Ran across this online...the average Americans rant.

[JoBelle]

Just wanted to complain for a minute.

I just wanted to post something here because I am sick to death of being told "no". I am tired of hearing the lady down at the unemployment office tell me that I no longer qualify for benefits and I am tired of hearing people tell me that I should work doing anything. My question to them is this: ARE YOU WILLING TO WORK AND DO ANYTHING? WHy don't YOU get out there and YOU scrub toilets and do things that are totally not what you were trained to do? How would you feel if you went from working for a fairly decent paycheck to feeling like your world is going to end the next time you write a check THAT HAS TO BE WRITTEN that you know is not going to clear the bank. I am tired of those immigrants at the unemployment office looking at me like I am garbage because I gotta be there in order to be able to collect the insurance that I worked for. I am tired of being the one who has to ask and beg for money so that I can make it through the month without having to sell something that means a lot to me. By the way, I have resorted to selling stuff on eBay.

I don't want to be in this situation anymore. I am sick and tired of teaching these students who only show up to mess around on my time. I am tired of hosting these stupid home parties. I am sick of having to bust my ass in order to pay the freakin' bills and man oh man the next person who tells me that I oughtta go find a new job...I am going to SCREAM!!! I am not here to beg people for money and I am not here to make any one feel sorry for me because of this. I am just in need of blowing off some steam, and I figured that this was the way to do it.


I want to know who the "fixed" economy is going to benefit, the real people or people like Paris Hilton, Britney Spears and Barbara Walters? Are the tax breaks for us, the people whom without the rich folks would have no one to look down upon? Are the tax breaks going to be more than just enough? We are all being forced to shop in Wal Mart, and you know why? Because that factory that used to be in your home town has packed up and moved half way around the world where some single mom is breaking her fingers so that you and I can have a damned golf shirt at 8 bucks a pop! It's all about the almighty bottom line, baby.


Aren't you TIRED of people ignoring you and aren't you tired of dealing with "Can't do it this week, honey, cause we gotta keep the lights on..."? I am sick sick sick sick sick of all the feel good people out there who are some sort of drug that makes them stupid and blind. I am tired of hearing about sending rich people to Mars to live when there is so much that has to be done right here on Earth. I am tired of Mr Bush (and I am a Republican) and I am tired of this war that is costing too many lives, too many dollars, is burning through our hope and scaring the hell outta my kids. I am tired of terror alerts and I believe that the alerts are only there to keep the Office of Homeland Security in business.Humor me, answer this...do you feel anymore secure? If we want to be safe, bring back our troops and let 'em keep us safe HERE AT HOME WHERE THEY SHOULD BE ANYWAY!!!


They keep pot illegal, but they legalize stupidity in the form of government. On the news we are shown Martha Stewart smirking as she walks out of a courthouse, Micheal Jackson making a jackass outta himself, and all those Enron guys looking pathetic in the camera. I am SICK TO DEATH OF ALL THIS NONSENSE.


We are told to vote so that we can make this the great nation that we are told that it is. How can we be great when we cannot educate our children properly, when we cannot feed our homeless, when we even have a homeless population to speak of? How can we claim greatness when we can barely feed our selves, when we cannot afford books for all of OUR children because half of the books are printed in a language that is not our own? How can we take care of the rest of the world when we can barely take care of ourselves?


I can barely pay my mortgage. I can barely pay my light bill, water bill, gas bill, car insurance was due last week. My kids are wearing the same damned clothes that they wore to school last year. THANKFUL? BE THANKFUL that they are not NAKED? They shouldn't have to be wearing last years clothes.

I should not be sitting here whining to complete strangers about an issue that I am not alone and dealing with.

I thought I would feel better but I don't. I am just angry and broke and don't know what else what to do.

 

[JPie1]

yup, sounds like the economy Bush and his croonies fixed. What Bush has done helps very little if not at all the average joe. He puts on a good show. Now I don't know if who is running on the Democratic party is perfect either but Bush has got to go before our proud country goes down the toilet.

 

[Murtagh]

Well how about a few hundred dollars? You can use that to help jump-start the economy. If you spend that added tax return then maybe you'll get a job. If you spend more money you'll be better off...Promise. Seriously, a few hundred dollars is not gonna help anyone in the long run, what people need are jobs. This country is falling apart, think about that. Any feild you look at in our society is under some kind of emense stress just to keep itself going. Education, for example. Law enforcement, remember they're busy ALL the time arresting people, the courts are backed up and the prison's are full. The Federal Government is flat broke, and most states are shouldering the burden. It's not all Bush's fault, but this country IS falling apart, slowly but it is.

 

[Haltickling]

Joby, replace some words and names by their German equivalents, and you've described the perfect "average German rant" as well. Okay, maybe apart from the war part, but the economic situation of the average person seems to be quite identical. Not only the US is falling apart, the whole world is.

 

[Deleted member 2452]

preach sister preach!

jobelle, i know exactly what you are going through.
you're not alone sweet heart. i don't know what to say to lift your spirit, i wish i could. unfortunately, there is more than just fear itself to fear.
and folks, let's not use this sensitive thread to make more of the same bush bashing comments.

steve

 

[AffectionateDan]

Testify! Get on with your bad self! Amen!

Makes a person get in touch with their rage, doesn't it? And more importantly, how much longer are we gonna let it slide? What can we do to turn it around? Is the decay inevitable? Are we the new Roman Empire, falling down around us while our "leaders" fiddle? I'll tell ya one thing for damned sure. Anyone willing to do what needs to be done to fix it will be labelled a threat and taken care of by the machine, kids. It's gonna get worse before it gets better.

 

[tommytikl]

We are all being forced to shop in Wal Mart, and you know why? Because that factory that used to be in your home town has packed up and moved half way around the world where some single mom is breaking her fingers so that you and I can have a damned golf shirt at 8 bucks a pop! It's all about the almighty bottom line, baby.

An example of this is that Levis Jeans no longer makes ANY jeans in America AT ALL...ALL American Levi Jeans are made somewhere in Asia there are about 50 people at corp headquarters in Texas getting quarterly bonuses because Wal-Mart just ordered some more units of the cheaper jeans...
This sending away of factory jobs has to stop, there has to be a DISCouragement to BIG Buisness NOT to send factory jobs to Asia and other lower economy worlds. The bottom line is the stock holders and if the stock holders were hurt by their factories going to Asia then the jobs would stay in America but alas in Asia they are...
AND Bush favors the lowering of the American Dollar because it reduces the US national deficit interest rates but kills our ability AND other nations to spend money.

I know EXACTLY how you feel Joby..I was unemployed and got lucky...the job will come along but yeah, it is quite depressing to work at McDonalds with a Bachelors Degree in ANYTHING...
But something will come up...you have to keep that stiff upper lip!!!

Good luck Joby AND all of those reading this that are trying to make ends meet!

 

[MrMacphisto]

Globalization baby...

As long as our trade deficit (when you import more than you export) continues, jobs will continue to move overseas. In the world economy, we have two choices: protectionism or free trade. Protectionism would preserve American jobs and industries through subsidies, but this method only works for so long. Free trade, on the other hand, allows us to focus more on industries that America is truly better at (high-skilled labor and services) and still allows us to buy clothing and things like consumer electronics at low prices (since they continue to be made by foreign cheap labor). America should use the Australian economy as an example of the ultimate implementation of Adam Smith's comparative advantage idea. Australia structured itself so that around 75% of its economy is service-based. Granted, it's easy to do that with a nation that has only about 12 million people and is a major tourist attraction. Still, even at our population's current approximate figure of 300 million (including illegal immigrants), we have the resources and labor capable of restructuring our economy to its utmost efficiency. We can educate our workers in the higher-skilled jobs and service jobs if we simply implement more vocational education in schools.

The painful part of this restructuring is that, in the short run, the economy will suffer high unemployment and low morale. But, if we're willing to streamline our economy, we will benefit greatly in the long run. Our children will thank us later, in other words.

Yeah, it does suck when you have a B.A. or any college degree and have a tough time finding work. I know this struggle personally, but I'm starting a small business of my own to alleviate this problem (granted, capital is hard to come by these days). Anyway, what Americans (and 1st World citizens in general) should realize is that as globalization raises the standard of living of the Third World, it also decreases the standard of living of the First World (in the long run). The world has only so many resources to share amongst over 6 billion people. If the First World truly gives a damn about their poorer brethren, then they will welcome this change to finally bring the majority of humanity to a reasonable quality of life. Things may seem hard here, but our struggles are nothing compared to those of Africans, the Chinese, Indians, and many others.

As a final note, the thing that sucks most about globalization is that the industry leaders are the ones who won't see a decrease in the standard of living. The richest of the rich will remain on top regardless of whether we support protectionism or free trade. That's why the government needs to keep a close eye on those individuals. Sadly, you will never see that under this administration....

 

[kis123]

Hey JoBelle;

I can definitely feel your pain!!! You are definitely NOT alone in it either. Everyone knows how I feel about our government administration and it's present leader, so I won't waste time or space on this thread over it.

I'm presently working on my Bachelor's Degree in business management. Anyone remember the days when a degree wasn't necessary to obtain a good income job? But, if you had a degree, you were really going places and your job even more secure. YEAH RIGHT!!! Those days are over and there are people with master's degrees on the unemployment lines these days. That really sucks!

JoBelle, there is nothing wrong with you. You sound like a person with a sound intelligent mind who just wants to make a decent living. You are beyond frustrated because someone has taken that ability away from you. I've worked in jobs that the manager just decided to let me go because they didn't think I was happy there. What does happy got to do with it when I was making 4-5000/month after taxes? I work on commissions and made those companies good money. When they got what they needed, they cut me loose without any warning. I've had six jobs in the last 15 months. I'm not a spring chicken anymore either. This was the crap I was supposed to go through in my twenties, not now when I have to prepare to send kids to college.

This system sucks. I've come to the conclusion that I can no longer afford to let someone determine my worth, value, or paycheck. I'm slowly entering my own business because I control my success or failure, not some idiot that doesn't possess the intelligence of an eggplant!

I hope better times are in store for you very soon. Please be encouraged and, no matter what else happens, NEVER GIVE UP!!!!!

 

[JoBelle]

I consider myself lucky in that I didn't actually write that. It was something I found on a website this morning while looking up unemployment figures for my area for the quarter. I thought it was something to be shared.

It just struck a chord with me as it could almost describe my best friend's situation! It breaks my heart....because there are so many people worse off than this woman!

Can't imagine it. I do my part, but I can't save the world...makes me feel guilty for having the advantages I have. Too bad a few millionaires don't feel that way.

J

🙄

 

[kis123]

Upon further review, I realized that this wasn't JoBelle's situation. Unfortunately, I believe everyone on this board knows someone who is living in this mess!

My sister was fired after ten years of service to her corporate america bank. She made one mistake and she was FIRED. No disciplinary alternatives were given. She has awards an accomodations from her employer. She had never been written up in the entire time she worked there. They fired her and then tried to get out of paying unemployment. The crap never seems to stop.

 

[ceaser]

Oddly enough, all you Bush bashers will be happy to know that I was laid off from my union construction job more during Clintons rein of terror than any other time in my career. Since Bush got in I have not been laid off once. So it must be Clinton and his fvcked up wife who screwed up this economy and Bush is paying for it.

 

[grippedchimp]

I'm personally sick to death of increased taxes, bad transport, dodgy healthcare, higher tuition fees, expensive licenses for pubs to play live and late entertainment, and the favouring to the middle classes. Tony Blair has very much made most of the UK dissillusioned, and you can see why he's such a kindred spirit to Bush. Problem is, we can't vote Blair officially until next year. Living in a developed country does seem to suck these days.

P.S: Vote John Kerry. A bona fide war hero.

 

[BigJim]

My sister was fired after ten years of service to her corporate america bank. She made one mistake and she was FIRED. No disciplinary alternatives were given. She has awards an accomodations from her employer. She had never been written up in the entire time she worked there. They fired her and then tried to get out of paying unemployment. The crap never seems to stop.

Do you not have anything like unfair dismissal tribunals and protection of rights of employees in America? If the mistake was anywhere from miscellaneous to moderate, they'd certainly not have gotten away with that here.

 

[kis123]

Oddly enough, all you Bush bashers will be happy to know that I was laid off from my union construction job more during Clintons rein of terror than any other time in my career. Since Bush got in I have not been laid off once. So it must be Clinton and his fvcked up wife who screwed up this economy and Bush is paying for it.

I thought it was requested somewhere in this thread that there was to be NO MENTION OF BUSH BASHING! We could have done without this comment worded the way it is. We're happy to know that you support the current administration, however,the writer of this letter would probably disagree with you.

I'm not sure how old you are, but I was there when Reagan took over things. I was just starting college and could go to a state university on grant money alone. Now, you need grants, loans, and scholarships to send someone to school and there is still no guarantee of a job when you graduate. And starting salaries for new grads are not increasing with the rate of inflation so it takes forever to pay back the student loans.

It doesn't matter what president you feel comfortable laying blame. What matters is that the media reports economic improvement, but thousands (if not millions) remain unemployed. How about some of those billions of tax dollars being spent in Iraq coming back home to the US to take care of America's own people? Why does the United States take care of everyone elses business but our own? We're hurting badly enough without jobs going overseas and tax dollars rebuilding countries we had no business tearing up in the first place. It's like raising someone elses family and allowing yours to go to hell. Think about it.

 

[dreamboy]

Do you not have anything like unfair dismissal tribunals and protection of rights of employees in America? If the mistake was anywhere from miscellaneous to moderate, they'd certainly not have gotten away with that here.

Too often, Big Jim, the rights are on the side of the employer. In my case, I was let go in a less-than-pleasant situation between the new boss of one year and myself. As I learned about erroneous things he was telling my potential future employers, I also was told by the lawyer that my state gives employers the right to say anything they want during a reference check, as long as they THINK their information is accurate. Unfortunately, that allows a lot of leeway, and gives overwhelming control to them, especially when the employee does not know what "information" has been forwarded.

 

[Deleted member 2452]

Too often, Big Jim, the rights are on the side of the employer. In my case, I was let go in a less-than-pleasant situation between the new boss of one year and myself. As I learned about erroneous things he was telling my potential future employers, I also was told by the lawyer that my state gives employers the right to say anything they want during a reference check, as long as they THINK their information is accurate. Unfortunately, that allows a lot of leeway, and gives overwhelming control to them, especially when the employee does not know what "information" has been forwarded.

here in illinois we have laws governing what an employeer can say. they may not say anything uncomplimentry. the worst they can say is that they would not re-hire you, if asked. there is also the ill. labor relations bureau, and the federal labor relations bureau. i have uesed these, with great success! there are agencies that will call an old employeer to see what they are saying, and even tape it! with that info. you'd have them by the short&curlies. the labor relations dept. have the same power as our courts, and can order re-instatment, and back wages, etc. if any feel they were improperly dismissed, they should file a claime!

steve

 

[Knox The Hatter]

"Oddly enough, all you Bush bashers will be happy to know that I was laid off from my union construction job more during Clintons rein of terror than any other time in my career. Since Bush got in I have not been laid off once. So it must be Clinton and his fvcked up wife who screwed up this economy and Bush is paying for it."

I was gonna keep my mouth shut for a change. You see, I do like Steve, contrary to how things appear sometimes, and ultimately, he did have a point. Better to just let people with true life experiences testify about them, and you'll come across things you didn't know before.

Testimony like the above stated, however, are just partisan rantings, in my book, and should be excreted as such.

It took me a whole year to find a permanent job. A whole year of temping, and not knowing if the temp job will be around the next day. Quite an experience. The temp jobs paid shit, offered absolutely nothing other than a lousy wage that somehow kept your head bobbing in the water. Here you are, you go through life, not knowing how things will turn out, not knowing if you can afford a new car if the old one breaks down, watching your health care diminish because the pharmaceutical companies are insistant on their 9000% return on investment, putting your kids through school, and wondering how you're gonna pay for college, scared to death about drugs and drinking or some predator kidnapping them at a fucking shopping mall, wondering if you're gonna be able to handle that property tax hike, fighting tooth and nail to keep the planned incinerator from going into your neighborhood because the Powers that Be don't think you have enough clout in the state legislature or Congress. Here's life as we know it, we all know how difficult it is. Then, we have to listen to some MORON tell us that all of this is because someone had the audacity to question the Second Amendment, or any other pushbutton red herring issue that has nothing to do with just surviving.
Life in America is primarily about how to keep politicians from killing you.

 

[Deleted member 2452]

"Oddly enough, all you Bush bashers will be happy to know that I was laid off from my union construction job more during Clintons rein of terror than any other time in my career. Since Bush got in I have not been laid off once. So it must be Clinton and his fvcked up wife who screwed up this economy and Bush is paying for it."

I was gonna keep my mouth shut for a change. You see, I do like Steve, contrary to how things appear sometimes, and ultimately, he did have a point. Better to just let people with true life experiences testify about them, and you'll come across things you didn't know before.

Testimony like the above stated, however, are just partisan rantings, in my book, and should be excreted as such.

It took me a whole year to find a permanent job. A whole year of temping, and not knowing if the temp job will be around the next day. Quite an experience. The temp jobs paid shit, offered absolutely nothing other than a lousy wage that somehow kept your head bobbing in the water. Here you are, you go through life, not knowing how things will turn out, not knowing if you can afford a new car if the old one breaks down, watching your health care diminish because the pharmaceutical companies are insistant on their 9000% return on investment, putting your kids through school, and wondering how you're gonna pay for college, scared to death about drugs and drinking or some predator kidnapping them at a fucking shopping mall, wondering if you're gonna be able to handle that property tax hike, fighting tooth and nail to keep the planned incinerator from going into your neighborhood because the Powers that Be don't think you have enough clout in the state legislature or Congress. Here's life as we know it, we all know how difficult it is. Then, we have to listen to some MORON tell us that all of this is because someone had the audacity to question the Second Amendment, or any other pushbutton red herring issue that has nothing to do with just surviving.
Life in America is primarily about how to keep politicians from killing you.

i hate the french, but damn knox, if we were face to face i'd kiss you on both cheeks!
i agree with every freaking word you said, above! (well, maybe not about the second amendment lol) that's what it's all about, or comes down to. the day-to-day living of life, and trying to raise our families. when it comes to that, we are all the same, and the last thing we need is partisan politics, and the assholes that use it to do nothing but scare the public, for their own interests. what we really need in washington is people like knox, jobelle. that's when the issues that really matter will finaly be dealt with!
btw, that is what the founding fathers envissioned, not career politicians getting fat at the public trough.

steve

 

[BigJim]

Too often, Big Jim, the rights are on the side of the employer. In my case, I was let go in a less-than-pleasant situation between the new boss of one year and myself. As I learned about erroneous things he was telling my potential future employers, I also was told by the lawyer that my state gives employers the right to say anything they want during a reference check, as long as they THINK their information is accurate. Unfortunately, that allows a lot of leeway, and gives overwhelming control to them, especially when the employee does not know what "information" has been forwarded.

Personally that sounds like slander, libel and defamation of character to me. Shame that such arseholes can get away with that.

 

[BigJim]

btw, that is what the founding fathers envissioned, not career politicians getting fat at the public trough.

steve

That's odd, considering all of the Founding Fathers gorged themselves corpulent at it. Apart from that last sentence Steve, I pretty much gelled wit ya there.

 

[MrMacphisto]

Dreamboy, please tell me what state you're in so that I can avoid it at all costs... That's some truly fucked up shit... I feel for ya.

Grippedchimp... What do you mean by "favouring of the middle classes?" In America, the rich are favored. Being middle class myself, I'd like to be "favoured." I might be moving to the UK instead of Canada if that's the case....

 

[Deleted member 2452]

That's odd, considering all of the Founding Fathers gorged themselves corpulent at it. Apart from that last sentence Steve, I pretty much gelled wit ya there.

nope jim, i'll stand by my asertion. yes most of the "founding fathers of america were welthy men, but what they set up was a truely altruistic form of government. that child has been bastardized by greedy, power hungery politicians, but the original goal was just the opposite! the house of reps. was made into a 2 year office so that it would change hands constantly. so the people who were given the responsibility of making tax laws would be closer to their neighbors.
the senate being 6 years was to have more stability, but was not envissioned as being a life time job. again 1 term, and go home!
that's the way it should be.
steve

 

[BigJim]

nope jim, i'll stand by my asertion. yes most of the "founding fathers of america were welthy men, but what they set up was a truely altruistic form of government. that child has been bastardized by greedy, power hungery politicians, but the original goal was just the opposite! the house of reps. was made into a 2 year office so that it would change hands constantly. so the people who were given the responsibility of making tax laws would be closer to their nei0ghbors.
the senate being 6 years was to have more stability, but was not envissioned as being a life time job. again 1 term, and go home!
that's the way it should be.
steve

Even though they were all slave owners and at leat two of them (Washington and Jefferson) spent their free time regularly raping the female ones? You're a very forgiving man my friend.

But anyway, I pretty much agree with what you said about the reps and senators being originally designed that way. Where we'd disagree is that I believe the complete erosion of American freedoms and bounties was always on the agenda. Done step by step, each one apparently unconnected to the others, they didn't seem particularly worrying, till you get to the end and look back at the bastardisation. I think the ideas that were presented to the American people were very noble ones, but I seriously doubt that anyone high-up had any intention of following them through in spirit. Freedom of religion became the freedom to have the religion that the pilgrims had and no other (as witnessed in 1929, when a school teacher was prosecuted for daring to evince the Darwinian theory of evolution), freedom of speech became the freedom to say what the government wanted you to say and be castigated if you said anything else and even the spirit to bear arms became corrupted so that private citizens owned armouries that put most state militias to shame! As I told you ages ago, I have no problem with gun ownership, properly regulated and licensed; but I can't understand why someone would want to own an AR-15, Armalite AR-180, SPAS-12 shotgun, Winchester lever action 10 Guage shotgun and enough pistols to sink a battleship. To connect this with some relevance to the original topic of the conversation, I believe the "pursuit of happiness" was something quite dear to the first citizens of America? It seems a pretty good ideal to me. The sad thing is that people in power don't care about that. They don't give a shit what happens to people who keep them in comfort. To me the pursuit of happiness would mean (in regard to material things) being able to have a nice home; take a nice, but not exhorbitant vacation every 12 months; and being able to put my future children through university without having to sell my internal organs to pay for what my sky-high taxes already should've. All the things that are preventing me from doing this are artificial and in place because it suited the suits. Bastards! Take inflation for one; totally artificial. People come on news programs and try to make the world's financial system sounds incredibly complicated with expressions like "gross annual growth" and "industiral averages". All of it total bollocks. The world financial system can be summed up in one sentence.

"You lend money that doesn't exist and then charge interest on it."

When someone borrows money of the bank, the bank doesn't actually give them any money. It gives them figures on a computer screen. That's all they frigging do! Nothing more. This all started when money lenders started issuing notes of credit instead of actual gold and silver, back in the middle ages after ursury was made legal. Merchants and so on didn't want to lug the precious metal around with them all the time, because it was awkward and tempting to raiders. So they give the money to someone who deals in money (at the time the Knights Templar were the foremost gits for this) and they'd get a certificate of credit in return. Eventually these pieces of paper were exchanged between people as if they were actual currency. Being the clever bastards they are, these money people decided to lend money they didn't actually have, by giving people worthless notes and then they'd think they were rich. The buggers were issuing notes ten times more than they had actual money in their vaults, so the papers were bloody worthless, yet they were still valued as hard currency and people were beggared because of the interest they had to pay. And this is exactly the same that goes on today, except that it's done with figures on a screen, instead of ink on parchment! A country like Brazil has the third highest rate of international infant malnutrition, and yet 80% of it's exports are food!!! And we frigging stand for this!!! The whole damn financial system is artificial and the reason it exists is because it suits thieving bastards who don't care if your kid goes to college, if your house gets reposessed or if 100,000 Brazillian children die of starvation. Even more fictional is the lie that the economy has to grow every year to keep us stable, when it seems pretty obvious to me that ever rising consumption is the quickest way to hell. What would be much better, is finding a level of economic consumption that puts enough wealth in circulation so that everyone who can be bothered to get off their arse and work for it can have a good life, and keeping it stable. This obsession with continuous growth is yet another distraction to take us away from what we truly need.

 

[MrMacphisto]

the problem with bicameral government

One of the greatest weaknesses of American government is that the Senate completely contradicts the notion that each individual is equal. With every state having two Senators, each state is equal, but not each citizen. If you believe in the "every man is equal and should be represented equally" idea, then you should hate the Senate. Essentially, if you look at the mathematics of the system, the Senate basically functions as if each Wyoming citizen is worth more than each New York citizen. New York has about 19 million people, whereas Wyoming has 500,000, so why do they both get 2 Senators? Sure, the original intent of the Senate was to bring the states together and dissolve the Articles of Confederation, but that was 200 years ago... Times have changed and the system needs to as well. Unless, of course, you believe that rural states with a fraction of the population of states like California, Texas, and New York happen to have citizens that are proportionately worth more. Equality can only be achieved by equal representation. The current system overrepresents rural America....