It’s been a while since I have posted anything here. Sometimes, in the pursuit of the particular freedom that comes with being an artist, I have to put aside the art for a bit and do stuff to pay the bills. But today, as I look outside of my window at the snow falling onto the North Carolina Piedmont, I am grateful that paying the bills no longer means hanging off the back of a garbage truck in the sub-zero temps of a New Jersey winter.
I am reticent to use this space as a political billboard. After all, my music speaks for itself. And there are so many other things I would rather talk about. Baseball season is starting. The NFL Draft is coming. I’ve been way back into To Pimp A Butterfly. I made one of the greatest live Grateful Dead playlists of all time on Apple Music. I would much rather be telling you about any of those things. But now is not the time for that.
The world, our world, has been thrown into chaos. It feels like every ten minutes, a new missive is announced, upending the semblance of order we’ve known all of our lives. For people like me, who merely want all human beings on earth, regardless of sex, sexual orientation, religion, politics, or race to be able to have access to food, to shelter, and to basic healthcare, we are deeply hurt by many of these new orders. Unfortunately, there is an entire political movement who does not want the same things for our fellow human beings, and they are running roughshod over all of the progress our society has made in the past 100 years , only to usher in a new era of already failed ideas that has disaster written all over it. It’s a stupid, boorish philosophy, and it’s harmful to so many people, including those that are currently cheering it on from the sidelines.
I am not one for political hyperbole. I am not one to cry “wolf”, but if you look outside your window, there is a wolf right outside. I’m no fool. I’ve always been a history buff. I’ve read plenty of books. I’ve traveled. I’ve been to Germany several times. I’ve had deep conversations about Lou Reed with people who grew up behind the Iron Curtain. I’ve talked to people whose parents, who were just normal everyday working class people, backed the Nazis. I have been in a storage room in a museum near Hamburg filled with real Nazi propaganda. I’ve been to the Topography of Terror, the museum in Berlin that details the rise of the SS, Hitler and the Third Reich. Let me be clear: this is not a drill. This is the real thing.
The real thing means that we need to be on our toes. We need to be prepared for anything, Most of all, we need to have our facts straight, so we can fight the bullshit. Part of the strategy of this regime is to throw so much shit at you all at once that you can’t keep up with all of it, and it is a very effective strategy. It’s part of why it has taken me so long to get around to write here on my Substack: every time we are faced with a new story I get an idea, and I start ranting, only to have another, crazier story come along, and throw me off my game. It’s a lot. But I will not be silent, even if I am a little punch-drunk.
There are a lot of things I can complain about right now with the bat-shit crazy, world-changing news coming at us at neck-breaking speed. But let me tell what is really pissing me off at this moment:
Sure, America has a spending problem. Actually, according to economists, we really have a revenue problem, since we don’t collect enough tax money from the wealthy or corporations. And sure, there is plenty of waste. If you have followed me for any amount of time, you are probably aware of my constant calls for a significant cut in Defense spending, which is outrageous. We spend 6 times more than the rest of the world COMBINED on defense, yet we raise the amount we spend every year. But Elon Musk and Donald Trump are not making cuts where it counts.
Instead they are firing scientists, lawyers, and pretty much anybody who made Trump look bad during his first term. And they are eliminating anything they deem “woke”. Scientists, attorneys, FBI agents, meteorologists. This charade has nothing to do with spending and everything to do with Trump and Musk’s personal agenda. But here’s the thing: even if you wholeheartedly agree with the spending cuts, surely this could have been done in a better way.
Surely someone could have given some of these employees a few months warning, or a few weeks, or even a few days. Perhaps Elon Musk and DOGE could have had a plan to let everybody know what was happening. Instead, people are getting emails in the middle of the night telling them not to come in. And let’s be perfectly honest here: we all know a government worker in some shape or form. Or maybe you don’t. Maybe you do think that these are shoddy individuals stealing money from the taxpayers and spending it all lavishly. But that’s bullshit.
The people that work for the government are just people like anybody else. They go to a job they mostly hate. They work with annoying people. They watch the clock until it hits 5. They dream of the weekend. Yeah, they probably have better healthcare and pension then you do, but they certainly aren’t living on easy street. They’re working people just like anyone else.
Yet, these men, who loudly claim their love for America and American values, are not only shredding the Constitution, they are throwing hard-working, law abiding, freedom-loving Americans out of their jobs with no warning and for no good reason. Sure, we’re told of the reasons, but we aren’t allowed to see the evidence or question Musk: the judge, jury and executioner. They are just indiscriminately firing people who do jobs working FOR the American people. And many of you are cheering them on.
Park Rangers with new families. People who live abroad that help battle disease. People with mortgages and families, who worked hard too get with they have. And you’re cheering for their demise. For their suffering. And here’s the kick: whenever whatever this purge is finally ends, and government spending is lower, and taxes are cut, you aren’t even going to know the difference. The amount of money you save with these tax breaks are going to give you $50 extra dollars a week. And that $50 is going to pale in comparison to the price of healthcare going up. The price of insurance going up. The price of everyday items, from food to household goods, going up. And the price of freedom being decimated. As of this writing, DOGE is claiming to have saved $55 Billion dollars (although evidence suggests it is far less). That is just over 1% of the Federal Budget. So, next time you get your paycheck, and you’re wishing that it was a little bit bigger, just use your imagination (or a calculator) and add 1% to that check (keeping in mind that if things go according to plan, you’ll never see that Social Security money they’re taking out) and then think about the 10,000-plus families all across America who have no idea where their next paycheck is coming from, thanks to Elon Musk.
Keep cheering.
MJ
May I suggest donating to the ACLU, who will be representing fired workers, and all other walks of life who are getting trampled by this administration’s haphazard BS.
**My ADD makes me a terrible proof-reader and spell checker**
Well done!! Please keep posting. Your grammar and spelling are perfect, but that's not critical right now. We need all voices now!