{"id":18328,"date":"2021-12-10T19:07:21","date_gmt":"2021-12-11T00:07:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jamiegraymusic.com\/wordpress\/?p=18328"},"modified":"2021-12-10T19:21:54","modified_gmt":"2021-12-11T00:21:54","slug":"better-is-better","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jamiegraymusic.com\/wordpress\/2021\/12\/better-is-better\/","title":{"rendered":"Better is Better"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Here’s the thing about modern American politics: They want us to argue, to the point of complete distraction if at all possible, about big picture shit that is really hard to change. Both parties want the same thing.
They want us at each other’s throats over masks and vaccines, instead of just wearing them. They chide us on, to defend or attack the right to be an idiot vs. social responsibility and acting in the common good. Respecting the rights of all the other idiots.
But what they DON’T want us to do is to learn to communicate with each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Uncle Sam is a Corporate Tool.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

They ply us with contradictory information. Some of it’s true, but they make it all seem<\/em> true. That way when we discuss it, nobody can easily agree on the facts. Close scrutiny will reveal the truth eventually, but who has time for that? By the time the truth comes out, the ‘facts’ don’t even matter, thanks to the hype. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s a circus. A dog and pony show, of lies, half truths, and propaganda, moderated mostly by the honor system, as actual journalism has devolved into a mass-media marketing scheme. Competing corporate overlords selling the particular brand of fear they think you’re most likely to buy. When in truth, they should be afraid of YOU. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Corporate News is Not Journalism. Take the time to find The Truth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Someday, I hope Americans will wake up and realize they deserve better than lip service. We deserve great things.

‘We live in the greatest country in the world’. That’s what they say. I beg to differ. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The greatest country in the world would be at the top of every list. Education. Happiness. Poverty. Healthcare. Crime. Violence. Civil rights. Wellness. Climate change. Sustainability. Incarceration. Mental health. Innovation. Productivity. Renewable energy. Manufacturing. We don’t lead the world in ANY of these important issues. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Poverty in America rivals many ‘third world’ nations. Education sucks. Don’t get me started about healthcare. It’s fine if you can afford it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The United States of America: It’s fine if you can afford it.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We may have the most powerful military in the world, but even that’s not going to last long. We’re diving deeper and deeper into a national debt we can never repay, to fund wars on terrorism, which are really just thinly veiled political power plays, economic plunder at the expense of the indigenous people who really just want to be left alone to live their lives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If every American could just go to the doctor without worrying about money, that would be great. If every kid had the opportunity for a GREAT education, and no one had to worry about being homeless in their old age, people would say THAT is great. If we sent food to the hungry, instead of missiles and tanks to their government: greatness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People in many countries live a better life than we do, here in the States. Free healthcare. A social security system that works. Clean power fueling sustainable industries. Great free education for all. We have plenty of opportunities to become a great country. Truthfully, we’ve been a greater country before. The MAGA folks are at least partly right. We were far from perfect, but we used to lead the world in something other than greed and exploitation, before we lost our way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We’ve given the keys to our future to a few powerful people, people who control corporations, which control our government. Corporations are very good at doing one thing: maximizing profits. THAT’S how they’ve managed to get people to work sixty hours a week and STILL not earn a living wage. Life isn’t better than it was fifty years ago for most Americans. Even most rich people don’t feel like things are better. Many wealthy people are preoccupied with losing everything, all the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Protecting rich people is so much more important than protecting poor people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why? Because, the rich are better than everyone else, of course. Wealthy people are simply more entitled to human rights than other people, simply because they have money, and…they’re just fucking entitled. That’s just ‘how it is’.

We let this happen. We allow a system to exist that causes this to be true, despite our ability to make demands enforced by democratic action (OUR VOTES). The system doesn’t have to be like this. It doesn’t have to be like it used to be, in order to magically get better. Think about that. It just makes no fucking sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Vote. It counts. Otherwise the minority, GOP assholes wouldn’t keep trying to suppress it.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The system has to get BETTER to get better. Better for EVERYONE, not just the elite. Not just for some people. Better in the things that matter. Change must benefit the majority to have a positive effect. Better. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I say, how about we try making things ‘better’ first and THEN maybe we can talk about ‘great’. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greatness isn’t just a claim you make to impress people over cocktails. Greatness is easily recognizable. Greatness lasts. Truly great things stand the test of time. Some even improve with age. ~jg<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Jamie Gray – Musician & Writer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Authors Note: All opinions expressed here are just that: opinions. If you don’t like mine, I probably won’t like yours either. Let’s just nod, and walk away. Maybe come back with solutions instead of opinions. Because of the two, only solutions actually matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s a circus. A dog and pony show, of lies, half truths, and propaganda, moderated mostly by the honor system, as actual journalism has devolved into a mass-media marketing scheme. Competing corporate overlords selling the particular brand of fear they think you’re most likely to buy. When in truth, they should be afraid of YOU. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[582,599,586,589,565,606,588,600,620],"tags":[593,596,96,562,607,594,595,592,684,661,523,521],"class_list":["post-18328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-image","hentry","category-blog-2","category-commentary-2","category-editorial-2","category-imo","category-jamiegray","category-justthinking","category-myopinion","category-politics-2","category-twoamericas","tag-editorial","tag-imo","tag-jamiegray","tag-jfs","tag-justthinking","tag-moregray","tag-myopinion","tag-opinion","tag-rant","tag-truth","tag-blog","tag-politics","post_format-post-format-image"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":18533,"url":"https:\/\/jamiegraymusic.com\/wordpress\/2023\/02\/classified-documents\/","url_meta":{"origin":18328,"position":0},"title":"Classified Documents","date":"February 15, 2023","format":"image","excerpt":"Here's what I don't get: Why isn't there a check-out, check-in system for these documents? Would it be so hard? Give each one a bar code. Scan it out with your ID. Scan it back in when you return it. I mean, if you check out a copy of Mark\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "#blog"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jamiegraymusic.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/comica16030368521642325026924357813562.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":18688,"url":"https:\/\/jamiegraymusic.com\/wordpress\/2025\/04\/today-in-my-head\/","url_meta":{"origin":18328,"position":1},"title":"Today in my head","date":"April 12, 2025","format":"image","excerpt":"It turns out, life is never what you think it is. Several times in my life, I've learned this lesson. Sometimes the hard way. Just because you think it's important, doesn't mean it is. We are always deciding which thoughts are important enough to act on. Everyday decisions are the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "#blog"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jamiegraymusic.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/20250227_1438419198933863469942951.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":18668,"url":"https:\/\/jamiegraymusic.com\/wordpress\/2024\/12\/time-to-rock-and-roll-bitches\/","url_meta":{"origin":18328,"position":2},"title":"Time to Rock and Roll, bitches.","date":"December 26, 2024","format":"image","excerpt":"Unalienable We've grown complacent and blase Mainstream music, homogenized, blandTime to teach them the meaningOf Punk. Rock and Roll. Again.Time to hammer the hounds of repression Demand Freedom. Liberty for ALL.Demand Equality. Justice and peace.Nothing less is acceptable.Nothing more is necessary.Unalienable. Undeniable. We did it in the 60s-70s. Well, I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "#blog"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jamiegraymusic.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/6b2551df-d71c-434c-a030-8e70a1cfd1f1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":18247,"url":"https:\/\/jamiegraymusic.com\/wordpress\/2021\/08\/can-we-save-our-planet-is-it-too-late\/","url_meta":{"origin":18328,"position":3},"title":"Can we save our planet? Is it too late?","date":"August 10, 2021","format":"image","excerpt":"Several nations are threatened with extinction due to climate change. Maybe the climate deniers were wrong.Maybe the scientists were wrong, too, and it's MUCH WORSE than they thought.Maybe it IS too late.But maybe it's not.Even if the experts were sure it's too late.Maybe they're wrong. ~jg Jamie Gray | Musician.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "#blog"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jamiegraymusic.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/16286161291615513703738425347297.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":18582,"url":"https:\/\/jamiegraymusic.com\/wordpress\/2023\/08\/im-ending-my-abusive-relationship-with-the-wealthy\/","url_meta":{"origin":18328,"position":4},"title":"I’m Ending My Abusive Relationship with The Wealthy.","date":"August 27, 2023","format":"image","excerpt":"I think it's time that the human race figures out, that progress for a few should never mean regress for some. If your success comes at another's expense, it is not really success. It's abuse.Abuse of human rights. Abuse of our shared resources. Abuse of power, for profit...and more power.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "#blog"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jamiegraymusic.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/6b2551df-d71c-434c-a030-8e70a1cfd1f1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":18596,"url":"https:\/\/jamiegraymusic.com\/wordpress\/2024\/05\/first-do-no-harm\/","url_meta":{"origin":18328,"position":5},"title":"First Do No Harm","date":"May 25, 2024","format":"image","excerpt":"I've never understood why people want to become famous. Being famous means you can't be yourself. You give up being ordinary. At least you used to. Ordinary people get pretty famous nowadays.The Internet has changed the meaning of fame. You can have millions of followers (I don't, but some people\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "#blog"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jamiegraymusic.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/storage_emulated_0_Pictures_comica_cartoon1656278370976.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jamiegraymusic.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18328"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jamiegraymusic.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jamiegraymusic.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jamiegraymusic.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jamiegraymusic.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18328"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/jamiegraymusic.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18328\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18335,"href":"https:\/\/jamiegraymusic.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18328\/revisions\/18335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jamiegraymusic.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jamiegraymusic.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jamiegraymusic.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}