This new post was submitted by Jeffrey Koconis. Jeffrey has written for our blog previously. In an earlier post, he described his bank’s unwillingness to help him refinance his mortgage after he was laid off from the job that he had held for 33 years.
I Tried, No More
I’ve tried really hard to do the right things all my life, and now it just seems to have been all a miserable, tragic hoax. Looking back now at how the system in this country treats it’s citizens has come home. Going to work every single day for 33 years was supposedly something to be proud of, which should have been recognized and applauded, a sacrifice of mind and body that warranted some measure of appreciation when the final day came. Then when you have the rug of false reality pulled out from under you, treated like a dangerous criminal as you get walked out the door, something dies.
It wasn’t just the coldness of the heartless people following orders from above, but their cunning plan to steal my retirement, thus getting rid of my financial burden on their precious P & L for my remaining years that still makes me livid. But I tried to take the high road, and as each new challenge smacked me in the face I kept an optimistic attitude. No more. They have beaten me down mercilessly at every step of the way, and I have finally come to grips with the fact that the system is hopelessly broken.
Ask people you know how hard it is to find work these days, particularly us baby boomers, or get affordable health insurance, or get mortgage help from the bank you have faithfully paid, every month, your whole adult life. Good luck, not happening.
I am sick of people saying, “As bad as this country is, it still is the best country in the world.” Really? Wait until the rug gets pulled out from them. What metrics are they using? Education? Poverty? Health? Crime? Wealth distribution? Discrimination? Economy? Oh, Military Power of course. And thank goodness there isn’t any wasteful spending, or special interest groups with the real power, money, making national policy.
Seriously, what is it that people are looking at? They are concerned with their own asses, plain and simple, and as long as their basic needs are satisfied, and they are thrown a crumb or two, the masses will continue to believe. But when they get a taste of what their system would do to them in a heartbeat, should their usefulness be deemed expendable, then talk to me.
So yes, I am done believing. As far as I’m concerned it’s like Humpty Dumpty. All the pieces can’t be put together again, and I now doubt if they ever even were. Listening to the raging arguments by the so-called intelligent leaders of this nation, along with their narrow-minded and zealous supporters makes me ill. I trust others can see how inept they are, and have been, for a long time. If they were so damn smart, or even mildly capable, do you think we would have these mammoth problems? This country is all about money and greed, period.
Now I am finished ranting, knowing it does nothing but help get it off my chest. When the Sheriff comes to foreclose, I’ll understand. When the hospital asks what insurance I have and I tell them none because I can’t afford it, but I’ll be happy to pay them, if I could, but of course I won’t be able to. When the next young person with half of my intelligence, and even less experience tells me I’m not qualified for a job position, I’ll laugh.
When I stop paying my bills, I’ll be done trying, and at this rate that day is coming soon, here in the ‘greatest’ country on Earth.
Comments
I mentioned to a career center employee at a job fair that employment challenges are like challenges that Rosa Parks felt when Rosa wanted to sit at the front of the bus. All of a sudden, the career center employee said, "I can not hear you." Just watch "Boycott" and then you will see a correlation. I also mentioned to the career center employee that on an application, I wrote, "if you can not understand discipline or sacrifice, then I do not understand what you are looking for." You was the California State employment agency. Sacrifice refers to a Veteran and discipline refers to education. The career center employee said, "You said that?" Yes - Freedom of speech and the press.
I TOTALLY have felt the same INSULTS TO THE SENSES that you have my friend. And it's funny, I might have slipped by if I hadn't followed my moral compass. You know, the one these talk-radio bastards yak on and on about, but have used or owned, or would know how to follow if it fell into their hands. I found myself faced with a HUGE choice in late 04 that caused me to choose between the IP guru that flew around the country fronting for a major vendor or working near home plate for a local biz to fill the necessary role of single dad. There were problems that could not be counseled away and I made the decision MY FATHER WOULD HAVE MADE. Well, it worked for a while thought the inconvenience of an IT Director who couldn't drop everything and run in at 3am proved less attractive than working the poor programmer that worked along with me being forced to run the whole shooting match (Last I heard his health was on it's least leg). Since then, my divorce finalized and to save the kids from things that don't bear repeating, I had to give away the house and my life savings (like you, accumulated over about 30 years of uninterrupted employment). We started all over on unemployment. I have had over 1000 resumes ignored, been told outright that they won't look at mine (because I am not currently employed), and even told "We're concentrating on college hires". The grocery stores won't employ you, flight risk. McDonald's managers are short with you, possibly cause you've done their job times three and they feel you'd be a threat (there has to be some reason why they are so ingratiating of the person with no experience or prior history applying before you in line and then they snub you, despite your positive attitude and quick ability to answer all questions promptly). And it's funny, in the back of your head, you BELIEVED the BS they were painting, how the middle class wouldn't fall through the cracks when unemployment ran out... but they didn't tell you it's only food stamps and the jobs program is literally going canning in recycling bins on garbage night, or that if you expected more help than that, you needed to declare yourself crazy (again they play the moral compass against you, because who that is not mentally impaired will declare themselves as such????). And we waited all summer for the deadlock to break in the capitol building and our days as hostage to end. But one fat cat passes a pledge around and we are all sent packing in terms of having hope. EVEN when all we wanted was a way to work through these miserable times. A WPA, A Program to take up enough people to make the country move again... Sorry, that would mean investing in you, and it's simply not on our agenda. This is just an AWFUL time in this beautiful land. And something needs to be done before we become THE FOURTH WORLD, a post-technological society on with a destroyed infrastructure that gives birth to the next source of semi-educated cheap labor. HOW ATTRACTIVE! NO WONDER YOUNG PEOPLE ARE OCCUPYING THEIR COUNTRY! THEY RECEIVE MY HIGH PRAISE EACH AND EVERY DAY!
I just wanted to say I really respect your summary of your experiences and to say I am only 24 and also used to believe these sorts of things the governments trick us into believing. I am part of the occupy London movement and hope that we can start to open peoples eyes to the fact the carpet will be pulled from under all of them too, so we that we can start a discussion on a new type of system and no we are not anti capitalist as the media keeps portraying us, we are just concerned at how life now seems to be more about profit and less about life for everyone these days, I also wan't to draw you attention to a video on the net as I can tell you with a certainty that almost all these (financial) problems we are having are almost all down to banks please watch this video and then do ya own research you will be shocked, youtube "Abolish the Federal Reserve by Ralph Epperson [Full Presentation]" kind regards and respect to all of you that have had the carpet pulled from underneath you
The sentiments of a kindred Boomer. I resonate with these words for I too have been on the same receiving end of the nasty "New Reality". Those born from 1946 to 1964 are supposed to be in the Boomer Generation, so there is a commonality of experiences during that time span. But now those who have not been smacked down by current economic conditions cannot relate. I am seeing that nothing divides people better than money. The have's and the have not's. Young, old, black, white or martian- without resources the world takes on a whole new perspective and you grab onto what sanity you have left, so that does not go out the door too. http://about.me/snarkyboomer