Vote Your Wallet

I’m about to tell you a secret: You will never be rich. Sure, you may one day be comfortable and have a good bit of savings, but you will still only be fairly well-off. The odds of you becoming rich are about the same as you winning the lottery. Even then, you have no idea how to preserve that wealth or how to pass it on to your future generations.

Now I’m going to tell you another secret: Those people who are rich spend a lot of money to try to convince you that you could be one of them someday. This lie, and it is a lie, is meant to give you just enough hope so that you don’t punish what you think you may one day become or foolishly think you already belong. We teach our poor and middle classes that we are a country of equals – this too is not true. There is a class far above you, in every way, who operate in a complete welfare state, taken care of from votes they can easily afford and who’s only job consists of making sure that things never change. They can convince you that they are moral, specifically religious and right, but only because they write the checks to those who matter. It is not a conspiracy; everyone knows it to be true and we only argue about the extent in which directly affects our individual lives.

Last secret: You are the reason that you will never be rich. By supporting the people who keep you in your economic place, you empower them to maintain the status quo. There is a very clear division of classes in this country and, while that will probably never change, there has always been a historic balance between their power and our skepticism. People, sad and undereducated people, vote against their own causes, mostly out of misunderstanding, fear or ignorance, and their numbers are growing. Predictably, their numbers increase in line with the relative comfort and quality of life in the US. And predictably, they do not see that their lack of understanding only widens the class gap and lessens their power. Moreover, their quest to conserve their small level of comfort shrinks the space in which every future generation can find that comfort.

In time, the benefits of being any part of middle class will lessen. Sure the toys and essentials will be there, just in smaller and more expensive amounts. It is easy to see it slowly happening in every sector from health care to education. People see the creep and point blame in every direction but the one that matters. They continue to vote against their own path, continue to support policies that can only harm them and continually shrink their own socioeconomic class in hopes that they will someday become rich. They know that they will soon not be able to afford good health care. They know that they are living with all sorts of ecological problems that they not only know are bad, but are getting worse. And most importantly, they are giving away power that they will never get back.

Now I’m going to ask you for a favor: Know your place. Accept your economic shortcomings and stop voting like you belong to something you never will. These are not moral or faith based decisions, they are simply and only monetary choices. You are not rich, you will never be rich, so stop voting like you are.

Come on People, Give 90%!

It was announced this week that the US economy lost 85,000 in December, a number much higher than analysts’ had expected. This is on top of our current 10% unemployment, a number that is a lot lower than the also reported 17.3% of underemployed who are comprised of discouraged workers and part-time workers who would prefer full-time jobs.

So this got me thinking, we’re always going to have those who are underemployed, but we as a nation can easily help the unemployed individuals. So with understanding that we will never hit 100% exactly, and not counting those who would like a better job or one with more hours, the rest of the solution is nothing more than a simple numbers game. All we have to do is stop trying so hard at our current jobs.

Now stay with me here, if we all decided to care a little less, do a little less work, try less hard, we would create a backlog of work that needed to be done. Then, those unemployed could be hired to pick up the slack. The 10% of work that we have left on the table would have to be picked up and done by someone else: Someone who recently had not had a job. And we would all have a little more time to do the other things that we would like to do. Our general quality of life would improve, our new positive economic outlook would encourage other countries to invest in us and we would transform into the country that all of those TV pundits believe once existed.

All of this can be achieved if we simply just don’t do as much. So here and now I’m making a declaration, I, Brian Hamilton, will do at least 10% less in life. I do this not out of laziness or for any personal gain, but for my country. I will care less, do less and give less of myself – everyday and from now on – because I love my country that much. What I ask of you is simple; give less of yourself as well. Join me in helping our country; because giving 10% less of yourself is not lazy, it’s patriotic. Today I call on all Americans to unite with me, kick back, have a beer and do your American duty by doing less. Together, we can slack off for a better future.