Autocrats & Oxymorons

Remember when everyone was "buying American" to show their support for the good ol' U. S. of A.? "I'd never buy a Japanese car; I only buy American!" It helped keep people employed, sustained the economy, and just generally made you feel good all under!

Those days are LONG gone! Welcome to 21st Century Capitalism! Work harder, smarter, longer; take courses, learn new skills, be faster, more productive, be better--it makes no difference! There's no longer any guarantee of a job. It has nothing to do with how well you do your job, who you know (well, maybe), how much experience, training or ability you have.

Ya see, Capitalism is like Communism. It looks good on paper, but in practice, human nature fudges the whole thing up. With Communism, all people work for the good of all. Everyone is taken care of, everyone is equal: a true egalitarian society. HOWEVER: it doesn't take into account human's need to excel, to rise above, to feel like you have a talent or skill over and above everyone else. And to be rewarded for being "better." That seems fair doesn't it? If you have superior ability, shouldn't you reap the rewards?

Hence Capitalism. You can go as far, be as wealthy, as your abilities can take you. On paper. BUT, it doesn't take into account socio-economic status, racism, and a slew of other ugly realities just beyond the suburban cellar door. It also doesn't account for greed. Capitalism relies primarily on investments from other sources, using that capital to create and grow a business of some type, and the investor gets a return for ponying up the dough. Same with stock- and shareholders. Their money is used to fuel businesses. But it's a funny thing with stockholders: not only do they expect a return on investment, but an INCREASING return on investment. As the business gets older, and presumably more successful, the investors want more return for their buck. Sounds fair, right?

Except. American business has run out of customers. Companies have grabbed as many customers as possible. The only way to get more customers is to grab someone else's customers. Or buy competitors; same outcome. Companies hire CEOs who can provide shareholder value by causing the revenue to pour in. But what happens when you run out of companies to buy? When all the mergers have been merged, and all the conglomerates have been glommed?

That's where we are now. The first move is to dump employees. Can't lose any executive salaries! Lives are ruined, but the company stays alive! Which is most important. Next step is to find a cheaper source of labor. Overseas! They work for pennies a day! Never mind that it's indentured servitude half the time, or sometimes outright slavery. It keeps costs down, and top executive salaries high. Next: cook the books! Hide little irregularities from stockholders and employees, like decimating pension funds, or less than glorious profits. Ethics be damned!

Which brings me back to my original point. Why should we buy American now? It's not keeping our jobs from leaving. It's not making goods and services cheaper, only profits higher (return on investment, you know). Look at gasoline. Even in states where there's a gasoline surplus (Arizona for example), the price of gasoline sky-rocketed after Katrina took her curtsey. Look at pharmaceuticals: even while complaining about costs of research and development, and Canada taking away sales, the industry posted higher than projected profits!

The gist is this: American business got itself into this, it can get itself out. Just don't come crawling looking for "sacrifice" from us, or welfare. You have the Administration for that.

Remember the poor--it costs nothing. -- Mark Twain

Time Magazine came out this week, with the feature story being the damage and devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. The secondary story in this tragedy was how the federal, state, and local governments were unprepared for a storm of this magnitude, compounding the tragedy by their ineptness/callousness/lack of resources; you pick the major reason.

It's pretty well acknowledged that the federal government dropped a huge, wet ball on this one. One of many, if you've been paying attention over the last 5 years. Is it time for impeachment YET?? Holy crap, what does it take in this country to ditch a president who is as clueless as he is untalented, unworldly, and sometimes just plain unthinking? The Republicans went after Clinton for sexual congress with an intern, of all things. I guess in America, you can lie, cheat and steal, perform illegal and immoral acts, and cater to cronies wholesale while the rest of the Americans struggle to live, but as long as you don't have sex, you're in the clear, pal!

Let's make a short list of the shortcomings of this Presidency:

9/11: Jumped in to seem in charge, after waiting in a classroom in Sarasota, FL for a pre-planned photo op while the Twin Towers fell. Presumably, he knew of the terrorist attack BEFORE he arrived at the school, according to some accounts. Even so, he was not carted away by the Secret Service until after his story-reading session, during which he most certainly knew about the attacks. He knew about the possibility of attack sometime in the near future earlier in the year (February, March, or April, depending on whose account it is), but stalled any action until a meeting was planned to discuss on 9/12.

Attack in Afghanistan: Devastating shock and awe by the military, shaking Afghans and making Americans proud. However, because of idiocy, Osama bin Ladin GOT AWAY! STILL! Local warlords were "supposed" to find bin Ladin and hand him over, but oopsie! Bin Ladin eventually became unimportant to Bush's schemes, fairly quickly actually.

Iraq War: Where do I start? From WMDs to terrorist training grounds, every reason Bush and cronies came up with for attacking and destroying Iraq didn't wash. There is now ample evidence that disproves every one of their claims, even though they still spout them continuously! No exit strategy! (Maybe you should have asked your Dad, Georgie; he stated that as the reason HE never declared war on Iraq right in HIS MEMOIRS!) We'll be welcomed with flowers and them singing hosannahs! Guess what? Now it IS a breeding ground for terrorists! That makes Bush...WORSE than Saddam!

How 'bout domestic policies? Or as I like to call it, "The Screwing of America." In bed with every industry from oil to pharma to timber to insurance to Wall Street, anything good for business is good for America in this moron's eyes. Why keep things working smoothly when you can claim it's all broke, then offer solutions that make billions for the companies whose pockets you're in? The Bush Crime Family (as Mike Malloy likes to call them) makes out-of-session laws in Congress to make legal the most outrageous business welfare programs. Did someone say "Voodoo Economics?"

Now this latest snafu, where people on American soil ARE DYING, not by a foreign terrorist, but our own home-grown variety. America, where votes are manipulated, lies and frauds are OK, personal freedoms are in danger of disappearing, and the media has turned into either a bunch of rabble-rousing, big-mouthed cretins appealing to the lowest common denominator, or shrinking-violet, step-on-their-tongues cowards.

Time to clean house, folks. We should expect more from our president. It's been said "we get the government we deserve." Well, we deserve better.

I think I can say, and say with pride, that we have some legislatures that bring higher prices than any in the world." -- Mark Twain

Wouldn't it be great if you could move through time? (Yes, I know we're moving through time right now--wiseass!) I mean faster than normal! Wouldn't it be great to see how things turn out?

I had a notion--that I can't remember--about inventing a time machine just out of spite. "Oh yeah? I'll show you; I'll create a time machine and then we'll see who's nuts!!" Or something like that. Boy I wish I could remember!

(Maybe I invented a time machine in the future, came back in time and erased my memory of inventing it. The future was so horrible, I had to be prevented from inventing it! Yeah that's it!)

But the other half of the notion was about the great uses of the time machine. Most stories about time travel have someone going back to learn about the best stocks, gambling wins, lottery numbers and the like. I wouldn't do that! (Yeah, right)

I'd love to go back in time and see how the surrounding region was different, to compare past and present. What was Arizona like, say, 200 years ago? No traffic jams on Rt.101 North, no opulent homes dotting Camelback Mountain, no glitzey casinos--desert and shrub brush as far as the eye can see. Sounds great to me.

With my luck, I'd be attacked and devoured by a mountain lion. Or a giant prehistoric squirrel. They had those 200 years ago didn't they? "The Squirrel Age" I believe it was called. Yep, Arizona was a peculiar place.

Almost as peculiar as it is now.

I have been cautioned to talk but be careful not to say anything. I do not consider this a difficult task. -- Mark Twain

People who have read my posts may have noticed I have a bit of a "thing" about religion. Maybe it's because I've learned about all the various detriments of religion to humanity. Granted, religion is great for those who have lost their way, or don't have a way to begin with. Most of our moral culture comes from religion. For those who were never taught the difference between right and wrong, religion is at least a starting point. So is "All I Really Need To Know, I Learned In Kindergarten."

It's the ritual, dogmatic stuff of religion that gets in the way of our treating other human beings well (and animals, too, incidentally): that person doesn't do like I do, I have The Truth and am good so that person must be bad, my holy text says this and that are wrong, blah, blah, blah. It's like one big buncha social clubs! Us against them!

And how 'bout all the bad stuff precipitated by religious differences? Wars, genocide, bigotry. Oh, and a little thing called The Inquisition! The Salem Witch Trials! Manifest Destiny and the subjugation and destruction of Native Americans! Wow! The list goes on!

So I decided to start my own religion. Dig this: all major religions (and most minor ones) have this thing called "The Golden Rule." Of course, not all call it that, and it's phrased differently from culture to culture. But the gist is the same: treat other people how you want to be treated. It's simple! Even morons can grasp the concept!

I'll call my religion "The Holy Order of The Golden Rule" (HOGR) or "The Golden Rulers" or something. You don't have to pray in a certain direction; you don't have to skip pork chop night on Fridays; you can even practice your own religion and be a part of the HOGRs, even if you're an atheist. Especially if you're an atheist. The only tenet you have to adhere to is The Golden Rule. That covers just about every situation.

If you find yourself without an easy, black-and-white answer to a troubling moral situation (such as those that religion purports to supply), just stop a second and think, "How would I want to be treated if I were that person?" WWGRD: What Would Golden Rulers Do?

It all comes down to perspective. Look at life from another person's viewpoint, and you'll be amazed how understanding you can become. If everyone in the world has become a self-centered, money-grubbing, screw-everybody-else dinkweed, see how you stand out from the crowd being a kind and generous person. And the best part is, it doesn't take much. A kind word, a helping hand, just recognizing a person as another human being will do it. You want to be a hero helping victims of 9/11, the Southeast Asian Tsunami or Hurricane Katrina? Fine. But try saying "hi" to the neighbor you see every day in their driveway before work--but ignore--once in a while. Remember the Golden Rule.

It's tough to make the world a better place. It's a little less tough when you try to make your world (and the world of those around you) a better place.

If man continues in the direction of enlightenment, his religious practice may, in the end, attain some semblance of human decency. -- Mark Twain