I have a buddy who I respect a lot, and we have been friends for 20 years, but he became a hard core Trump supporter and he has changed. I miss the buddy that I used to have before he got into Trump.
My buddy said that instead of getting an education that people should go work in the construction trades, and invest money into starting businesses, instead of getting student loans and investing in your education. He said that an education actually hurts your ability to become an entrepreneur. It is all bullshit, his head is full of shit now.
I value an education, and I explained to him that instead of coming out of college deep in dept and being homeless, the graduates need to have access to business loans, etc. And people need to value educated people when they are hiring.
One example that I shared with him was about 2 daughters in Malibu who were the daughters of a wealthy business man, after the daughters graduated from college their father set both daughters up in business, one daughter got the Malibu Gym, and the other daughter got the Gemstar Limousine Service, I drove a limo for Gemstar and we were the official limousine service for the Jay Leno show, both daughters succeeded and got off to a great start in life. I explained to my buddy that the poor people need to have the same opportunities that the rich people have. And when the poor people graduate from college deep in debt they need to have opportunities to get business loans so that they can start a successful business to earn money to work their way out of debt, like the rich people do.
Poor people should not be punished for getting an education and trying to improve themselves, and for trying to make themselves more valuable, and for wanting to have a richer life. The poor people need to have access to business loans when they graduate, just like the rich people get. You graduate from college, you draw up a business plan and get a business loan and then you can work your way out of debt.
If it were up to me, I would give all Americans a free college education. And I support free community college for all Americans. The poor people need to have the same opportunities that the rich people have.
The educated people value an education.
So, all of a sudden my friend is treating me like a loser because I went to school in order to try to improve myself, and for not having succeeded after school. He said that I never follow through on anything and he is acting like I am just some bum now. And he is acting like the education and training that I got was actually a detriment to success, instead of just starting out uneducated and in the construction trades.
I did construction labor before I went to school, and I did not make shit, I was working for $10 dollars per hour, it was shit. If you are going to do construction, then my advice is to join a labor union and get fair wages and good treatment, and also prevailing wages on government jobs. Working hard and being poor sucks. If you work hard then there has to be some reward. Life should not just be punishment for being born. There has to be some good in life, and some success, and some reward for being honest and working hard. For me, doing construction labor was like I was being punished for being poor, and I had to live in the poor part of down with the bad people, it was all bullshit.
Being poor made me study twice as hard so that I could try to make myself more valuable.
I still never made any money. And my buddy is judging me by that, I am a failure in his eyes now.
And my stepfather is the same way, he never saw how hard I worked and studied, and he just thinks that I am a loser. It was like I hit a brick wall and I could not even get a job cleaning toilets in Hollywood. I worked hard and studied, but all of a sudden I am a bum because no one will hire me, and it was hard, I ended up homeless on the streets of Hollywood for 2 years, and I had a nervous breakdown and ended up in the hospital, and then I came out of the hospital homeless again before they put me in a group home that my friend Lisa owned. Lisa was a saint, and she helped me. But, the world was a cold and hard place after I went to school, it seems like everything just kept getting harder instead of getting easier, the harder I worked and the more I studied then the harder life got.
I lived for one great year in Malibu after acting school, and my roommates were all rich and educated, and I loved it, it was one of the best years of my life. So, there are some good people, and I had some good times.
But, I am sad that my buddy judges me unfairly now, and it is sad because I never judged him unfairly when he was poor and homeless, and I even gave him a free motor home for him and his girlfriend to live in, but he forgets all of that.
Sometimes you just need to let people go. People change. I do not like Trump, and Trump has had a bad effect on our nation, and on my friend and on my stepdad, all of a sudden poor people are losers, and I am a failure.
I do not see any love and support coming from the Trump crowd. And I miss my buddy, he changed, and we do not get along any more, it is sad. I have to set my boundaries and I cannot hang out with people who think I am a failure and who treat me like a loser.
Salute,
Tony V.
