4.11.05 The Duck and the Child Rights enough for all
By all accounts, the T-Bill duck continues to do well. More power to the duck. Imagine that, a government that uses its full resources to take care of the inhabitants of the land (and water). If only the Dimslows could do as well.
We Dimslows support those organizations and those parts of the government that are working on behalf of the people, by the people, and for the people, those parts of the government that are resisting the other parts of the government that are working on behalf of big corporate money, by corporate money, for corporate money.
I, John Doe Dimslow, want to know what to make of the United States of America, the wealthiest country in the history of the world, how it can be...what it is in far too large part - An Orwellian outrage:
A country where: "over 4 million more Americans, 36 million overall, are living in poverty than was the case 4 years ago."
A country where "21.9 percent of U.S. children live in poverty, only slightly better than Mexico where the childhood poverty rate is 27.9 percent. ...compare that to Denmark, where only 2.4 percent of children live in poverty."
A country where, "Today, over five million more Americans do not have health insurance, 45 million in all, than was the case four years ago, and the United States is the only industrialized nation on earth that does not have universal health care."
A country where "Over 14 million American families today are paying more than 50 percent of their income on rent. There are now over 20 million Americans with incomes so low that they had to enter the food stamp program in order to feed their families."
A country where, "Last year, more than 1.6 million American families went bankrupt, up from up from 289,000 in 1980. 90 percent of these bankruptcy filings were the result of a lost job, a medical emergency or a divorce."
A country where, "Real (inflationary-adjusted) wages have gone down over the past 2 years. The new jobs being created today pay 21 percent less than the jobs that are being lost."
A country where, "The gap between the rich and poor in the United States more than doubled from 1979 to 2000. Today, the richest 1 percent have more money to spend after taxes than the bottom 40 percent. Meanwhile, millions of workers have not seen any increase in the minimum wage in years."
A country where over 1 in 5 children live in poverty.... Well then forget the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 25 with its two provisions that state:
(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
(2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.
What do we Dimslows need children for anyway? Let them grub in the garbage heap and then keep grubbing there the rest of their lives. Why not, if it proves profitable for the system of big money? Let them consume their little bit and be consumed by the big bit. Who cares? We're Dimslows, after all. We're expendable in a country that is not by for and of the people, the Dimslows, but rather is for the "The people who own the country" who "ought to govern the country" with their big dollar interests, in the words of the first chief justice of the Supreme Court, John Jay.
Meanwhile the children of Iraq are worse off under the administration (from afar) of George Bush than they were under the administration of Saddam Hussein, as a new U.N. human rights report reveals: "Under Saddam, about 4% of children under five were going hungry, whereas by the end of last year almost 8% were suffering."
Yes, forget the Convention on the Rights of the Child (as well as the Declaration of the Rights of the Child), which the United States of America was essentially the last to sign into law and, like many other states, has in large part ignored ever since.
Well, at least that one duck has got its due. And now I think it is long past time that all of us take up with the duck and demand our own too.
A wild duck, a brown mallard, nests on a mulch pile near the main entrance to the Department of the Treasury on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington Friday, April 8, 2005.
(AP Photos/Susan Walsh)
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Sat Apr 9, 12:01 PM ET JDD Press
Citizen of the United States of America, and of Earth, John Doe Dimslow peers out from a window of his home and wonders what is becoming of his country and the world, on Saturday, April 9, 2005. He wonders if he will be able to keep his home and keep up with the energy and fuel bills. His health insurance is poor, and he intends to keep pressuring the government to call off its attack on the world, and to maintain and improve its services to his kin and to humankind, and to do much more to keep the United Corporations from ripping him off, along with everyone else. He is glad to see the duck get a fair shake. And he wishes the duck well. (JDD Photos/Jane Doe Dimslow)
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