I think this is a great idea (Humans are VERY visual creatures, after all), but I think that it must be undertaken very carefully.
Tessa has intentionally stripped down the most basic elements of "What's Really Going On Here" (at least, in the mind's eyes of many), and managed to craft a tale that is palatable to ALL who feel the Creator's pulse, regardless of the window trappings, so to speak. My concern is that any attempt to illustrate this *could* detract from the lesson, particularly if the illustrations are too specific in some way (for example, illustrating the "race" of the people in the village, or their clothing). I could envision some very flowing, sort of free-form watercolor illustrations, however, that might compliment the tale nicely. :)
Now substitute the allegory's primary evil entity and replace it with any of the following: Despotic corporations, religious fanatics, medical personnel, academics, "experts," all and sundry, "establishment." Is it clear to you? Snap out of the "spell." Pray alone in sincerity.
All this is what my friend Steven Newcomb calls, brilliantly in my opinion, "the system of domination." The entire thing! Colorings change, isms change, but as long as the underlying principle is subjugation of free human beings and vampiring them, it's that sentiment.
"...subjugation of free human beings and vampiring them..."
I think you just defined civilization itself, which is and has always been about subjugating, subordinating, dominating, controlling (and exploiting) not only all human beings but all life forms, from DNA to the weather.
My opinion...I know most would not agree, but my friends do :)) (Native Americans).
Always know, its not the "belief," but rather the propaganda incorporated therein. Organized religion as a whole has been infiltrated ages ago. Evil has been made "fair seeming" and normalized into many so called, "religious" dogmas.
I've always believed that the war on carbon is also a religious crusade/jihad/fight for the true believers. The physics and the supporting evidence has never supported the idea that CO2 is a magic thermostat for the Earth. Their belief is truly religious in the way they block out any dissenting views no matter how much evidence is presented. Along with the boatloads of contradictory data and common sense observations, the whole theory that there is "tipping point" into runaway greenhouse heating is ludicrous after millions of years of life on Earth; inherently unstable systems simply don't last in a chaotic universe. (... etc. etc. ... but I'll cease my off-topic rant that could fill a book.)
Regarding a civilization ending disaster, I don't think we need a disaster. Systemic failures in our infrastructure are increasing, South Africa's unfolding nightmare is the model I expect. The (potential) global scale of the collapse means there will not be any escape or help from abroad. Perhaps local fiefdoms of will emerge like the lords of medieval Europe. Small scale infrastructure and transportation solutions for trade could be maintained by smart leaders in the right circumstances, hopefully.
‘Lord,’ I prayed, ‘why dost Thou permit such suffering?’
“… ‘Look intently!’ A gentle voice spoke to my inner consciousness. ‘You will see that these scenes now being enacted in France are nothing but a play of chiaroscuro (light and dark). They are the cosmic motion picture, as real and as unreal as the theater newsreel you have just seen—a play within a play.’
My heart was still not comforted. The divine voice went on:
‘Creation is light and shadow both, else no picture is possible. The good and evil of maya must ever alternate in supremacy. If joy were ceaseless here in this world, would man ever seek another? Without suffering he scarcely cares to recall that he has forsaken his eternal home. Pain is a prod to remembrance.”
OK Tessa back at you: this one's from oct 2020 but I think it stands the test of time:
Twilight of Idols
Long ago and faraway in a land not unlike our own, the emperor and his court noticed that fewer and fewer people were congregating in the many temples there. In order to restore this practice, the emperor ordered that all temples be shuttered and replaced with new ones. So the shrines to the cunning Bezos, god of commerce, the scantily-clad Cyrus, goddess of music, and the Kardashians, who with one look could turn a man to stone, were all closed. The new temples were prefabricated, exactly identical and all dedicated to a single new god: the abacus.
Now this abacus was the latest model, and the emperor believed it to be the greatest achievement in the history of the world. It contained millions and millions of beads, most of them so small that they were invisible. It was able to calculate enormous sums in seconds flat. It was decorated with all manner of bells and whistles. It even spoke, in a nasal, mechanical monotone that was said to be the voice of Gates, the most fearsome and powerful of all the gods.
Many people had exhausted their lives’ savings to purchase miniature models of this magical abacus, in order to be mesmerized by its many bells and whistles and to receive orders from the king of all the gods.
One day the miniature abacuses all simultaneously announced that the great abacus had calculated that the land was overpopulated. Townspeople were instructed by the mechanical voice to gather in the village square, where each would have his or her pinky finger measured. Those with pinky fingers longer than five inches would be ruled fit to remain in town. Those with pinkies on the short side would have to throw themselves into the great river.
The device used to measure everyone’s pinky was a glove, a ladies model with a hole at each fingertip. Quickly, it became apparent that everyone who had been measured, except for the great discus thrower Pedro Martinez and a couple of water-organ players, would be taking a plunge in the river.
In the ranks of the crowd of thousands waiting their turn to jump in the river, fenced in by soldiers, stood Cassandra the soothsayer. As the line of condemned townspeople moved slowly toward the riverbank, she came upon Ferguson, who was high priest at the central temple of the abacus. “Nice work,” she said sarcastically, raising her hand to high-five him.
Reflexively, Ferguson gave her a high-five back. “People! Did you see that? Ferguson just matched his pinky up against mine, and mine is even longer than his. But he’s not in line to jump in the river, and we are! This is all a sham!” Cassandra screamed.
The soldiers moved in toward her, but the crowd held them back.
“What is this nonsense about our pinkies? What gives this abacus the right to make us swim for our lives?” Cassandra demanded. “The abacus is not our god. It doesn’t know anything: it doesn’t even have a brain! It’s just a dorky machine. Smash the abacus and everything like it!”
With that, the crowd broke through the barricades. The soldiers fled the city. Ferguson, the emperor and his entourage were seized, strapped onto the catapult and sent flying into the river. The last item to be catapulted into the river was the great abacus itself, whose bells and whistles played a ghastly fanfare as it splashed in the water, then went silent and dark as it sank to the bottom.
In the years that followed, civilization began to flourish again, with an annual parade dedicated to the day the abacus made its final big splash. Shopkeepers and grape growers returned to doing calculations on leaves of papyrus, with quills dipped in red wine. And for years afterward, children were cautioned not to walk through the agora barefoot, for fear of cutting their feet on the shattered plastic and glass from all the broken abacuses.
And that is how this story can end if LOVE is the cure!! Love this and thank you! Can't wait to see your beautiful illustrations. But, don't make the Bad Witch Green or ugly with a wart on her nose. We know not that narcissists are the "baddest" witches. And they are charming and beautiful!!
I really enjoyed this story Tessa. A great reminder that we need to be vigilant about recognizing the propaganda that we are bombarded with every day and to totally reject the hatred and division that seem to be everywhere. Instead focus on genuine love and care for our own soul as well as others. Your persistence in bringing this important message is greatly appreciated.
Your story brought to mind for me Clarissa Pinkola Estes's "Women Who Run With the Wolves". Interesting that I had just read that classic of hers late in 2019. Perfect timing for a lot of the goings on around then and continuing.....
It is obvious to me! As I see it, when one does what they find joyful, they truly shine. We need more of that type of thing- shining of one's light. Thank you for the example! xoxo
Beautifully written - thank you Tessa. Love wins in the end, it's just a painstaking process. Hurt people, hurt people but healed people, heal people. I pray all day, every day for humankind ...
I enjoyed your allegory. Many clever, and important, parallels expressed in a breezy, fun style. But alas, the clever parallels were about the fall, the deceit and the fall. As usual, the remedy, the path to a new harmony offered by beautiful, caring, perceptive persons such as yourself, is a vague one about Love. Argh, we need to do so much more than hold hands, pray, and care! Love is perhaps a starting point, a cheerleader, a motivator, and a crucial glue, etc., but we need more than Love. The remedy is a recipe of Know-How and Understanding and Communication and Practice & Performance--hundreds or even thousands of practical steps per each human x (times) billions of diverse humans, eventually coordinated in unprecedented ways (to oversimplify it!) Let's say 6 of the 8 billion people on Earth say YES, ABSOLUTELY YES, we're ready for Harmony...then what? Haha I sound like a curmudgeon. I want people to start SEEING and DOING the real practical steps, which will be different for different people, depending on their situations, their resources, their knowledge and skills...PEACE!
In my view, people have to stop looking up for leaders and saviors (as if they were 4 years olds looking up at parents for guidance and protection) and to start looking at each other, realizing that they not only have but ARE the power.
But as long as they surrender their power to a leader and any form of authority above them, they will offer themselves to betrayal and abuse. This is absolutely inevitable, because they initially betrayed themselves by surrendering their power.
How do we undo centuries of conditioning? Who wants to be martyred first? It is not only the leaders who will come after you when you attempt to free humanity, but humanity itself...at this point the slaves will beat you up with their own chains rather than embrace freedom.
We cannot and should not force any change. We might be able to help individuals who ask for help, but the collective has presently chosen a very dark path. All we can do, in my opinion, is tend to the crying wounded on this battlefield (this world). Whether humanity awakens or not in time to avoid global physical destruction remains to be seen.
Of course all will be well in the end because the spirit is immortal. But the loss of earth through mindless destruction would, nevertheless, be an immense tragedy that would devastate all who feel love for the natural creation, the divine creation.
B.M. , well said. "...would become concrete, grounded as a new bedrock for civilization. Love without sacrifice is little more than a pipe dream." Yes. Good words.
Thank you for that story. I forget that those who are acting out in batshit crazy ways truly believe their behaviour and reactions are good and pure. I pray for the day they realize that they’ve been cast under a wicked spell. I will forgive them but I will never forgive the witch(es), I hope they burn.
I think the bad witches follow their own path and it all gets balanced out across multiple life spans. People who choose darkness in one lifetime tend to get stuck in it but once they go back, they know what they have done and possibly regret it greatly. This is all very mysterious and it is probably more productive to focus on the job at hand but the bad witches eventually find balance, too, just maybe not in this lifetime. I don't wish any suffering on anyone, I think it's healthy to hand them off to the Creator and not worry about balancing them.
Sounds like what we are now living. Food Shortages, Weather events are out of the norm across the USA. The Incompetent Senile Pupet who can't work 3 days in a row or, tie his own shoes cares more for his Green Energy Farce, Illegals, and Ukraine, than Americans. People are Dumpster Diving for food. No jobs, 10.1 Million out of work, the jobs are gone, or they make more not working from Federal Welfare. But you need to meet certain conditions. Many on DSSI get SNAP, they work because they don't make enough to live. These are PT workers in low-wage jobs. Often High Downs who can't get better jobs. Or are Seniors with low SS and no pensions. Are taking fewer hours to stay on SNAP. The Debt Ceiling Debt just rose another Trillion dollars. AI is taking more jobs of the middle class and lower wage earners. Can you blame the anger? No, a Stolen election has disastrous consequences.
One illegal vote can change the outcome of an election
One illegal vote cast is too many. States must get serious about prosecuting election crimes. Otherwise, there is no deterrence to stop people from committing them.
BLACK TUESDAY WHEN THE STOCKMARKET CRASHED October 29, 1929, WAS THE BEGINNING OF THE 10-YEAR GREAT DEPRESSION, Brace for 1930s-style economic disorder — especially if interest rates keep climbing
This is personal. We are 83/75, a blended family. We paid off our house which is a starter house in a lower crime county after a man was killed walking his dog a block from our High Crime and High Taxed one in Blue run city suburb, which controls all the small cities. Food alone is now triple. But that is not the worse. My eldest son had a TIA last Oct. Quad Bypass, 2.5 months ago, has no job, no savings, and now lives with his 20 yr old son for a roof over his head. Told he needed double Cataract surgery in Aug. On Aug 3 will have a Defibulator installed as an outpatient. The worse is he is A SINGLE/WHITE/MALE. No DSSI Caseworker in 9 months, needs SNAP. 3 STRIKES AGAINST HIM, ILLEGALS COME FIRST. He's worked 50+ hrs or more to make ends meet for nearly 20 yrs. Hit that 40-year timeline.
I like a happy ending! Perhaps you'll find an illustrator and publish this story? Good lessons in it. Thanks.
Thank you, Kathleen!! I need to publish so many things... thank you for inspiring me to think about it more
👍😊
I think this is a great idea (Humans are VERY visual creatures, after all), but I think that it must be undertaken very carefully.
Tessa has intentionally stripped down the most basic elements of "What's Really Going On Here" (at least, in the mind's eyes of many), and managed to craft a tale that is palatable to ALL who feel the Creator's pulse, regardless of the window trappings, so to speak. My concern is that any attempt to illustrate this *could* detract from the lesson, particularly if the illustrations are too specific in some way (for example, illustrating the "race" of the people in the village, or their clothing). I could envision some very flowing, sort of free-form watercolor illustrations, however, that might compliment the tale nicely. :)
You have a point!! Thank you.
So many wonderful comments here! :)
Yes, Tessa could query 'Fairytale' magazine with it. I love it. Works on a lot of levels ;)
I liked the realistic ending. A parable needs to live forever, so that others who make mistakes can learn from it.
Let's hope we get to the "healing and hope" part and don't get stuck in the "tear one another to pieces" part.
Amen to that!
we get what we choose.
Now substitute the allegory's primary evil entity and replace it with any of the following: Despotic corporations, religious fanatics, medical personnel, academics, "experts," all and sundry, "establishment." Is it clear to you? Snap out of the "spell." Pray alone in sincerity.
Wonderfully put!
All this is what my friend Steven Newcomb calls, brilliantly in my opinion, "the system of domination." The entire thing! Colorings change, isms change, but as long as the underlying principle is subjugation of free human beings and vampiring them, it's that sentiment.
"...subjugation of free human beings and vampiring them..."
I think you just defined civilization itself, which is and has always been about subjugating, subordinating, dominating, controlling (and exploiting) not only all human beings but all life forms, from DNA to the weather.
My opinion...I know most would not agree, but my friends do :)) (Native Americans).
Always know, its not the "belief," but rather the propaganda incorporated therein. Organized religion as a whole has been infiltrated ages ago. Evil has been made "fair seeming" and normalized into many so called, "religious" dogmas.
I've always believed that the war on carbon is also a religious crusade/jihad/fight for the true believers. The physics and the supporting evidence has never supported the idea that CO2 is a magic thermostat for the Earth. Their belief is truly religious in the way they block out any dissenting views no matter how much evidence is presented. Along with the boatloads of contradictory data and common sense observations, the whole theory that there is "tipping point" into runaway greenhouse heating is ludicrous after millions of years of life on Earth; inherently unstable systems simply don't last in a chaotic universe. (... etc. etc. ... but I'll cease my off-topic rant that could fill a book.)
Regarding a civilization ending disaster, I don't think we need a disaster. Systemic failures in our infrastructure are increasing, South Africa's unfolding nightmare is the model I expect. The (potential) global scale of the collapse means there will not be any escape or help from abroad. Perhaps local fiefdoms of will emerge like the lords of medieval Europe. Small scale infrastructure and transportation solutions for trade could be maintained by smart leaders in the right circumstances, hopefully.
From Yogananda’s “Autobiography of a Yogi." :
‘Lord,’ I prayed, ‘why dost Thou permit such suffering?’
“… ‘Look intently!’ A gentle voice spoke to my inner consciousness. ‘You will see that these scenes now being enacted in France are nothing but a play of chiaroscuro (light and dark). They are the cosmic motion picture, as real and as unreal as the theater newsreel you have just seen—a play within a play.’
My heart was still not comforted. The divine voice went on:
‘Creation is light and shadow both, else no picture is possible. The good and evil of maya must ever alternate in supremacy. If joy were ceaseless here in this world, would man ever seek another? Without suffering he scarcely cares to recall that he has forsaken his eternal home. Pain is a prod to remembrance.”
OK Tessa back at you: this one's from oct 2020 but I think it stands the test of time:
Twilight of Idols
Long ago and faraway in a land not unlike our own, the emperor and his court noticed that fewer and fewer people were congregating in the many temples there. In order to restore this practice, the emperor ordered that all temples be shuttered and replaced with new ones. So the shrines to the cunning Bezos, god of commerce, the scantily-clad Cyrus, goddess of music, and the Kardashians, who with one look could turn a man to stone, were all closed. The new temples were prefabricated, exactly identical and all dedicated to a single new god: the abacus.
Now this abacus was the latest model, and the emperor believed it to be the greatest achievement in the history of the world. It contained millions and millions of beads, most of them so small that they were invisible. It was able to calculate enormous sums in seconds flat. It was decorated with all manner of bells and whistles. It even spoke, in a nasal, mechanical monotone that was said to be the voice of Gates, the most fearsome and powerful of all the gods.
Many people had exhausted their lives’ savings to purchase miniature models of this magical abacus, in order to be mesmerized by its many bells and whistles and to receive orders from the king of all the gods.
One day the miniature abacuses all simultaneously announced that the great abacus had calculated that the land was overpopulated. Townspeople were instructed by the mechanical voice to gather in the village square, where each would have his or her pinky finger measured. Those with pinky fingers longer than five inches would be ruled fit to remain in town. Those with pinkies on the short side would have to throw themselves into the great river.
The device used to measure everyone’s pinky was a glove, a ladies model with a hole at each fingertip. Quickly, it became apparent that everyone who had been measured, except for the great discus thrower Pedro Martinez and a couple of water-organ players, would be taking a plunge in the river.
In the ranks of the crowd of thousands waiting their turn to jump in the river, fenced in by soldiers, stood Cassandra the soothsayer. As the line of condemned townspeople moved slowly toward the riverbank, she came upon Ferguson, who was high priest at the central temple of the abacus. “Nice work,” she said sarcastically, raising her hand to high-five him.
Reflexively, Ferguson gave her a high-five back. “People! Did you see that? Ferguson just matched his pinky up against mine, and mine is even longer than his. But he’s not in line to jump in the river, and we are! This is all a sham!” Cassandra screamed.
The soldiers moved in toward her, but the crowd held them back.
“What is this nonsense about our pinkies? What gives this abacus the right to make us swim for our lives?” Cassandra demanded. “The abacus is not our god. It doesn’t know anything: it doesn’t even have a brain! It’s just a dorky machine. Smash the abacus and everything like it!”
With that, the crowd broke through the barricades. The soldiers fled the city. Ferguson, the emperor and his entourage were seized, strapped onto the catapult and sent flying into the river. The last item to be catapulted into the river was the great abacus itself, whose bells and whistles played a ghastly fanfare as it splashed in the water, then went silent and dark as it sank to the bottom.
In the years that followed, civilization began to flourish again, with an annual parade dedicated to the day the abacus made its final big splash. Shopkeepers and grape growers returned to doing calculations on leaves of papyrus, with quills dipped in red wine. And for years afterward, children were cautioned not to walk through the agora barefoot, for fear of cutting their feet on the shattered plastic and glass from all the broken abacuses.
Love it!!! Thank you so much for sharing it!!
Thanks for this. Somehow the name of the witch strikes me as Faustina? Oh, I would love to see it as a children's book.
That bad witch's parents did a fine job raising her.
You have an original take as always :)
Your allegory reminds me of The Intruder (1962 film) starring William Shatner.
made me cry!
Hugs!!!
And that is how this story can end if LOVE is the cure!! Love this and thank you! Can't wait to see your beautiful illustrations. But, don't make the Bad Witch Green or ugly with a wart on her nose. We know not that narcissists are the "baddest" witches. And they are charming and beautiful!!
That was beautiful 🥲
Thank you 🙏🏼
I really enjoyed this story Tessa. A great reminder that we need to be vigilant about recognizing the propaganda that we are bombarded with every day and to totally reject the hatred and division that seem to be everywhere. Instead focus on genuine love and care for our own soul as well as others. Your persistence in bringing this important message is greatly appreciated.
xoxo
You've planted a seed of hope, Tessa🙏. You have a true gift in writing! Thank you for sharing this.
Thank you, Kelly!! it is my joy. xoxo
Your story brought to mind for me Clarissa Pinkola Estes's "Women Who Run With the Wolves". Interesting that I had just read that classic of hers late in 2019. Perfect timing for a lot of the goings on around then and continuing.....
It is obvious to me! As I see it, when one does what they find joyful, they truly shine. We need more of that type of thing- shining of one's light. Thank you for the example! xoxo
Beautifully written - thank you Tessa. Love wins in the end, it's just a painstaking process. Hurt people, hurt people but healed people, heal people. I pray all day, every day for humankind ...
Thank you, Susan!! Yes, a long process but I think we will be fine in the end!! xoxo
Tessa L,
I enjoyed your allegory. Many clever, and important, parallels expressed in a breezy, fun style. But alas, the clever parallels were about the fall, the deceit and the fall. As usual, the remedy, the path to a new harmony offered by beautiful, caring, perceptive persons such as yourself, is a vague one about Love. Argh, we need to do so much more than hold hands, pray, and care! Love is perhaps a starting point, a cheerleader, a motivator, and a crucial glue, etc., but we need more than Love. The remedy is a recipe of Know-How and Understanding and Communication and Practice & Performance--hundreds or even thousands of practical steps per each human x (times) billions of diverse humans, eventually coordinated in unprecedented ways (to oversimplify it!) Let's say 6 of the 8 billion people on Earth say YES, ABSOLUTELY YES, we're ready for Harmony...then what? Haha I sound like a curmudgeon. I want people to start SEEING and DOING the real practical steps, which will be different for different people, depending on their situations, their resources, their knowledge and skills...PEACE!
In my view, people have to stop looking up for leaders and saviors (as if they were 4 years olds looking up at parents for guidance and protection) and to start looking at each other, realizing that they not only have but ARE the power.
But as long as they surrender their power to a leader and any form of authority above them, they will offer themselves to betrayal and abuse. This is absolutely inevitable, because they initially betrayed themselves by surrendering their power.
How do we undo centuries of conditioning? Who wants to be martyred first? It is not only the leaders who will come after you when you attempt to free humanity, but humanity itself...at this point the slaves will beat you up with their own chains rather than embrace freedom.
We cannot and should not force any change. We might be able to help individuals who ask for help, but the collective has presently chosen a very dark path. All we can do, in my opinion, is tend to the crying wounded on this battlefield (this world). Whether humanity awakens or not in time to avoid global physical destruction remains to be seen.
Of course all will be well in the end because the spirit is immortal. But the loss of earth through mindless destruction would, nevertheless, be an immense tragedy that would devastate all who feel love for the natural creation, the divine creation.
B.M. , well said. "...would become concrete, grounded as a new bedrock for civilization. Love without sacrifice is little more than a pipe dream." Yes. Good words.
Thank you for that story. I forget that those who are acting out in batshit crazy ways truly believe their behaviour and reactions are good and pure. I pray for the day they realize that they’ve been cast under a wicked spell. I will forgive them but I will never forgive the witch(es), I hope they burn.
I think the bad witches follow their own path and it all gets balanced out across multiple life spans. People who choose darkness in one lifetime tend to get stuck in it but once they go back, they know what they have done and possibly regret it greatly. This is all very mysterious and it is probably more productive to focus on the job at hand but the bad witches eventually find balance, too, just maybe not in this lifetime. I don't wish any suffering on anyone, I think it's healthy to hand them off to the Creator and not worry about balancing them.
Sounds like what we are now living. Food Shortages, Weather events are out of the norm across the USA. The Incompetent Senile Pupet who can't work 3 days in a row or, tie his own shoes cares more for his Green Energy Farce, Illegals, and Ukraine, than Americans. People are Dumpster Diving for food. No jobs, 10.1 Million out of work, the jobs are gone, or they make more not working from Federal Welfare. But you need to meet certain conditions. Many on DSSI get SNAP, they work because they don't make enough to live. These are PT workers in low-wage jobs. Often High Downs who can't get better jobs. Or are Seniors with low SS and no pensions. Are taking fewer hours to stay on SNAP. The Debt Ceiling Debt just rose another Trillion dollars. AI is taking more jobs of the middle class and lower wage earners. Can you blame the anger? No, a Stolen election has disastrous consequences.
One illegal vote can change the outcome of an election
One illegal vote cast is too many. States must get serious about prosecuting election crimes. Otherwise, there is no deterrence to stop people from committing them.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/fairness-justice/one-illegal-vote-can-change-the-outcome-of-an-election?utm_source=deployer&utm_medium=email&utm_content=&utm_campaign=Beltway+Confidential&utm_term=
John Kerry Says People Will Have a "Better Quality of Life" with Strict Green New Deal-Style Climate Mandates (VIDEO). https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/07/john-kerry-says-people-will-have-better-quality/
BLACK TUESDAY WHEN THE STOCKMARKET CRASHED October 29, 1929, WAS THE BEGINNING OF THE 10-YEAR GREAT DEPRESSION, Brace for 1930s-style economic disorder — especially if interest rates keep climbing
We are already there. The difference is A! will take more jobs, Which is why it grew so fast. Why self-checkout is needed. https://gailhonadle.substack.com/p/black-tuesday-when-the-stockmarket
This is personal. We are 83/75, a blended family. We paid off our house which is a starter house in a lower crime county after a man was killed walking his dog a block from our High Crime and High Taxed one in Blue run city suburb, which controls all the small cities. Food alone is now triple. But that is not the worse. My eldest son had a TIA last Oct. Quad Bypass, 2.5 months ago, has no job, no savings, and now lives with his 20 yr old son for a roof over his head. Told he needed double Cataract surgery in Aug. On Aug 3 will have a Defibulator installed as an outpatient. The worse is he is A SINGLE/WHITE/MALE. No DSSI Caseworker in 9 months, needs SNAP. 3 STRIKES AGAINST HIM, ILLEGALS COME FIRST. He's worked 50+ hrs or more to make ends meet for nearly 20 yrs. Hit that 40-year timeline.
https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bizpacreview.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2017%2F09%2Fillegal-immigration-costs-113-billion-dollars-FAIR.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=5fb1b0b585ba3ffda6407a6789c3e1daedcfa343f3c34b1880ea69de1a27e300&ipo=images