especially on a Friday! But in the midst of this crazy election with "negative campaigning" and that crazy fucker "Joe Plumber" who is not really even a plumber at all and who is honestly just a really misguided lower-middle-class guy with pretensions of being rich, well....let's just say I'm glad the debates are over and I'm feeling in need of a hymn right now. So have a listen to this even though it is rather "churchy" for me.

You see, the strength of the Republican Party's ideology in this country lies in their ability to manipulate the "every man's" belief that he can achieve anything he puts his mind to. Self reliance, a very popular and populist notion is a powerful tool whereby politics becomes a game for "winners" and self interest and "opportunities for success." However, from my perspective, it's yet another example of what Gramsci called "contradictory consciousness," where people don't act in their own interest to get what's good for them and for their families because they believe in something that holds them hostage to doing what's good for capitalism.

Joe the Plumber believes that if the government gave him enough opportunity he could feasibly buy his employer out, (Wurzelbacher, 34, said he doesn't have a good plan put together on how he would buy Newell Plumbing and Heating in nearby Toledo), and make over $250,000 in income and he thinks that under Obama's proposed economic plan he will be punished by paying higher taxes for doing so. It's very simple in Joe's mind. By entering the "rich" class he will have to pay for all those "poor" folks who need healthcare and other social services. Joe's against socialism. The mainstream media just won't come out and put it this bluntly to you, but I bet talk radio is saying it, no?

Joe's contradictory consciousness dictates that even though right now he's making quite a bit less income than $250,000 and probably has huge health insurance premiums for his family of two, and perhaps fears for the future if he loses his job and his health insurance, he's getting ripped off because he's not owning his own business. He's limited in the amount of money he can make because he's someone's employee instead of employing others.

What he fails to take into account, because of his belief in the "American Dream" is that in employing others he will be burdened with providing them fair wages, adequate healthcare, maternity leave, .......oh wait... with the "American Dream" in power there's no need for that! All he has to do is make as much money as he can. So yes, I guess Joe is right, he should vote for McCain so that when he gets enough capital together to qualify for that Small Business Administration load to buy out his boss he can exploit workers just like he's being exploited right now. In the meantime he can suffer along with all the rest when it comes to wondering where his health insurance is coming from. Or money to pay off his car loan, his credit card debt, his mortgage.

Of course in a perfect world, employees can just go find a job where good wages, adequate healthcare, and safe working conditions are available, if Joe's boss doesn't provide them. It's a free market of competition out there for jobs afterall ;) Let me know where that world is, I'll help ya pack.

Joe the Plumber and our election seems like a small and local issue in light of the recent economic crisis. But we'd be a fool to not realize how this election plays into that. The world is watching to see what happens on Nov. 2.

Finlandia is hymn of internationalism. For me it evokes a sense of how small our "American Dream" is and should be in this globalized world. We can no longer afford to dream that dream... So if (like me) the god bits don't speak to you, just listen to the rest xoxo

Finlandia mp3 Indigo Girls Rairities
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