20160404 (success)

True in the '70s . . . true today?

Yesterday I watched American Hustle

For the second time and noted more

Closely the theme and the main

Characters’ origins. In the special

Features commentary, the director,

David O. Russell, said he was trying

To portray how some people here 

In America—the land where dreams

Come true—who start with nothing

will struggle desperately “to make it.”

A common theme but the characters

Don’t exactly start from nothing.

Male lead, Christian Bale, plays

Irving Rosenfeld, inherits a window

Glass business from his father (who

We gather was somehow harassed 

By collectors—but didn’t lose the

Business). Irving, at the opening of

The film confesses ownership of

The glass business, five dry cleaners,

And has moved into more profitable

Con schemes in loans and art sales.

He is hardly penniless. Female lead,

Amy Adams, plays Sydney Prosser,

A bright woman from Albuquerque

Who is lured by the temptation to

Do better for herself than stripper,

Moves to New York, and gets

A job at Cosmopolitan magazine

As an office go-fer. As a bright

Young woman whose beauty is 

Undeniable, she too is hardly

Without assets. Yet the two of 

Them meet and conspire to do 

Better. They could readily settle

In managing his businesses

Honestly and resolve the issue

Of his existing marriage and

Fatherhood. The story takes 

Place in the late ‘70s during the

Carter years when interest rates 

Were heading toward 18%. Maybe

That’s why they need steady 

Growth, from the thousands

They could have to the millions

They want. Doesn’t everybody

Want the millions? Isn’t that

The American hustle to which

The film refers? They could

Go back to the farm, raise 

Chickens and children and

Live modestly but happily

Ever after. But they want that

Extraordinary “more” that will

Raise Irving out of his father’s

Troubles and close the door

Forever on her stripper past.

Interesting how it ends though

(spoiler alert). Once they tie

Up all the loose ends of their

Scamming past, they open a

Legit art gallery and are shown

Picking up his son at a school

Where his mom, now divorced,

Shares him with Irving on the

Weekends. Done with the wild

Crazy con rides, they are willing

Now to be ordinary honest people.

I kept asking myself, “Self,” I

Asked probingly, “just how 

Long will this sedate life last

Before the itch of even bigger

Bucks and the lure of greater 

Danger disrupts their happy 

Home?” Maybe their love is

True and lasting. But for how 

Many others would the 

Hustle soon resume?

c. J.S.Manista, 2016

20160403 (family)

Of course she's thinking. Maybe that's as much of a smile as her facial muscles allow. Every limb, every feature in the proper place--of course we're related. (Dog is Andy's daughters' Cosette)

A group calling itself Meta Picture

Posts a lot of images of cute pets--

Dogs, cats, today capybaras--on

Facebook which often I circulate

To the public. They appear to share

My love of animals, particularly

Faces of young animals, newborns

And pups, the period in their lives

Before they become predatory and

Earn their wildness in nature.

Many do not realize how our

Domesticated creatures could 

Easily return to the wilderness

If we stopped feeding them. 

Quite a few wouldn’t survive,

Having been bred into lapdog

Sedentarity, whose uncontrolled

Fur would mat them into

Immobility in a forest or on

The street. They are wolves

Genetically but so far from

Their roots as predators they

Couldn’t stand up to a contest

With their brethren were we,

Their providers, to disappear

Overnight. The Dodo, another

Site that posts heartbreaking

Stories of rescue and injured

Animals who survive because

Of human kindness are so

Touching they bring me with my

Sappy soft heart to tears as I

Read or watch their videos. 

These I rarely circulate because

I often question how they happen

To be in just the right place at

The right time with a camera

And a tripod to film a man who

Lifts a young horse off a broken

Bridge while its mom walks 

Alongside. I am cynical enough

To fear these might be staged.

Those I usually don’t share. 

I am overwhelmed by the link 

Of us and the animals.

Biologists have long taught us

That the basic layout of head,

Tail, arms, legs, front and back

We share across species was a

Product of the flatworms who

Squiggled along the seabeds 

Leaving their trail of slime.

When I stare at Loki’s, Sophia’s

Faces, comparing the central

Nose, ears on our heads, eyes

Spaced to see depth, and below

All this our mouths with teeth,

Tongue, and salivary glands,

Their faces lacking the muscles

To shape expression, I am in

Absolute wonder. Their hearts,

Lungs, and inner organs mirror

Mine. They must be conscious

Selves, who look at me, who

Watch me through the day. I

Sense Sophia will take a whack

At the birds who come in (as

There is evidence she has).

Likewise Loki who chases

Squirrels as we walk. I will

Ask, “And what would you

Do if you caught one?” I

Don’t want to think he’d

Shred it on the spot. He 

Probably would, rather than

Curl up with it in a nap as

Meta Pictures would proudly

Show. It’s why I thought of

The peaceable kingdom as

My image for a warless world.

Just as we inherited our bodies

From the winnowing of a nature

“Red in tooth and claw” our

Tendency to turn against each

Other shares the same root.

c. J.S.Manista, 2016

20160402 (unemployed)

Read this when first published. Wrote about it in the church
newsletter. Talked it up with everyone I met. Donated it to our
church library. Haven't heard a word about it since. Professor
Wilson makes the point that between racism, automation, and
globalization, the US has created systemic unemployment and
will need a Marshall plan to help its own citizens recover.

Fortunately I have not much

History as unemployed, so I

May be radically wrong in 

Speculating about its meaning

To people in our society who 

Are chronically unemployed

Or under-employed. Supposedly

We now have a lower rate of

Unemployed than we did in 

The early years of the Obama

Administration. Yet many

Dissenters cite the problems

With this statistic. Apparently

If someone has been without 

A job for an extended period

And has ceased looking for

Work, that person no longer

Figures into the stats. That

Disappearance cleverly reduces

The unemployment rate in

That it removes one number 

From the both the enumerator

And the denominator yielding

A lower rate without an increase

In jobs. So if there are many 

Such instances as I believe 

There are, actual unemployment

May be significantly higher.

Another troubling aspect is

That the jobs replacing those

That are lost typically pay

Considerably less, which

Reduces overall demand. 

Job losses today have little 

To do with “cause”—firing—

And everything to do with

Outsourcing, automation,

Downsizing (generally seen

As placing the same load

On fewer backs). Many an

Annual review conversation

Ends, “Your Bonus (or raise)

For this year is that you still

Have a job—maybe not the 

One you’ve been working, 

But you’ll have a place in 

The system.” People who

Actually get a pink slip 

(Discharge not lingerie)

Initially feel reduced in 

Value: “I’m not needed.”

If they search in a period

Of general reduction, as in

Recessions or total economic 

Collapse, they will likely not

Find a position to replace the 

Earnings they have lost, and

That feeling of valuelessness

Will be reinforced at each refusal.

Had they so much talent they

Could easily weather a job search 

It’s likely they would never 

Have suffered in the first place,

And would instead be the ones 

Accelerating up the company

Ladder or jumping ship to

A better position elsewhere.

So many are not stars but

Still competent people to 

Whom society says “No.”

What then of the less than 

Star quality—of the much less

Than star quality? To me such

A condition in the market system 

Becomes “economic cleansing,"

Stating to people, “You are not

Wanted, nor will you ever be 

Recognized as a potentially

Contributing member. And 

We’re not going to do anything 

To change that.” May God 

Have mercy on our souls for

Tolerating such destruction

Of His children.

c. J.S.Manista, 2016