The WGA - Writers Guild of America - has greatly affected many lives; their own members, and those who view, or hear, are entertained by their craftsmanship. I have been kind of busy lately, and have not had any chance to watch the news, or any TV programming because of the frenzy of activity of a class reunion (60th) and all the "stuff" one needs to do in selling a home; all have been, well, overwhelming. I even missed watching Rachel Maddow's Monday program last Monday, and I never do that. So, here I am, not so stressed this Saturday, and some of my usual programs are not on. While I am having my coffee and breakfast, I find that CBS, NBC, ABC, and even our local Fox news channel are all covering the Coronation of King Charles. The only thing, to kill time while eating, was a home and gardening show on the benefits of organic pest control. What is this fixation on putting a crown on this guy Charlie? I am now comparing this coronation to my latest thoughts on the subject of Wealth and Privilege. The WGA strike means that some of my normal programs that I do enjoy will not be on because the people involved, and their supporting union brethren, are needing to be justly and fairly rewarded for the work that we appreciate. So, we will be regaled with old seasonal reruns by the networks until this work stoppage is settled. So, back to this "Coronation" thing. It could go on the air, because there are no writers, and supporting off-screen TV or radio or filming people involved. The only things are, 1. The only characters involved are the "Royal Family", The staging crew and props are the same items from storage from the previous "Coronation"(which I liked and viewed in elementary school 70 years ago), 3. All the other elements of the event are traditional gizmos and trappings from The Royal Family's boxes in their warhoused "Traditions". The only new items were the horses, because the horses in 1952 are all dead. So, all the TV coverage is actually a TV program, with no needs from the WGA, and we are actually watching a classic documentary entitled "The Ostentatious Display of Wealth and Privilege". The main characters are for real, the vehicles used are gilded coaches, with attending coachmen, all dressed in stuff that you see in history books. I could go on and on about the ancient trappings, as if it were a Disney film on Cinderella. This is an event, today, of a Monarchy. People who are gifted with a silver spoon in their mouth, even before their first baby tooth, never have to really work. I doubt if any of them ever had to flip hamburgers, drive an Uber, punch a time clock, or even run to be elected. The "Royal Family" members are so embedded with privilege, that their status is defined when each of them is nothing more than a bump in mummy's tummy. Their wealth has been obtained through a long history of privilege, mostly on the backs of others, and tradition, not by anything they actually put their hands on that required sweat and heartaches. My hero in all of this is Harry, who actually wore a uniform, fought, and engaged in activities and values that his mother displayed. Poor Harry was relegated to 3rd row seating, was not allowed to wear his military uniform, and returned from California just to see his "papa" get crowned. Harry's wife did not attend this ceremony, probably because of the situation that she was a bit too dark of skin and did not come from an acceptable blood line to suit the established monarchy. I gotta hand it to Harry. He left the bubble of the monarchy, married the woman he really loved, and had the guts to cut bait and leave the muck of the Thames. But he was loyal enough to come back to honor his dad; nice guy he is. Anyway, to cut this thing short, the subject of Wealth and Privilege, to me, is just as concerning as Racism. In "our" country, which used to be a part of the new King's monarchy, is just as steeped in Wealth and Privilege as the UK. It is displayed, not in people riding around in Cinderella's Uber", but in other modes. There are so many, but for starters, I will begin with one that is my pet peeve right now - the current Supreme Court of the United States. What we have are 9 people sitting high up, making decisions, on various matters brought to them. A majority of them were appointed by a Republican administration, and quite a few of them by a former president who saw to it that the major donors to his campaign got what they paid for. It is not the wealth of any individual justice that bothers me, it is the wealth of the hidden and dark donors who buy (in increasing amounts of multi-millions of dollars) and pay for getting a president who appoints justices who will carry out their needs, when Congress gets legislation passed by legislators who are bought and paid for by a cabal of wealthy donors, and something arrives on the doorstep of the Supreme Court, by this process created by the wealth of buying enough people (presidents, senators, and congressmen and women) is enough to please the Wealthy and Privileged of this land. Once on the bench, the Wealth and Privilege continues as the donors keep on stoking the flame of obedience to their sugar daddy with paid vacations, crafty real estate sales, and other gimme gimmeys that make our current court look like the grifter and crook of a president who appointed them. To say that Chief Justice John G. Roberts is running a nice and neat corruption-free court, is a tragic error. His court looks like the mob-like thug substance made from the DNA of Donald J. Trump.
If this was too much for you, stop here, or go on to HCR, who has a flair for good writing and reporting on historical events. I deal with hysterical stuff.
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Juan
Juan
Q. What is the difference between a law-abiding gun owner and a criminal?
A. The .2 of a second that it takes to pull a trigger.
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