God Bless America: The Plight of Average Joe

by | Apr 12, 2019 | Essays

America the Beautiful

Average Joe is the average American. He works a desk job at a company he doesn’t own, which means he is already losing. He knows he’s losing, too, which is why he hates Congress like he hates AIDS.

No matter how hard Joe works, he barely gets by. He has enough to pay his bills each month, and maybe he’ll get to go on a short vacation this year, but nothing more. He got a small raise last year, but then his rent went up, so the landlord pocketed that money. Joe feels stuck and frustrated, and confused. He knows he’s being screwed, but he doesn’t know how.

It turns out that Joe is right; he is being screwed – and the reason he doesn’t know how is because the screwing took place hundreds of miles away in Washington D.C. Joe was screwed when his boss’ boss’ boss, Donnie Billionaire, paid off a Senator to put Donnie’s interests ahead of Joe’s.

The Senator was happy to oblige, even though there are millions more Joes than Donnies because all the Senator cares about is getting re-elected. The Senator knows it’s money that wins elections, not votes. So the Senator doesn’t care what Average Joe thinks as long as he gets the money from Donnie Billionaire.

At their meeting, the Senator reassures Donnie that he is almost sure to win because he spent his entire past term gerrymandering the voting districts and raising money for his next campaign instead of fixing the roads, schools, and healthcare system.

With the roads, schools, and healthcare systems in disrepair, the Joes are pissed – and should be. They’re broke, their roads are falling apart, and they can’t afford school or healthcare. They’re calling for the Senator’s head. So what does the Senator do? Easy solution – blame the other party!

America the Divided

The Senator has been using this tried and true method for years. “It was those Yellows again!” he hollers into a crowd of Purples, making no mention of his meetings with Donnie or the payments he received. Joe hears this and he’s more pissed off than ever, except now he’s pissed off at the other Joes (the yellow ones) because he thinks it’s their fault. He thinks it’s their fault because the Senator lied, and the Senator keeps lying and blaming the other Joes until they hate each other so much that they’ve forgotten all about Donnie.

The Joes don’t know who Donnie is, yet Donnie controls their whole life. He tells them when they have to show up to work and when they can go home to their family. He even tells them when they can eat and go to the bathroom. Yet the Joes have never met Donnie and don’t have access to him.

That’s because Donnie doesn’t want to be accessed by Joes. He wants to control their lives silently and invisibly without them knowing. The less they know, the better. If the Joes knew what Donnie was doing, they would strip him of everything.  Donnie knows that they’d take all his money, tar and feather him, and drag him down Broadway by his pathetic little pecker.

Donnie controls Joe’s whole life, and he doesn’t even like Joe. In all likelihood, he hates Joe. He thinks he’s better than Joe and that Joe will never be as good as him.

But Donnie owns Joe because Donnie owns the Senator.

God Bless America.


Read more essays by Eddie.
Watch Eddie’s videos.

About the Author

Edward Signaigo

Follow Us

Related Posts

Learn the Guitar as a Busy Adult: 22 Practical Tips

Learn the Guitar as a Busy Adult: 22 Practical Tips

Learn the Guitar as a Busy Adult: 22 Practical Tips   Preface   I started playing the guitar when I was 33 years old to fulfill a lifelong dream.  The journey started when I walked into Guitar Center and bought a $150 Yamaha acoustic guitar - along with a...

A Big Career Pivot

A Big Career Pivot

A Big Career Pivot   Why I am leaving the legal industry after 20 years to pursue a different career.   My Legal Career   I passed the California Bar Exam in 2009 - so if you want to count that as the beginning of my legal career, I have been in the...

What Does It Mean To Be A Genius?

What Does It Mean To Be A Genius?

Genius: What Does It Mean To Be A Genius? Curiosity is what drives genius.  You follow your curiosity, and if you keep going for long enough, you find genius.   I estimate that it’s about 10,000 hours of work for 5 minutes of genius, give or take.   Geniuses...

Comments

0 Comments

Eddie Signaigo Globe Icon

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and special offers.

You have Successfully Subscribed!

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This