To Comfort The Afflicted
And Afflict The Comfortable

To Comfort The Afflicted And Afflict The Comfortable

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Observercast

Hail To The People

on

BY SHARON MARTIN

I volunteer sometimes.

“A waste of time,” someone close to me said, someone who knows I am always scrambling for time.

“There are things more important than money,” I told him.

“Not if you don’t have any,” he said.

And that, friends, is the most important thing you can know about the next election.

I was visiting at lunch this week with my friends, Sharmee, an avowed socialist, and Brian, a Christian conservative.

Sharmee believes that the United States is at a crossroads, and she is concerned that the path seems to be moving us toward the rights of corporations rather than to the wellbeing of the people. Brian told her to choose her words carefully in Oklahoma because to utter the word socialist would cause people to close their ears to anything she had to say. I believe that the answer lies somewhere between the all or nothing of both points of view, but if we get it wrong in the next election, what Brian or Sharmee believe won’t matter.

I hate to be a Jeremiah, but these are scary times. Lawmakers and voters are listening to a few powerful voices, and they are changing the landscape for the common man. I don’t expect Eden, but for those of us who work for a living, one ideology could turn the U.S. into a wasteland: no jobs, no social net, no rights unless you are a corporation.

We have a corporate caste system. Those in the upper echelon matter but the worker at the bottom is replaceable and therefore expendable. It defies business logic. Those companies that care best for their employees are often the most profitable. Turnover and training cost money. Workers must be able to afford those Model Ts they are building.

Corporations and manufacturers and innovation are good for America, but so are the workers who make corporations and innovative companies profitable. Any laws that favor the former over the latter can doom this country to Third World status. Free trade only works if both sides are importing goods and exporting jobs.

A better campaign slogan might be, “It’s the people, stupid!” The people are the economy. And whatever party we choose and whatever laws we pass must serve the people if this country is to survive as a superpower. Don’t let a few loud voices convince you otherwise. Listen to the quiet voice of logic. It will tell you that it really is the people who matter.

Sharon Martin lives in Oilton, OK and is a regular contributor to The Oklahoma Observer

 

Arnold Hamilton
Arnold Hamilton
Arnold Hamilton became editor of The Observer in September 2006. Previously, he served nearly two decades as the Dallas Morning News’ Oklahoma Bureau chief. He also covered government and politics for the San Jose Mercury News, the Dallas Times Herald, the Tulsa Tribune and the Oklahoma Journal.
Mark Krawczyk
Mark Krawczyk
March 9, 2023
Exceptional reporting about goings on in my home state as well as informative opinion pieces that makes people think about issues of the day...........get a SUBSCRIPTION FOLKS!!!!!!!
Brette Pruitt
Brette Pruitt
September 5, 2022
The Observer carries on the "give 'em hell" tradition of its founder, the late Frosty Troy. I read it from cover to cover. A progressive wouldn't be able to live in a red state without it.