Slater

"Grab two beers and take the chute," went the lyrics of a humorous song on public radio this morning. Yet another blurb on Stephen Slater, pop-idol-of-the-moment.

What kind of culture looks to burned-out, angry service employees as heroes? The answer is simple: A culture which has allowed its rich to exploit its poor as cheap labor in unsatisfying service jobs with poor support and conditions. Wall Street profits are made off the backs of the Stephen Slaters of the U.S.. And, the American people have yet to connect the dots, since the American media have been bought and dominated by the likes of Ruppert Murdoch.

Sadly, most Americans don't seem to zoom out from the view on their TVs or iPhones. They are caught up in the trends of a fickle news machine which avoids the big issues. Dissent gets framed in terms of harmlessly quirky Tea Party rallies, where racism and guns are often mainstays, the vacant rantings of Sarah Palin and the equally bizarre Rand Paul. Thus the true Left is ignored and devalued entirely. Why? The answer again is simple: The corporations have decided to rule by manipulating existing elements of American society and government. They are playing Devil to the materialistic American Fausts on all levels of society.

As for Stephen Slater, is his behavior itself admirable and laudable? Of course not. It is the infantile, reactive tantrum of someone ill-suited for a particular career. As a retired nurse, I empathize with his frustration and anger at the rudeness of his passengers, but I think his reaction was worthy of arrest and repercussions. He was being paid. His passengers were paying a fee for his services. Tantrums will not change the conditions which caused his meltdown. Admiring tantrums in others is an indication of social illness and an avoidance of the hard work to address the bigger issues, which are very challenging.