PHOTO CREDIT: Austin Lowman and Unsplash
States all across the US are spending hundreds and hundreds of hours to discuss and argue about men and women dressing up in outfits and makeup that is, by some standard, extravagant, exaggerated or maybe even extreme. They are elected to serve the people and these lawmakers are asking secretaries, interns, assistants and large numbers of support staff to assist in legislating make-up and costume wearing by people who do so for shows. They do not however legislate similarly, things as alarming as the mardi gras, halloween and theatres that bring about shows like Freddie Kruger and the Exorcist; social media is full of freely accessed gore and death of significant disgust uninhibited by our country. Our governments do this, all the while knowing and seemingly being okay with, the next phases of what will be going to court to tie up judges, lawyers, and multiple paid members of other "ancillary teams of people" to engage the next legal battlegrounds where juris doctorates, licensed agents of the court and expert witnesses postulate their stances over makeup and costume wearing people. This all costs millions and in time maybe even billions of dollars. We do not have health insurance in this country. Our food supply is made with ingredients that many countries outlaw. Our social security system is not funded beyond a few more years. Medicare has an accepted "donut hole" where folks have to choose what meds to skip with each new year. Our state and national budgets are in chaos (many auditors cannot balance the books in some cases). Childcare workers are paid below poverty wages. Teachers are training kindergarten children about lockdown, intruder alerts, bomb threats. Banks are taking fees of various kinds off of every dollar exchanged - and big big ones are insolvent. Poverty is everywhere. The leading cause of bankruptcy in the US is healthcare. Education is legally charging college students $200 and $300 for one college hour, plus books, plus room, plus board and an 8% interest rate on the loans to make the "learning" possible. Churces are empty 4 or 5 days a week and they generate huge amounts of money that can be used for good - also tax free. Non-profits pay no taxes and they continue to build new buildings for causes such as the right to have a drag show. The newest holiday that the feds spent weeks recently enacting, as wonderful as it is, is also likely another paid day off from "the peoples work" for a select few in the US - our Federal employees. I'm sorry, but in a collective and systemic view of things - you absolutely have got to be kidding me. It is not an exaggeration to say this, although many will minimize the statement to bolster the side taking perpetuation: as people are literally dying the lawmakers of our country, the many arms of our government are tying up and funneling billions of dollars to make up, costumes, drag shows. I'll say it again, you have got to be kidding me.
