It has never been hip to be poor, yet being poor in these difficult times, is a triple whammy!

This morning in the news it was announced that 39 King County parks will be closed as of January 2010, because there is no budget left to keep them open. As I read that I wondered whether I had been mistaken in my understanding that some of the stimulus funds were going to be used to put people to work instead of just drawing unemployment funds. What a wonderful opportunity just opened up. The people, who need fresh air the most, would now have the opportunity to enjoy it while they are working. It seems ridiculous that the whole of Seattle is under construction for what I have no idea, and yet, there are no funds to keep places, such as our parks that are so important in these difficult times, open. As I am supposed to vote today selecting a bunch of people, who in my opinion, have little or no qualifications to undertake the jobs of Mayor and councilmen and women, I wonder if we are ever going to be prepared to really take on this depression. After all, the closure affects those who use the park for their recreation and rest, and in turn they really could benefit from jobs associated with keeping them open.


Walking along our sidewalk these days, you wonder if ever we are going to be asked and paid for cleaning up what now is being left alone, overgrown bushes and grass, and trash everywhere. Again, I know hundreds of people who would love to work in the outdoors and get a livable wage.

And don’t have me write about credit card debts for people who would not have any, if it were not for the loan sharks out there. An article this morning points out that credit card companies are tightening their belts in their giveaways. Well I guess that is not so nice for those who are still paying their monthly dues. There are people out there though, who would be glad to accept lowered benefits, if the companies that they deal with played fair with their interest rates, delayed payments, overdraft charges, etc. When are we going to address the fact that the credit card companies that issue credit cards to poor people are predators and charge anything they can get away with and keep doing it, regardless of any laws that are out there to prevent this?

If we wish to keep this world going, we need to be aware that people who serve us, and there are many, in retail and grocery stores, in hotels and restaurants, cleaning our roads and our houses, taking care of our children, people in which most of us put our trust, cannot survive in a world where they bear the burden of a market economy going bust.