WARNING: From Servicemember to Veteran to American Worker, You're "Expendable"

The Washington Post of today printed an article about the highly skilled unemployed that are under-reported if not ignored in the news. After twenty-two years of military service, two degrees, numerous schools and courses as well as a wealth of experience easily translated to the private sector I became self-employed for many of the reasons I’d read in the story and in comments posted to it about not only the dearth of decent, living-wage paying jobs but the mentality of the American employer toward the American worker; once they make a decent wage, attain a certain age or they or an immediate family member have a change in health they become a disposable commodity easily replaced by a younger one, citizen or not, for far less money. Starting with the Reagan Administration the lid was taken off of corporate greed and American employers at all levels were aided and enabled in the slow, painful extinction of the American middleclass worker.

Because of my experiences after the military as a service-disabled veteran I became actively involved in organizations and programs for veterans to assist them in becoming self-sufficient entrepreneurs because the way that this country, its institutions and employers treat them is even more disturbing and reprehensible than how the average American worker is treated. For veterans, particularly service disabled veterans, finding meaningful employment that pays a living wage is far more difficult than for the average worker. Older veterans endure the same prejudices as their younger counterparts plus age discrimination. They all were expendable in the field and now can’t comprehend why they’re now viewed as expendable at home as well. One veteran who had survived an IED in Iraq confided that he wished it had killed him if he’d known how he’d be treated at home.

Given the fact that this country views its workers as disposable razors, cheap and easily replaced, it’s no wonder that its veterans are viewed as already having been disposed of by their government and worth even far less. It’s an attitude beyond contempt and revulsion and it mocks Lincoln’s words at his second inaugural address that this nation”…care for him who shall have borne the battle and his widow and orphan”.

Remember all of this when it comes time to bring a new administration to the Whitehouse and change to congress in November. Study their voting records on bills to support the American worker, the military and veterans (votesmart.org is a good source). See if they’ve introduced bills to protect the average American and not corporations here and abroad. Investigate who funds their campaigns. Both miscreants and saints leave trails of evidence of whom they really are and it’s incumbent upon us to see through their rhetoric and find the real person before casting a vote.

The answer is simple: those who sell us out will be thrown.

21-50 out.