Dumpster Diving in America

An American Fencepost

 While stitching a cut on the hand of a 75 year old farmer, the doctor struck up a conversation with the old man. Eventually the topic got around to Donald Trump... and his role as the Republican Nominee for President. The old farmer said, " Well, as I see it, Donald Trump is like a 'Post Tortoise'.'' Not being familiar with the term, the doctor asked him what a 'post tortoise' was. The old farmer said, "When you're driving down a country road and you come across a fence post with a tortoise balanced on top, that's a post tortoise." The old farmer saw the puzzled look on the doctor's face so he continued to explain. "You know he didn't get up there by himself, he doesn't belong up there, he doesn't know what to do while he's up there, he's elevated beyond his ability to function, and you just wonder what kind of dumb ass put him up there to begin with."

Picking a reality that's best for you

Capitalism is probably the first instance of a cult that creates guilt, not atonement.

(Walter Benjamin, German essayist, 1892-1940)

Super PACs may be bad for America, but they're … good for CBS.

(Les Moonves, president of CBS)

Bill Moyers and LuisAlberto Urrea

We'll show them

We Americans got good and mad just before the 2010 mid-term elections. After all, it had been two years since the global economic collapse in 2008 and life had not returned to “normal.”

Well, we got up from the couch, turned off the TV and voted da bums out, in congressional and state elections. In 2010 the bums happened to be the Democrats. We then turned the TV back on and collapsed back on the couch after our hard work.

The only problem was that we neglected to read the second chapter on how to be good citizens. That's the part that tells you about being somewhat informed, knowing something about the issues and having an inkling about the candidates who promise you they can of course do a better job than the persons currently holding the office. We are now paying a very big price for our intellectual sloth.

Facts and other assorted irritants

Mitt Romney, the likely Republican candidate for president, criticized President Obama the other day on the anemic monthly job creation report—and the report was weak. Romney claimed that we should be creating 500,000 jobs per month! Hm-m. Of course, we haven't had that sort of monthly performance in 30 years but … does anyone know that?

In Who Are the OtherAmericans Now? we once again learn that there are a lot of “poor” Americans and the numbers are growing but, here again, some people point out that “80 percent” of poor people have air conditioning in America. For some apparently this raises the question of how poor the poor really are. What is the sound of one hand clapping?

The economist Joseph Stiglitz says Politics Is at the Root of the Problem and suggests that some of the change will have to come from the street. How will the facts effect the outcome? How will the street affect the change?

Perhaps what we really need is a wantologist to help us get in touch with our correct personal reality. The only requirement is the cash to pay for the service. See below: The Outsourced Life.

Foreigners to the rescue?

Nope, not going to happen. For the time being we're stuck with figuring it out ourselves or at least doing the bulk of the repair work. That new world order is a good ways off. Pepe Escobar has an interesting article entitled A history of the world, BRIC by BRIC (see below). The predator classes in these countries are as ignorant, greedy, shortsighted and misguided as any in the old world order. Their reality could leave us all with a very unpleasant world.

So on to the streets but with a lot less banging of the drums and a much better plan for concrete action.

The art of bloodletting

Additional reading:

A history of the world, BRICby BRIC

The Outsourced Life

Self-made men, debunked (of course you didn't make it all by yourself)

Gadgetopia: Chasing After AnElusive Dream (reason for sharing the wealth of productivity)

The real job creators (no it's not clueless billionaires shuffling money around)