It's Not You! It really, really isn't...

Check out this article from Yahoo:

You know you're just a worthless, unemployed, lazy bum!

This issue has concerned me for a long, long time. I knew all about the unemployed being discriminated against, because like so many of you, I was and still am one of them. I recall having gone to an interview at a music start-up about a year after being laid off from Apple, and you know what the arrogant yuppie twit of an interviewer said?!

"Ah I see, you were laid off just when the market crashed in 2008. Interesting!"

Wow, I'm glad my life crashing down around me made such a neat little case study for him.  He's lucky he wasn't in a dark corner with me when he made that fucking smug observation...

For one thing, it's not as though this was some new revelation. I knew I'd been laid off at the worst time imaginable, and so did Apple. I know I'm not being paranoid when I say I was well aware they had it in for me. Life is not easy in the corporate world if you're not a saucy little corporate whore, and announce that you never will be, not for all the bonuses and perks in the world. But I do know that brown-nosing comes very easy to some. I worked with more than I can count. The stench got pretty bad, believe you me. The ones I knew at Apple were clearly reporting to my superiors that I was in no way alright with being Crapple's 'Permatemp bitch.' So that's likely what happened there. I hope they are enjoying the 'eau de poo' wafting 'round the office. They likely don't even notice any more. But then, that's pure unadulterated Evil for you...

For those of you who are, you know, NORMAL and not begging of someone's acceptance every damn second of the day, or willing to sell your first-born to your boss, just know that this time, it truly is not your fault. I wish there were a way to reach out to you other than this blog. For now, all I can do for the truly down-and-out is give a few measly dollars to a soup kitchen every now and then. It is specific to my neighborhood but hey, as they say, you gotta start locally.

Don't even worry if you've had to resort to doing something considered 'criminal' or socially unacceptable to survive. Do you think corporations have ever gone by the letter of the law? This is no time to apologize for wanting to LIVE! I know, in the jobs you've all held before, you generally had to ask your boss permission to even breathe, let alone have the audacity to inquire after a promotion. I've been there, believe me. You used to believe that if you elected a well-heeled and well-spoken man as President, that he'd look after your rights. He wouldn't let any entity, corporate or otherwise, step all over you and your family. But it turns out you were wrong about that too, because after you elected him and during the worst recession you can remember, it seems that every damn time you turned around, he was attending yet another fancy luncheon with the Chamber of Commerce. Sadly, we are all starting to come around to the brutal reality that there is no 'benevolent leader,' and we must at once survive this disgraceful betrayal together and map out a future in which ourselves and our loved ones not only survive, but thrive.

Just promise me something. Even if you are not actively engaged in some sort of anti-corporate or other activism, please take care of yourself and your loved ones, no matter what. Reach out to your friends who find themselves out of work as a result of this insane, inequitable, corporate cock sucking circus of a culture. It will indeed make you a better human being for having done so. Lie for them, if you have to, so they can keep that roof over their heads. Even if it means you have to pretend you worked with them in the past. You know, you've probably lied many times for your employer, an entity that after all, does not in any way possess the realness or intrinsic value of a human life. It's likely the lie was even bigger if you worked or work in sales or marketing.

I guess what I'm asking is that the remaining decent people left turn the tables on the establishment once and for all, which may seem like an overwhelming request. But I don't think it's impossible. Even a few well-meaning individuals can bring about tremendous change. Fight for what is real, and you will see illusory power structures fall, as mighty and grand an illusion as they may seem to be. Liars and cowards are actually pretty easy to defeat, once you get the hang of it. This is your time, and mine. We may be temporarily miserable, but we'll survive and we'll make sure the corporate lie is exposed once and for all, and for all to see.