“I’m a railroad man, I wake up at 3 AM. I run the engine IO all the way to Charleston. I save whenever I can, put half my money toward a pension plan, but there ain’t no hope for the working man.” Perfect folk song for our times, with a beautiful folk performance for our times. I’m one of those who was against the bail-out of the rich because Lord knows they had their off-shore accounts long before their greed made a mess of the system. Shoulda let them all go bankrupt and let the middle class come back. Guess it’ll never happen, but that makes The Youngers song all the more powerful, “How ‘bout some relief for the railroad man…the steel mill man…the farming man…the truck driving man?” Or as the song finishes, we are reminded exactly about what our country never has really stood for, “How ‘bout some relief for the working man?” Ever since I was a young pup the rich have got richer, while the people that make the country happen have gotten poorer. Seems to be the way of the world, and the older I get the more I realize that’s been the plan all along. I’ve been a public school teacher long enough to know all the political talk about paying teachers a living wage will never come true – I even heard a school board member say in public, “they’re all women anyway”. You know times are bad when they can openly say such discriminatory things and get away with it. Sure, they all think that way, we’ve always known it; but there used to be laws against open discrimination. No more, at least not in Texas. Shoutout for Right All The Wrongs (“the past is a memory that’s slowly starting to blur.”) The Youngers
Saturday, November 01, 2008
The Youngers - Heritage
“I’m a railroad man, I wake up at 3 AM. I run the engine IO all the way to Charleston. I save whenever I can, put half my money toward a pension plan, but there ain’t no hope for the working man.” Perfect folk song for our times, with a beautiful folk performance for our times. I’m one of those who was against the bail-out of the rich because Lord knows they had their off-shore accounts long before their greed made a mess of the system. Shoulda let them all go bankrupt and let the middle class come back. Guess it’ll never happen, but that makes The Youngers song all the more powerful, “How ‘bout some relief for the railroad man…the steel mill man…the farming man…the truck driving man?” Or as the song finishes, we are reminded exactly about what our country never has really stood for, “How ‘bout some relief for the working man?” Ever since I was a young pup the rich have got richer, while the people that make the country happen have gotten poorer. Seems to be the way of the world, and the older I get the more I realize that’s been the plan all along. I’ve been a public school teacher long enough to know all the political talk about paying teachers a living wage will never come true – I even heard a school board member say in public, “they’re all women anyway”. You know times are bad when they can openly say such discriminatory things and get away with it. Sure, they all think that way, we’ve always known it; but there used to be laws against open discrimination. No more, at least not in Texas. Shoutout for Right All The Wrongs (“the past is a memory that’s slowly starting to blur.”) The Youngers
