Interesting, this old American vignette. I do have the impression that street people here in the U.S. are more disconnected from stability and family and religion than those abroad who have been your other focus, Linh. Perhaps this comes from the paper-thin culture of the U.S. --- hard perhaps to even call it culture. Just plain depressing in so many ways. I had a belly full of U.S. street people in 25 years working as a public defender in California. I would guess that the California street contingent was even more bereft of any cultural background than those "back East." Interesting, though, was the absence of Mexicans in this mix. Plenty of poor Mexicans, of course, but still imbued with the values of a more durable culture. Rarely living on the streets either.
Our American capitalists "masters" (Marx's word, not mine) have successfully divided and conquered us Americans. As Paul Simon wrote many years ago, "I am a rock, I am an island..."
I was homeless for over a year in California. I was let go from a job that payed so little I had no savings; I had no unemployment insurance, I lost my apartment and, because of my obstinate and generally unpleasant personality had no help to turn to.
The real beneficiaries of American capitalism want, perhaps more than anything, a divided and atomized working class. They've had that since Reagan's administration began in 1981. Human beings don't want to be "disconnected from stability and family..." yet the poor and downtrodden at the bottom of the American working class are put in that position by their capitalist masters.
Americans are implicitly taught (indoctrinated, propagandized) to relinquish family ties and friends to find "careers" (often just crappy, low pay jobs) in the "great" American job market. In return what the American working class is often "rewarded" with is alienation and anomie. Better to serve their capitalist masters. Capitalism thrives on a beaten down, apathetic working class.
Generally, non-western cultures adhere to family ties and connections for support. Stupid Americans (and I was one of them) relinquish or abandon those connections thinking a career is more important than family. I bought the capitalist propaganda and I'm paying for it now and will for the remainder of my life. The family I knew is gone and the new generation are alienated from me whom they see as an old outcast loser.
Don't give up your family to chase the capitalist's lie of a "career". Don't end up like me, on the street with nowhere to turn. When the people in your great "career" throw you away and don't give a damn.
I feel for those homeless people. I've been to foreign countries and I've seen nothing like the homeless situation here in The States. Is is a disgrace to a nation that considers itself the leader among the nations of the world. An absolute disgrace.
Without wanting to disparage anything you say, Thomas (because I agree with you) I would only add that a cultureless country spawns a whole lot more evil than just runaway capitalism. I remember my high school years with a tiny bit of nostalgia but mostly with horror. It was there that I discovered how naive and moronic people could be. I told myself that it was just high school and that the real world was more serious and thoughtful. I now realize that high school was a perfect metaphor for the real world. In one way it was better than the real world, I suppose. At least we were young and had some hope that better things were ahead. Again, what a fool I was.
This is what you're best at, Mr. Dinh, fishing out strange stories from random people whom no one would otherwise hear about. "Somebody nobody knows", as Kris Kristofferson sang. It's a talent just to be able to talk to all these people, and even more turning it into prose. The world would be a better place if we heard more from those people and much less about manufactured icons such as Taylor Swift, etc.
Hello Mr. Dinh. Thank you for continuing to allow me to receive your Postcards free of charge. I got a slight increase in my meager Social Security check on January first but I'm still barely getting by. I'm looking into supplementing my income with some tutoring work if I can get it. Wish me luck.
I may be off base here but is your reference to "Borsch" intended to be "Bosch" as in Hieronymus Bosch, the Medieval Dutch painter who painted those lurid, nightmarish scenes such as "The Garden of Earthly Delights"? I'm probably wrong and it is my own inadequacy that I don't know who "Borsch" is.
As always your insights into the overlooked people of the earth are edifying and enriching. Particularly for people like me who are often afraid to look at real life.
Interesting, this old American vignette. I do have the impression that street people here in the U.S. are more disconnected from stability and family and religion than those abroad who have been your other focus, Linh. Perhaps this comes from the paper-thin culture of the U.S. --- hard perhaps to even call it culture. Just plain depressing in so many ways. I had a belly full of U.S. street people in 25 years working as a public defender in California. I would guess that the California street contingent was even more bereft of any cultural background than those "back East." Interesting, though, was the absence of Mexicans in this mix. Plenty of poor Mexicans, of course, but still imbued with the values of a more durable culture. Rarely living on the streets either.
Hi Gina,
Our American capitalists "masters" (Marx's word, not mine) have successfully divided and conquered us Americans. As Paul Simon wrote many years ago, "I am a rock, I am an island..."
I was homeless for over a year in California. I was let go from a job that payed so little I had no savings; I had no unemployment insurance, I lost my apartment and, because of my obstinate and generally unpleasant personality had no help to turn to.
The real beneficiaries of American capitalism want, perhaps more than anything, a divided and atomized working class. They've had that since Reagan's administration began in 1981. Human beings don't want to be "disconnected from stability and family..." yet the poor and downtrodden at the bottom of the American working class are put in that position by their capitalist masters.
Americans are implicitly taught (indoctrinated, propagandized) to relinquish family ties and friends to find "careers" (often just crappy, low pay jobs) in the "great" American job market. In return what the American working class is often "rewarded" with is alienation and anomie. Better to serve their capitalist masters. Capitalism thrives on a beaten down, apathetic working class.
Generally, non-western cultures adhere to family ties and connections for support. Stupid Americans (and I was one of them) relinquish or abandon those connections thinking a career is more important than family. I bought the capitalist propaganda and I'm paying for it now and will for the remainder of my life. The family I knew is gone and the new generation are alienated from me whom they see as an old outcast loser.
Don't give up your family to chase the capitalist's lie of a "career". Don't end up like me, on the street with nowhere to turn. When the people in your great "career" throw you away and don't give a damn.
I feel for those homeless people. I've been to foreign countries and I've seen nothing like the homeless situation here in The States. Is is a disgrace to a nation that considers itself the leader among the nations of the world. An absolute disgrace.
Without wanting to disparage anything you say, Thomas (because I agree with you) I would only add that a cultureless country spawns a whole lot more evil than just runaway capitalism. I remember my high school years with a tiny bit of nostalgia but mostly with horror. It was there that I discovered how naive and moronic people could be. I told myself that it was just high school and that the real world was more serious and thoughtful. I now realize that high school was a perfect metaphor for the real world. In one way it was better than the real world, I suppose. At least we were young and had some hope that better things were ahead. Again, what a fool I was.
This is what you're best at, Mr. Dinh, fishing out strange stories from random people whom no one would otherwise hear about. "Somebody nobody knows", as Kris Kristofferson sang. It's a talent just to be able to talk to all these people, and even more turning it into prose. The world would be a better place if we heard more from those people and much less about manufactured icons such as Taylor Swift, etc.
Hello Mr. Dinh. Thank you for continuing to allow me to receive your Postcards free of charge. I got a slight increase in my meager Social Security check on January first but I'm still barely getting by. I'm looking into supplementing my income with some tutoring work if I can get it. Wish me luck.
I may be off base here but is your reference to "Borsch" intended to be "Bosch" as in Hieronymus Bosch, the Medieval Dutch painter who painted those lurid, nightmarish scenes such as "The Garden of Earthly Delights"? I'm probably wrong and it is my own inadequacy that I don't know who "Borsch" is.
As always your insights into the overlooked people of the earth are edifying and enriching. Particularly for people like me who are often afraid to look at real life.
Hi Thomas,
It should be Bosch and not Borsch. I'm always thinking about food! just corrected the typo.
Linh
Looking forward to it! Soon, I'll have the almost complete (no poetry) Linh Dinh collection!
Nicely written, Linh. All of it. A resounding "yes."
we like this and wait for your new book
Yes, Amazon is delivering me something next week.