Hillbilly done died

This blog is a tribute to Joe Baegent.  He is dead now, as we all shall be some day sooner than we think.  Joe was a man I never met who lived in Southern Illinois for a stretch.  There is the beginning of my connection with him, but it is the most superficial.  My real connection with Joe stems from my working class parents and their desire for me to be something other than working class.  They wanted me to be educated and cultured. 

Here is where Joe and I truly come together in spirit.  I discovered in my old age that I like working class people a hell of a lot more than those stuffy, uppity bastards who think their shit don't stink.  Don't get me wrong, I like operas and classical music and fine arts and fine cuisine, but to sit around a bunch of stuffed shirts faking my way through life is not my idea of a good time. Not only that, but Joe couldn't help from dwelling on the plight of his people.  Like Joe, I can't let go of the fact that people are being squeezed like turnips down to the last drop of juice left in em.

I'd rather stand around a bunch of grubby garbage men talking about how the government is screwing us around.  If you don't know, you may be surprised at how intelligent and insightful a garbage man can be.  They smell bad and look scary as an old goat, but they do what it takes to feed the family.  They also listen and learn.  They hear of new laws and contemplate their purpose.  They see by people's garbage what kind of people there are out there.  They see rich people's and poor people's garbage.  They know there are rich people who are scum and poor people who are beautiful.  You can see from a pile of garbage what a family eats, if they care about recycling, if they buy a bunch of crap they don't need, if they are filthy or clean, and even whether you would be good friends. 

The people Joe lived with and knew in Southern Illinois were hard working poor folk.  He was raised by poor folk, lived with poor folk, and heard a lot of ignorance and bigotry throughout his life.  But Joe was not destined to remain poor himself, though he never had money.  Joe became rich in other ways.  Ways that probably confused the people who knew him early on.  He begin to sift through the bigotry and ignorance to find the love, fear, and wisdom hidden beneath it.

He became a hillbilly prophet.  By prophet, I mean someone who speaks the truth for what it is whether it sounds nice or not.  Joe became educated and cultured without seeming educated and cultured.  He would write his political commentary with a few ain'ts and a few cusswords and it would sound like any redneck sharing his thoughts.  But Joe's thoughts were profoundly thought out and dead on in the truth ringing out from them.  At least, in my mind they were.  From my own experience and observations, not from what some highly organized political party fed me for breakfast my whole life.

He saw the plight of poor people and the fight of the rich against them.  He saw the screw being tightened and the rug pulled out from under.  He heard the wisdom of the masses who know what is going on, but are helpless to do anything about it.  The worst part is that a whole assload of us know what is going on, but damn near nobody knows how to change it.  You try to get a politician to help and they will pass a new law that will cost you money within a month. 

People are scared that if they try to change the system that they will be crushed by it.  And they are right.  Which is why we need to organize together to fight injustice.  The laws of the land hold society together by promising a fair shake if you are done wrong.  Right now, it seems like the bankers are getting over while the rest of us go under.  Accountability and transparency can save our system, but if some heads don't roll, shit is gonna keep hitting the fan and rolling downhill.  If only people could get out and see the reality instead of counting on the news, they might get pissed enough.  As it stands, those crushed disappear from the text books and get shut out of the news.  Keep listening and sharing wisdom.  Keep looking for ways to make a difference.  Get ready for a bumpy ride, cause it'll get worse before it gets better.

rLOVEution adolexcence

The laws of the land
you must understand,
their reason, function, and case.
Or else you should break them,
to see why they make them
and save the human race.