What is this world coming to?" And, "We're going to hell in a handbasket." Ah, two oft-repeated phrases in my childhood household as we traipsed through the 1950s, experimented through the 1960s, rebelled through the 1970s and … well, you get the picture.
After WWII (of what I recall from my parents … I was not a thought then), our country, as critics describe, became complacent, but it was also a time of healing and rebuilding. Not just for our country and those that “hosted” the war, but for all the world. It was a time of hope and new-found freedom for many.
Just as a child seeking new discoveries every day, we grew with each decade of knowledge and power. But as with life, we have choices. We are all going to “another world” at some point. “The End” of a story, whether it’s a life or a movie, is inevitable. The question is, do we go as a natural evolution to celebrate, or do we end it with choices that ultimately lead to self-destruction?
We have created a culture that exists solely for the love of money, whatever its form. Have we ever considered life's quality in its simplest form to be more important than money, possessions, or appearances? Not if we believe the ancient histories, full of societies and governments that have grown from nothing, prospered ... and ultimately destroyed themselves. Sound familiar? No? Haven't you been reading the news?
America is on the brink of destruction and terrorists have nothing to do with it. By virtue of our achieved power, we are running ourselves and many parts of the world ... into the ground. The catalyst? CREDIT AND BIG BUSINESS. Establishing a credit system was a fine idea. It worked for a while, until greed reared its ghastly green head and our loans began to travel between investors' hands faster than a slight-of-hand magician's cards. And poof! We were screwed.
Add to that our government’s propensity for saying "No!" to corporate conglomerates, while holding their hand out behind their back for the payola … all of a sudden, this country's forefathers who eschewed business monopolies so everyone has opportunities to succeed, are not simply rolling over in their graves -- their spirits are probably heading for another planet to try again. They'd better start over with smarter humans (or whatever), though.
BTW, you won’t find many so-called mandatory SEO links here ... you have a computer, Google or Yahoo! to your heart's content. I know it's out there, I simply don't have time to hand you the resource on a silver I-platter.
However, I'm not giving you obscure news. Even an Opus cartoon (July 27, 2008) lampooned the American CEO as crass and "naughty," his perplexed penguin asking a nightmarish businessman, "Why are you my anxiety?" Breathed knows (as we all do, whether we admit it or not) that the corporate executive and lobbyists, whose hands he/she greases, seem to have forgotten they also have families. In their haste to amass more dollars at anyone's expense -- in the long run, and the long run is NOW -- they have walked into the valley of self-destruction. He answers Opus, "Because you suspect Marx might have been right that America's DOOM is assured by greed, decadence and depravity ..."
The hammer’s knell for the US was the recent housing construction boom. Yes, it lasted several years and made a lot of people “rich.” But those fools who bought into the “American dream” solely on credit are the first to weep … and soon, if not already, the country’s newest homeless. Extending credit beyond the means to produce the income to cover it was the downfall. The new homeowners must not have ever heard the saying, “If it sounds to good to be true, it probably is.” Oh, wait – thaaaaaat’s right -- they listened to the “experts” – lenders, bankers, and politicians – who told them they could afford it!
And it was only a matter of time – which is HERE – before our economy woes played the dominoes around the world. But have we slowly, painstakingly, and with wise forethought, planned a viable resolution? Of course not ... that would have been too intelligent, and where's the greed in that?! Instead, the banks (failing faster than a bad student) and the mortgage lenders (quaking in their chin-high boots) went to the other extreme! From anyone who's breathing can have a loan, whether they can pay for it or not ... To OMG, you don't have $20,000 for a home down payment? What are you doing in my office?!
Smart nutritionists and doctors have been preaching the right remedy for years -- it applies here, too -- MODERATION you morons! The key to stopping the boulder from falling, yet not offer pie-in-the-sky fairy tales, is due diligence. I'm certainly no banker, realty lender, or high-finance millionaire; however, is there truly no common sense left in big business?
With cautious wisdom, I suggest still making loans accessible, but with reasonable restrictions. Duh, how hard is that?! Apparently too difficult for the scared rabbits of our crumbling credit system. From one extreme to the other ... too little too late ... do these idioms sound familiar?
And it was only a matter of time – which is HERE – before our economy woes played the dominoes around the world. But have we slowly, painstakingly, and with wise forethought, planned a viable resolution? Of course not ... that would have been too intelligent, and where's the greed in that?! Instead, the banks (failing faster than a bad student) and the mortgage lenders (quaking in their chin-high boots) went to the other extreme! From anyone who's breathing can have a loan, whether they can pay for it or not ... To OMG, you don't have $20,000 for a home down payment? What are you doing in my office?!
Smart nutritionists and doctors have been preaching the right remedy for years -- it applies here, too -- MODERATION you morons! The key to stopping the boulder from falling, yet not offer pie-in-the-sky fairy tales, is due diligence. I'm certainly no banker, realty lender, or high-finance millionaire; however, is there truly no common sense left in big business?
With cautious wisdom, I suggest still making loans accessible, but with reasonable restrictions. Duh, how hard is that?! Apparently too difficult for the scared rabbits of our crumbling credit system. From one extreme to the other ... too little too late ... do these idioms sound familiar?
Is history determined to repeat itself? Wake up world! Look around you! Take off the freakin' rose-colored hippie glasses and LOOK AROUND YOU. I hear echoes of the ill-fated Roman Empire, don't you? In our current state of worldwide gluttony and greed, we seem hell-bent on destroying not just one society this time, but practically a whole planet.
I sure as hell hope there IS life elsewhere in the Universe. Anyone have a spare spaceship I can borrow?
Always writing,
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And before you-all get all up-in-arms about anything I say here—this is your notice that I am NOT in any way, shape, or form, a medical practitioner, politician, financial advisor, or any other "expert" on anything except life (such as I know it). So don’t follow ANYthing you could possibly conceive as advice, here. I am merely venting, although … perhaps one day of protests about any given topic is not a bad thing … but for the sake of libel or other misconstrued legal stance you may take, I am merely trying to be an informed citizen. I don’t make up the facts, I simply report them to you. WS
And before you-all get all up-in-arms about anything I say here—this is your notice that I am NOT in any way, shape, or form, a medical practitioner, politician, financial advisor, or any other "expert" on anything except life (such as I know it). So don’t follow ANYthing you could possibly conceive as advice, here. I am merely venting, although … perhaps one day of protests about any given topic is not a bad thing … but for the sake of libel or other misconstrued legal stance you may take, I am merely trying to be an informed citizen. I don’t make up the facts, I simply report them to you. WS
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