The Future Hinges on Voters of Suspect Intellect

Less than two weeks until the fate of the country is decided. Not specifically on the ballot are the futures of Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Obamacare, civil rights, voting rights, gender rights, labor rights, nuclear arms control, environmental laws and a host of other issues that will directly affect the lives of most Americans, even if they don’t realize it (for example, those who complain about socialism overtaking our daily existence do not comprehend that Social Security and Medicaid are forms of socialism, as are public schools and public police forces and fire departments).

Let’s be honest. You’re probably as sick and tired of election coverage as I am. That goes doubly for having to see and listen to Donald Trump at rally after rally as he foments crowds into raw meat delirium. How hypocritical of him to blame the media for inciting incendiary behavior.

Now let’s be really honest. You’re probably melancholy, perhaps more than a bit disappointed, maybe even angry that Barack Obama didn’t fire up his faithful in 2010 and 2014 to defend his progressive platform, as the provocateur-in-chief is doing almost every day with his rabble of a following. Had he done so maybe we wouldn’t have so many Republicans currently in office on the national and state levels.  

For now, I am beyond soaking up all the minutia of 435 House races, 35 Senate square offs and countless state house and gubernatorial contests. I just want it to be over, like I wanted the Mega Millions lottery to finally find a winner (I am really disappointed my five tickets contained no more than one of the picked numbers; I didn’t fare any better with Wednesday’s Powerball drawing). I’m even too exhausted to watch Stephen Colbert and Seth Meyers skewer Trump, or listen to Brian Lehrer on WNYC public radio impart more reasoned analysis of our disastrous political state. 

That could be the Trumpster’s plan all along. To rope-a-dope us all into submission. 

I wonder how many people under 45 would get that rope-a-dope reference. Muhammed Ali used that strategy on October 30, 1974, in the Rumble in the Jungle fight to tire out George Foreman. Ali allowed Foreman, the reigning heavyweight champion of the world, to barrage him with punches through seven rounds while he nestled on the ring’s ropes, a tactic that allowed Ali to dissipate much of the impact of each punch. His energy spent from swinging lefts and rights to little effect, Foreman succumbed to Ali’s assault before the bell rang to end round eight. 

Why did I pick 45 as the age factor? Because a recent national survey found that just 19% of those 45 and younger could pass a citizenship test if it were required of Americans born in the United States. 

“With voters heading to the polls next month, an informed and engaged citizenry is essential,” Arthur Levine, president of the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, which conducted the study, said in a statement. 

“Unfortunately, this study found the average American to be woefully uninformed regarding America’s history and incapable of passing the U.S. Citizenship Test. It would be an error to view these findings as merely an embarrassment. Knowledge of the history of our country is fundamental to maintaining a democratic society, which is imperiled today.”

Citizens 65 and older fared much better, scoring passing grades 74% of the time, the highest mark for any age cohort. (An actual citizenship test is just 10 questions, six of which must be answered correctly. Take a longer—96 question—test by clicking on the “select all questions” button in the link: http://www.citizenshipstudyguide.com/member/citizenship-test-questions-quiz.php.)

According to the foundation’s press release, “The survey also found that:

• 72% of respondents either incorrectly identified or were unsure of which states were part of the 13 original states;
• Only 24% could correctly identify one thing Benjamin Franklin was famous for, with 37% believing he invented the lightbulb;
• Only 24% knew the correct answer as to why the colonists fought the British;
• 12% incorrectly thought WWII General Dwight Eisenhower led troops in the Civil War; 6% thought he was a Vietnam War general; and
• While most knew the cause of the Cold War, 2% said climate change.

Simply put, too many of our electorate are dumb. Without basic knowledge of our history, our founding principles and values, it is no wonder that a lying, uninformed autocratic bigot can manipulate the truth and lead a throng of morons to repudiate what this country has stood for domestically and internationally for more than eight decades. 

Fantasy Time

It’s Fantasy Time again.

No, this isn’t a posting about Fantasy Baseball teams. Nor is it a posting positing how Republicans will solve all our problems by easing taxes on the rich while reducing health care for women, children and minorities, and in general socking it to the disadvantaged (for a pithier description of the “cruel” plans of the GOP, as depicted in their new federal budget proposal adopted by House Republicans this week and endorsed by presumptive presidential candidate Mitt Romney, read today’s lead editorial in the NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/30/opinion/a-cruel-republican-budget.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss.

No, this is a blog about dreams, of expectations waiting to be fulfilled, of freedom from want beyond one’s wildest imagination. All at a price of...$1.

You can’t win it, if you’re not in it. So I’ve got my Mega Millions ticket. I’ve got more than 640 million reasons why I should win the Mega Millions drawing tonight. Of course, so do millions of other wishful thinkers. It only takes $1 to walk away with a prize, as that man who recently won hundreds of millions in a lottery found out when he impulsively bought one ticket during a stop at a Long Island supermarket during a visit from out of state with his family. The machine picked his numbers. I let the machine pick mine as well.

I’m not piggish. I don’t need to win it all. I’d be more than happy to share the bounty with several winners. I just want enough to be “comfortable.” Naturally, one person’s perception of comfort differs from another’s. As I’m already retired, comfort for me won’t mean retiring from full-time work. Gilda, on the other hand, probably would, though I dare not speak for her. At the very least, she’d work fewer hours, take longer vacations. She’s always wanted a home by the water, so I could see us indulging her longtime dream. We’d set up trusts for our children and grandchildren. We’d set up charitable trusts. We’d work hard not to forget that being rich carries responsibilities.

Which brings me back to reality and a retraction from what I wrote four paragraphs ago. Republican politicians are engaged in fantasy thinking, believing as they do that trickle down economic theory works. They are to be chastised for their insensitivity, yet I can understand their adherence to their version of an entitlement society where the wealthy are the entitled. They just want to ensure their status quo.

What I cannot understand is how and why Americans who are purposely kept down by the Republican elite support them. There have been several articles recently on the thought process behind this phenomenon, but the rationale escapes my comprehension. What’s more, I cannot fathom how dumb the electorate is, that voters cannot remember it was Republican policies that got us into the economic mess we are in and the two disastrous wars we have fought in Afghanistan and Iraq. Republicans harp on the growing deficit, and voters don’t remember it was Republican foul-ups that swamped us in red ink.

In his response to President Obama’s last State of the Union speech, Gov. Mitch Daniels (R-Indiana) said the GOP believes in possibilities. “We do not accept that ours will ever be a nation of haves and have nots; we must always be a nation of haves and soon to haves,” said Daniels. Tonight’s Mega Millions drawing offers one version of that road to have-dom.

Fantasy By the Numbers

Do you fantasize? No, I don’t mean about any longed-for sexual exploits. I mean, do you fantasize about winning a big lottery and how you would spend your newly attained wealth?

Friday night the Mega Millions jackpot hit $319 million. Saturday night’s Power Ball drawing was a comparatively paltry but still scintillating $125 million. New York State’s Lotto, also picked Saturday night, was an almost insignificant $14 million.

I’m not greedy. I’d be content if I just won Lotto.

When I remember, I usually buy tickets for each game. $1 per drawing. I cashed in my biggest winnings of the year last week, a cool $3 which I immediately reinvested in the next games.

So underconfident am I in winning the grand prize that I am happy when I see the lottery total increase after each drawing. I just assume I don’t have the winning ticket so I’m content to see the money grow. I’m disappointed when someone wins. Not really envious. Okay, a tad envious. But mostly disappointed that my fantasizing must come to an end as I await the next jumbo jackpot.

Weeks can go by without my purchasing a lottery ticket. It didn’t use to be that way. About 20 years ago, my work friends Milton and Stanley shared tickets each week. They’d invest $5 apiece and split any proceeds. I found out about their “retirement” scheme one day and demanded in. They agreed and also let Dominic join the pool. Soon, word spread through the company and before we knew it we had 20 partners. We figured we had a good chance of winning considering the diversity of our group. We had secretaries and salesmen, editors and maintenance crew. Old and young, men and women. Poor and relatively rich. A truly American tableau.

The Indian newsstand operator in the lobby of our building held our tickets. We played the same numbers each week. I was in charge of placing our bets and checking the results. When large lottery prizes were up for grabs in California, Illinois or Florida, states where we had satellite offices, we’d prevail on colleagues there to buy tickets for us. The most we ever won any week was $96, not a very favorable return on our weekly $100 investment.

How frustrating it was to read about workers in a sheet metal shop or some other plant who won and divided up millions. (How interesting that seven New York State workers from the Albany area share the winning ticket for Friday’s $319 million Mega Millions drawing. No one won Power Ball or the NY Lotto.) My partners and I languished in self-pity for about five years before disbanding our pool.

Now that I’m semi-retired I figure I more fully match the profile of many lottery winners who no longer work. Of course, there are a lot more people without jobs now than before, many of whom are victims of the recession, so their human interest stories might be more touching than mine. Still, I can dream on.

As to what I’d do with any bonanza that might come my way, you’ll just have to pray along with me to find out.