Economic Plan

"Tragedy is a tool for the living to gain wisdom, not a guide by which to live." Robert F. Kennedy

Modern day America is a complex place with an array of issues plaguing most regular folks not born into generational wealth. Health care costs can quickly destroy a lifetime’s worth of savings, cancer rates are through the roof (especially in Iowa), we continually see more drastic and damaging weather events, corporations are laying off folks in favor of AI solutions, families and friends struggle with achieving mental wellness, guns and violence are omnipresent, and everything feels more expensive — it’s hard for many to find simple joys with such day-to-day complexity when just trying to keep your head above water and provide the best you can for loved ones. This is an apolitical truth.

Every second Saturday, I play from 2-5pm at Rumley’s Reclaimed Things in Historic Valley Junction of West Des Moines. Owner John Thompson approached me late last year to see if I had an interest in playing his antique store with a liquor license. We have a fun time sharing songs, stories and some trivia while folks look around his store full of fun finds. Photo by John Thompson.

Meanwhile, macro forces have us at each other’s throats through a manufactured culture war. “Resonance response” media algorithms feed us exactly what they think we need to see to keep us on their apps and sites. Escalation and conflict are goldmines for Facebook, FOX News and the like as they deliver more ads to more eyeballs.

I recently met Joseph when I couldn’t find the frozen meatballs at Sam’s Club. He helped me and as we chatted, he asked if I was a musician. I smiled and said, “Yeah, I like to write songs.” He told me he’s a musician and loves to play bass. Originally from South Sudan, he’s lived in the US for 20+ years.

A good friend of mine often says “We just doggy-paddle until we die.” It conveys a powerful image of survival in modern-day America, one that great leaders and visionaries, should want to change. But I’m afraid most current leaders are much too content floating comfortably above the troubled waters of everyday life that see highly incentivized ICE recruits paid to engage in daily violence with fellow citizens trying to protect their families, friends and neighbors.

My first grown-up job was placing classified ads for the Des Moines Register. This was back in 2000, before the Internet completely changed the industry. I’ll always remember a law firm placing a Help Wanted ad on behalf of a meat-packing plant. The ad was for a Meat Cutter and it graphicly described the working conditions with phrases like “saw through bone,” “stand in blood,” and “tolerate foul smells.” Unlike the rows of rosy job descriptions painting picturesque images of new careers, this was a court-mandated ad. The company had to show proof they were advertising the positions and trying to find U.S. citizens to fill the jobs before hiring immigrants on work visas for near minimum wage. Many corporations have feasted on cheap immigrant labor in their never-ending quests for more profits since well before my time started on this planet.

This is my friend, Tulio Diaz. Tulio is originally from Venezuela. We met working at Flynn Wright where’s he’s been employed since leaving Iowa State University. Tulio has had several work visas extended since first making it to the US. However, the extensions are over and he’s headed home. I made it to his going away party on Friday night. He will be missed by many friends.

About a decade ago, I read an article about the e-waste crisis in Africa. Workers were burning cast-off electronics from around the world to salvage the copper and destroy the waste, and many were falling ill in the process. It’s one of countless health crises on Earth as a result of unchecked capitalism and greed. As I read the article, I thought about all the tough jobs in America like the Meat Cutter position that immigrants and those in extremely challenging socioeconomic situations, take on because of their dire personal economic situations in a system not designed to care about those in the most need at the bottom but more profits at the top.

At Agbogbloshie, the fastest, cheapest, and favored way to recycle copper from insulated wire is to burn it. ©Jon Spaull/SciDev.Net

One of the many roles of a great government is to help keep this insatiable quest for more profit under control. Because America is always changing, we can quickly feel removed from important history like early 20th century factories whose inhumane working conditions Upton Sinclair exposed in The Jungle. The forces of greed are at play in our lives every day and we need a system that can protect us. Humans are survivalists by nature, but everything could be so much better with more heart in play.

The Jungle is a novel by American author and journalist Upton Sinclair, who was known for his efforts to expose corruption in government and business in the early 20th century (Wikipedia).

The juxtaposition of needing better government to intervene with smarter regulation and policymaking led me to write the song “Economic Plan” about a decade ago. The objective of the song is to look at the world through the eyes of a worker in tough conditions with few options. America is home to so many that have been forced to leave dire conditions and now get to participate in the American Dream alongside other sentient beings on this topsy-turvy journey. We are surrounded by extraordinary neighbors with powerful stories that add to our collective good. May we hear them and be sympathetic to everyone that has been run over by the juggernaut American economy because of the greed of corporations that hold the ceiling on wages, often using immigrants as a wedge.

In 1968, Bobby Kennedy said in a speech at my alma mater, Kansas State University, while discussing the Vietnam conflict that “tragedy is a tool for the living to gain wisdom, not a guide by which to live.” As an independent individual that proudly wears purple in modern day America, I pray we are able to gain wisdom from these recent tragedies in Minnesota that are widening the gulf of reasonability and understanding in America.

Thank you for listening. Below is an acoustic version of “Economic Plan” after a reading of this essay. You can also find “Economic Plan” here on Spotify from the Ad Astra album I did with the band The 14o8 in 2019. Please give it a spin.

Economic Plan by Chip Albright

Working when I can, pulling copper for the man

Inhaling smoke I can’t stand, this my economic plan

For me there’s no demand

Don’t know an invisible hand

I don’t own any land

This my Economic Plan

Looking from the outside and I wish I could make a stand

But my family would have to disband

This my Economic Plan

And what would you say to know I’m dreaming anyway?

Blue skies and sunny days make for grander paydays

And I will have earned it all

Working through the muck and standing tall

Yeah, I’m standing tall, through it all

Because that’s my economic plan

Standing tall, through it all

Doing what I can with these working hands

Because that’s my economic plan

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To find more stories and insights across the state of Iowa, please consider following and supporting the many talented journalists and storytellers of the Iowa Writer’s Collaborative of which I’m a proud member. My next public performance is at Board and Batten in Dallas Center in their amazing Basement Speakeasy on Thursday, February 12th. It’s a lovely place run by some folks that are wonderful supporters of independent and local music in Iowa. You can RSVP for the free show here.

NOTE: All annual paid subscribers to Chip Happens will now receive a copy of my CD compilation, Twenty-Five, that includes 25 original songs. If you are only in the market for the CD, it is available here for $25. CD art and design were completed by my amazing and talented wife, Jen Albright, who is the driving force behind our strategy + creative firm, AlbrightSpark. To learn more about my personal experience helping folks with caregiver and home health care insurance, please click here.

Please also note that all paid subscribers are welcome to join the monthly Iowa Writers’ Collaborative’s Office Lounge on Zoom. It’s the last Friday of every month (except for November and December so we’re just getting the group fired back up for the new year) and it’s a lively conversation with Dr. Robert Leonard moderating next at noon on Friday, January 30th. Please join members of the IWC and other subscribers for an unscripted conversation. Here is the link.