutes from Dublin city centre.

Does class matter? "I think it can be an impediment to a relationship, certainly to people discovering each other," says Christian before a read-through. He seems nervous and happy with his lot; he has a mixed accent. "Class is a façade that you wear as a consequence of your upbringing. But underneath that is some kind of shared humanity. I was interested in exploring how two people of a different social class could find each other. He's not as educated as she is, but he has an emotional honesty and openness that she lacks. And her carapace is sarcasm, barbed wit. But underneath it all there's huge fear and quite low self-esteem.

"The play comes from my experience of living in Dublin, studying at DCU but playing soccer in Fairview and Santry. Soccer transcends class immediately. Everyone just accepts each other because you've got a shared goal."

Shedding class differences was part of growing up for this playwright. Born in London, his family emigrated to Listowel, Co Kerry when he was eight. "I was bullied a little bit, I had an English accent and I stood out. Playing for Listowel Celtic Under-14s gave me some kind of status as a young fella."

Until he was 17 he wanted to be a professional soccer player. He never had a trial, which he regrets because he knows he would have failed: good practice for a writer. Writing was "a wayward path".

He tried short fiction and screenwriting, attempted novels, "doubting myself". He worked as a researcher for his father (crime novelist Victor O'Reilly) and worked in disability rights (he wrote the moving film Inside I'm Dancing). Then came a Druid Theatre Company prize and the success of The Good Father. When it was first staged in 2002, Irish Theatre Magazine praised it as "an Irish love story with attitude, but with a disarming softness at its core". Christian says: "I remember at the time thinking I'm never going to write a play better than this. This is a good play."

But miserably, The Good Father left him blocked for five years. "It kind of spooked me, because the bad reviews really upset me and got to me, but the really good reviews also threw me. I saw myself as a serious dramatist and took on all the pressure of that. I found myself in a kind of wilderness. I struggled with my next play, because I was trying to be serious and worthy, and to appeal to the critics. I really lost the connection to why I write, and to the advice that John B Keane and my sister had given me."

His artist sister Ciara told him to "put your passions into your work"; John B Keane told him to "write from the heart", when he used to visit him in his pub in Listowel for a pot of tea to discuss writing. The playwright played a mentor role from his barstool where he was often "singing, sitting and listening".

"Once I went to him and I was really struggling. He just said to me, 'Keep at it. Persevere'. Leaving, I said, 'Thank you for your help'. He said, 'Thank you for your youth'.

"Often the struggle is personal and to do with confidence, to find my way in that respect. Confidence comes and it goes and it wavers. There are times when you feel your voice is in full throttle, and nothing can stop you, and there are times when you can feel quite crushed and small and frightened and anxious about writing, and it can fluctuate. It can feed the writing too, because I often write characters who are struggling with their own demons, who are low in self-esteem, hard on themselves."

Now married in Galway with two small children, he can take the cut and thrust of winning and losing. His star rose through Druid Debuts play programme. Now Druid are among those rejecting his plays, and this drives him to write more; he laughs, "I've enough rejections to decorate my house." Classy.

Axis, Ballymun presents The Good Father by Christian O'Reilly, March 10-21 www.axis-ballymun.ie

Indo Review

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