November 20, 2021
Rittenhouse verdict, Build Back Better, The Great Resignation
Is it really news that a deranged white man was acquitted of killing two men because he claimed self defense? That happened this week. Last year, Kyle Rittenhouse carried a semi-automatic rifle to a Black Lives Matter protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin. There he wounded one and killed two men who attempted to take his rifle away from him. His lawyers came up with the most fantastic circular argument. They argued that poor Kyle was only trying to protect himself from the bad men who were trying to take away the rifle which he should not have been carrying in the first place. They actually argued that Kyle’s life was in danger BECAUSE he was carrying a gun! We might have seen an entirely different verdict if the defendant had not been a white man. Republicans cheered, Democrats seethed and lawyers declared that the verdict was not a surprise given the gun laws prevalent in the land. Another example of insanity that you’ll see only in America.
Nancy Pelosi kept her word. On Friday, the House narrowly approved 2.2 trillion dollars in spending over the next ten years to combat climate change, expand healthcare and broaden the nation’s social safety net. The House Democrats amazingly stood united to get it through. Now it goes to the Senate where the Democrats have the slimmest of majorities. It will all come down to what two Democratic senators, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kirsten Synema of Arizona, feel about the whole thing.
Listen, I fully get that our country has deep issues and we need to course correct. Climate change is a problem. Families are struggling to make ends meet. But isn’t there some merit to the ‘slow and steady wins the race’ argument? Sure, California will be scorched and Florida underwater by the time we complete this project but we need to understand that Joe and Kirsten have their needs too. So does the oil and gas industry that lines their pockets.
Can we really afford to let America slip into a state of entitlement? There must be a miserly cap on child tax credit because children are responsible for how much their parents earn, right? Right? What kind of a message would we be sending if a parent is unemployed and the child still gets to have breakfast? I think Joe and Kyrsten get it. At the end of the day, I would love for them to be happy even if they make practically no effort to do the same for anyone else. Let’s get real here. What has our climate done for us anyway? Frankly, nothing. When I see the climate putting out its own fires and paying us back for all those floods and hurricanes, then maybe it can have a little assistance. Until then, it’s always me-first in America. That is the American way.
Yesterday, we watched “India Sweets and Spices,” a delightful dramedy set in an upscale conclave in New Jersey. Using a format reminiscent of ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’, director Malik structures the movie around lavish parties thrown by gossipy “aunties” playfully referred to as “sari wearing zombies”! It has some Jane Austen-ish elements of issues around class and social hierarchy. Sophia Ali is terrific as Alia Kapoor in rebellion against her traditional Indian American parents, a posh couple perennially fixated on “what people will say.” Manisha Koirala delivers with aplomb as Alia’s mother in a taut and precisely controlled performance. The story may strike a chord among first as well as second generation Indian Americans, if not for anything but to remind them of the chasm that often separates them from each other. I have a feeling this will be popular on the streaming circuits.
Something truly wild is happening in the American labor market right now. In April of this year, a record number of workers quit their jobs. They called it the Great Resignation, and then in July, even more people left their jobs. August set another record, and recently, the Labor Department reported that more than 4.4 million workers quit their jobs in September, which is now the highest number on record.
At the very same time, we’re seeing a wave of labor strikes across the country. Part of the story here is clearly a shift in the balance of power in the economy. Workers are finally able to afford to say no to poor working conditions, and they’re doing just that. But there’s something else going on, too. People’s attitudes towards their jobs, their careers, and really work itself, those attitudes are changing.
What is going on? The short answer to this, not to put too fine a point on this, is that workers realized during the pandemic that their companies do not really care if they die. It sounds dramatic when I say this but it really is true for the millions who work in the service sector. The workers viscerally feel that their boss doesn’t care if they get Covid as long as they keep serving French fries, or making tractor parts at John Deere, which by the way is one of the workplaces that’s on strike right now. Or the nurses at Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester, Massachusetts, where the management decided to lay nurses off AFTER getting federal aid during the pandemic. They are going, enough is enough.
There is another reason. For a long time, there has been this “labor of love” ideology in America. It is this belief that work should be more than a way to make a living, that it should be a calling, a source of identity and meaning in our lives. Many of us have grown up believing in this idea. Perhaps, people are beginning to realize that it’s a scam, a con, a false promise bound to be broken. Work will not and cannot love us back, and we shouldn’t expect it to.
One of the things about the Great Resignation is that it is happening across industries. It’s happening among white collar workers. It’s happening among blue collar workers. It’s happening among pink collar workers. It suggests that even the jobs that are supposed to be good jobs, even the jobs that we’re supposed to love are draining and exhausting us. Work is taking up too much of all of our lives. It has now invaded our homes. We’re all exhausted. Covid took a lot out of all of us, and we could all use a break.
Speaking of breaks, Thanksgiving is almost upon us. Hope you have a relaxing and cheerful holiday. Happy Thanksgiving!
Stay safe. Stay cool.