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	<title>The Ultimate Spaceship 2.0 &#187; Healthcare</title>
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		<title>Selling Ice to the Eskimos!</title>
		<link>http://www.theultimatespaceship.com/2009/09/01/phooey/</link>
		<comments>http://www.theultimatespaceship.com/2009/09/01/phooey/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 02 Sep 2009 06:15:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>S3</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Archive]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ethos]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Healthcare]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Video]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[truth]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.theultimatespaceship.com/?p=259</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I dedicate this article to those of you who thought I was a liberal treehugging douche bag.
You see.  Anybody out there who can’t think on their own, and make conclusions about issues with their own brain analysis, is the douche bag.  In this modern era, we are being duped into having everyone think for us.
The [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I dedicate this article to those of you who thought I was a liberal treehugging douche bag.</p>
<p>You see.  Anybody out there who can’t think on their own, and make conclusions about issues with their own brain analysis, is the douche bag.  In this modern era, we are being duped into having everyone think for us.</p>
<p>The food industry, thinks for you.  Your government, or political party, thinks for you.  Everywhere you turn people are following suit.  But I always strive to bring you truth.</p>
<p>This is an example.  Although I do not subscribe to the religious undertone of this video.  The bottom line is she is right.  Absolutely, 100% correct.</p>
<div id="attachment_267" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 310px"><a href="http://www.theultimatespaceship.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/mcdfatty.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="size-medium wp-image-267" title="mcdfatty" src="http://www.theultimatespaceship.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/mcdfatty-300x211.jpg" alt="mcdfatty" width="300" height="211" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">What I call: Child Abuse.</p></div>
<p>Our society is falling apart.  Everywhere you go, Homo Sapien is getting lazier, stupider, and more dependent on government to take care of them.  Health care is JUST that debate.  I am a medical professional, and I am tired of hearing about how the President’s health care plan will make America a better place?  How you deserve health care?  And how we should all foot the bill for everyone else’s health care?</p>
<p>So I ask you… on what basis should you believe this?  From a government that allows for the sale of food products that make you sick, fat and diabetic?  A government that actually uses YOUR tax dollars, to fund a corn bill, which in turn creates a commodity that is used to create toxic food additives like HFCS (high fructose corn syrup), and turns a blind eye to the sicknesses it causes, is going to fund the health that you NEED, from the tax dollars YOU are giving them that fund the thing that make YOU sick?  Are you kidding me?  Am I the only one that gets this?</p>
<div id="attachment_260" class="wp-caption alignleft" style="width: 193px"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ouroboros" target="_blank"><img class="size-full wp-image-260 " title="obama-health-care" src="http://www.theultimatespaceship.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/obama-health-care.png" alt="obama-health-care" width="183" height="202" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">I don&#39;t know about OTHER docs, but my practice is already organized.</p></div>
<p>I think the O in Obama’s health care plan logo doesn’t stand for Obama, it stands for <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ouroboros" target="_blank">Ouroboros</a></span>.  I mean don&#8217;t get me wrong.  I like our President&#8230; normally, Im rooting for him!  We need intelligent leaders who are open to dialogue, not gun slinging cowboy politics like our last administration.  But on this I cannot agree</p>
<p>All over there are ramblings of the great Obama health plan!  The savior is here to give us all a healthy future… and ignorant Americans are lapping it up!  Yes, give us health Mr. President.. ask the people of this great country, never taking responsibility for their own choices, and their own ignorance about the toxicity of the environment that THEY are creating.</p>
<p>Every time they purchase beef, they are voting that it is OK to pump their food full of antibiotics and feed cows CORN instead of grass.</p>
<p>Every time they purchase Coke or Pepsi, they are voting that it is OK to take our tax dollars, and indirectly subsidize <a href="http://gizmodo.com/5347500/food-techs-dark-side-what-doesnt-make-you-stronger-could-kill-you" target="_blank">billion dollars companies like Cargill, Monsanto, and ADM</a> to create food products that sicken Americans, and still allow them to put their products on the market for consumption.</p>
<div id="attachment_261" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 310px"><a href="http://gizmodo.com/5347500/food-techs-dark-side-what-doesnt-make-you-stronger-could-kill-you" target="_blank"><img class="size-medium wp-image-261  " title="500x_corn_syrup_tanker" src="http://www.theultimatespaceship.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/500x_corn_syrup_tanker-300x205.jpg" alt="500x_corn_syrup_tanker" width="300" height="205" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Cargill train delivering &quot;Corn Sweetners&quot;</p></div>
<p>Come on people, last I checked, governments were created to GOVERN.  To make sure  “the bad guys” didn’t take over.  They were there to make sure that tyranny and the raping of the public didn’t overrule the rights to liberty and freedom.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s fair to say all this and acknowledge that we can&#8217;t completely blame our President for inheriting the subsidy of corn and health care.  This is the process that large corporations have created well before our current President was elected.  Rather, the President has a decision to make, either he will be the next supermodel promoting large corporate interests, OR he will be a President <em>of the people, by the people and for the people.</em></p>
<p>So then how would you rate a government that allows companies that make products that are known to make you sick, continue to sell these for consumption?  And even to go as far as use your tax dollars to subsidize them?</p>
<p>I say failure.</p>
<p>A typical rebuttal is “well then don’t consume these products”.  I agree… but that is not the point I am making here.</p>
<p>Most people are choosing to stay ignorant of the facts.  They don’t want to learn, and act on what they’ve learned.  So they blame the government.  Which is ironic, since that very government they are blaming, is the one keeping them ignorant.  By adopting policy that will perpetuate the ignorance,  they create “blame mentality” which allows the government to continue legislating policies that further indoctrinate the people into a system of dependancy and thus ignorance.</p>
<p>Now, don’t for one minute think that I think that we shouldn’t have a system of providing health care for anyone who gets sick or traumatically ill.  Every advanced civilization has safety nets for it’s members.  This so called “health care” plan is more than that.  This is legislating policies to provide care for irresponsibility.</p>
<p>I look around and all I see are people getting heavier, food getting worse, and information getting more skewed.  Television is a side show instead of a powerful medium used to inform and educate the public.  Music is become commercial crap serving only a platform to propagate sex, fashion, the endless pursuit of material possessions.</p>
<div id="attachment_263" class="wp-caption alignleft" style="width: 280px"><a href="http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13825184" target="_blank"><img class="size-medium wp-image-263 " title="d2409us0" src="http://www.theultimatespaceship.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/d2409us0-300x246.jpg" alt="d2409us0" width="270" height="221" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Future rocket scientist</p></div>
<p>People aren’t interested truth anymore.  The truth is that American kids are getting more and more stupid (and fat).  A few months ago there was a powerful <a href="http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13825184" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">article in the Economist</span> </a>that discussed the lazy American educational system and how our kids spend 80% of the time other kids in the world do in the classroom because of outdated legislation and the suffocation of educational advancement by the unions. Even the Economist has resorted to writing about the “dumb American kid”.</p>
<p>Why?  This country is one of the greatest experiments in Human history!  Ever!</p>
<p>Look back at history… NEVER has there been a document as great as the United States Constitution.  A forward thinking ideology that knew a large government would only serve it’s own purposes.  So they created the balance of power.</p>
<p>And now, almost 3 centuries later, we’re at it again.  Making everything bigger, so “daddy” can take care of us.  Who cares if we love Snickers, McDonald’s and Coca-Cola.  daddy can fix it, and we’ll ALL share the costs!</p>
<p>As an educated, proud and VERY patriotic American, I say phooey Mr. President (with the highest respect for the first in command, yet exercising my First Amendment rights).</p>
<p>This country was founded on principles that created a society that took Homo Sapien to the Moon.  Just two generations ago, young men and women worked hard to study and become something more than a rapper or an actor.  They strived to become engineers, teachers, doctors, and scientists.  Our country was the resource for technology and advancement.  Now we import that.  The top students, in the top scientific, engineering and mathematics programs in this country are “imports” from other countries.</p>
<p>I have a patient who worked on the team that developed the <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn_V_rocket" target="_blank">Saturn V rocket</a></span>.  An amazing feat of Human engineering indeed.  This rocket created 1.5 MILLION pounds of thrust!  Homo Sapiens created a machine that created enough thrust to propel a 6.5 MILLION POUND rocket into space!  How many kids are interested in this kind of mathematics today?  How many kids can do that kind of math today?  Why not?  Aren’t we supposed to get smarter with every generation?  And get this… the men that created this rocket… they engineered this thing by doing math without the powerful computers we have today!</p>
<p>I find it ironic that despite our powerful computing abilities today, we were unable to predict the economic catastrophe that we have gotten ourselves into (only because of our unchecked greed)… but I digress.  The point is that we have stunted our scientific pursuits for those of consumption and sex.  Babylon the Great has resurfaced.</p>
<p>In 1967, mankind left a mark in the entire history of life, but sending the largest object to-date, into space.  We did that because 3 generations ago, we valued education.  We valued personal responsibility. Our society has systematically deconstructed those tenets.  We are relying more and more on our system to take care of us.  Forget about making sure our kids eat well, let the schools feed them.  Forget about voting by NOT BUYING an item, if it’s on the shelf, the “system” must have checked that it’s okay!</p>
<p>So the teeter keeps tottering towards the infinite bliss of human ignorance.  Here we have two classes.  The leaders, and the serfs.  In this model however, the serfs will never revolt like the old models.  That’s because in this model you give them everything they desire.  All you have to do is keep them desiring.</p>
<p>The health care bill is just another cog in the wheel keeping you dependent on your government.  Stop eating food that makes you sick and living a life that keeps you overweight, depressed and ill, and you won’t need this plan.  If we want better health care in this country, all our government has to do is GOVERN, and stop making policies that are funded by the private insurance companies.   As for the public, stop being ignorant and wake up.  Start taking responsibility for your decisions and educate your self.  Stop buying things that don’t consider the well being of your kids, your future and your health a top priority.</p>
<div id="attachment_269" class="wp-caption alignleft" style="width: 479px"><a href="http://gizmodo.com/5348675/pole-dancer-doll-doesnt-really-set-the-perfect-role-model" target="_blank"><img class="size-full wp-image-269 " title="picture-1" src="http://www.theultimatespaceship.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/picture-1.png" alt="picture-1" width="469" height="377" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">It rotates. It has blinking lights, a disco ball, and a pole. And it&#39;s probably one of the wrongest toys you can give to any girl. Because, unlike the USB Pole Dancer, this one is actually for kids.</p></div>
<p>Besides, don’t you think the issue of health care in America is dwarfed by the issue of the massive growth of the unstoppable giant of social decay?</p>
<p>This isn’t a political issue anymore folks.  It isn’t even a national issue.  It’s a Human issue.  As America, out ONLY export is entertainment.  And guess what, we export our culture through our entertainment.  So now the rest of the world is being infected with our culture of greed, and ignorance.</p>
<p>I leave you with a thought… do you think the world can support the lifestyle of 6 Billion Americans?</p>
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		<title>Men are redundant.</title>
		<link>http://www.theultimatespaceship.com/2009/07/14/men-are-redundant/</link>
		<comments>http://www.theultimatespaceship.com/2009/07/14/men-are-redundant/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 15 Jul 2009 06:11:04 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>S5</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Archive]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ethos]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Food]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Healthcare]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Video]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[consumption]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vegan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vegetarian]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.theultimatespaceship.com/?p=221</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[For those of you who still haven&#8217;t realized this issue, BPA (Bisphenol-A) is a really hot topic and very important for every American to get informed on.  It effects your children, and your health.
Another article from our investigative journalist s5:
Men are disappearing.  But, it doesn’t matter much.  We can make sperm in a lab.
I know [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>For those of you who still haven&#8217;t realized this issue, BPA (Bisphenol-A) is a really hot topic and very important for every American to get informed on.  It effects your children, and your health.</p>
<p>Another article from our investigative journalist s5:</p>
<blockquote><p>Men are disappearing.  But, it doesn’t matter much.  We can make sperm in a lab.</p>
<p>I know you haven’t seen any news about the first statement.  Not sure if you have seen it about the second.  But, yes, that is the latest scientific finding of last week: we can engineer sperm in a scientific setting, without the need for an actual human.</p>
<p>When I first heard about the story, I was told of it.  Immediately I was asked, “ what do you think of that?”  At the time, I just answered that I didn’t see to what end this discovery was relevant.  I went on to say that independent of itself it didn’t hit me as anything truly useful except being a step in a bigger scientific discovery.</p>
<p>But the more I thought about it, the more some other pieces came together.  Which leads me back to my first statement.  Men are disappearing.</p>
<p>I want to make sure you understand that this sentence is independent of the one that follows.  I am not saying that we can make sperm, therefore we don’t need men.  I am saying, quite clearly and as a stand alone statement: men are disappearing.</p>
<p>Currently, in almost every product you can buy at the super market, exists two chemicals: Bisphenol-A and phthalates (pronounced: thay-lates).  They are both found in plastics, however Bisphenol-A is also found in cans and phthalates are found in things like artificial scents.  What this means is that if you do any of the following you are exposing yourself to one or both of these compounds:</p>
<p>drink from a plastic water bottle (whether personal size, water cooler size or sink top water filtration system), drink soda, eat a canned product (tomato sauce, beans, soup, fruit), ingest a gel-cap pharmaceutical, use an odorized laundry detergent or dryer sheet, use deodorant, use perfume, play with a toy, drink from a baby bottle, use a tupperware or other plastic food container, wear a condom, use a “sex toy”, have a shower curtain, use a laser printer, wear make-up, use nail polish, own a television, have floor tiles in your home, have any sort of electronic, use skin moisturizer, have a catheter, use a fertilizer or pesticide, eat something with a fertilizer or pesticide, and more.</p>
<p>In other words, you are exposed to these chemicals in some way or another.  You are naive to think you are not.</p>
<p>You ask: so what?  I am exposed to lots of things like air pollution and electro-magnetic fields, what’s one more thing?</p>
<p>There is a long history behind these chemicals, and I encourage you to do your own research to determine what is best for you and your family.  I am about to share with you what I believe to be true.</p>
<p>Both of these chemicals have weak or no covalent bonds to the plastic or substance with which they are mixed.  This means that as the plastic ages or is placed under certain conditions, the chemical is released into the environment and is absorbable by the human body.  In fact, 99% of the American adults and children tested have the chemicals present in their bodies.</p>
<p>These chemicals are classified as estrogenic.  This means that they are able to mimic hormones in the system and the hormone the body registers is estrogen.  For the sake of brevity, I will not go into detail about the entire functionality of the human form.  I will get to the point which is that many scientists believe that as a result of the increase of BPA and phthalates in our environment we are seeing an increase in birth defects, cancers, learning disabilities, reproductive function issues including sterility/infertility, and possible links to obesity and diabetes. Male children are the most at risk from these chemicals.  In effect, our boys are becoming girls.  For one thing, not as many boys are being born.  When they are, we are seeing an increase in deformities of their penises, breast formation, sterility, testicular issues, and more.</p>
<p>Men are disappearing.</p>
<p>There are two camps when it comes to the science of these compounds.  The Food and Drug Administration did approve these chemicals for use and as of today is not planning on banning them, despite protests from a majority of the scientific community.  The argument is that the chemicals were approved due to the results of two studies, that the government contends are valid and statistically significant.  However, there are another group of researchers that say future studies have indicated that the chemicals are dangerous and because of the new results, the FDA should review the validity of the approval.</p>
<p>I will tell you why this isn’t going to happen.  Dow and DuPont are the makers of these chemicals and it is a ten+ billion dollar industry for them.  They are a part of the American Chemical Council which funded the first two studies that granted the approval from the FDA.  The ACC is a major contributor to a handful of our legislators.  There are allegations that the FDA allowed staff from Dow and DuPont to write the safety and efficacy portion of the approval package of these chemicals.  Dow and DuPont are suing Canada, because they banned the chemicals, saying that it is violation of NAFTA.  And, I have seen meeting minutes from a gathering of executives from Coca-Cola, Del Monte, Grocery Manufacturers Association and others, in which they discuss a strategy and multi-corporation funding for how to change the press regarding BPA (Remember, it is used in canned goods.  These companies have a vested interest in not having these chemicals be reevaluated.)</p>
<p>This is a war between corporations and the consumer, on the government’s battlefield, being played out in front of our eyes, yet, none of us are paying attention.  But, what do we know about?  We can make sperm.</p>
<p>This may be a rabbit hole none of us want to go down.  I am very well aware of the fact that it can appear as though I am making an accusation of a conspiracy.  However, both things are true.  All the data I gave you about BPA and phthalates, you can find on the internet.  If you look you can find in major news outlets across the US.  If you know to look for it.  The fact that we can make sperm was the biggest scientific news item of last week.  You didn’t have to look for it, it came to you. (No pun intended).</p>
<p>So before when I asked myself “to what end”?  I wonder if the two are inextricably linked.  What if the chemical companies knew there would be issues with the compounds?  They were so advanced in forethought that they put people on researching to determine how to create what would be missing when our boys reached maturity after being exposed to years of plastics, toys, beauty products, medication, and food.  But then in the media there is no link between the two groups, so we as the public, still stay blind to what is really going on?</p>
<p>And then what happens when we can only reproduce with influence from the scientific community? How do we know what kind of sperm we are getting?  Are certain people going to have access to better sperm than other people?  Are we going to be able to actually clean out economic or ethic strata because of their lack of availability to sperm, therefore reproduction?</p>
<p>A lot of questions that we all may be confronted with sometime in the future.</p>
<p>Or&#8230; we can change how we consume.</p></blockquote>
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		<title>This snake will always eat it&#8217;s own tail.</title>
		<link>http://www.theultimatespaceship.com/2009/06/17/the-snake-will-always-eat-its-tail/</link>
		<comments>http://www.theultimatespaceship.com/2009/06/17/the-snake-will-always-eat-its-tail/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 17 Jun 2009 07:53:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>S5</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Archive]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.theultimatespaceship.com/?p=197</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Our modern society has turned into the colloquial &#8220;snake eating it&#8217;s tail&#8221; (a.k.a Ouroboros).  Health care is one of them.  Today, you and I pay taxes, that subsidize corn farming.  This in turn, creates and overabundance of corn, which then results in a low cost commodity that big corporations like Coca Cola can buy for [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Our modern society has turned into the colloquial &#8220;snake eating it&#8217;s tail&#8221; (a.k.a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ouroboros" target="_blank">Ouroboros</a>).  Health care is one of them.  Today, you and I pay taxes, that subsidize corn farming.  This in turn, creates and overabundance of corn, which then results in a low cost commodity that big corporations like Coca Cola can buy for pennies on the dollar.  This cheap product is then in turn used to make a sweetener/food additive that can be used universally.  This in turn makes us all money since we all LOVE the stock market.  However, there comes the tail&#8230; this product makes us sick, obese, and diabetic.  We have federal programs that pay for the health care of these people, i.e. MediCare and Medicaid.  Your tax dollars pay for this health care.</p>
<p>So to sum it up, you not only are being taxed to be sick and fat, you are also being taxed to treat the illnesses the product that you are subsidizing causes.</p>
<p>This excellent essay written by one of our writers s5, gives you insight to this problem in the real world.  Here you will see the very essence of how big government <em>without</em> the involvement of an <strong>informed public</strong> operates.  How do you keep the public uninformed&#8230; television.</p>
<blockquote><p>I am very blessed in that I am able to spend a lot of time observing people.  First and foremost because it is something I like to do.  Secondly, because I am not constrained by a career that keeps me indoors in an office, or what-have-you, so I find myself out amongst people, whether it be in a coffee shop, a park, or like today, a doctor’s office.</p>
<p>Due to being a freelance writer, and limited finances, I am a member of the public health system.  I would never want to presume anything, but I might venture to guess that I am not a representative of the readership of this site.  You probably either a.) have health insurance or b.) have the financial freedom to pay for a doctor when required.  I don’t.</p>
<p>Before I continue, this essay is not about our health care system and the pending Congressional decisions.  This is merely an essay that was created by the presence of being in a free-clinic.</p>
<p>Has anyone reading ever been to a free-clinic as a patient?  I want to paint the best picture I can for you.  So, I will try to break down the entire process.</p>
<p>1.) To make an appointment you have to call about one month, sometimes more, in advance.  However, in many cases, you call that same morning to be placed in a lottery to see if you can be seen.</p>
<p>2.) You are only referred to as a number.</p>
<p>3.) If your appointment is for 10:30 am, you have to arrive by 9 am and expect to stay until 1:30 pm.  Yes.  You should plan on 4-5 hours for an appointment that can often take 20 minutes.</p>
<p>4.) The waiting room is packed with all types of people; entire families, runaways, homeless, the mentally sick.  If we are all very honest with ourselves, it is a room filled with the people we often try to avoid because they illicit fear, disgust, pity, annoyance.  You cannot keep a personal space.  There are often kids running around without any control.  Most people smell.</p>
<p>5.) Most people don’t speak English.  And, even when they do, it is a version of the language that I don’t understand.</p>
<p>6.) There is nothing to read.  The TV is on.  Most likely turned to Jerry Springer or Maury Povich.</p>
<p>7.) You never see the same doctor twice.  You hope beyond hope that the previous doctor captured everything in the notes, correctly, so you can be diagnosed and treated properly, without having to repeat yourself.</p>
<p>8.) The doctors see upwards of 40-50 people a day.  As a result, they often feel rushed and don’t listen to you as well as they could.  By no means am I criticizing a physician who works in these facilities.  I actually commend them.  But because of the situation they are placed, there is difficulty in connecting on a real one-to-one level.</p>
<p>9.) The equipment is not state of the art.  There are no digital displays or automatic this and computer controlled that&#8230; it is all manual.</p>
<p>10.) If you get any tests done, you are only called if there is something wrong.</p>
<p>11.) At the end, you follow a red arrow out the door.</p>
<p>I am not trying to paint a picture for you to pity.  It is what it is and it would take a lot of regulation and time to fix it.  What I do hope to accomplish is for you to get a sense of what it is like to walk in the shoes of someone who lives this sort of life.</p>
<p>I think it is safe to assume that if you are reading this, you care about your surroundings.  By that I mean, we all regularly read or watch the news, we are trying our best to raise our children to be ethical adults, we care about what we eat, and we care about the planet.  But there is something that we all share, at our core, that allows us to be this way&#8230; we all get that we are valid.</p>
<p>What do I mean by this?  I know when I walk down a street, ask someone a question, ask for help in a business, etc., I will be seen and heard.  I understand, on some level, that when President Obama talks about Americans, he is speaking to and talking about me.  I understand that I have the luxury of choice in everything I do; where I live, shop, and eat, the kind of cell phone and computer I want, where I want to go to school, what kind of car I drive, and the list goes on.  I think you get what I am saying.</p>
<p>Think about the life of a typical low-income (poverty level) American resident.  (I understand that I am walking a fine line, and this can be seen as stereotyping&#8230;. I promise I will have a point.) Think about where they live, and I mean really think about what their homes look like.  Think about the kinds of jobs they have, the hours they have to work, is it manual labor or not, and how they commute to those jobs.  What kind of food do you think they eat?  Either by choice or what’s available to them.  Imagine the kind of education they received.  Just imagine their class size.</p>
<p>My point:  imagine how you would feel if your life was summed up as a number.  Employee no. 2156.  Patient no. 15889. Student no. 2959.  What if you weren’t seen at all?</p>
<p>But then I come up to you.  I acknowledge your presence&#8230;.  and I say&#8230; you better not drink that coke, it has HFCS in it!  Or, don’t you think you should turn off some of those lights in your house.  Hey&#8230; don’t use so much water, we are in a drought.  That can of food is lined with BPA, you should shop at a farmer’s market!  And, don’t watch so much TV, stop buying clothes, and use less resources, especially your car, because the planet is sick and we are all going to suffer.</p>
<p>I don’t know about you, but if I were struggling to make ends meat and was in effect ignored most days of my life.. you know how I would respond: “FUCK YOU!”</p></blockquote>
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