What I want to understand is why when oil producers announce a price hike the cost of gasoline goes up at the station on the very same day. But didn’t they buy that gas LAST WEEK?

Culture issues. If you’ve been paying attention, the latest furor is over grooming. And I’m not talking about hair and makeup. You need to live for the news to understand the petty wars being fought between the political parties. And they’re almost always cultural issues, because D.C. is bought and sold to the corporations, companies are people, don’t you know? And the corporations have the money and keep the officials in business. Go against the corporations and you forgo the big money you need to get elected, especially in a world where it’s nearly impossible to reach your constituents.

But corporations are our common enemy. This is one thing Americans agree on. They focus on cultural issues because they believe they have some control there. But when it comes to corporations? They appear to have none.

So with the abdication of the power of musicians, corporations have become idols. Come on, you’ve got to believe in Apple more than any act on the hit parade. Furthermore, Apple is looking out for you, with its privacy controls. But elected officials uninformed on the issues hounded by the makers of apps want to open the door to more app stores on the Apple platform. I mean lower the percentage Apple gets, sure, but letting anybody in? That will wreck Apple’s walled garden that its customers believe in, that immunizes them against viruses and scams.

So maybe you don’t like Apple. Not everybody does. Which is why others do. If everybody likes it, nobody can believe in it, you need the anti to get your fervor up.

But now at an Atlanta Apple Store the employees are talking about unionizing. They get a minimum of $20 an hour, they get health benefits, tuition too, BUT THERE’S NO UPWARD MOBILITY! You can work behind the Genius Bar until you’re retirement age, never called up to the bigs in Cupertino.

Before that was Amazon.

And Starbucks.

And it gets even worse. Prices are going through the roof and the corporations are making proportionately more and what are they doing with this excess cash? Buying their own stock back. It’s a financial game and the everyday person is being screwed.

This is the issue the Democrats should be focusing on. The economics. This is why Bernie Sanders is a hero, and Elizabeth Warren was. It’s about standing up to the behemoths, doing what is right as opposed to expedient.

Someone e-mailed me about attending his first graduate class in journalism. The professor brought in a brown paper bag. And ultimately this teacher said as soon as they buy you lunch, they own you, you should bring or pay for your own. And that is true. That’s the American way, shared relationships and obligations. But that’s not how government is supposed to work.

I mean if I read about one more exec making triple digit millions a year I’m going to tear my hair out. You’re working for a corporation you didn’t start, why are you entitled to those insane bucks? Which hurt us all. That buying power draws attention while the poor individual loses any previous focus. What do they say in Washington? Poor people don’t vote! But last time around more people voted than ever before. Because they wanted to weigh in on Trump, pro or con.

And they care just as much about economics, their future, and the future of their kids. They seem to be the only ones looking out for themselves. They don’t seem to matter enough to those who can make change, can make a difference.

You’ve got to read the story in today’s “New York Times” about the manager of a Dollar General store in the south. There was no one working there! Corporate wouldn’t allow her to assign enough hours. As a matter of fact, they cut them! There was no one to put away the boxes in the aisles, the customers complained. Meanwhile, Dollar General is burgeoning. The CEO made $16,452,823 last year. It’s not like Todd Vasos founded the damn company, as a matter of fact he’s only been working there since 2015! How can these men, and they’re almost all men, make all this money while their employees are overworked, harried and in some cases even starving!

Plenty is wrong in America. And it’s got little to do with LGBTQ issues. Or critical race theory. All these ginned-up issues to make sure you don’t pay attention to what’s really going on.

But now the public has a voice. The manager of that Dollar General store spread the word on TikTok. She was immediately fired, but she stirred up the employees of the rest of the Dollar General stores.

And as soon as we start talking about realigning economics, those with the money, and those on the take, scream SOCIALISM! I hate to tell you, but we’ve already got socialism in America. And our biggest issue is income inequality. Socialism schmocialism. That’s just a trigger word. The rich have all these bogus points they wave in our faces. Like how many taxes they pay. Yeah, but as a percentage of overall income it’s less than the average working stiff! And Congress won’t even change the carried interest rule. You probably have no idea what that is, but it lowers the taxes of those who run hedge funds to capital gains rates, even though it’s regular compensation. I’d like that deal.

Something is brewing.

Unfortunately so many people feel powerless and are frustrated that they want a strongman to run the country. All I can tell you is to look at Russia, you want to live under Putin? That’s a strongman. You’ve got the appearance of order, but underneath you’ve got endless corruption.

Used to be we relied on musicians to speak truth. Now it’s the average citizen, which is why social media is so popular.

There’s something happening here. If only those with some power would wake up and realize there are more of us than there are corporate fat cats. Didn’t Bernie Sanders prove you could get more from individual donations online?

Thank god for these people unionizing. They want a better life, they don’t want to be dictated to, they want to have a seat at the table, at negotiations. Without the hoi polloi the whole country doesn’t work.

Yet the hoi polloi get no respect.

We’re all on the same side. At least those of us not working for the man making seven, eight or nine figures a year. We need to organize. We need to wrest our power. And now some faceless people who are sick of being wronged are.

Thank god.

“How a Dollar General Employee Went Viral on TikTok – Mary Gundel loved managing a store in Tampa, Fla. But when she detailed its challenges on social media, the company — and fellow employees — took notice.”: https://nyti.ms/3v5Cojt