to the future...

These days are becoming trying times. As I observe life from my little corner of the world, I see a long road ahead, but this road is not a scenic drive, but a trip through a dystopian landscape of destroyed dreams and despotic rulers, not a place I'd wish on any human that values self worth.

I was in Hemet, on personal business when I took a look around. Not a pretty sight, a town that has become like many small towns, dying as business community slowly fades, and the character of the town goes from a haven for old people into a place for people to find a cheap place to stay. I see more homeless, I see foreclosures, I see what appears to be hookers walking the sidewalks of Florida Avenue...

The nearby town of San Jacinto preceded the City of Bell into the morass of corruption when the DA indicted most of the city council for taking kickbacks and bribes.. Hemet suffered when the police came under attack by some gang members who took shots at the police station, and torched city vehicles. They even went so far as to plant bombs and booby trap gates, all to kill the cops who were interfering with their criminal enterprise.

Those things are now part of history, but the incidents live in the memory of those living in the area. The place suffered when WalMart came to town, then in a fit of corporate arrogance, left to county territory because they could not get there way with the local city government. WalMart has left many small businesses shuttered, and is now assaulting the city on two fronts with Supercenters in two adjacent areas, bleeding the city dry.

No, life in a small town is not pretty in this economy.

In Anza the picture is of rural California... Our problems differ but e result is more of the same. Agribusiness is a big player, but does not employ the locals, preferring to bring in labor or employ those who have questionable immigration status. People have walked away from many homes, having no work, and facing the fact that to live they must move. There are so many foreclosures and properties for auction that I would be hard pressed to find a buyer to pay a price higher that what it took to build the place in 1976. The only saving grace is that it is paid for and the taxes are very low.

No, this country and society are on the skids, everyone I know is hurting, no one is without some form of pain. I can only hope that the discontent I see translates to action, but as was pointed out by another blogger, are the people so brainwashed by the lies of the right leaning media to know they are being screwed? I sort of wonder if we have a chance for change in 2012, or will people be in such despair that they accept their serfdom and let the overlords screw them again and again.

The whole idea of a revolution will start to appear as something needed as people find themselves struggling to. Put food on the table or find work that pays a living wage. I think it will be a time of much more pain before the people wake up... Get ready for more hurt.

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