kriskoeh on Nostr: Posting my thoughts as promised Michele Let me tell you what life is like for some. ...

Posting my thoughts as promised Michele (npub192k…43u7)

Let me tell you what life is like for some. This is an American perspective. I recognize the privilege that I have to be an American. I wanna get that bit out of the way. I also see the atrocities that my country has committed around the world and my heart aches because of it. But I’ll be speaking only from the perspective of an American here.

And another disclaimer about poverty…please know that the American “extreme poverty” is obviously very different to countries less privileged to mine. And mine is very different to countries more privileged than mine. Our poor ain’t ever gonna look the same. I can only speak to my own experience and that’s to say that for all my years growing up and at all times there were weeks to months without power or running water in my home. There were weeks to months of dragging plastic totes to the gas station to fill with water and warm in the sun for bathing. There was stealing food because your mom can’t afford it. Going without food because your mom can’t afford it and even when there was food stamps…she couldn’t afford the gas to drive 30 miles to the grocery store and most times she didn’t have a car even if she could’ve afforded the gas. That’s my poor.

If you can’t already see the systems in place then maybe this will help. I grew up in extreme poverty in the backwoods of the US. My legacy is trailer parks and meth and please know that this isn’t me being classist but instead I’m sharing what I view as an authority to even speak on this topic because so many do not understand the system design that’s at play here.

I grew up in a small town a half an hour from the nearest sign of any kind of civilization (read: grocery store) it was just unspoken knowledge amongst my people that there’s only a couple of ways you get out of there:

1. Join the military
2. Marry someone better off than you (usually they’re in the military LOL)
3. Go to college (and later find out that was a big con…for another note)
4. Sell drugs (not kidding)

I went for option 3 but I watched nearly everyone that I knew or loved go with options 1 & 2 (and some with 4) because, and I quote one who was very dear to me, “I’m not smart like you, Kris. There’s no other way out for me.” So he opted for the only thing he was smart enough to do that would keep a roof over his head and keep him out of prison—option 1. I was just a kid then. I was 18. He was 18. We didn’t see the well oiled machine working perfectly as designed.

I remember thinking that it was the coolest thing ever one year when I went to write my name in the front of my textbook and saw my own mother’s name some lines above it. I mean why isn’t that exciting? That’s the coolest thing ever to any kid…to get the same book your mom had! I also remember thinking it was cool that in my tiny little school in the middle of fuckin’ nowhere there was a dedicated office for military recruiters. They’d come in and hang out at the lunch table with us. Laugh. Make jokes. Be your best bud. Fighting for our freedoms. Until you realize years later that it’s because your school gets shit for funding because the less funding you get then the more collectively poor and stupid that you are—a perfect breeding ground for the US military to pluck warm bodies for its ranks.

Consequently, that’s not the only thing being bred in these breeding grounds. Another thing that’s being bred is generation after generation of people getting less literate, more stupid, and more nationalist. Yes…I mean why wouldn’t we be so damn proud that our brothers and sisters gave their lives for the good old USA…best country in the world they say. We’re human. We need some way to rationalize that it’s not all just for lining the pockets of the elite and they’ve done a fantastic job of designing a system that keeps you scared and keeps you loyal. Wake up and pledge your allegiance to the flag. Never dare to question it or you’ll be disowned. You’ll be a traitor to those around you who can never understand why that you would go against your country and the freedoms that your own family has died to protect. While never realizing that it has only been facades of freedom all along. There’s no freedom here. We’re just not as bad off as many—that’s not free.

My mom still lives there. She has no running water. She has no access to dedicated internet because there is no internet where she is. In other areas of the town dial up is the best you can get. In the past three years she’s finally been able to get reliable cell service and in the last two she was able to get a hot spot with 4G. And that’s it. Before very recently there was no information pouring into these areas of the country. Where I’m from the world does not extend beyond your own front porch.

So yeah. It had little to nothing to do with Jack Dorsey. This goes so much deeper. You think you got it all figured out. You think you can see the whole picture—you’re only looking at a pixel. This goes generations deeper. That whole “land can’t vote” is bullshit because I’m telling you that land may not be voting but is the breeding ground for the stupid, illiterate, nationalist sheep that are voting and they’re cranking out more stupid, illiterate, nationalist sheep because we’ve taken their education and we’ve taken their birth control…the few who escape aren’t loud enough because we’re just trying to figure out survival as first generation fucking cycle breakers.

I hope you’ve taken something from my ramblings. Thanks for listening 🫶🏻