RICH AND POOR DISPARITY INCLUDES PUBLISHERS AND WRITERS TOO!

Status: On vacation.

Doing: Writing on this blog; answering e-mails; working out, and well...you know the rest! :0)

Watching: TV still offline.

Listening to: "String Theory"; Politics of Dancing 2 (2-disc CD compilation)

Reading: Kushiel's Scion. Page 292.

STAR TREK: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD-BOOK 1. Page 206.

STAR TREK: DOCTOR'S ORDERS. Page 14.


TOPIC: THE DISPARITY BETWEEN THE RICH AND THE POOR GETS WORSE

Ever wondered why you're not making it on 2 or 3 jobs these days? Why your level of income never seems to put you in the much vaunted middle-class or upper class of America?

Why even going to college doesn't seem to be making that much of a difference in your take home pay--after you get that new job you've been studying and training for?

It's because of politics, politicians, and the rich who control both.

Yes, that's right: The rich control the politicians. And therefore control the directional policy of our government and thus our country's direction. (Ever wonder why Halliburton has been making such a killing in Iraq these days? Why upwards of $50 billion of your tax monies have suddenly vanished without a trace--and no one in the government can figure out why? It's because the rich have been enriching (or "stealing") their way of out from underneath you during this whole conflict.)

The more money they have, the more control they have over people like you and me.

It's the reason why--in the last 30 years--worker productivity has exploded 76% and your level of income (or hourly wages held by 80% of today's working-class American) has only increased a paltry 2% during that time.

That's right kids: TWO PERCENT. IN 30 YEARS!!!

Why not the other way around? Why not an increase of 76% of our hourly wages included in that 76% of worker productivity?

I'll get to that in a second. But here's a startling fact for you to chew on:

Back in the 1950s, your parents grandparents were making roughly the equivalent of $9.88 an hour--thus being able to afford to move into suburbia America and buy that nice house and afford good healthcare.

Live the American Dream!

But today?

That doesn't exist anymore.

Today, corporations like McDonalds are still paying their workers $5.85/hr--for the last 11 years--while companies such as Wal-Mart can afford to pay every worker of theirs substandard wages and still get away with it...

Why?

Because they keep their prices low. That's how they are able to get away with this. And like McDonalds--make billions in profits.

But you would think that corporate companies like these would generously include the workers and give them a leg up for each million the company makes--thus increasing their hourly wages...?

Unfortunately, that's not how it works. While fat cat CEOs can get either their 'golden parachutes' in life or death--the average American worker is stuck at substandard wages for the rest of their lives; always dependent on the same companies which have been milking them for years of their hard-earned monies.

So while Bush conservatives and die-hard neocons can blame the Democrats and liberals for wanting a redistribution of America's wealth--through 'living wages' and universal healthcare--the truth is, they are also in the same boat as we are.

Reason why I am stuck at $535 a month on Social Security instead of $10,368 a year on Social Security. (If our wages were $27 per hour today instead of $5.35 or $8.01 in some states.)

Because of what's been called the 'gilded age'. Where the rich and wealthy control the manifest destinies of those beneath them--and continuously reap the benefits of their hard labor.

When someone works for a company, they aren't getting the full benefits of their hard work. The years of dedication and labor aren't paying off for them in terms of steady salary increases or giant bumps up in their hourly wages--but the guys above them--are the ones whom are benefiting the most!

This is the reason why our wages haven't increased at all in the last 30 years! Because of the way the 'gilded' system has been set up in America's workforce--to primarily benefit the rich and wealthy. (Why do you think the Republicans are so intent on keeping those tax cuts for the rich? Because the rich control them. And they have every reason to keep being generous to them--at the expense of everyone else.)

Everyone else gets to take a massive pay cut and zero benefits. Because it's all about keeping the rich richer and the poor poorer.

And at this very moment in our nation's history (2008), the gap between the rich and the poor is so systemic, it's reached a point where the divide between the two classes had last met prior to the Great Depression of the 30s.

Which means...?

We are very well looking at another depression because of the affluent rich's command and control of American policies. And through them...? The American workforce.

If we had high pay and excellent health benefits, the middle class would be as strong as it was now as it was back in the 50s--when your grandparents were getting paid a living wage.

Nobody would be suffering!

People like myself wouldn't have to be struggling to make ends meet on such a pittance of an income! But that's the way politics--and the rich--have arranged it for these past three decades.

It's what has kept 80% of working-class Americans from both the middle nd lower class rungs so poor and unable to make ends meet.

So while getting a good education is key to a higher-standard of living, don't hedge your bets too quickly that it will translate the same way once you get that job you've been wanting. Because 9 times out of 10, most of us won't get there at all.

We will still be struggling to make ends meet. To provide for our families--because politicians, policies, and the rich, have dictated that for us.

It's where they want us.

Why do you think so many first-time authors don't make it after being published? Why they are given such a pittance for an advance and thus expected to do everything for themselves?

Why do the majority of publishers cater so much to their rich client lists and not to the newbie whom just started out?

Because the rich control the value of those chips. They decide on what you should get and what you can do without as a published author for the mainstream industry.

They dictate on what you can and cannot write. Because it's all about the money.

It's the same everywhere you look. An inequality in both living and finding that all important American dream.

Because the rich and powerful control it all. And only the way we can ever hope to break that cycle is by taking the money that's been flowing into our politicians' hands all these years--and back into our own.

But the question remains: DO WE HAVE THE COURAGE TO STAND UP AND TAKE BACK WHAT IS OURS? DO WE HAVE THE COURAGE TO SAY 'ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!'--AND TAKE BACK WHAT HAS BEEN STOLEN FROM US ALL???

Well...do you?

Sky

STRUGGLING WRITER HELPS COMPLETE STRANGER.

Status: On vacation.

Doing: Writing on this blog; answering e-mails; working out, and well...you know the rest! :0)

Watching: TV still offline.

Listening to: "Go Zombie"; "Creepy Crawler" by Zombie Girl

Reading: Kushiel's Scion. Page 288.

STAR TREK: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD-BOOK 1. Page 206.

TOPIC: POST OFFICE TRIP HAS A NICE ENDING FOR ONE GUY

With my hearing coming up on the 30th, I spent all day yesterday running around and getting copies of my medical records released for the ALJ--and keeping an eye doctor's appointment on time.

I also made a pit stop at the local post office too. It was there that I caught sight of some poor schmuck on the sidewalk with one of those cardboard signs announcing to the world how broke, homeless, and hungry he is.

Knowing the current state of the economy has everyone frazzled, I silently pitied the guy as I walked by to get that important errand done.

Since I wasn't carrying nothing but my debit card on me at the time--I thought about how much money I had on me. It wasn't much. I have so little after paying my rent (since I've been subsisting off of $537 for the last 8 months now)--that every dollar I have left to me is precious.

But seeing this guy the way he is...?

What the hell, right? You only live once. :0)

I knew from personal experience what being homeless is like. I've spent 14 months on the street during the mid-90s. It was no picnic, I can tell you that much.

So I went into the post office to get my business done and (hoped) got out; thinking that the guy would be there when I left.

He was.

So I crossed the street and headed up to the 7-11 to see what I could get him.

Going in, I thought: "Sandwich, apple, a small pie, and some water." (Junkfood and a soda will not help.)

The prices for everything was pretty steep. And even though I had other priorities which needed attending, I figured $8 wouldn't kill me much. (I found out today that I had more money left over on my card than I originally calculated! Am I as bad as Bush is, or what? lol)

So I paid for the food and left--hoping the guy would be there when I returned.

He was, but he was in the process of packing up and leaving.

As he came towards me, I handed him the plastic bag--asking: "Got a minute?"

He said sure, and that's when I handed it to him. The bag with the sandwich, apple, pie, and bottled water.

He said, "Thanks. It's been really tough."

I nodded in complete understanding. "Don't I know it." (Because in a few months, my wife and I will most likely be sharing in his fate--being homeless after so long.)

But I left with a good feeling in my heart. I did something for someone--even though I didn't have much.

Or the fact that I didn't know him at all.

Just some poor guy needing some compassion and caring from someone.

Sky

SUNDAY'S MUSINGS ON SELF-PUBLISHING. (Part 4)

Status: Writing Chapter 24 to Stories of the Dead Earth-Book 3: Jasper

Doing: Writing this blog; surfing the net; answering e-mails; working out

Watching: "Twister"; "Full Metal Alchemist: Conqueror of Shamballa".

Listening to: Nothing at the moment.

Reading: Kushiel's Scion by Jacqueline Carey (Page 173)

TOPIC: WHAT SELF-PUBLISHING REALLY MEANS

I know I've had this argument before...many, many, times over with people across the writing spectrum.

"Yes, world! Schuyler Thorpe intends to self-publish his own books! Hurray for me!" (Please note my underlying sarcasm in this sentence.)

But you know what? It's something that I have to do. It's the only option left open to me.

Why?

Because I've grown tired of the long-assed waits by the mainstream--in their decisions to decide who is good enough and who isn't; by a set of publishing standards that are more obsolete than a Model T Ford is these days.

My beef with them is quite obvious: They've forgotten the Golden Rule of Publishing--and they are more content to sit on their laurals; and dictate what can be taken and what can't--based on what I see as a lottery.

Just so their bottom line is protected.

But I've also come across articles in the recent months which point to a staggering trend of rejections by the industry--simply because the books written today do not follow the same path of illustrious commercialism as their previously published counterparts.

There is simply no chance these days for the new writer to show the industry what they can do--based on guidelines that are more restrictive than they are flexible.

But the usual attacks on me for pointing that out is that I am not "good enough for the mainstream", "your writing sucks", "I'm so naive"--and the usual put-downs that I've had to weather for years now--just so that others can illustrate how easy it is to belittle other writers' talents; simply because they refuse to conform to a set standard written by an industry that doesn't give a rat's ass about what being a writer really means!

I have nothing against self-publishing. But so many people do. They erroneously assume that self-publishing means vanity-press.

It's just so sad that so many people are blindly misinformed on what these two distinctive methods of publishing are.

Self-publishing means that you (the author) assumes all risks of publishing your own books, taking care of your own editing, and the covers which will later be incorporated into the target book in question. You also assume all the risks of the promoting yourself and marketing your own book.

THAT'S WHAT SELF-PUBLISHING IS! THIS IS WHAT I WANT TO DO! AND AM DOING RIGHT NOW!

Vanity-press publishing is where you (the author), pays a printing mill money to publish your book and has your rights stolen from you in the process. These outfits have a terrible publishing record, along with their nightmarish editing resumes, and the extremely crappy cover art which graces these poorly written pieces of literature.

Companies like:

• Publish America
• Trafford
• Xlibris
• Author House (and its various surname entities)
• Red Dog Publishing
• Dorrance Publishing
• IUniverse
• Lulu.com

These companies come off saying that they are usually traditional or are a respected subsidy publisher--but in all honesty? They lie or deliberately mislead the prospective public in order to get their money's worth from that same unsuspecting author or writer. That's what we call a scam.

And surprisingly, they've all worked rather well. People still publish through these same "mills"--believing that they are really published!

How sad for them.

And this is what people think I'm doing? I admit free and clear, I'm paying an indie editor and a book cover artist money to complete the work on The Starchild, but that is a far cry from going into vanity-press publishing.

The ignoramuses still believe that what I am doing (self-publishing), is still vanity-press; and they say that it will kill any chances of me being mainstream published.

Seeing what I see in that, knowing what I know about the whole backwards enterprise, I would rather take my chances doing this on my own--than rather have the mainstream take what I have and butcher it.

Self-publishing isn't the evil alternate that so many paint it be as "unreliable", "umarketable", and irrevocably a "blight" on our publishing careers.

So many people dream of being traditionally published, but the odds against them are greater and more tougher than they realize.

I know I did. I wanted to become traditionally published. But once I started looking into what it entailed, I didn't run away from the idea. I wanted to look at a different way of getting there on my own.

But as the days turned into weeks, the weeks turned to months, and then years, I started to become disenchanted with the idea that this is where my work was meant to be.

People may not fully understand my methods of execution, but this is what I want to do.

I don't want be contained, caged in, or restricted. I want to be free.

Money is something that I seek to use for my own benefit and those that I hardly know. Driving to be rich, to be famous, and well-known--? Is something that I have been shunning for quite some time.

It's not me. It never has been. I've lived with extreme poverty all of my life. Subsisting on what people and the government have given me to just barely make ends meet.

Having money, saving it, is something that I can only have in my dreams. Because reality--for me--is an ugly truth that I have to face each and every day.

So self-publishing for me isn't about screwing up my writing career in the worst way. It's about investing in a future I hope to one day cultivate through my books.

One small step at a time.