Once again the bully boys of Wall Street have gotten a needle full of Viagra. The smarmy lame-roach Bush Administration has opted to throw our nation’s increasingly questionable capital at an entity that is all hat and no cattle, Citigroup. It should have all of us rioting in the streets instead of just scratching our heads. While the car manufacturers went home to lick their well and rightly kicked asses for having "no plan", Citigroup got away with it. They got no plan either, but they sure got the cash. Thank you, Hank P. Nothing like having a fuck-buddy in the Administration. (Note: not that the car manufacturers should be rewarded for continuing to make dreck, but that's another story.)
Like virtually all of major “financial institutions”, Citigroup is in the business of selling fantasy. Our entire “economy”, starting with the media, is complicit in peddling the fantasy of Americus Triumphus. Practically all of the financial transactions in our economy are based on selling debt --- which is actually a non-thing, an absence of some-thing, a figment of the imagination almost literally. It is the “promise” of fire being sold by displaying a photograph of smoke. In fact, we might be better off assembling all of the cash being promised to Citigroup into a pile and having a wiener and marshmallow roast. At least the rest of us could glean some entertainment and a little heat from the affair. Just imagine: “Live, from Wall Street, the national camp fire…..” It’s always well to bear in mind that each of those “Federal Reserve Notes” is actually worth less than a good log for a real fire.
In essence, Citigroup’s “business” is just another one of those sexy ponzi schemes that have dominated the “economy” by deception and delusion. Like all of its Wall Street brethren Citigroup is just one of the member of an incestuous, delusional, and dysfunctional family of con-artists who have created some dazzling displays of sleight of hand to separate not only you, but our government as well, from its money. (Don’t forget in all of this, that even though the government prints the stuff, it doesn’t actually own all of the filthy lucre we are still agreeing has some value. No matter what, the "federal government" is still the fattest, tastiest pigeon at the grown-up’s table. )
Have you ever asked yourself this: What is the worst thing that could happen if Citigroup went dribbling down the increasingly tattered pant leg of our economy? I think that the worst that could happen is that a few thousand grifters and grifters-in-training would be out on the streets dumpster diving. It's too bad that it would mean more competition for the cast-off bones in an already food strapped population of NYC and the Hamptons, but what the hell. Sure there would be some other fall-out, but nothing of lasting consequence. We'd soon forget Citigroup just like we've forgotten TWA and the Edsel. Some of us “little folks” would get hurt in the fall-out of a Citigroup collapse, but in the long run, not really very many of us, and not really very much. If you think your “retirement nest eggs” would have lost much more value if Citigroup had crapped out, they wouldn't. They’ve already lost whatever they were going to lose whether Citigroup went under or not. It’s only the financial frat boys that would have gotten the shaft, but now they are still going to make out like the bandits they are.
When these corporate wizards of Oz pontificate that Citigroup is one of those giants of the American capitalist system that is just “too big to fail”, what do they really mean? What they really mean is that if it "failed", it would pull down too much of the curtain that has been hiding this unseemly financial system from view. A few of the veils fell when Lehman Brothers evaporated, but the remaining ghouls were quick to dress and hide the corpse. Yet make no mistake, there is still plenty of necrophilia alive and well in DC and NYC. There may be fewer funeral workers on hand, but they are still busily carrying on the undertaking work, and their biggest fear is that their scrawny nakedness will be revealed. (The truth: Citigroup has already "failed", and its formal demise is only a matter of time.)
So what to do to hide the demise? How about the financial equivalent of some of the antics in the film "A Weekend At Bernies"? How about a fast and furious flurry of cash? That's always marvelously diverting and dazzling. OK. Why Just look, --- Already the grifters in charge are praising the government’s largess. “The stock market has opened higher today on the news of the government’s gift to Citigroup,” trumpet the headlines. The rest of us can only stand by in awe with our noses pressed against the glass as the party-goers on Wall Street carry on with yet another delivery of free champagne, caviar and cocaine, thanks to Daddy Warbucks Paulsen and Goofy-the-Prez. And we’re all supposed to rejoice with them as they try to convince us that we too can be just as party-hearty as they are. What, me worry?
Don't avert your eyes, I say. Don't avert your eyes lest you miss, lest you overlook the true obscenity, the vile pornography of unfettered capitalism sticking it to an unsuspecting populace amidst the cheers and gloating of Wall Street. Don't avert your eyes, but be wise and diligent. Take in the spectacle before you and then go home, and plan your garden. You’ll thank yourself next spring ‘cause you’re probably gonna need some real food. The experience of growing your own will feed your soul as well as your stomach. Maybe try some of those heirloom tomatoes that were so popular in the 1930s.
Monday, November 24, 2008
What's old is news again
Now for the latest OLDS. Again today the government announced it was bailing out yet another 'troubled financial institution". This time it's Citicorp. Already the recipient of more than 25 BILLION dollars in direct, no-strings-attached government money, this once apparently robust, seemingly invincible mega-corporation, is going to get more than $20 BILLION in direct hand-outs yet again. However, they are also going to get a federal guaranteed backup of more than $300 BILLION to prop up their failed loans. That's good olds for the stumbling, avaricious financial giant who's credit card lending practices include routinely charging their "customers" more than 25% interest on hundreds of thousands of accounts. I guess it’s just another corporation that’s “too big to fail”!
Do you ever wonder where the money went? I do, but I guess Henry Paulsen and his cohorts don't. While we're in such a good mood and thinking about our vacation homes in the Bahamas, let’s all hold hands and skip down the yellow brick road toward national socialism --- which used to be called fascism. BTW: a belated Happy Halloween! Unless you're Citicorp; then you'll want to shout Happy Thanksgiving! And don't forget to pick up the new Lexus......
Stay tuned for the latest OLDS. Until next time, remember: there’s always a next time.
Do you ever wonder where the money went? I do, but I guess Henry Paulsen and his cohorts don't. While we're in such a good mood and thinking about our vacation homes in the Bahamas, let’s all hold hands and skip down the yellow brick road toward national socialism --- which used to be called fascism. BTW: a belated Happy Halloween! Unless you're Citicorp; then you'll want to shout Happy Thanksgiving! And don't forget to pick up the new Lexus......
Stay tuned for the latest OLDS. Until next time, remember: there’s always a next time.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Re-imagine the Future
In a perverse sort of way I am actually sort of enjoying watching the melting ice cream cone that is the American economy run down the sides of our lives.... the trickle down effect. I don't really think it matters if the Congress "bails out" Wall Street; at best it will be a stop-gap proposition. The core practices of unchecked, “free-market” capitalism will eventually bring this form of “economics” down. Our current financial system is perfectly suited to a nation that suffers from a collective form of ADD. We can only focus on the immediate and the sensational. Maybe seeing our $$$$ evaporate is one way to awaken us from our slumbering, mesmerized couch potato-like torpor. Is the nasty truth about how interconnected we all are finally making a dent in our consciousness? It seems to me that we have forgotten most of the fundamental realities of life on Earth? We have forgotten what we’re all riding on here: It’s a closed system spaceship!
We live on a planet of limited and finite resources. Moreover, this planet has a carefully balanced, but closed system of interactions that sustain life as we know it. Our planet’s ecosystem sustains itself by recycling and balancing all of its components, while relying on an outside energy source, the sun, to keep it all going. But the bottom line is that it is a closed, finite system. An economic system that runs counter to that energy, an economic system that fails to recognize those facts and is instead built on unlimited and constant growth cannot persist. It may do well for a while to zip along harvesting the low-hanging fruit, but eventually it will implode.
Another fact of life that we are either failing to recognize, or at least we’re not talking about it, is the increasing number of humans that are adding their needs and wants to our already stressed planet’s resources. Every third and fourth person on the planet is either Chinese or Indian. Their "economies" need their fair share of the planet's resources as well. BUT here in the USofA we really don’t see images of how much the rest of the world struggles just to eke out not a living, but basic survival. Meanwhile, we bemoan our loss of cheap and readily available “stuff”. We’ve all become so fixated on trying to hold on to the various images of we have of Americus Triumphas, that bloated red-white-and-blue pop-up toy, that we have lost all perspective on our real place in the scheme of things. We’re NOT the only inhabitants of this ship.
Maybe it’s time we re-evaluated where and who we are. A good first step would be to meditate on that old picture of the blue ball planet floating in a sea of spatial blackness. Many of us got a true taste of our place in the universe when we saw that image gracing the cover of the first Whole Earth Catalog. A good second step might be to have a national “read in” on the subject. Maybe we should start that off by poring over the pages of Gaia: a new look at life on earth, by James Lovelock. Then we should read Garrett Hardin’s cogent and challenging book, Exploring New Ethics for Survival. This slim volume might re-awaken us to some of the real issues facing us as a species on a planet with limited resources. It just might get us to extend not only our world-view but our attention spans as well. We sure aren’t going to make it through this living business by relying on sound bites and deliberate ignorance.
It seems to me that we have to become adept at holding at least two perspectives in our minds at the same time: the long now and the short now. Another way of saying that is to suggest that we consider the macro and the micro together. It’s all so neatly incorporated in that 70’s slogan: “Think globally, act locally.” This is a form of systems-thinking that we haven’t really practiced much. Our bonanza of cheap abundant oil, cheap abundant “food” and limitless mobility have blinded us to the realities of existence in the world.
We should be looking for new and appropriate and equitable approaches to our problems. And it should be clearly evident that the government and the corporations are not going to help us out in any meaningful and tangible way. O sure, there may be some “federal reserve” notes floating your way in some form or another pretty soon, but this flimsy paper and the government/corporate alliance is not going to create any fundamental changes in the way things are done in this nation.
Moreover, when we, the collective USofA, think at all of “solutions” to problems, particularly of energy and food production, we tend to be drawn to large solutions, BIG solutions, industrial-sized, one-size-fits-all solutions. But let’s face it, what might work very well in Idaho, might not work well at all in Alabama, or New Mexico, or New York.
Even if Wall Street and capitalism muddle through this current spasm, we probably won’t change the way we do “business”. But the reality is that we can only exploit the rest of world, both its natural resources and its human resources for a limited time. The much bally-hooed “American Way of Life” as it is currently playing out, will, sooner or later, go the way of the dodo. We will, in the words of James Kunstler, have to make “other arrangements”.
Three of the most practical, positive and inspiring programs that are working towards making these “arrangements” are Permaculture, the Transition Initiative, and Green Urbanism. Look into them and join the work force.
We live on a planet of limited and finite resources. Moreover, this planet has a carefully balanced, but closed system of interactions that sustain life as we know it. Our planet’s ecosystem sustains itself by recycling and balancing all of its components, while relying on an outside energy source, the sun, to keep it all going. But the bottom line is that it is a closed, finite system. An economic system that runs counter to that energy, an economic system that fails to recognize those facts and is instead built on unlimited and constant growth cannot persist. It may do well for a while to zip along harvesting the low-hanging fruit, but eventually it will implode.
Another fact of life that we are either failing to recognize, or at least we’re not talking about it, is the increasing number of humans that are adding their needs and wants to our already stressed planet’s resources. Every third and fourth person on the planet is either Chinese or Indian. Their "economies" need their fair share of the planet's resources as well. BUT here in the USofA we really don’t see images of how much the rest of the world struggles just to eke out not a living, but basic survival. Meanwhile, we bemoan our loss of cheap and readily available “stuff”. We’ve all become so fixated on trying to hold on to the various images of we have of Americus Triumphas, that bloated red-white-and-blue pop-up toy, that we have lost all perspective on our real place in the scheme of things. We’re NOT the only inhabitants of this ship.
Maybe it’s time we re-evaluated where and who we are. A good first step would be to meditate on that old picture of the blue ball planet floating in a sea of spatial blackness. Many of us got a true taste of our place in the universe when we saw that image gracing the cover of the first Whole Earth Catalog. A good second step might be to have a national “read in” on the subject. Maybe we should start that off by poring over the pages of Gaia: a new look at life on earth, by James Lovelock. Then we should read Garrett Hardin’s cogent and challenging book, Exploring New Ethics for Survival. This slim volume might re-awaken us to some of the real issues facing us as a species on a planet with limited resources. It just might get us to extend not only our world-view but our attention spans as well. We sure aren’t going to make it through this living business by relying on sound bites and deliberate ignorance.
It seems to me that we have to become adept at holding at least two perspectives in our minds at the same time: the long now and the short now. Another way of saying that is to suggest that we consider the macro and the micro together. It’s all so neatly incorporated in that 70’s slogan: “Think globally, act locally.” This is a form of systems-thinking that we haven’t really practiced much. Our bonanza of cheap abundant oil, cheap abundant “food” and limitless mobility have blinded us to the realities of existence in the world.
We should be looking for new and appropriate and equitable approaches to our problems. And it should be clearly evident that the government and the corporations are not going to help us out in any meaningful and tangible way. O sure, there may be some “federal reserve” notes floating your way in some form or another pretty soon, but this flimsy paper and the government/corporate alliance is not going to create any fundamental changes in the way things are done in this nation.
Moreover, when we, the collective USofA, think at all of “solutions” to problems, particularly of energy and food production, we tend to be drawn to large solutions, BIG solutions, industrial-sized, one-size-fits-all solutions. But let’s face it, what might work very well in Idaho, might not work well at all in Alabama, or New Mexico, or New York.
Even if Wall Street and capitalism muddle through this current spasm, we probably won’t change the way we do “business”. But the reality is that we can only exploit the rest of world, both its natural resources and its human resources for a limited time. The much bally-hooed “American Way of Life” as it is currently playing out, will, sooner or later, go the way of the dodo. We will, in the words of James Kunstler, have to make “other arrangements”.
Three of the most practical, positive and inspiring programs that are working towards making these “arrangements” are Permaculture, the Transition Initiative, and Green Urbanism. Look into them and join the work force.
Monday, September 15, 2008
random thots on political bologna- another rant
It is gratifying to see that the nation’s media may finally have awakened from their slumber, at least a little. But it may be too little too late. The McCain camp has been lying steadily about McCain’s record, his proposed policies, and, more importantly, they have been lying about Obama. They started lying early and they have been lying often. It’s a strategy that worked extremely well for the Nazi Party in Germany prior to World War II. It was Hitler's good buddy, and would-be hockey Dad, J. Goebels who said, and this may be a paraphrase but it’s close: “If you tell lies, make them big ones. And tell them often. After a while people will believe you.” Sounds familiar doesn't it? It’s the strategy that G. W. Bush employed in selling us the war in Iraq.
Well, there’s a similar effort underway right now to sell us McCain, or Popeye the Maverick War Hero. The media have been complicit in Popeye’s lying and now find themselves in the embarrassing and humiliating position of having to admit it. See the NY Times and Washington Post. It's important for these newspapers to come out with the truth, but the TV media has to do the same. Most of them are still reluctant to do so. And admitting their complicity once or twice isn’t enough, not nearly. They have to repeat the mantra that McCain is lying as often as he repeats his lies.
Now for the religious news. Sarah Palin has been injected into the body politic like a nasty narcotic. And the press has taken her up into their veins like the junky addicts they are. Forget truth, forget sensibility, forget all pretense to intelligence. Just anoint her, and, oh, by the way, pay no attention to the man behind the curtain, John McCain. This was clearly one of the most cynical and clever political rabbit out of the hat tricks in years. And so far it has worked brilliantly. So far, SP is a kind of blow-up doll. The press has pumped a lot of hot air into the image of this angry, feisty, mamma bear Republican woman and they haven’t stopped filling as much of their time as they can perpetuating this image. As a result, what was going to be a campaign of issues and the future of America has become a referendum on “hockey moms”. Real issues of intelligence, competence and judgment have been flushed down the crapper. BUT, Attacking Sarah Palin isn’t productive and isn’t really even necessary. Besides, it’s probably a no-win tactic. But how the Democrats are going to deal effectively with this screeching wheel I surely do not know. Maybe Bill and Hillary have some suggestions; I certainly hope so.
I’m a guy and my plumbing affects my brain in sometimes mysterious ways, so help me out here. I really don’t understand how the women who expressed support for Hillary have declined to support Barrack and are now, because of Palin’s being plunked onto the Republican ticket, supporting McCain. Were they merely gyno-Democrats? Vaginal voters? Do they have no real principles and values, but merely an allegiance to some sort of Warrior/Goddess vision of Woman? Tits and ass right or wrong? Do they really want a wacky Bible-thumping, gun-toting hot mamma who can’t really tell the difference between Italy and Iraq to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency? PTA, maybe. Are they really convinced that she is qualified just because she doesn’t have a dick between her legs? Please explain this to me. Please. Or is SP just another bright shiny object and we haven’t advanced past the Stone Age? Believe me, that’s where John McCain wants to take us.
Who was it that said, “Life is high school?” The media have, once again, played into the hands of the Republicans. America loves a spectacle. Now we have the national equivalent of “reality TV” and “American Idol” as a way of electing a President. I guess the huddled masses really are dazzled by smoke and mirrors. If the duo of McCain/Palin manages to steal this election, hold on to your wallets, your rights, and your integrity. Actually, forget about the wallets; those nifty new Federal Reserve Notes may soon only be good for starting fires. Instead you just might want to brush up on your survival skills.
Well, there’s a similar effort underway right now to sell us McCain, or Popeye the Maverick War Hero. The media have been complicit in Popeye’s lying and now find themselves in the embarrassing and humiliating position of having to admit it. See the NY Times and Washington Post. It's important for these newspapers to come out with the truth, but the TV media has to do the same. Most of them are still reluctant to do so. And admitting their complicity once or twice isn’t enough, not nearly. They have to repeat the mantra that McCain is lying as often as he repeats his lies.
Now for the religious news. Sarah Palin has been injected into the body politic like a nasty narcotic. And the press has taken her up into their veins like the junky addicts they are. Forget truth, forget sensibility, forget all pretense to intelligence. Just anoint her, and, oh, by the way, pay no attention to the man behind the curtain, John McCain. This was clearly one of the most cynical and clever political rabbit out of the hat tricks in years. And so far it has worked brilliantly. So far, SP is a kind of blow-up doll. The press has pumped a lot of hot air into the image of this angry, feisty, mamma bear Republican woman and they haven’t stopped filling as much of their time as they can perpetuating this image. As a result, what was going to be a campaign of issues and the future of America has become a referendum on “hockey moms”. Real issues of intelligence, competence and judgment have been flushed down the crapper. BUT, Attacking Sarah Palin isn’t productive and isn’t really even necessary. Besides, it’s probably a no-win tactic. But how the Democrats are going to deal effectively with this screeching wheel I surely do not know. Maybe Bill and Hillary have some suggestions; I certainly hope so.
I’m a guy and my plumbing affects my brain in sometimes mysterious ways, so help me out here. I really don’t understand how the women who expressed support for Hillary have declined to support Barrack and are now, because of Palin’s being plunked onto the Republican ticket, supporting McCain. Were they merely gyno-Democrats? Vaginal voters? Do they have no real principles and values, but merely an allegiance to some sort of Warrior/Goddess vision of Woman? Tits and ass right or wrong? Do they really want a wacky Bible-thumping, gun-toting hot mamma who can’t really tell the difference between Italy and Iraq to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency? PTA, maybe. Are they really convinced that she is qualified just because she doesn’t have a dick between her legs? Please explain this to me. Please. Or is SP just another bright shiny object and we haven’t advanced past the Stone Age? Believe me, that’s where John McCain wants to take us.
Who was it that said, “Life is high school?” The media have, once again, played into the hands of the Republicans. America loves a spectacle. Now we have the national equivalent of “reality TV” and “American Idol” as a way of electing a President. I guess the huddled masses really are dazzled by smoke and mirrors. If the duo of McCain/Palin manages to steal this election, hold on to your wallets, your rights, and your integrity. Actually, forget about the wallets; those nifty new Federal Reserve Notes may soon only be good for starting fires. Instead you just might want to brush up on your survival skills.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Tentative Steps Towards Transition
Shelburne Falls is a tiny town in the hills of western Massachussetts. I don't live there but I was determined to attend a forum they were hosting that was addressing the impending home heating crisis. So I made a trek (138 mi. EW) to Shelburne Falls, and yes, it cost a bit of cash and a bit of gas. It was worth the $$$ and the time.
As we know “Winter is icumen in, Lhude sing Goddamm.” Though many of us seem to have forgotten that shivering time is just over the horizon I wanted to see what might come out of this very local effort to deal with a very global, or at least regional, problem. Surprisingly, more than a hundred folks were gathered in the main meeting room of the Shelburne Senior Center. Most of them were over 50 and some topped out in the late 80’s, and quite a few were still in their 40's and even a couple in their 30's. It was a diverse group of citizens, activists and advocates who had come together to discuss the impending fuel crisis that will inevitably accompany the winter months. While there may or may not be shortages of heating oil this year, the cost of fuel of all types (except wood, at least in the Pioneer Valley) has gone up sharply. Many senior citizens, as well as others with limited $$$ resources, low-income families and individuals, will be unable to afford to keep their houses at a reasonable temperature. Particularly hard hit will be those who heat with oil. Moreover, any financial assistance from the usual agencies and local charity sources will not only be down from year’s past, since there is just less money in the pool, the money that is there won’t go nearly as far. Consequently, not only will fewer families get assistance, but the assistance they do get will be very limited.
Here are my initial and somewhat limited observations. The forum was neatly, competently, and compassionately facilitated by the director of the Shelburne Senior Center. Throughout the entire time he was aware of the scope of the collective issue of energy descent and its impact on the entire system. Though he often made references to the fact that everyone was facing a difficult and thoroughly formidable constellation of events, he continued to make every effort to keep the conversation focused on the immediate future and what things could be done to make residences more buttoned up against the cold.
To that end, there was talk about the possibility of some folks heating with wood and wood pellets since there is certainly no shortage of that fuel in western Mass. The problems with it, however, range from the limited availability of proper stoves and the inhibiting effects of new state legislation that mandates certification for all woodstove installers. Since none of the proper mechanisms are in place yet, one expert asserted that there would be virtually no new wood stove installations until sometime in February at the earliest. Someone else pointed out that one of the local agencies had several new wood stoves for sale at reduced cost, so I suspect there will be at least a few installations despite the new regulations. There followed the inevitable caveats about the risks of fire from wood stoves, etc. A list of reliable or know contractors was circulated.
Another idea that was floated about and demands serious consideration is the creation of centralized neighborhood heating facilities. Under this model a small, highly efficient heating center would be built to serve several, six to a dozen houses within a specified radius. Each household would pay a rate equal to their portion of what they actually used. The concept really doesn't differ much from what happens in a large building that is heated by a central source. Heating centers is not only more efficient and less polluting than having individual, in-home furnaces, it would certainly be less expensive.
Overall this was an impressive and worthwhile gathering. Though there were many other points made, ideas floated and suggestions proffered at the gathering, these are the ones that stuck out for me: [1] do whatever you can to make your house more weather and energy tight; [2] local agencies or groups need to prepare a list of shelters, their locations and contact people for transportation in case of emergencies; [3] folks need to go out of their way to be aware and alert about their neighbor’s living situations, particularly in the case of the elderly and single parent families; and [4] we may need to consider the possibility of collective living arrangements at least on a temporary basis in some situations. One person at the meeting told how she and her husband have opened their home to additional residents since their children have moved on in their lives.
The strongest idea/feeling that emerged from the forum, in my opinion, was a consensus that we need to become more neighborly. Having grown up in a small town I am very aware that this benign-sounding behavior, or way of acting, can be a double-edged sword. In the wrong hands and wielded without consideration, it can be more devastating than helpful. Being neighborly requires being not only vigilant, or even snoopy sometimes, it also requires tolerance, discretion and respect.
Though race, ethnicity, sexual and religious affiliation still play a powerful role in shaping how we congregate, where and how we live, is generally driven by other forces. I am thinking more of the suburban explosion rather than what may have been happening in cities. One of the ways in which life has changed in the past four or five decades, is that we have become more insular and more ghetto-ized, mostly by economic or social status. For most of us, the $$$$$ value of our property and those that surround it have been more important in the way we make our decisions and the way we live, than the human or community values around us. And though it is clichéd to point it out yet again, there is no doubt that automobiles and computer-oriented, even computer-dominated, lifestyles have done much to erode interaction with the “folks that live next door.” I am NOT trying to make the case that there is no sense of neighborly camaraderie, but it has greatly diminished in recent years, particularly in the suburbs. I believe that the re-incorporation of genuine neighborliness into our lives is one of the most compelling challenges of the coming decades
Looking out for the well-being of others outside of your family or your own church group or whatever “us” group you belong to, is going to be an increasingly vital quality and measure of a decent, livable and sustainable society. It seemed to me that the folks in Shelburne Falls were beginning to take the first tentative, but determined steps toward what Rob Hopkins, a leading cultural thinker in Britain, calls the “Transition Culture”. (see http://transitionculture.org) I also admire their courage. There's going to be hard slogging ahead for all us. The Pioneer Valley once again may live up to its name. I wish them and all of us well.
As we know “Winter is icumen in, Lhude sing Goddamm.” Though many of us seem to have forgotten that shivering time is just over the horizon I wanted to see what might come out of this very local effort to deal with a very global, or at least regional, problem. Surprisingly, more than a hundred folks were gathered in the main meeting room of the Shelburne Senior Center. Most of them were over 50 and some topped out in the late 80’s, and quite a few were still in their 40's and even a couple in their 30's. It was a diverse group of citizens, activists and advocates who had come together to discuss the impending fuel crisis that will inevitably accompany the winter months. While there may or may not be shortages of heating oil this year, the cost of fuel of all types (except wood, at least in the Pioneer Valley) has gone up sharply. Many senior citizens, as well as others with limited $$$ resources, low-income families and individuals, will be unable to afford to keep their houses at a reasonable temperature. Particularly hard hit will be those who heat with oil. Moreover, any financial assistance from the usual agencies and local charity sources will not only be down from year’s past, since there is just less money in the pool, the money that is there won’t go nearly as far. Consequently, not only will fewer families get assistance, but the assistance they do get will be very limited.
Here are my initial and somewhat limited observations. The forum was neatly, competently, and compassionately facilitated by the director of the Shelburne Senior Center. Throughout the entire time he was aware of the scope of the collective issue of energy descent and its impact on the entire system. Though he often made references to the fact that everyone was facing a difficult and thoroughly formidable constellation of events, he continued to make every effort to keep the conversation focused on the immediate future and what things could be done to make residences more buttoned up against the cold.
To that end, there was talk about the possibility of some folks heating with wood and wood pellets since there is certainly no shortage of that fuel in western Mass. The problems with it, however, range from the limited availability of proper stoves and the inhibiting effects of new state legislation that mandates certification for all woodstove installers. Since none of the proper mechanisms are in place yet, one expert asserted that there would be virtually no new wood stove installations until sometime in February at the earliest. Someone else pointed out that one of the local agencies had several new wood stoves for sale at reduced cost, so I suspect there will be at least a few installations despite the new regulations. There followed the inevitable caveats about the risks of fire from wood stoves, etc. A list of reliable or know contractors was circulated.
Another idea that was floated about and demands serious consideration is the creation of centralized neighborhood heating facilities. Under this model a small, highly efficient heating center would be built to serve several, six to a dozen houses within a specified radius. Each household would pay a rate equal to their portion of what they actually used. The concept really doesn't differ much from what happens in a large building that is heated by a central source. Heating centers is not only more efficient and less polluting than having individual, in-home furnaces, it would certainly be less expensive.
Overall this was an impressive and worthwhile gathering. Though there were many other points made, ideas floated and suggestions proffered at the gathering, these are the ones that stuck out for me: [1] do whatever you can to make your house more weather and energy tight; [2] local agencies or groups need to prepare a list of shelters, their locations and contact people for transportation in case of emergencies; [3] folks need to go out of their way to be aware and alert about their neighbor’s living situations, particularly in the case of the elderly and single parent families; and [4] we may need to consider the possibility of collective living arrangements at least on a temporary basis in some situations. One person at the meeting told how she and her husband have opened their home to additional residents since their children have moved on in their lives.
The strongest idea/feeling that emerged from the forum, in my opinion, was a consensus that we need to become more neighborly. Having grown up in a small town I am very aware that this benign-sounding behavior, or way of acting, can be a double-edged sword. In the wrong hands and wielded without consideration, it can be more devastating than helpful. Being neighborly requires being not only vigilant, or even snoopy sometimes, it also requires tolerance, discretion and respect.
Though race, ethnicity, sexual and religious affiliation still play a powerful role in shaping how we congregate, where and how we live, is generally driven by other forces. I am thinking more of the suburban explosion rather than what may have been happening in cities. One of the ways in which life has changed in the past four or five decades, is that we have become more insular and more ghetto-ized, mostly by economic or social status. For most of us, the $$$$$ value of our property and those that surround it have been more important in the way we make our decisions and the way we live, than the human or community values around us. And though it is clichéd to point it out yet again, there is no doubt that automobiles and computer-oriented, even computer-dominated, lifestyles have done much to erode interaction with the “folks that live next door.” I am NOT trying to make the case that there is no sense of neighborly camaraderie, but it has greatly diminished in recent years, particularly in the suburbs. I believe that the re-incorporation of genuine neighborliness into our lives is one of the most compelling challenges of the coming decades
Looking out for the well-being of others outside of your family or your own church group or whatever “us” group you belong to, is going to be an increasingly vital quality and measure of a decent, livable and sustainable society. It seemed to me that the folks in Shelburne Falls were beginning to take the first tentative, but determined steps toward what Rob Hopkins, a leading cultural thinker in Britain, calls the “Transition Culture”. (see http://transitionculture.org) I also admire their courage. There's going to be hard slogging ahead for all us. The Pioneer Valley once again may live up to its name. I wish them and all of us well.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
The “just in time” mentality of the USofA may be too late.
This dodgy concept has always seemed like a contemporary riff on the notion that popped up in those old Greek tragedies: dues ex machina. Though some have argued that the “just in time” concept originated with Henry Ford (see wikipedia entry on this), the process really took hold in the USofA in the 1980s when the Japanese style of management and other notions of process and profit migrated here, to great corporate enthusiasm, from the orient. It appealed to the corporations greatly because it seemed to be a way to rapidly ratchet up profits. Corporate mentality determined that keeping an inventory of anything on hand was costly and in their view “inefficient”. It is, according to corporate mission numero uno, always easier and cheaper, both in terms of people (salaries=expenses=lower profits) and products (stuff=storage facilities=maintenance=people (see above)=costs or expenses=lower profits) to let someone else handle the storage and just truck the stuff at the last minute. All of this was able to happen because it was soooo cheap because oil/gasoline was soooo cheap.
“Just in time” affected and infected every phase of our lives since nearly everything we consume or do in the country is subject to the rules of corporate game playing. So we all got used to living not just from pay check to pay check but according the delivery schedules (“just in time”) of whatever it was we might need. People began motoring to the malls and supermarkets almost every day, not only to fill their empty lives with something to do, but because the became accustomed to living on a corporate schedule. True, there are some folks who stuff a week’s worth of shopping into one trip, but for many there is no option other than a daily trip to the urban equivalent of the watering hole: the supermarket. But the time's, they are a changing.
It is now estimated by many observers of these things, that at any point in time most supermarkets have no more than three or four days of supply of food available to put out on their shelves and racks. BTW: how much food do you keep at home, just in case? This question isn’t actually intended to ramp up fears, though it probably does that, it is meant to raise the issue of prudent planning. And what is true of food is true for almost everything else of any real value or need. The only things that seem to be exempt from this are crappy plastic products of all kinds, electronic gismos, and automobiles (particularly SUVs) which seem to be in almost obscene abundance everywhere. Have you ever had to wait for big-screen plasma TV? And there are certainly no waiting lines for Hummers anymore. Can't eat a Hummer, but you might be able to live in one. You might have to.
Besides the worrisome potential shortfalls of food, there is certainly a reason to be concerned about the availability of oil and gasoline, the principal lubricants of absolutely everything we have come to rely on. Continued escalation of the costs we seem to grimace and bear, but any interruption, disruption or actual shortages will send this country into a panic that will make the lines at gas stations in the 70s seem like a sedate tea and crumpets affair.
Personally, one of my biggest worries concerns heating oil. What are the supplies of heating oil for the winter and how much will the stuff cost? My gut tells me to worry about these things, maybe because no one who is directly connected to these issues really seems to be paying any attention to them; at least they aren’t paying any attention to them publicly. I may have missed some stories about this in the media, but I am, for better or worse, an addicted watcher of morning news, or at least ten minutes or so of the stuff.
There is intelligent life out somewhere however. And this time it is to be found in Shelburne, a small town in the middle of Massachusetts. There is going to be an open meeting at the Shelburne Senior Center on July 30th (a Wednesday) at 1:30 PM to discuss the looming crisis in home heating that will fall most heavily on the elderly this winter. The forum will address not only the immediate needs of people, but hopes to consider the entire scope of the problem which includes not only heating oil and its costs, but issues of food security, transportation and community relationships. Anyone within striking distance of this singular event should strongly consider attending. Let's hope it draws a real crowd. Though I will have to expend valuable gasoline to attend from so far away, I fully intend to make the trek to Shelburne to watch, listen and learn. Hopefully, there will be more forums like this around our state as people become more aware that now is the time to come together, to “re-localize” and uncouple ourselves as much as we can from corporate thinking and try to solve our own problems on our own initiatives. Such efforts may be “just in time”.
“Just in time” affected and infected every phase of our lives since nearly everything we consume or do in the country is subject to the rules of corporate game playing. So we all got used to living not just from pay check to pay check but according the delivery schedules (“just in time”) of whatever it was we might need. People began motoring to the malls and supermarkets almost every day, not only to fill their empty lives with something to do, but because the became accustomed to living on a corporate schedule. True, there are some folks who stuff a week’s worth of shopping into one trip, but for many there is no option other than a daily trip to the urban equivalent of the watering hole: the supermarket. But the time's, they are a changing.
It is now estimated by many observers of these things, that at any point in time most supermarkets have no more than three or four days of supply of food available to put out on their shelves and racks. BTW: how much food do you keep at home, just in case? This question isn’t actually intended to ramp up fears, though it probably does that, it is meant to raise the issue of prudent planning. And what is true of food is true for almost everything else of any real value or need. The only things that seem to be exempt from this are crappy plastic products of all kinds, electronic gismos, and automobiles (particularly SUVs) which seem to be in almost obscene abundance everywhere. Have you ever had to wait for big-screen plasma TV? And there are certainly no waiting lines for Hummers anymore. Can't eat a Hummer, but you might be able to live in one. You might have to.
Besides the worrisome potential shortfalls of food, there is certainly a reason to be concerned about the availability of oil and gasoline, the principal lubricants of absolutely everything we have come to rely on. Continued escalation of the costs we seem to grimace and bear, but any interruption, disruption or actual shortages will send this country into a panic that will make the lines at gas stations in the 70s seem like a sedate tea and crumpets affair.
Personally, one of my biggest worries concerns heating oil. What are the supplies of heating oil for the winter and how much will the stuff cost? My gut tells me to worry about these things, maybe because no one who is directly connected to these issues really seems to be paying any attention to them; at least they aren’t paying any attention to them publicly. I may have missed some stories about this in the media, but I am, for better or worse, an addicted watcher of morning news, or at least ten minutes or so of the stuff.
There is intelligent life out somewhere however. And this time it is to be found in Shelburne, a small town in the middle of Massachusetts. There is going to be an open meeting at the Shelburne Senior Center on July 30th (a Wednesday) at 1:30 PM to discuss the looming crisis in home heating that will fall most heavily on the elderly this winter. The forum will address not only the immediate needs of people, but hopes to consider the entire scope of the problem which includes not only heating oil and its costs, but issues of food security, transportation and community relationships. Anyone within striking distance of this singular event should strongly consider attending. Let's hope it draws a real crowd. Though I will have to expend valuable gasoline to attend from so far away, I fully intend to make the trek to Shelburne to watch, listen and learn. Hopefully, there will be more forums like this around our state as people become more aware that now is the time to come together, to “re-localize” and uncouple ourselves as much as we can from corporate thinking and try to solve our own problems on our own initiatives. Such efforts may be “just in time”.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Bastille Day
A bon jour to whomever is out there. The weather geniis promised rains today, but except for a very brief torrential burst early in the day, it has just been muggy and sans precipitation, just some sun and some clouds. Un jour chien d'ete if ever there was one.
Interestingly enough A Tale of Two Cities, with the truly compelling Ronald Coleman (I mean that), playing Sidney Carton, just aired on the Turner channel, the one that plays “classic” films. It is to be followed by that pastiche, Scaramouche, “starring” Stewart Granger. His bland face, yet craggy jaw and toothy sNile work OK in what is essentially a two dimensional role. Janet Leigh is compelling as his lady love … compellingly awful. Oh well, it is probably better than a Friday night with George and Laura.
If we were going to try the Dickens route today we would have to make a film called a Tale of Two Worlds. The world as it is and the world as re-cast and envisioned by GWB and Co. And I do mean “company”. The world as viewed by corporations, whether they are American or some other concoction, does not resemble the world as envisioned by me, as well as several billion others. I am fortunate, I suppose, since I live relatively high on the hog, thanks to the assault on nearly everything provided courtesy of the corporate way of being in the world. Though I don’t live anywhere near the pinnacle of the hog compared to say, the CEO of General Mills or the cretinous creature that heads up Wal-mart. (He actually believes his own bullshit! And he has been truly frighteningly effective in persuading millions of others that his view is righteous.) Most of the world's billions live on roughly one 20th or less than I do. Make no mistake about it, the USofA is leading the not-so-free world into a slough of despair and degradation at a rate that is quite mind-boggling. Though if you give it too much thought you must come away with the knowledge that all of the so-called "American Way of Life" is a bright and shiny object built in the last three or four decades. Our habits have brought us to the point of probably-ain't-no-way outta-this-swamp. Let's face it: There is no god that will save us from our own deliberate ignorance and folly. Anyway. There are a lot of folks who would say that I shouldn’t complain, but I fully intend to until my last breath.
The whole gestalt… Bastille Day, Tale of Two Cities, the cover of the New Yorker, the cynical campaign of John McCain and the free ride the press continues to give this near-the-bottom-of-his-class-at-Annapolis candidate (recollections of C-student GWB?), the fires in California, not to mention global warming and the fact that I haven’t gotten laid in god doesn’t even remember how long …. reminds me that our nation was founded in blood and privation, by more than just the handful of gentleman farmers and businessmen who wrote the rules of the road. There were also a whole lot of farmers with guns. Give you any ideas? But, the rules of the road that they wrote didn’t envision what we have today; a government run by self-serving, spineless, ignorant politicians whose strings are pulled by kleptomanical, greedy, amoral corporations set on controlling everything that is under the ground and the oceans as well everything that flows across and over the ground. When corporations were given the legal equivalency of super-human status, we all got fucked. They name the game, they write the rules, they dole out the goodies and the punishments. Kontrol, it’s kalled kontrol…… O well… spread 'em and bend over.
There will be no revolution in this kountry of korn for fuel…. We’ve all bought the spectacle, ingested it without a second thought and now it's like a narcotic coursing through our system. Want to know what I'm talking about? Try slogging through a sort of Dr. Doom explains the meaning of life piece entitled The Society of the Spectacle, by Guy Debord, written in 1967. O yes BTW, he’s French. (You can find it at www.bopsecrets.org) And that provides me with a neat segue back to Bastille Day.
Just as Dickens's Madame Defarge knitted whatever it was she knitted, I am keeping my mind atuned as I contemplate the guillotine. I am performing an equally mundane and actually useful task; I am entering the names and characteristics of a few hundred plants into a list. It is a list of all of the plants that are planted in the gardens of one of the wealthiest women in the world, or in the USofA at least. What is the source of her wealth: Texas oil; what else? I am rather enjoying this task as I have enjoyed working in her gardens. This list will be used as the basis for a maintenance program and schedule to keep her place looking tip top. When I finish up for the day I am going to celebrate Bastille Day in Boston at the Gaslight Café. You just never know where or what will turn up when you turn out. As Derrick Jensen reminds us, it is possible to hold two thoughts in our head simultaneously: "we're all fucked, and life is good!"
Interestingly enough A Tale of Two Cities, with the truly compelling Ronald Coleman (I mean that), playing Sidney Carton, just aired on the Turner channel, the one that plays “classic” films. It is to be followed by that pastiche, Scaramouche, “starring” Stewart Granger. His bland face, yet craggy jaw and toothy sNile work OK in what is essentially a two dimensional role. Janet Leigh is compelling as his lady love … compellingly awful. Oh well, it is probably better than a Friday night with George and Laura.
If we were going to try the Dickens route today we would have to make a film called a Tale of Two Worlds. The world as it is and the world as re-cast and envisioned by GWB and Co. And I do mean “company”. The world as viewed by corporations, whether they are American or some other concoction, does not resemble the world as envisioned by me, as well as several billion others. I am fortunate, I suppose, since I live relatively high on the hog, thanks to the assault on nearly everything provided courtesy of the corporate way of being in the world. Though I don’t live anywhere near the pinnacle of the hog compared to say, the CEO of General Mills or the cretinous creature that heads up Wal-mart. (He actually believes his own bullshit! And he has been truly frighteningly effective in persuading millions of others that his view is righteous.) Most of the world's billions live on roughly one 20th or less than I do. Make no mistake about it, the USofA is leading the not-so-free world into a slough of despair and degradation at a rate that is quite mind-boggling. Though if you give it too much thought you must come away with the knowledge that all of the so-called "American Way of Life" is a bright and shiny object built in the last three or four decades. Our habits have brought us to the point of probably-ain't-no-way outta-this-swamp. Let's face it: There is no god that will save us from our own deliberate ignorance and folly. Anyway. There are a lot of folks who would say that I shouldn’t complain, but I fully intend to until my last breath.
The whole gestalt… Bastille Day, Tale of Two Cities, the cover of the New Yorker, the cynical campaign of John McCain and the free ride the press continues to give this near-the-bottom-of-his-class-at-Annapolis candidate (recollections of C-student GWB?), the fires in California, not to mention global warming and the fact that I haven’t gotten laid in god doesn’t even remember how long …. reminds me that our nation was founded in blood and privation, by more than just the handful of gentleman farmers and businessmen who wrote the rules of the road. There were also a whole lot of farmers with guns. Give you any ideas? But, the rules of the road that they wrote didn’t envision what we have today; a government run by self-serving, spineless, ignorant politicians whose strings are pulled by kleptomanical, greedy, amoral corporations set on controlling everything that is under the ground and the oceans as well everything that flows across and over the ground. When corporations were given the legal equivalency of super-human status, we all got fucked. They name the game, they write the rules, they dole out the goodies and the punishments. Kontrol, it’s kalled kontrol…… O well… spread 'em and bend over.
There will be no revolution in this kountry of korn for fuel…. We’ve all bought the spectacle, ingested it without a second thought and now it's like a narcotic coursing through our system. Want to know what I'm talking about? Try slogging through a sort of Dr. Doom explains the meaning of life piece entitled The Society of the Spectacle, by Guy Debord, written in 1967. O yes BTW, he’s French. (You can find it at www.bopsecrets.org) And that provides me with a neat segue back to Bastille Day.
Just as Dickens's Madame Defarge knitted whatever it was she knitted, I am keeping my mind atuned as I contemplate the guillotine. I am performing an equally mundane and actually useful task; I am entering the names and characteristics of a few hundred plants into a list. It is a list of all of the plants that are planted in the gardens of one of the wealthiest women in the world, or in the USofA at least. What is the source of her wealth: Texas oil; what else? I am rather enjoying this task as I have enjoyed working in her gardens. This list will be used as the basis for a maintenance program and schedule to keep her place looking tip top. When I finish up for the day I am going to celebrate Bastille Day in Boston at the Gaslight Café. You just never know where or what will turn up when you turn out. As Derrick Jensen reminds us, it is possible to hold two thoughts in our head simultaneously: "we're all fucked, and life is good!"
Monday, July 7, 2008
Plume poppies and Permaculture --- nic
I suppose it’s rather head in the sandish of me to bother penning a piece about Plume poppies ---- it will follow this bit of rant or reflection depending on how it all turns out ---- but it is just one of those “gotta do it” impulses that grip me now and then.
I attended two days of the three-day “Northeastern Permaculture Summer Convergence” this weekend. It was held on the property managed by Nuestras Raices,“ (http://www.nuestras-raices.org/en/home) a grass-roots organization that promotes economic, human and community development in Holyoke, Massachusetts through projects relating to food, agriculture and the environment”. The property is a 20 plus acre “farm” that offers plots for gardening, both home and small commercial, as well as fields on which to raise domestic animals such as pigs, goats, chickens and sheep. They also have a petting zoo, a horse barn, a restaurant and space for celebrations of all kinds.
The group, as you might have gathered from their name, grew out of the efforts of the Latin American community in Holyoke, especially immigrants from Puerto Rico. I had hoped and expected that there would be some participation and at least one presentation by Nuestras Raices during the “convergence”, but except for a tour of the facilities hosted by an extraordinary young Puerto Rican man, they had no presence at the actual sessions or working groups. As we went about the tour, I had the distinct feeling that those folks who were there on the place to tend their animals and gardens regarded us curious, and somewhat unwelcome interlopers. I wondered if anyone had actually reached out to them. I felt very uncomfortable about their lack of participation and don’t really know if it was an oversight on the part of the permaculture folks or the unwillingness of NR to join in. In either case, something should have been done to include them; it would have made for a richer and more satisfying experience.
I am still sorting out my feelings and thoughts about the both the content and the aura or gestalt of the weekend. Until I have actually had time and taken the effort to articulate them as clearly as I can, I won’t share them. The only impression I will pass on for now is related to what I observed above. The demographics were definitely on the white side, except for one Asian woman, and one woman from Ecuador, though there might have been a couple of other folks who weren’t white and I just didn’t notice them. Most of the participants were youngish --- I would guess that people in their 20s and 30s were the largest age groups. I couldn’t help but have a sort of flash-back to the 70s moment or several. More on all of this later.
I attended two days of the three-day “Northeastern Permaculture Summer Convergence” this weekend. It was held on the property managed by Nuestras Raices,“ (http://www.nuestras-raices.org/en/home) a grass-roots organization that promotes economic, human and community development in Holyoke, Massachusetts through projects relating to food, agriculture and the environment”. The property is a 20 plus acre “farm” that offers plots for gardening, both home and small commercial, as well as fields on which to raise domestic animals such as pigs, goats, chickens and sheep. They also have a petting zoo, a horse barn, a restaurant and space for celebrations of all kinds.
The group, as you might have gathered from their name, grew out of the efforts of the Latin American community in Holyoke, especially immigrants from Puerto Rico. I had hoped and expected that there would be some participation and at least one presentation by Nuestras Raices during the “convergence”, but except for a tour of the facilities hosted by an extraordinary young Puerto Rican man, they had no presence at the actual sessions or working groups. As we went about the tour, I had the distinct feeling that those folks who were there on the place to tend their animals and gardens regarded us curious, and somewhat unwelcome interlopers. I wondered if anyone had actually reached out to them. I felt very uncomfortable about their lack of participation and don’t really know if it was an oversight on the part of the permaculture folks or the unwillingness of NR to join in. In either case, something should have been done to include them; it would have made for a richer and more satisfying experience.
I am still sorting out my feelings and thoughts about the both the content and the aura or gestalt of the weekend. Until I have actually had time and taken the effort to articulate them as clearly as I can, I won’t share them. The only impression I will pass on for now is related to what I observed above. The demographics were definitely on the white side, except for one Asian woman, and one woman from Ecuador, though there might have been a couple of other folks who weren’t white and I just didn’t notice them. Most of the participants were youngish --- I would guess that people in their 20s and 30s were the largest age groups. I couldn’t help but have a sort of flash-back to the 70s moment or several. More on all of this later.
A dozen years ago I began an affaire de florale that has continued ever since, though not without a few second thoughts. I recall my love-at-first sight of her as though it was yesterday. She was stunning, standing there so erect and proud, a lithe willowy dancer backlit by the late afternoon sun. With her tousled blond top aglow and flowing in the gentle breeze, her beauty was exquisite. She put me in mind of an egret lifting her head to the sky or Princess Grace in a svelte gown turning oh so slightly to look my way. I was in love, shot through with passion. I had succumbed to the seductive charms of the Plume Poppy, though at the time I didn’t know her name or her proclivities. Little did I know what was to befall me.
If you are thinking about having a Plume Poppy in your garden, try googling it first. When you do you may have an experience not unlike having an actual plume poppy in your garden. Initially I got 84,000 hits in 0.17 seconds. I checked out a couple of the references and then glanced at the counter again. Now there were more than 300,000 hits. That’s akin to the habits of the plant itself: if you turn your back on it even for a second or two there will be at least three or four more of them. You can almost hear them saying: “He won’t notice, and besides, we’re sooo lovely.” More on this later; for now, just think dandelions or bamboo, or both.
You’ll discover that the Plume poppy, or Macleaya cordata, is an Asian immigrant. It’ s also known as Tree Celandine. Why I’m not sure. I’m also not sure if anyone knows exactly how it got here, but it isn’t difficult to figure out why, some smitten smuggler was taken in by its singular appearance, its truly outrageous gorgeousness. It is one of those plants that can’t be mistaken for anything else and it certainly isn’t inconspicuous. It is definitely not a shrinking violet.
Plume Poppies are statuesque and regal. They are also vigorous and rapid-growing. After a soaking Spring rain and a couple of days of warm weather, grab a lawn chair, a G&T, then just sit and watch; they will practically extend before your eyes. The leaves are a soft green color, and, technically, lobate in appearance.
Yet as you look at them, with their silvery, furry undersides the leaves seem more like hands lifting to face the sun. The petioles, or leaf stems, are silky, v-shaped and pale pink with small rounded teeth on their edges. The strong vertical stems of the Plume Poppy give it a stalwart architectural character. Smooth in texture, and steely in color, they too are shot through with a faint blush of pink. 
Throughout the season the Plume Poppies will grow taller and taller, often reaching heights of nearly ten feet under ‘ideal’ conditions, though they usually average about six or seven feet. As if this was not enough, add to the foliage and structure a wonderfully decorative tassel of white-turning-to-blush flowers. As the season nears its end, delicate pea pod-shaped seed envelopes replace the flowers and as they dry, they will whisper and chatter in the fall breezes. All in all the Plume Poppy is truly among the most stately perennials. But this glorious beauty comes at some cost. Not in dollars, but in time, energy and frustration. Think dandelions or bamboo, or both.
That first year of my affair I finally cut down my rangy Plume Poppy in early October; it was eight feet tall. I had let it run its course from sprout to seed. The first thing I noticed was that is was more than an inch in diameter and nearly as tough as bamboo. The next season, my first plume poppy had been joined by at least two dozen cousins, or other relatives. Being lazy and other wise occupied, I let them go. By the third season I had a plume poppy patch of at least a hundred plants; they had taken over a space nearly 20 by 20 and seemed to be sending out missionaries to colonize every other planting bed on the property. Do you recall the admonition to “be fruitful and multiply”.
Each April I admire the beauty of the Plume Poppies as they practically scramble to raise themselves out of the ground. Their pale green shoots are unmistakable. And everywhere there is a shoot there is a root, or roots. Some are as thick as a hose. The roots fan out generally only in one direction but they can be as long as the plant is tall. At several points along these root, new stems will arise. Each of these is capable of pushing out another root in yet another direction. As the plants age, the stems thicken just below the surface and become woody. Of course some of the new plants have arisen from seeds as well. In any case, I dig up as many as I can find, but they are everywhere; and the roots break easily.
Whatever you do, don’t try to diminish the quantity of Plume Poppies by merely pulling them out as though they are ordinary “weeds”. What makes eradicating or even controlling the plume poppy difficult, is that even a small section of root, if chopped or broken off and left in the soil, will invariably send up a new stem. So you must get out the entire root. In this regard, the plant is similar to Japanese Knotweed. Even the smallest fragment is capable of creating a whole new plant. Remember the broom in the Sorcerer’s Apprentice? I have managed to keep the plants at bay, but only slightly. Invariably, there are escapees and colonists. I repeat my digging procedure in June.
I wouldn’t mind the profusion, the sheer masses of Plume Poppies if they had any other qualities or features that made them worthwhile other than looking terrific. But as far as I can tell and from all of the sources I have checked, the plume poppy doesn’t seem to have any particular use as food or medicine. I don’t think any part of the plant is edible, yet, on the other hand, none of it is toxic. It does, according a couple of sources contain some potentially useful extracts, but not in any quantity worth harvesting. Though the sap from the stem might provide a good orange dye or stain, it has no other use. You can’t grind their roots up for flour, or pluck their leaves or stems for salads, or ingest their flowers as an aphrodisiac. And, unlike regular poppies, you cannot milk the stems or flower buds for hallucinogens or narcotics. You can only admire them.
And there are always so many of them to admire. Back in the 60s there was a movie entitled The Day of the Triffids. Plume poppies can put you in mind of those hard-charging, if entirely fictitious plants. Fortunately, Plume Poppies aren’t carnivorous; nor are they actually mobile, they just seem to be. All of this is a way of saying that, though the plume poppy may be lovely and attractive, spectacular even, you can’t have just one of them.
BUT, If you just can’t resist and you really must have A Plume Poppy, put it in a large container, or isolate it somehow. Perhaps you can find a place surrounded by some impervious surface, like concrete, though I suspect it would manage to undermine the whole thing and put up new shoots somewhere where you least expected and least wanted them. A safe bet might be a container on a roof deck, or the median strip on an urban highway. In fact, that may be the best spot of all. Then all of us could love and admire them…..from a safe distance. In that spirit I offer up this suggestion: Make the Plume Poppy the signature plant of the Guerilla Gardeners movement. Let Plumes Rule!
Monday, April 7, 2008
A Day In The Life Of The World – 2nd Entry
The Cosmic Connection
Light of Our Lives
Natural World
The Rhythm of Life
The Greedy Globe
The Hungry World
Cash Crops
Can You Dig It?
Pay Day
On the Move
Staying Touch
It’s a Bad, Bad World
Accidents Will Happen
The Global Garbage Pile
Friend or Foe?
A Day in the Year 2000
Within most of Bailey’s chapters there were sub-chapters, e.g., “Some new you every day”, or “Can’t bottle it all up”. In a printed text these might now be called side-bars, or, if it was on-line, hyper-text. I am going to up-date some of the side-bars attached to that original outline, as well as drift off into new side-bars of my own. I will also try to incorporate web links, at least occasionally, as well as some post some website locations and note some books that may be pertinent.
WEIGHTS and MEASURES
Before he got into the meat of his endeavor, Bailey led off by establishing the quantification method or code that he would be using when presenting all of his statistical information. He devoted two brief pages to “Weights and Measures”. Of course it may have been right there that he lost most of his potential readers here in the USofA.
The United States is one of only three countries in the entire world, Liberia and Burma being the other two, that haven’t adopted the SI, the International System of Units, or the metric system. Americans probably use a greater variety of units of measurement than anyone else in the world. For instance, foot races are calculated in meters, but the length of the long jump is measured in feet and inches. The strength of an engine is talked about in terms of “horsepower”, but its displacement is noted in liters. While the wind speed of a hurricane's is called out in knots, the barometric pressure in the “eye” is measured in millibars.
In our daily activities we are likewise still wedded to the US Customary System, a system that the rest of the world considers a rather funky and inaccurate way of quantifying things. We use two systems for land measurement (one based on the yard and the other on the rod) and a third system for distances at sea. We use two systems (avoirdupois and troy) for small weights and two more (based on the long and short tons) for large weights. We use two systems for volumes (one for dry commodities and one for liquids). Just FYI: the British use a third (British Imperial Measure). At least we’ve given up stones and hogsheads. It would be pleasant to think it’s a romantic attachment to a more ‘natural’ past, but I suspect our reluctance to adapt to the rest of the world is based more on arrogant stubbornness and habit. In the increasing glare of attention devoted to the US financial markets, we may see just how long that kind of intransigence can last.
The international trading and scientific community has come up with ways to bring these diverse systems into some sort of concord. Most of the kinks have been worked out, but the effort and on-going resolution of differences provides a good deal of amusement and occupies the computing savoir faire of numberless accountants and other varieties of bean counters. Needless to say, it also provides them with a consistent and well-paid livelihood. To get some idea of how muddled the entire universe of weights and measures can be, go to the reference pages of almost any dictionary, or go on line and google ‘weights and measures’.
Like the original ADLW, this renewed version will be dealing with a lot of data that involves weights, volumes, and lengths. Even though I still haven’t gotten accustomed to looking at a gallon container of milk and seeing it as some portion of a liter, or looking at chickens and seeing them in kilograms, I will use the metric system in this endeavor. I will, however, provide occasional comparables in our “common” system.
Just FYI and to suggest some of the correlations: I’ll have to work the images in later.
WEIGHT: The kilogram (kg) is a basic unit of weight around the world. A kilogram is equal to 2.2046 pounds (lb). A pound (lb) is equal to .453 (kg).
(Image: Me on the scales)
One ton = 1000 kg (2000 lbs.) 1 gram = 1/1000 kg
(Image: car weights Hummer vs Beetle)
VOLUME: The liter is basic unit of volume around the world.
One liter = 1000 milliliters (which are also called cubic centimeters)
Liters and quarts are very nearly the same but
Image: gallon of gasoline = 3.7850 liters
Image: one liter of water = 1 kilogram of weight
LENGTH:
The meter (m) is the basic unit of length. A kilometer (km) = 1000 m.
A meter = 3.28 feet or 39.37 inches or 1.??? yards
(Image: a mile vs. km)
AREA:
Another important and universal measure is one of area called a hectare.
One hectare = 2.471 acres one acre = 43,560 square feet (0.4047 hectare)
(image: show comparison on sample map)
Websites: www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/ - this site describes itself as a “Dictionary of Units of Measurement”. It is both informative and entertaining.
http://ntl.nectec.or.th/services/converter/
VALUE or CURRENCY: the $ or the € or the ¥
For many, the value of money is the most important measure of anything and everything in the world. It was a subject that Andrew Bailey didn’t really address in the original ADLW. Even though there are 191 official currencies, he merely assumed the dollar was the benchmark of financial measurement throughout the world. But things have changed dramatically since 1983. While weights and measures have remained unchanged, the value of money or currency, has changed dramatically. These days the American dollar ($), which for decades has been the recognized and unchallenged standard of measuring the value of currency, has been coming under pressure from worldwide financial institutions and governments. The principal reason is that the value or perceived value of the dollar when compared to that of other currencies, particularly the euro, is both inconsistent and tending to trend downward.
Image: Picture of euro and dollar
The euro (currency sign: €) is the official currency of the European Union (EU). It is the single currency for 317 million Europeans. Including those areas whose currencies are pegged to the euro, this currency directly affects close to 500 million people worldwide. When the Euro was first introduced in 1999, it traded at virtual parity with the US dollar. At various times from 2000 through much of 2002, the Euro dipped below parity reaching a low point of $0.825 cents in October of 2000. Since the end of 2002, however, the Euro has risen steadily in value versus the dollar. As I am writing this, one euro is worth $1.57. With more than €610 billion in circulation as of December 2007 (equivalent to at least US $952 billion at the exchange rates at the time), the euro is the currency with the highest combined value of cash in circulation in the world. One indication of the change in fortunes, as it were, for the dollar is this: Some international figures, among them CEOs, pop stars and models will no longer accept payments for their work in dollars. They are demanding euros instead. On the news today, March 15, 2008, and on some oil-related websites, there is increasing talk about pegging the cost of oil to the euro instead of the dollar. And don't forget the yuan.
I have neither the expertise nor the interest in following the twisted trail of how money works, but if you do, try this site: www.harley.com/money/index.html.
Light of Our Lives
Natural World
The Rhythm of Life
The Greedy Globe
The Hungry World
Cash Crops
Can You Dig It?
Pay Day
On the Move
Staying Touch
It’s a Bad, Bad World
Accidents Will Happen
The Global Garbage Pile
Friend or Foe?
A Day in the Year 2000
Within most of Bailey’s chapters there were sub-chapters, e.g., “Some new you every day”, or “Can’t bottle it all up”. In a printed text these might now be called side-bars, or, if it was on-line, hyper-text. I am going to up-date some of the side-bars attached to that original outline, as well as drift off into new side-bars of my own. I will also try to incorporate web links, at least occasionally, as well as some post some website locations and note some books that may be pertinent.
WEIGHTS and MEASURES
Before he got into the meat of his endeavor, Bailey led off by establishing the quantification method or code that he would be using when presenting all of his statistical information. He devoted two brief pages to “Weights and Measures”. Of course it may have been right there that he lost most of his potential readers here in the USofA.
The United States is one of only three countries in the entire world, Liberia and Burma being the other two, that haven’t adopted the SI, the International System of Units, or the metric system. Americans probably use a greater variety of units of measurement than anyone else in the world. For instance, foot races are calculated in meters, but the length of the long jump is measured in feet and inches. The strength of an engine is talked about in terms of “horsepower”, but its displacement is noted in liters. While the wind speed of a hurricane's is called out in knots, the barometric pressure in the “eye” is measured in millibars.
In our daily activities we are likewise still wedded to the US Customary System, a system that the rest of the world considers a rather funky and inaccurate way of quantifying things. We use two systems for land measurement (one based on the yard and the other on the rod) and a third system for distances at sea. We use two systems (avoirdupois and troy) for small weights and two more (based on the long and short tons) for large weights. We use two systems for volumes (one for dry commodities and one for liquids). Just FYI: the British use a third (British Imperial Measure). At least we’ve given up stones and hogsheads. It would be pleasant to think it’s a romantic attachment to a more ‘natural’ past, but I suspect our reluctance to adapt to the rest of the world is based more on arrogant stubbornness and habit. In the increasing glare of attention devoted to the US financial markets, we may see just how long that kind of intransigence can last.
The international trading and scientific community has come up with ways to bring these diverse systems into some sort of concord. Most of the kinks have been worked out, but the effort and on-going resolution of differences provides a good deal of amusement and occupies the computing savoir faire of numberless accountants and other varieties of bean counters. Needless to say, it also provides them with a consistent and well-paid livelihood. To get some idea of how muddled the entire universe of weights and measures can be, go to the reference pages of almost any dictionary, or go on line and google ‘weights and measures’.
Like the original ADLW, this renewed version will be dealing with a lot of data that involves weights, volumes, and lengths. Even though I still haven’t gotten accustomed to looking at a gallon container of milk and seeing it as some portion of a liter, or looking at chickens and seeing them in kilograms, I will use the metric system in this endeavor. I will, however, provide occasional comparables in our “common” system.
Just FYI and to suggest some of the correlations: I’ll have to work the images in later.
WEIGHT: The kilogram (kg) is a basic unit of weight around the world. A kilogram is equal to 2.2046 pounds (lb). A pound (lb) is equal to .453 (kg).
(Image: Me on the scales)
One ton = 1000 kg (2000 lbs.) 1 gram = 1/1000 kg
(Image: car weights Hummer vs Beetle)
VOLUME: The liter is basic unit of volume around the world.
One liter = 1000 milliliters (which are also called cubic centimeters)
Liters and quarts are very nearly the same but
Image: gallon of gasoline = 3.7850 liters
Image: one liter of water = 1 kilogram of weight
LENGTH:
The meter (m) is the basic unit of length. A kilometer (km) = 1000 m.
A meter = 3.28 feet or 39.37 inches or 1.??? yards
(Image: a mile vs. km)
AREA:
Another important and universal measure is one of area called a hectare.
One hectare = 2.471 acres one acre = 43,560 square feet (0.4047 hectare)
(image: show comparison on sample map)
Websites: www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/ - this site describes itself as a “Dictionary of Units of Measurement”. It is both informative and entertaining.
http://ntl.nectec.or.th/services/converter/
VALUE or CURRENCY: the $ or the € or the ¥
For many, the value of money is the most important measure of anything and everything in the world. It was a subject that Andrew Bailey didn’t really address in the original ADLW. Even though there are 191 official currencies, he merely assumed the dollar was the benchmark of financial measurement throughout the world. But things have changed dramatically since 1983. While weights and measures have remained unchanged, the value of money or currency, has changed dramatically. These days the American dollar ($), which for decades has been the recognized and unchallenged standard of measuring the value of currency, has been coming under pressure from worldwide financial institutions and governments. The principal reason is that the value or perceived value of the dollar when compared to that of other currencies, particularly the euro, is both inconsistent and tending to trend downward.
Image: Picture of euro and dollar
The euro (currency sign: €) is the official currency of the European Union (EU). It is the single currency for 317 million Europeans. Including those areas whose currencies are pegged to the euro, this currency directly affects close to 500 million people worldwide. When the Euro was first introduced in 1999, it traded at virtual parity with the US dollar. At various times from 2000 through much of 2002, the Euro dipped below parity reaching a low point of $0.825 cents in October of 2000. Since the end of 2002, however, the Euro has risen steadily in value versus the dollar. As I am writing this, one euro is worth $1.57. With more than €610 billion in circulation as of December 2007 (equivalent to at least US $952 billion at the exchange rates at the time), the euro is the currency with the highest combined value of cash in circulation in the world. One indication of the change in fortunes, as it were, for the dollar is this: Some international figures, among them CEOs, pop stars and models will no longer accept payments for their work in dollars. They are demanding euros instead. On the news today, March 15, 2008, and on some oil-related websites, there is increasing talk about pegging the cost of oil to the euro instead of the dollar. And don't forget the yuan.
I have neither the expertise nor the interest in following the twisted trail of how money works, but if you do, try this site: www.harley.com/money/index.html.
Monday, March 24, 2008
"Water, Water Everywhere, Nor any Drop to Drink!"
Were you thirsty on Saturday? Not even a teensy bit I’ll bet! You probably had too much on your mind to give water much of a thought on Saturday, unless of course your shower was too hot or too cold. You didn’t give it a thought even though it was, after all, “World Water Day.” Actually, IF you lived here in the USofA, you probably weren’t even aware that there was such an event as World Water Day. Despite your ignorance, (I didn’t say stupidity, I said ignorance) take the time right now to count yourself lucky that you live here, and give thanks. More than 1 billion people (20% of our entire planet’s human population) were very thirsty on Saturday. In fact, they were dangerously thirsty, dehydrated and down-right sick on Saturday because the water they drank was contaminated or polluted, or because they had virtually no water at all. Your kids were even luckier, but about 4500 children didn’t have it so good. They died on Saturday. They didn’t have a handy bottle of Evian or Poland Springs so they just, well, died. And oh, by the way, another 4500 of them died today as well --- FYI about one a minute. And just one more thing: 90% of them were under 5 years of age.
Every third or fourth person on our little ‘water planet’ lives in what health officials describe as “water stressed” countries. No one is certain of the exact numbers because the extensive of lack of water systems and the necessary infrastructure, plus pervasive inadequate sanitation throughout the world makes it difficult to be precise. It’s often true that even where there is adequate water, it’s polluted or contaminated in some way. That particular issue is actually beginning to haunt us here as well. Did you notice the stories that surfaced in the last couple of weeks from the Associated Press? Researchers have discovered a veritable cornucopia of pharmaceuticals, from uppers and downers, to birth control hormones to Viagra, in the drinking water of many of our major cities, right here in the good olde USofA. Whoopie! Dial a drug.
Actually, though the officially sanctioned “World Water Day” has passed under the bridge of time (sorry about that), it’s better to think of every day as “world water day”, because it is. Take the time to educate yourself about water, about watersheds, about the hydrological cycle, etc. Take the time to figure out how much water you are using both as an individual and as a family; then try to be more observant about ways you can cut down on your water use. Don’t even think about watering your lawn or washing your car. You may try to convince yourself that it doesn’t make any real difference what you do as an individual. Your personal lifestyle couldn’t have that much of an impact on things, could it? You already know the answer to that.
I'm not sure if by just drinking beer and wine I can avoid the unwanted drug residues in the drinking water, but I think I'll go that route anyway just to be on the safer side.
Every third or fourth person on our little ‘water planet’ lives in what health officials describe as “water stressed” countries. No one is certain of the exact numbers because the extensive of lack of water systems and the necessary infrastructure, plus pervasive inadequate sanitation throughout the world makes it difficult to be precise. It’s often true that even where there is adequate water, it’s polluted or contaminated in some way. That particular issue is actually beginning to haunt us here as well. Did you notice the stories that surfaced in the last couple of weeks from the Associated Press? Researchers have discovered a veritable cornucopia of pharmaceuticals, from uppers and downers, to birth control hormones to Viagra, in the drinking water of many of our major cities, right here in the good olde USofA. Whoopie! Dial a drug.
Actually, though the officially sanctioned “World Water Day” has passed under the bridge of time (sorry about that), it’s better to think of every day as “world water day”, because it is. Take the time to educate yourself about water, about watersheds, about the hydrological cycle, etc. Take the time to figure out how much water you are using both as an individual and as a family; then try to be more observant about ways you can cut down on your water use. Don’t even think about watering your lawn or washing your car. You may try to convince yourself that it doesn’t make any real difference what you do as an individual. Your personal lifestyle couldn’t have that much of an impact on things, could it? You already know the answer to that.
I'm not sure if by just drinking beer and wine I can avoid the unwanted drug residues in the drinking water, but I think I'll go that route anyway just to be on the safer side.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
At last! Mood Elevation On Tap At Home
Would you like a little estrogen with your prozac tea today?
One of the difficulties of even trying to think about the ‘environment’ is that there is such an abundance of information, whether it is "news" items or data, and ALL of it is inter-related. In very short order, all of it becomes overwhelming. To demonstrate and explain just how even a single bit or byte of information is related to the web of nature and human endeavors could easily be the basis for a book. But most of the time "environmental information" is presented as just another electronic 3 by 5 card to be filed away under the category of miscellaneous, “Oh-isn’t-that-interesting?” environmental bad news. For most of us in the USofA, the tidal wave of "environmental news" has become frightening or scary, even though it's usually, distant --- something that's happening 'over there' in some benighted smudge of a place on the planet. As a result, most of us opt out of paying any attention at all unless it’s affecting us personally in some way. Well, HANG in there and LISTEN up Bubby, ' cause this time it is!
Our national media have become part of the corporate wallpaper; they are masterful enablers of ignorance and denial. Usually for them, it’s the old “Out of sight = out of mind” way of dealing with unpleasantness. Or to put it another way: Just stick your head up your ass and pray. Instead of talking about issues of real importance, the media shower us with ‘reality TV’ shows, endless celebrations of celebrity dysfunctions, Presidential ‘horse races’ and the like. Then they proceed to build a wall of noisy advertising using shrill shills to shield from any sounds of dissent or complaint. Their ‘programming is also deliberately designed to keep us from learning what’s happening in the rest of the planet, where everyone else lives in a very different reality. The entire process creates a perfect world of ‘no context.’ (That last is a phrase from one of my favorite books: “In The Context of No Context”, by George Trow.) Hang in there; I am getting to the point soon.
Every now and then, however, some actual content-with-unavoidable-and-undeniable-context leaks through or under the wall. An example of this is the news today that the drinking water in many of our cities, if not most when all of the facts are finally in, are laced with drugs. Here’s the lead paragraph from a story ‘printed’ on-line via Comcast: “A vast array of pharmaceuticals — including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones — have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans, an Associated Press investigation shows.” And you thought it was just that exposing your children to sex on TV would rot their brains? I don’t think we have heard the last of this particular story; at least I hope not. Yet, with all of the breast-beating and wailing going on about the price of gasoline, or the peregrinations of Eliot Spitzer's slong, or Hillary's whining self-importance, this poignantly, and literally, affecting story may just sink beneath the waves, so to speak.
The upshot or bottom line of the story is this: Apparently many millions of us may have a convenient phramo-bar right there at home at our finger tips. Who needs a complicated prescription drug plan? Our kitchen faucet, it seems, may be a cornucopia of contemporary convenience: Meds at a twist of the tap. You just didn't know it, because up until now they didn't think to tell you. Of course they haven't quite learned how to adjust the mix of meds so there's still something of a jumble, a bit of a soup of unknown ingredients pouring into your glass, but trust them, they'll get it right one of these days. All those folks juicing up with steroids and viagra, and zoning out with demerol are sharing their goodies with you, excreting it into the water supply so you can sample it as well. Talk about community generosity! Wow, I'm impressed. Now if they can just come up with a dial on the faucet so we can adjust the ingredients to our own particular needs..... I know, I'm such a dreamer. In the meantime, I think I'll just have another Scotch, neat; no ice and no water, thanks.
*******************************************
As noted previously in a Feb. 28 post, I have begun over-writing (a kind of garrulous re-writing) a book entitled “One day In The Life Of The Earth”, by Andrew Bailey. It was published in 1983, to absolutely no fan-fare whatsoever. Though it may turn out to be a fruitless endeavor, equally ignored and passed over, it is providing me with an intelligent and sensible outline on which to hang my ideas and concerns. I am trying to craft a framework, or whatever it may be called, for looking at the world that will help to make contextual sense of all of it. I am hoping it will provide an easily understandable and useful way of seeing oneself, (myself), ourselves and our favorite others, in relationship to the planet that is both practical and spiritual. A sort of “Think Globally, Perceive Locally and Act accordingly”. Or as Bill McKibbon would have it: “Act neighborly”.
Another entry in this endeavor later today, if all goes according to plan. But it probably won't.
One of the difficulties of even trying to think about the ‘environment’ is that there is such an abundance of information, whether it is "news" items or data, and ALL of it is inter-related. In very short order, all of it becomes overwhelming. To demonstrate and explain just how even a single bit or byte of information is related to the web of nature and human endeavors could easily be the basis for a book. But most of the time "environmental information" is presented as just another electronic 3 by 5 card to be filed away under the category of miscellaneous, “Oh-isn’t-that-interesting?” environmental bad news. For most of us in the USofA, the tidal wave of "environmental news" has become frightening or scary, even though it's usually, distant --- something that's happening 'over there' in some benighted smudge of a place on the planet. As a result, most of us opt out of paying any attention at all unless it’s affecting us personally in some way. Well, HANG in there and LISTEN up Bubby, ' cause this time it is!
Our national media have become part of the corporate wallpaper; they are masterful enablers of ignorance and denial. Usually for them, it’s the old “Out of sight = out of mind” way of dealing with unpleasantness. Or to put it another way: Just stick your head up your ass and pray. Instead of talking about issues of real importance, the media shower us with ‘reality TV’ shows, endless celebrations of celebrity dysfunctions, Presidential ‘horse races’ and the like. Then they proceed to build a wall of noisy advertising using shrill shills to shield from any sounds of dissent or complaint. Their ‘programming is also deliberately designed to keep us from learning what’s happening in the rest of the planet, where everyone else lives in a very different reality. The entire process creates a perfect world of ‘no context.’ (That last is a phrase from one of my favorite books: “In The Context of No Context”, by George Trow.) Hang in there; I am getting to the point soon.
Every now and then, however, some actual content-with-unavoidable-and-undeniable-context leaks through or under the wall. An example of this is the news today that the drinking water in many of our cities, if not most when all of the facts are finally in, are laced with drugs. Here’s the lead paragraph from a story ‘printed’ on-line via Comcast: “A vast array of pharmaceuticals — including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones — have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans, an Associated Press investigation shows.” And you thought it was just that exposing your children to sex on TV would rot their brains? I don’t think we have heard the last of this particular story; at least I hope not. Yet, with all of the breast-beating and wailing going on about the price of gasoline, or the peregrinations of Eliot Spitzer's slong, or Hillary's whining self-importance, this poignantly, and literally, affecting story may just sink beneath the waves, so to speak.
The upshot or bottom line of the story is this: Apparently many millions of us may have a convenient phramo-bar right there at home at our finger tips. Who needs a complicated prescription drug plan? Our kitchen faucet, it seems, may be a cornucopia of contemporary convenience: Meds at a twist of the tap. You just didn't know it, because up until now they didn't think to tell you. Of course they haven't quite learned how to adjust the mix of meds so there's still something of a jumble, a bit of a soup of unknown ingredients pouring into your glass, but trust them, they'll get it right one of these days. All those folks juicing up with steroids and viagra, and zoning out with demerol are sharing their goodies with you, excreting it into the water supply so you can sample it as well. Talk about community generosity! Wow, I'm impressed. Now if they can just come up with a dial on the faucet so we can adjust the ingredients to our own particular needs..... I know, I'm such a dreamer. In the meantime, I think I'll just have another Scotch, neat; no ice and no water, thanks.
*******************************************
As noted previously in a Feb. 28 post, I have begun over-writing (a kind of garrulous re-writing) a book entitled “One day In The Life Of The Earth”, by Andrew Bailey. It was published in 1983, to absolutely no fan-fare whatsoever. Though it may turn out to be a fruitless endeavor, equally ignored and passed over, it is providing me with an intelligent and sensible outline on which to hang my ideas and concerns. I am trying to craft a framework, or whatever it may be called, for looking at the world that will help to make contextual sense of all of it. I am hoping it will provide an easily understandable and useful way of seeing oneself, (myself), ourselves and our favorite others, in relationship to the planet that is both practical and spiritual. A sort of “Think Globally, Perceive Locally and Act accordingly”. Or as Bill McKibbon would have it: “Act neighborly”.
Another entry in this endeavor later today, if all goes according to plan. But it probably won't.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
A Day In The Life Of The Earth: Introduction
A Day in the Life of the Planet in the Gregorian calendar year of 2008
By the Chinese calendar it is 4705 and the year of the Rat
In the Hijri calendar it is 1429
The Hindu and Buddhist calendars are just too complicated to get into.
Perhaps this entire endeavor is simple-minded and banal, as well as rather self-centered. It could turn out to be all of those things and less. I actually don’t know. But, it's my hobby horse, as Tristram Shandy would say, and I'll ride anyway. Much of the information in this blog can be found in the newspapers or on TV as well as downloaded from the internet. It will, however, be fragmented and piecemeal. ‘News’ about the environment is certainly available and accessible, BUT it seems to me that no one is actually encouraging you to put it into any personal context.
Remember the mantra: Think Globally, Act Locally. It’s succinct and punchy. But before you act locally, you also have to think locally, in fact, very locally. You connect with the world through your own body and mind, so start there; it is the most local you can get.
I encourage you to begin looking at a day in the life of the planet, and your own in relation to it, not as a series of isolated events, but as an ongoing accumulation of events and processes. As you do that, you may realize that you are rediscovering information that you probably got back in grade school or maybe a little later.I know there's a lot of stuff I don't recall from then. How about you? If you already know all this stuff, and actually remember it, you get an A for data retention. But here's the important question: does any of it still turn you on? I hope so. It sure as hell should, because hell is what we’re busy creating and it will only get worse if we don’t start taking seriously what we already know.
Do you remember getting excited when you turned over a rock and some salamander strolled out? How about the time you noticed the red-tailed hawk hovering in the sky? What about when you planted a seed and it actually came up? As we ‘transition’ into ‘adulthood’ we are pretty much told that we should ignore all of that cool stuff. We’re admonished to “suck it up,” and “get with the program” ---- get a job, settle down, and above all, “shut up!” Following those rules may work to keep the $$$$$ flowing, but when we do that, we’re killing our planet. And we're not killing softly or slowly.
I hope I can tweak you, however briefly, back into paying attention to the world around you, the world that isn’t just inside the metal can you drive around in or inside the walls that make up your house. The point of this piece is to draw together intriguing and sometimes surprising information into a backdrop for the daily swirl of your activities on this green earth. After all, you do live here, don’t you? Having this information can serve as a context that might, just might, affect how you look at the world around you once again. AND as it twinkles there in the back of your mind it just might influence at least one or two of the multitude of daily decisions you make in how you live your life.
*********************
Back in 1983 a small publishing company out of London, Bellew and Higton, issued a slim volume entitled A DAY IN THE LIFE OF THE WORLD . It was written by Andrew Bailey and illustrated by Janet Nunn. The book was distributed in the U. S. by Doubleday. I think I picked it up because it was unusual. For one thing, it wasn’t rectangular, it was circular in shape. It was a little bit larger in diameter than a CD, a thing that didn’t exist back then. If you thumbed through it, you might have thought you were looking at a graphic novel; there were line drawings, sketches, charts or diagrams on almost every page. But what you were holding in your hand was an incisive but inclusive primer of how humans interact with the planet, even the universe, on a daily basis. I thought then, and I think now, that it is a pretty nifty piece of work that simplifies a whole lot of information and makes it accessible in a way that is smart and not dumbed down.
Maybe no one took A Day In The Life of The World seriously because it seemed more like a comic book than a volume chock full of critical, useful information. The book was concise, less than 130 pages long, and the text was straight-forward. The prose style may not have been lyrical, but it wasn’t littered with clods of academic prose or sticky scientific jargon either. The graphics were lean and clever; they enhanced the text, giving it a clarity and power that it didn’t have by itself.
I think the publishers were optimistic that their simple and no nonsense presentation would be a good seller if not a best-seller. But A Day In The Life of The World made very little impression on the market or Bellew and Higton's bottom line. Why didn’t it catch on? I suspect that most people felt that the entire endeavor was just too elementary and that the graphics were too cute, too simplistic to appear in any ‘serious’ work. Too bad. They were wrong.
It’s been 25 years since the publication of A Day In the Life Of The World (ADLW), I for one think it’s time to update the information and give their idea another go. With the web at our beck and call maybe now we have a chance to reach the audience the publishers were originally seeking. When Andrew Bailey’s book was published in 1983, there were about 'only' 4 billion people living on the globe. Pollution was becoming increasingly important as both a tangible issue and a political one. The Soviet Union was still intact and the “cold war” was alive and well. The European Union didn’t exist. India and China were still considered to be backwater nations despite their huge populations. Global climate change, which was barely on anyone’s list of environmental problems, was still considered by many to be merely a wild-eyed, nearly science fiction-like theory. Crude oil sold for between $25 and $27 per barrel. Gasoline was around $1.25 to $1.30 per gallon. In the USofA, Ronald Reagan was President and it was “morning in America.”
Today, worldwide there are more than 6.6 billion humans. Pollution has become a planetary problem of gigantic proportions, affecting the soil, the water and the air of our planet. There is an island of garbage and trash, mostly plastic, twice the size of Texas, floating in the Pacific. The Soviet Union is now a dis-union; Europe has gone in the other direction, creating a common economic union and common currency. China has emerged as a leading global power and India isn’t far behind. And in terms of population, every other person on the planet is either Chinese or Indian. Crude oil is now selling for between $106 and $109 per barrel; gasoline is already more than $3.35 per gallon and may well reach $4.00 per gallon by the end of 2008. And oh yes, Global climate change has become the most pressing environmental issue for the planet. And George W. Bush is the President of the USofA. Indeed, things have changed!
IMAGE(s) NEEDED !!
Every now and then I am going to list some websites to check out for factual backup or other informational purposes. Usually they will be obviously related to the text they follow; sometimes the relationship will not be so apparent. Only a handful, no more than 6 and usually less, will be listed, since the links provided at each site will lead you wherever you choose to go. Occasionally books will also be listed.
Some websites to check out are listed below. Their position on the list means nothing about preference.
www.cosmosmith.com/population_clock.htm
www.earthtimes.org/
www.facingthefuture.org/
www-popexpo.ined.fr/english.html
www.desip.igc.org/populationmaps.
Though Americans may feel as though they are bombarded by environmental news hour after hour, they really are not. I believe they are a saturated with news reports about ‘global warming’, which get a lot of hype and attention even though much of it sketchy and even inaccurate; I think they are also swamped by the recent tidal surge in advertising for ‘green products’, such as florescent light bulbs and hybrid cars. The advertising in particular is ubiquitous. After a while it begins to feel scolding or guilt-inducing.
ADLW tried to set the context of who we are and where we are. The book explored not a just a series of isolated events or circumstances occurring in a vacuum but presented the accumulating aggregate of events and activities that are on-going day after day after day. It’s time to bring this information up to date in the same simple, easy style and format. Let’s face it, most of us are never going to read the summary of the 2007 IPCC report on global climate change let alone the entire report. Nor are we likely to read even a single page of GEO4 (Global Environmental Outlook) report, a 500+ page document on the environment issued recently by the United Nations. In fact, most of us have never heard of the latter.
I intend to follow Andrew Bailey’s template in this re-creation of his work. I’ll use his chapter order for the most part, but my text will be a bit more rambling. Sadly, I won’t always be able to come up with slick graphics, but I’ll do the best I can.
By the Chinese calendar it is 4705 and the year of the Rat
In the Hijri calendar it is 1429
The Hindu and Buddhist calendars are just too complicated to get into.
Perhaps this entire endeavor is simple-minded and banal, as well as rather self-centered. It could turn out to be all of those things and less. I actually don’t know. But, it's my hobby horse, as Tristram Shandy would say, and I'll ride anyway. Much of the information in this blog can be found in the newspapers or on TV as well as downloaded from the internet. It will, however, be fragmented and piecemeal. ‘News’ about the environment is certainly available and accessible, BUT it seems to me that no one is actually encouraging you to put it into any personal context.
Remember the mantra: Think Globally, Act Locally. It’s succinct and punchy. But before you act locally, you also have to think locally, in fact, very locally. You connect with the world through your own body and mind, so start there; it is the most local you can get.
I encourage you to begin looking at a day in the life of the planet, and your own in relation to it, not as a series of isolated events, but as an ongoing accumulation of events and processes. As you do that, you may realize that you are rediscovering information that you probably got back in grade school or maybe a little later.I know there's a lot of stuff I don't recall from then. How about you? If you already know all this stuff, and actually remember it, you get an A for data retention. But here's the important question: does any of it still turn you on? I hope so. It sure as hell should, because hell is what we’re busy creating and it will only get worse if we don’t start taking seriously what we already know.
Do you remember getting excited when you turned over a rock and some salamander strolled out? How about the time you noticed the red-tailed hawk hovering in the sky? What about when you planted a seed and it actually came up? As we ‘transition’ into ‘adulthood’ we are pretty much told that we should ignore all of that cool stuff. We’re admonished to “suck it up,” and “get with the program” ---- get a job, settle down, and above all, “shut up!” Following those rules may work to keep the $$$$$ flowing, but when we do that, we’re killing our planet. And we're not killing softly or slowly.
I hope I can tweak you, however briefly, back into paying attention to the world around you, the world that isn’t just inside the metal can you drive around in or inside the walls that make up your house. The point of this piece is to draw together intriguing and sometimes surprising information into a backdrop for the daily swirl of your activities on this green earth. After all, you do live here, don’t you? Having this information can serve as a context that might, just might, affect how you look at the world around you once again. AND as it twinkles there in the back of your mind it just might influence at least one or two of the multitude of daily decisions you make in how you live your life.
*********************
Back in 1983 a small publishing company out of London, Bellew and Higton, issued a slim volume entitled A DAY IN THE LIFE OF THE WORLD . It was written by Andrew Bailey and illustrated by Janet Nunn. The book was distributed in the U. S. by Doubleday. I think I picked it up because it was unusual. For one thing, it wasn’t rectangular, it was circular in shape. It was a little bit larger in diameter than a CD, a thing that didn’t exist back then. If you thumbed through it, you might have thought you were looking at a graphic novel; there were line drawings, sketches, charts or diagrams on almost every page. But what you were holding in your hand was an incisive but inclusive primer of how humans interact with the planet, even the universe, on a daily basis. I thought then, and I think now, that it is a pretty nifty piece of work that simplifies a whole lot of information and makes it accessible in a way that is smart and not dumbed down.
Maybe no one took A Day In The Life of The World seriously because it seemed more like a comic book than a volume chock full of critical, useful information. The book was concise, less than 130 pages long, and the text was straight-forward. The prose style may not have been lyrical, but it wasn’t littered with clods of academic prose or sticky scientific jargon either. The graphics were lean and clever; they enhanced the text, giving it a clarity and power that it didn’t have by itself.
I think the publishers were optimistic that their simple and no nonsense presentation would be a good seller if not a best-seller. But A Day In The Life of The World made very little impression on the market or Bellew and Higton's bottom line. Why didn’t it catch on? I suspect that most people felt that the entire endeavor was just too elementary and that the graphics were too cute, too simplistic to appear in any ‘serious’ work. Too bad. They were wrong.
It’s been 25 years since the publication of A Day In the Life Of The World (ADLW), I for one think it’s time to update the information and give their idea another go. With the web at our beck and call maybe now we have a chance to reach the audience the publishers were originally seeking. When Andrew Bailey’s book was published in 1983, there were about 'only' 4 billion people living on the globe. Pollution was becoming increasingly important as both a tangible issue and a political one. The Soviet Union was still intact and the “cold war” was alive and well. The European Union didn’t exist. India and China were still considered to be backwater nations despite their huge populations. Global climate change, which was barely on anyone’s list of environmental problems, was still considered by many to be merely a wild-eyed, nearly science fiction-like theory. Crude oil sold for between $25 and $27 per barrel. Gasoline was around $1.25 to $1.30 per gallon. In the USofA, Ronald Reagan was President and it was “morning in America.”
Today, worldwide there are more than 6.6 billion humans. Pollution has become a planetary problem of gigantic proportions, affecting the soil, the water and the air of our planet. There is an island of garbage and trash, mostly plastic, twice the size of Texas, floating in the Pacific. The Soviet Union is now a dis-union; Europe has gone in the other direction, creating a common economic union and common currency. China has emerged as a leading global power and India isn’t far behind. And in terms of population, every other person on the planet is either Chinese or Indian. Crude oil is now selling for between $106 and $109 per barrel; gasoline is already more than $3.35 per gallon and may well reach $4.00 per gallon by the end of 2008. And oh yes, Global climate change has become the most pressing environmental issue for the planet. And George W. Bush is the President of the USofA. Indeed, things have changed!
IMAGE(s) NEEDED !!
Every now and then I am going to list some websites to check out for factual backup or other informational purposes. Usually they will be obviously related to the text they follow; sometimes the relationship will not be so apparent. Only a handful, no more than 6 and usually less, will be listed, since the links provided at each site will lead you wherever you choose to go. Occasionally books will also be listed.
Some websites to check out are listed below. Their position on the list means nothing about preference.
www.cosmosmith.com/population_clock.htm
www.earthtimes.org/
www.facingthefuture.org/
www-popexpo.ined.fr/english.html
www.desip.igc.org/populationmaps.
Though Americans may feel as though they are bombarded by environmental news hour after hour, they really are not. I believe they are a saturated with news reports about ‘global warming’, which get a lot of hype and attention even though much of it sketchy and even inaccurate; I think they are also swamped by the recent tidal surge in advertising for ‘green products’, such as florescent light bulbs and hybrid cars. The advertising in particular is ubiquitous. After a while it begins to feel scolding or guilt-inducing.
ADLW tried to set the context of who we are and where we are. The book explored not a just a series of isolated events or circumstances occurring in a vacuum but presented the accumulating aggregate of events and activities that are on-going day after day after day. It’s time to bring this information up to date in the same simple, easy style and format. Let’s face it, most of us are never going to read the summary of the 2007 IPCC report on global climate change let alone the entire report. Nor are we likely to read even a single page of GEO4 (Global Environmental Outlook) report, a 500+ page document on the environment issued recently by the United Nations. In fact, most of us have never heard of the latter.
I intend to follow Andrew Bailey’s template in this re-creation of his work. I’ll use his chapter order for the most part, but my text will be a bit more rambling. Sadly, I won’t always be able to come up with slick graphics, but I’ll do the best I can.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Thinking of you and me, Barack
While fixing coffee, feeding Chloe, wiping away a small trail of mouse poops, and laying out the morning doses of various medications, I listened to, though didn’t really watch, the morning ‘news.’ According to the latest reports: the reason that the Pentagon, or whoever makes these decisions, didn’t send the improved and more heavily armored personnel carriers to Iraq was because someone made a cost/benefit analysis and determined that they cost too much. The well-greased finger of fate gets shoved up our asses once again: Money rules. As a result, of course, there have been dozens of unnecessary deaths (not that any death there on either side has been ‘necessary’) as well as hundreds if not thousands of unnecessary injuries and maimings. I guess the Pentagon is still suffering from Rummy-itis and trying to operate the military as though it is a kind of Wal-Mart, or maybe it really doesn’t want to be fighting over there either, but only because it costs too much. That concern hasn’t seemed to bother Dubbya much. He continues to cheerfully lead, well not lead actually, a Congress and much of the nation off the cliff of morality and into a bog of national insolvency. Meanwhile my local chattering heads on TV laugh together at dopey jokes and chirp on about family stabbings, steroid use by fat ball players, and the rise in the number of home foreclosures. All of it is delivered with a smile and sense of self-satisfaction that says nothing is really wrong at the core, there are just these minor, and occasionally interesting, unpleasant aberrations in an otherwise OK way of life here in the USofA. Cut to commercial, to commercial, to commercial, to commercial, to commercial, to comm........There is no way I can scream loudly enough! Where O where is V???
So without V, I, and hundreds of thousands of similarly disaffected souls in this nation are left to fend for ourselves. We are left to howl in less and less wilderness and more and more suburban sprawl, to scream from the center of median strips and strip malls, to scrawl on the sides of walls and subway cars, and to rant into the ethersphere on the internet. Just like this!
A brief opinionated digression: in some ways the internet has hindered the physical expression of outrage that accompanied opposition to the Vietnam War. It has allowed for widespread vocalization and superior organizing of opinion, but somehow, in an odd and ironic way it has dissipated physical expression; it has not encouraged tangible, in-the-streets, in-your-face confrontation. It is also true that the business of business has dominated more and more of our nation’s social as well as moral life since the 60's and 70's. Business as usual has gotten truly huge and reaching its ever hungry fingers into our pockets and under our shorts with greater skill and tenacity than ever before. That fact coupled with these facts: [1] the major media are controlled and owned by a small cabal of plutocrats (there is no other word to describe them) and [2] the superior tactical capacities of the policing forces in the country, have worked to hold down the appearance as well as the actuality of physical confrontation. Back to my message in a serendipitous way.
Some of us sense that some new smell is in the air. Maybe it’s just the onset of Spring, but maybe not. In many ways it feels as though we have been colluding as a populace in creating an onerous system, a system that is not, in fact, too different from that of the nation of Hungary under the Soviet Union. That huge crowds that have turned out for Barack Obama seems to have surprised, and baffled most media commentators. It has certainly blown the pins out from under Hillary and toppled her from her throne of inevitability.
So why are we all getting high on Barack? I think it is the combination of Obama’s undeniable charisma and the inchoate longing of the majority of the people of the nation that has ignited this phenomenon. Just because fewer and fewer Americans have bothered to vote in the last several Presidential elections isn’t a measure of lack of caring. Perhaps on the contrary, it is the expression of a nation’s outrage, disappointment, and disaffection. In many ways the nation is still one filled with dreamers and idealists --- whether those dreams are realistic or not is beside the point. Right now it is the feeling that is firing the movement. On some level, the people of the nation, despite the cynicism of the media and the constant barrage of bullshit and crap they spew at us, see that the country has failed to live up to its own professed ideals. They seem willing to take a leap of faith and slough off the entrenched hypocrisy that has dominated politics for the past 20 years or more. They look at the packaged and prim, cynical and self-serving Clintons and ask themselves: “Do we really want them back running things?” People who vote for Hillary are voting primarily, I believe, out of fear. It’s also the same thing that keeps them from questioning the system as a whole.
Obama brings hope, not a promise. And right now maybe that’s enough. He talks about change without clearly defining that change. Though that’s a somewhat duplicitous strategy, it is a wise one. The real difficulties are going to come when we, not only on a personal level but on a national level as well, face up to the realities that many of the dreams, particularly on the lifestyle, physical level are going to have to change. This will un-nerve and piss off a great many people. BUT this is precisely when and where a President’s political skills are going to have to be brought to a hot but gentle focus. FDR managed things reasonably well, and we’re going to need that kind of deft touch and resolute toughness again. Handling the changes as we evolve toward a new reality is going to have to come from a political leader as well as from us, the political followers. Obama keeps reminding us that change starts from the bottom up, not from the top down. Yes and no. IT takes two to tango and it will be a neat dance if we can pull it off. What remains to be seen is if we can not only swallow but ultimately embrace the inevitable changes, the changes that will arrive with or without the participation of a new President or a nervous population.
I hope we haven’t forgotten how to be revolutionaries as we have grown fat and subservient. We not only hope things could be different, we know they’re going to be different, whether we like it or not. We will eventually be living a lot less high on the hog. Only if we can get our fat doughy asses off the cushy couches of convenience and entitlement can we actively help shape the changes and fit them into a new and happier reality. Otherwise we’ll have to take whatever “Corporate” decides to shove down out throats. Somebody has to issue the call to action, and it sure looks like Barack is doing just that. And so for now, even though I'm an old curmudgeon, I'll hold on to my hope, thank you.
So without V, I, and hundreds of thousands of similarly disaffected souls in this nation are left to fend for ourselves. We are left to howl in less and less wilderness and more and more suburban sprawl, to scream from the center of median strips and strip malls, to scrawl on the sides of walls and subway cars, and to rant into the ethersphere on the internet. Just like this!
A brief opinionated digression: in some ways the internet has hindered the physical expression of outrage that accompanied opposition to the Vietnam War. It has allowed for widespread vocalization and superior organizing of opinion, but somehow, in an odd and ironic way it has dissipated physical expression; it has not encouraged tangible, in-the-streets, in-your-face confrontation. It is also true that the business of business has dominated more and more of our nation’s social as well as moral life since the 60's and 70's. Business as usual has gotten truly huge and reaching its ever hungry fingers into our pockets and under our shorts with greater skill and tenacity than ever before. That fact coupled with these facts: [1] the major media are controlled and owned by a small cabal of plutocrats (there is no other word to describe them) and [2] the superior tactical capacities of the policing forces in the country, have worked to hold down the appearance as well as the actuality of physical confrontation. Back to my message in a serendipitous way.
Some of us sense that some new smell is in the air. Maybe it’s just the onset of Spring, but maybe not. In many ways it feels as though we have been colluding as a populace in creating an onerous system, a system that is not, in fact, too different from that of the nation of Hungary under the Soviet Union. That huge crowds that have turned out for Barack Obama seems to have surprised, and baffled most media commentators. It has certainly blown the pins out from under Hillary and toppled her from her throne of inevitability.
So why are we all getting high on Barack? I think it is the combination of Obama’s undeniable charisma and the inchoate longing of the majority of the people of the nation that has ignited this phenomenon. Just because fewer and fewer Americans have bothered to vote in the last several Presidential elections isn’t a measure of lack of caring. Perhaps on the contrary, it is the expression of a nation’s outrage, disappointment, and disaffection. In many ways the nation is still one filled with dreamers and idealists --- whether those dreams are realistic or not is beside the point. Right now it is the feeling that is firing the movement. On some level, the people of the nation, despite the cynicism of the media and the constant barrage of bullshit and crap they spew at us, see that the country has failed to live up to its own professed ideals. They seem willing to take a leap of faith and slough off the entrenched hypocrisy that has dominated politics for the past 20 years or more. They look at the packaged and prim, cynical and self-serving Clintons and ask themselves: “Do we really want them back running things?” People who vote for Hillary are voting primarily, I believe, out of fear. It’s also the same thing that keeps them from questioning the system as a whole.
Obama brings hope, not a promise. And right now maybe that’s enough. He talks about change without clearly defining that change. Though that’s a somewhat duplicitous strategy, it is a wise one. The real difficulties are going to come when we, not only on a personal level but on a national level as well, face up to the realities that many of the dreams, particularly on the lifestyle, physical level are going to have to change. This will un-nerve and piss off a great many people. BUT this is precisely when and where a President’s political skills are going to have to be brought to a hot but gentle focus. FDR managed things reasonably well, and we’re going to need that kind of deft touch and resolute toughness again. Handling the changes as we evolve toward a new reality is going to have to come from a political leader as well as from us, the political followers. Obama keeps reminding us that change starts from the bottom up, not from the top down. Yes and no. IT takes two to tango and it will be a neat dance if we can pull it off. What remains to be seen is if we can not only swallow but ultimately embrace the inevitable changes, the changes that will arrive with or without the participation of a new President or a nervous population.
I hope we haven’t forgotten how to be revolutionaries as we have grown fat and subservient. We not only hope things could be different, we know they’re going to be different, whether we like it or not. We will eventually be living a lot less high on the hog. Only if we can get our fat doughy asses off the cushy couches of convenience and entitlement can we actively help shape the changes and fit them into a new and happier reality. Otherwise we’ll have to take whatever “Corporate” decides to shove down out throats. Somebody has to issue the call to action, and it sure looks like Barack is doing just that. And so for now, even though I'm an old curmudgeon, I'll hold on to my hope, thank you.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Quick Fix: junkie-USA's wet dream
We’re all junkies! Let’s Face It: GWB has managed to get all of us running around like crazed crack-heads. I guess it’s actually what we should expect when there’s a not-so-ex-junkie in charge of the stash. And talk about enablers: now he’s got an entire Congress and most of the corporations agreeing to help and all of us are sitting around like nodding bobble-heads helping him satisfy his/our habit. But that’s his MO: GWB has always found someone to bail him out of his messes, and now he’s got an entire country that seems to be willing to do it. The truth is we’re not addressing the addiction and the result of all of this will be every bit as successful as Brittany’s repeated forays into rehab.
The ugly reality is that there is a sort of harmonic convergence or symmetry between our national obsession with pharmaceuticals and the state of the economy. Yeah, it may be a stretch but bear with me. We are a junkie nation. We are fascinated and mesmerized by addictions. For instance, just look at the national media wigging out about whether or not Roger Clemens took steroids or ‘performance enhancing drugs’. How about you? Does it matter to you if this overweight, poorly shaved 40-year-old-child blow-hard ingested ‘illegal substances’ to ‘enhance’ his ‘performance’? Hey, I mean it. Do you really give a shit? What if he took Viagra? You know, Bob Dole’s medication of choice. It’s a legal substance that is supposed to enhance your performance, or, for many men apparently, to actually render them capable of performing at all. In other words, it’s a kind of chemical blowjob; it elevates your mood as well as your tool. But seriously, what difference does it make if ‘the Rocket’ used a form of medicinal ‘rock’ to make his rocket rock it? Is it important in any way to your life? Probably not, BUT do you not see the synergistic, unholy similarity of Clemens situation to what is going on the national economy? We have an artificial economy, one that is pumped up, over-weight, unkempt, belligerent and boorish. All of us have been lured into watching it play out and George Bush, like RC, an old Texan, as well as a baseball freak, has fooled all of us. He has not only tricked the entire nation into a narcotic haze, at the same time he has put all of us in hock. And now what does he do? He offers to bail us out. And what does he offer: a free ‘sample’ of cut-rate monetary Viagra.
The rest of the world knows the stench of a junkie when they smell one, but they have been enablers too. But now they’re worried that their rich coked out buddy may not be quite as flush as he seemed. In a rather poorly designed three-step dance, Dubba, the Congress and the media have tried to pretend we don’t actually smell as bad as we do. After all, we still swagger well. And they will pull it off to some extent since they’re all part of the same ‘reality show’: American Idle. Even now as this entire fiasco is becoming front and center they are trying to make sure that we get lost in circuses and sideshows.
Instead of actually addressing the systemic dysfunctions, they’re offering a cheapo ‘economic stimulus’. None of the embedded and potentially ruinous aspects of how our economic and financial structures currently work are being addressed at all in this climate of panic. Everyone seems to accept the old bromide that ‘the fundamentals of the economy are sound and strong’. BUT why is no one actually questioning that assumption? What are ‘the fundamentals’ anyway? Instead of trying to deal with that question, The Fed, the Bush ‘Administration’ and the Congress are going to stroke us all into a low-grade, temporary monetary hard-on to boost the ‘economy’. Why? Because they don’t know what else to do and it makes them look like they actually care. And sure, it may provide the ‘stimulus’ for a quickie, a sort of early afternoon roll in the hay, but it doesn’t address the lingering problem of inability to perform.
The entire approach of the Feds, from the Prez to the Congress is based on accepting the current economic and financial structures. They are merely making up the idea that ‘the fundamentals are sound’. Instead of a real diagnosis and real medicine, they are hawking a magic elixir that they claim will cure all of our ills. And what is that patent medicine: Tickle the fancy of consumer spending into a frenzy. The proposed $600 per taxpayer (down from $800) handout is supposed to propel all of us out of our soon-to-gobbled-up-by-foreclosure homes and into the shopping malls so we can swoop up the ‘tax rebate specials’ at the nearest Wal-Mart or Best Buy. Do they actually believe this is going to stimulate the ‘economy’? Do they think it will have an unending orgasm or something?
Trying to prop up the old ‘economy’, i.e., the system that exists right now, is a waste of money and energy. It’s like trying to convince us that Elizabeth Taylor is a sultry and svelte 20-something.....sorry it’s the best I could do. Not even the best make-up artist and lighting specialist can change reality forever. And in their heart of hearts they know it really won’t work; at least I hope they’re smart enough to realize that. When the ‘economy’ really fails, not necessarily right now but in a couple of decades, maybe then the USofA will do the right thing. Of course it will probably be too late by then; by then the Indians and Chinese will own us. That decade-away or so collapse is going to provoke an angry, perhaps violent response from the ordinary citizens in the USofA. When they realize that not only have their hopes been dashed, but that they have been deliberately and callously lied to and exploited, they are going to be thoroughly pissed. At least I hope so.
To repeat: All of the major remedies that have been proposed by the federal government so far are based on accepting the proposition that things as they are currently constituted should remain in place. There is no understanding that the world has shifted; things are not as they were 20 or 30 or 50 years ago. We are no longer numero uno in everything, everywhere. In fact, except for the size of our turgid and bloated military, we’re not number one in anything any where any more. Our failure as a society and as a nation to grasp this reality is a HUGE blunder. It is clear that if we continue to follow the path we have chosen it will bring a catastrophic, if slow and exquisitely painful financial and cultural collapse of the United States. A great many people believe that collapse is already well underway. And when it happens, The Collapse will engulf not only the US, but essentially all of the other nations of the world as well. Googa gajube.
A bold global vision of fair and equitable capitalism within a sustainable 'economic system' coupled with focused actions, which involved tangible projects, could not only reverse this trend toward world-wide entropy and the unraveling of what we consider to be civilization, it could also lift the spirits and energies of peoples and governments everywhere. If the USofA was to launch an environmental reparations and renewal program that invested in real, on-the-ground projects, it would engage and enlist the hearts, minds and energies of the global community. As a nation we would not only regain our moral standing in the world, we could begin to lead on a practical level as well. If the US were to call clearly, unselfishly and unequivocally not only for an international effort to reverse global climate change, while actually launching one here at home we would regain much of our moral and financial standing in the world. If we were to push for collaborative and realistic efforts to promote a sustainable way of living on this planet, other nations in the world would probably follow us, BUT ONLY if we demonstrated clear and unselfish commitment by taking and maintaining progress toward that goal. This would involve not only a leap of faith on our part, but a resilient investment of trust in others on our part. And though many ‘conservatives’ would disagree, it is up to us, the USofA to show good faith first and to continue to show it despite the ‘failings’ of other ‘nation states’ every now and then.
As long as predatory, self-righteous, uncontrolled capitalism remains our SOP, even our religion, we cannot hope to regain our moral footing or our economic footing. Without a new vision we cannot hope to be anything but an addicted and addled nation lurching from ‘quick fix’ to ‘quick fix’.
The ugly reality is that there is a sort of harmonic convergence or symmetry between our national obsession with pharmaceuticals and the state of the economy. Yeah, it may be a stretch but bear with me. We are a junkie nation. We are fascinated and mesmerized by addictions. For instance, just look at the national media wigging out about whether or not Roger Clemens took steroids or ‘performance enhancing drugs’. How about you? Does it matter to you if this overweight, poorly shaved 40-year-old-child blow-hard ingested ‘illegal substances’ to ‘enhance’ his ‘performance’? Hey, I mean it. Do you really give a shit? What if he took Viagra? You know, Bob Dole’s medication of choice. It’s a legal substance that is supposed to enhance your performance, or, for many men apparently, to actually render them capable of performing at all. In other words, it’s a kind of chemical blowjob; it elevates your mood as well as your tool. But seriously, what difference does it make if ‘the Rocket’ used a form of medicinal ‘rock’ to make his rocket rock it? Is it important in any way to your life? Probably not, BUT do you not see the synergistic, unholy similarity of Clemens situation to what is going on the national economy? We have an artificial economy, one that is pumped up, over-weight, unkempt, belligerent and boorish. All of us have been lured into watching it play out and George Bush, like RC, an old Texan, as well as a baseball freak, has fooled all of us. He has not only tricked the entire nation into a narcotic haze, at the same time he has put all of us in hock. And now what does he do? He offers to bail us out. And what does he offer: a free ‘sample’ of cut-rate monetary Viagra.
The rest of the world knows the stench of a junkie when they smell one, but they have been enablers too. But now they’re worried that their rich coked out buddy may not be quite as flush as he seemed. In a rather poorly designed three-step dance, Dubba, the Congress and the media have tried to pretend we don’t actually smell as bad as we do. After all, we still swagger well. And they will pull it off to some extent since they’re all part of the same ‘reality show’: American Idle. Even now as this entire fiasco is becoming front and center they are trying to make sure that we get lost in circuses and sideshows.
Instead of actually addressing the systemic dysfunctions, they’re offering a cheapo ‘economic stimulus’. None of the embedded and potentially ruinous aspects of how our economic and financial structures currently work are being addressed at all in this climate of panic. Everyone seems to accept the old bromide that ‘the fundamentals of the economy are sound and strong’. BUT why is no one actually questioning that assumption? What are ‘the fundamentals’ anyway? Instead of trying to deal with that question, The Fed, the Bush ‘Administration’ and the Congress are going to stroke us all into a low-grade, temporary monetary hard-on to boost the ‘economy’. Why? Because they don’t know what else to do and it makes them look like they actually care. And sure, it may provide the ‘stimulus’ for a quickie, a sort of early afternoon roll in the hay, but it doesn’t address the lingering problem of inability to perform.
The entire approach of the Feds, from the Prez to the Congress is based on accepting the current economic and financial structures. They are merely making up the idea that ‘the fundamentals are sound’. Instead of a real diagnosis and real medicine, they are hawking a magic elixir that they claim will cure all of our ills. And what is that patent medicine: Tickle the fancy of consumer spending into a frenzy. The proposed $600 per taxpayer (down from $800) handout is supposed to propel all of us out of our soon-to-gobbled-up-by-foreclosure homes and into the shopping malls so we can swoop up the ‘tax rebate specials’ at the nearest Wal-Mart or Best Buy. Do they actually believe this is going to stimulate the ‘economy’? Do they think it will have an unending orgasm or something?
Trying to prop up the old ‘economy’, i.e., the system that exists right now, is a waste of money and energy. It’s like trying to convince us that Elizabeth Taylor is a sultry and svelte 20-something.....sorry it’s the best I could do. Not even the best make-up artist and lighting specialist can change reality forever. And in their heart of hearts they know it really won’t work; at least I hope they’re smart enough to realize that. When the ‘economy’ really fails, not necessarily right now but in a couple of decades, maybe then the USofA will do the right thing. Of course it will probably be too late by then; by then the Indians and Chinese will own us. That decade-away or so collapse is going to provoke an angry, perhaps violent response from the ordinary citizens in the USofA. When they realize that not only have their hopes been dashed, but that they have been deliberately and callously lied to and exploited, they are going to be thoroughly pissed. At least I hope so.
To repeat: All of the major remedies that have been proposed by the federal government so far are based on accepting the proposition that things as they are currently constituted should remain in place. There is no understanding that the world has shifted; things are not as they were 20 or 30 or 50 years ago. We are no longer numero uno in everything, everywhere. In fact, except for the size of our turgid and bloated military, we’re not number one in anything any where any more. Our failure as a society and as a nation to grasp this reality is a HUGE blunder. It is clear that if we continue to follow the path we have chosen it will bring a catastrophic, if slow and exquisitely painful financial and cultural collapse of the United States. A great many people believe that collapse is already well underway. And when it happens, The Collapse will engulf not only the US, but essentially all of the other nations of the world as well. Googa gajube.
A bold global vision of fair and equitable capitalism within a sustainable 'economic system' coupled with focused actions, which involved tangible projects, could not only reverse this trend toward world-wide entropy and the unraveling of what we consider to be civilization, it could also lift the spirits and energies of peoples and governments everywhere. If the USofA was to launch an environmental reparations and renewal program that invested in real, on-the-ground projects, it would engage and enlist the hearts, minds and energies of the global community. As a nation we would not only regain our moral standing in the world, we could begin to lead on a practical level as well. If the US were to call clearly, unselfishly and unequivocally not only for an international effort to reverse global climate change, while actually launching one here at home we would regain much of our moral and financial standing in the world. If we were to push for collaborative and realistic efforts to promote a sustainable way of living on this planet, other nations in the world would probably follow us, BUT ONLY if we demonstrated clear and unselfish commitment by taking and maintaining progress toward that goal. This would involve not only a leap of faith on our part, but a resilient investment of trust in others on our part. And though many ‘conservatives’ would disagree, it is up to us, the USofA to show good faith first and to continue to show it despite the ‘failings’ of other ‘nation states’ every now and then.
As long as predatory, self-righteous, uncontrolled capitalism remains our SOP, even our religion, we cannot hope to regain our moral footing or our economic footing. Without a new vision we cannot hope to be anything but an addicted and addled nation lurching from ‘quick fix’ to ‘quick fix’.
SUnday AM in NE- After the South Carolina Primary
I drove, bad boy that I am, to the local equivalent of a seven-eleven to check out the Sunday papers this morning. Since I am something of a political junkie I thought I might want to read the print media take on the latest events. It had just started to snow, our NE Patriots were about to get a send off to the Super Bowl, and, more importantly, Barack Obama had just thrashed Hillary in the South Carolina primary by more than 25 points. THE Clinton spin machine has been in high gear since last night, barely acknowledging the Obama victory and busily comparing Barack to Jesse Jackson. It is sad to watch the former Prez soil himself as he turns his ire and his pique on at members of his own party after being thwarted in his attempt to get what he wants. But I had forgotten what a truly nasty and masterful belittler Bill is.
W. J. Clinton has always assumed that since he is beloved among the faithful that the Dems would just roll over and coronate Hillary, thereby putting him back in the White House as well. Of course the Clintons may still retake the White House, but it won't be a simple or a painless exercise. If they do manage to pull it off we will be stuck with at least four more years of divisive and bitterly partisan politics. We will also have to suffer through yet another Administration that will do virtually nothing to set this nation on the course to renewal and sustainability.
While he was in office Bill Clinton proved that he was as adept at sleeping with the corporations as anyone. He did manage to make us either ignore his peccadilloes or at least forgive them since he seemed not only like such a nice guy, but he also managed to feed the illusion that some of the money that was changing hands for all these favors got spread around a little more widely than it does under Republican administrations. But other than that he made no fundamental efforts to change the way things work in the USofA. In fact, he not only oversaw the single most important program of corporate giveaways and exportation of real jobs, i.e., NAFTA, he was its staunchest supporter. Though he is clearly less of a venal character than GWB, there is absolutely no reason to think that his wife will be any less of a fox in the hen house than he was. The only change she really supports is moving the corporate payoffs from Republican pockets to Democrat pockets. Plus ca change. Hillary should be running on the 'spare change' ticket. No matter how hard I try I can’t avoid seeing her as a prudish, hectoring, self-righteous elderly aunt who disses everyone when their backs are turned. She also has the phoniest smile on the planet; well, no that’s not true. Dubba’s is still the winner in that category.
After checking out the headlines and scanning the promised contents inside, I avoided giving money to the NY Times corporation. I ignored not only their namesake flagship paper and but their local rag, the Boston Globe as well. I also avoided the urge to buy a bag of crispy cheese doodles..... though I'm a little sorry about that. So it’s a day of homemade bread and smoked salmon from a trip to the coast of Washington. Things could be worse; and no doubt they will be soon enough.
W. J. Clinton has always assumed that since he is beloved among the faithful that the Dems would just roll over and coronate Hillary, thereby putting him back in the White House as well. Of course the Clintons may still retake the White House, but it won't be a simple or a painless exercise. If they do manage to pull it off we will be stuck with at least four more years of divisive and bitterly partisan politics. We will also have to suffer through yet another Administration that will do virtually nothing to set this nation on the course to renewal and sustainability.
While he was in office Bill Clinton proved that he was as adept at sleeping with the corporations as anyone. He did manage to make us either ignore his peccadilloes or at least forgive them since he seemed not only like such a nice guy, but he also managed to feed the illusion that some of the money that was changing hands for all these favors got spread around a little more widely than it does under Republican administrations. But other than that he made no fundamental efforts to change the way things work in the USofA. In fact, he not only oversaw the single most important program of corporate giveaways and exportation of real jobs, i.e., NAFTA, he was its staunchest supporter. Though he is clearly less of a venal character than GWB, there is absolutely no reason to think that his wife will be any less of a fox in the hen house than he was. The only change she really supports is moving the corporate payoffs from Republican pockets to Democrat pockets. Plus ca change. Hillary should be running on the 'spare change' ticket. No matter how hard I try I can’t avoid seeing her as a prudish, hectoring, self-righteous elderly aunt who disses everyone when their backs are turned. She also has the phoniest smile on the planet; well, no that’s not true. Dubba’s is still the winner in that category.
After checking out the headlines and scanning the promised contents inside, I avoided giving money to the NY Times corporation. I ignored not only their namesake flagship paper and but their local rag, the Boston Globe as well. I also avoided the urge to buy a bag of crispy cheese doodles..... though I'm a little sorry about that. So it’s a day of homemade bread and smoked salmon from a trip to the coast of Washington. Things could be worse; and no doubt they will be soon enough.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
WHEE-conomy
Why is it that except for a few hardy souls in this country no one really has any idea how precariously perched the US economy really is? OR if they do, they're afraid to tell the truth. In the meantime, and 'mean' will be the operative part of that word, we will pretend indefinitely, well, at least until the oil runs out. Then I guess we’ll all recognize that we’re well and truly fucked.
In order to party on with our 24/7 entertainment culture let’s continue to deny that we are utterly reliant on imports from other countries around the world for virtually everything we need to survive at this point, except for two basic commodities, quite a bit of food and a whole lot of coal. Even some of our food addictions, particularly many of the things we identify as 'staples', such as all of the coffee and much of the sugar we use, to name just two, are brought in from abroad. As for durable goods; we make practically nothing of significance or genuine value here any more. Virtually all of our clothing and most of our oil is imported. All of the gadgets, like computers, cell phones and TVs, those devices which have come to symbolize lifestyle and which keep our version of it humming along in the way that it does are made ‘over there’ somewhere. Usually it’s some poor as cat shit 4th world nation like Bangladesh, but we also get stuff from Malaysia, and absolute boatloads from China. Sure we still manufacture a lot of cars and airplanes here, but if we don’t have enough gasoline to run them at a reasonable price they become more of a disposal problem, rather than a transportation luxury. For the most part as a nation we continue to ignore the scary fundamentals of the reality of our situation. Much of what we have come to consider ‘valuable’ has no value whatsoever when it comes to meeting the requirements of actual sustenance and survival.
Meanwhile the government is trying to reassure us that everything is OK. Just the fact that the President of the United States has to go on national television to try to convince the world that the sky that is already dropping chunks on our shoulders really isn’t falling is a momentous event. To listen to his empty rhetoric is unnerving; certainly it isn't reassuring. His record as a prognosticator is about as good as his record as a uniter. And if you watch his face and see the expression in his eyes you realize that not only is he frightened, he also knows he is lying. Even his tiny gnat brain has finally begun to understand that the foundation of our economic house outhouse has not only cracked, it has commenced crumbling and cold air is blowing up our asses. When we let corporations dictate the rules, in the name of all-holy-capitalism, we gave away the farm, literally. And as more and more of our nations actual productive capacity was shut down and left to molder and rust, a smiling cadre of contemporary carpetbaggers moved in. We consigned the economic fate of our nation to con artists, speculators and financial patent medicine salesmen. Their seductions have sold well, very well indeed. And not only here, but around the world --- ‘Everyone loves a winner!’ Now, even as the glitzy gala of faux prosperity they have sold us is seen for what it is, little more than a shoddy Disney ride, they are still trying to spoon feed us more of the same. Already the guys and gals in Armani suits are appearing everywhere on TV to reassure us that ‘the fundamentals of the US Economy are sound.’ Their only hope is to convince us, and the rest of the world, that the paper on which we have built our futures as well as our present, is actually worth something.
And the rest of the world has no choice. The rest of the world will probably quietly agree to go along with the gag. They’ll agree to not notice the sleight of hand for a while, since we’re their best and most gullible customer and their biggest debtor. But it will only be for a while; it won’t last forever. Then the buying spree will begin again as everything is hyped up in ‘value’. The USofA is already seamy bazaar and soon it will be bought lock stock and barrel by people who don’t live here. Like every cagey business-folk everywhere, they love cash cows and they know they have a slavering pre-sold mob over here who'll buy anything. They will own all of it, and all of us, and it will be run with a different set of rules. We built the golden calf and convinced everyone to worship it; what did we expect would happen? Meanwhile the oil is draining out of the crankcase barrel by barrel. I wonder what it will sound like when our ‘mighty economic engine’ seizes up?
In order to party on with our 24/7 entertainment culture let’s continue to deny that we are utterly reliant on imports from other countries around the world for virtually everything we need to survive at this point, except for two basic commodities, quite a bit of food and a whole lot of coal. Even some of our food addictions, particularly many of the things we identify as 'staples', such as all of the coffee and much of the sugar we use, to name just two, are brought in from abroad. As for durable goods; we make practically nothing of significance or genuine value here any more. Virtually all of our clothing and most of our oil is imported. All of the gadgets, like computers, cell phones and TVs, those devices which have come to symbolize lifestyle and which keep our version of it humming along in the way that it does are made ‘over there’ somewhere. Usually it’s some poor as cat shit 4th world nation like Bangladesh, but we also get stuff from Malaysia, and absolute boatloads from China. Sure we still manufacture a lot of cars and airplanes here, but if we don’t have enough gasoline to run them at a reasonable price they become more of a disposal problem, rather than a transportation luxury. For the most part as a nation we continue to ignore the scary fundamentals of the reality of our situation. Much of what we have come to consider ‘valuable’ has no value whatsoever when it comes to meeting the requirements of actual sustenance and survival.
Meanwhile the government is trying to reassure us that everything is OK. Just the fact that the President of the United States has to go on national television to try to convince the world that the sky that is already dropping chunks on our shoulders really isn’t falling is a momentous event. To listen to his empty rhetoric is unnerving; certainly it isn't reassuring. His record as a prognosticator is about as good as his record as a uniter. And if you watch his face and see the expression in his eyes you realize that not only is he frightened, he also knows he is lying. Even his tiny gnat brain has finally begun to understand that the foundation of our economic house outhouse has not only cracked, it has commenced crumbling and cold air is blowing up our asses. When we let corporations dictate the rules, in the name of all-holy-capitalism, we gave away the farm, literally. And as more and more of our nations actual productive capacity was shut down and left to molder and rust, a smiling cadre of contemporary carpetbaggers moved in. We consigned the economic fate of our nation to con artists, speculators and financial patent medicine salesmen. Their seductions have sold well, very well indeed. And not only here, but around the world --- ‘Everyone loves a winner!’ Now, even as the glitzy gala of faux prosperity they have sold us is seen for what it is, little more than a shoddy Disney ride, they are still trying to spoon feed us more of the same. Already the guys and gals in Armani suits are appearing everywhere on TV to reassure us that ‘the fundamentals of the US Economy are sound.’ Their only hope is to convince us, and the rest of the world, that the paper on which we have built our futures as well as our present, is actually worth something.
And the rest of the world has no choice. The rest of the world will probably quietly agree to go along with the gag. They’ll agree to not notice the sleight of hand for a while, since we’re their best and most gullible customer and their biggest debtor. But it will only be for a while; it won’t last forever. Then the buying spree will begin again as everything is hyped up in ‘value’. The USofA is already seamy bazaar and soon it will be bought lock stock and barrel by people who don’t live here. Like every cagey business-folk everywhere, they love cash cows and they know they have a slavering pre-sold mob over here who'll buy anything. They will own all of it, and all of us, and it will be run with a different set of rules. We built the golden calf and convinced everyone to worship it; what did we expect would happen? Meanwhile the oil is draining out of the crankcase barrel by barrel. I wonder what it will sound like when our ‘mighty economic engine’ seizes up?
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