Cure or Disease?

Today's Link
Suldog

The Saying of the Day
A government that is big enough to give you all you want is big enough to take it all away.
~Barry Goldwater

Picture of the Day
My Sister Dawn on Tessie

I saw a cancer patient on TV the other night. Her cancer was in remission but she looked terrible. The experimental drug she took to cure the disease had all kinds of side effects. There was increased pain. There was hair loss.. Her skin became very dry. The drug could have killed her. But the cancer was gone. She was recovering. As horrible as the cure was the disease was worse it would have destroyed her.
This set me to thinking about our current economic woes. Our depression or economic turn down or whatever you call it. Just suppose the depression is not the disease but a truly horrible cure. A cure with all kinds of side effects which are not pleasant.
Then the stimulus package would be a cure for the cure.
Before you decide I’ve flipped my lid let me explain.
The disease is extreme self centeredness which manifests as greed and a grab for pleasure. A condition that puts the individual at the center and the world exists to serve him. He is entitled to pleasure and government and other people exist to give to him or her.
Some examples:
CEO’s who to in order to keep their high salaries and good dividends in their company stock close the factory and send the jobs out of country. Tough that the workers are out. Let them fend for themselves.
Workers who won’t let the company cut back on any of their hard earned benefits even if the company goes bankrupt.
Companies that buy up other companies not to make a better product but to rob the pension fund.
Millionaires who to obtain even more money swindle others out of millions.
Rich people buying six or even seven houses because it feels good to do so.
A large per cent of the population doing “ recreational drugs” because it makes them feel good. They don’t care about the huge criminal population they support or that their money pays for the murder of judges in Columbia. Pleasure above all.
Husbands and wives looking for even more pleasure cheat on their spouse and then leave for somebody that can make them happier. The kids are left confused and pulled in every direction. Who cares.
Athletes on steroids making millions in football and baseball while average people just get buy. They provide the circuses for our pleasure.
Doctors who no longer care about patients just the bottom financial line. Pushing specialized surgery out of reach for much of the population.
Conservatives talking about morality and goodness and having neither.
Liberals willing to give somebody else's money to the poor but keeping their yachts , houses, and private jets.
People who buy houses not to live in but to sell again at a higher price pushing housing costs above the reach of the average guy.
Banks and loan companies exploiting the mortgage market.
Oil and gas companies pulling in record profits while the little guy can’t afford to drive anywhere.
Workers who couldn’t care less about the product they create as long as they get paid well.
Governors who sell Senate seats to the highest bidder.
A national increase in drunk driving convictions. Really happy people running over others.
Our National elected leaders that at one time counted among their number 29 spousal abusers, 7 people arrested for fraud, 19 bad check writers, 117 whose business went bankrupt, 3 arrested for assault, 71 whose credit is so bad they can’t get a credit card, 14 arrested on drug related charges, 8 arrested for shoplifting , and 81 caught drunk driving. They make the law. We elected them. Sorry to tell you both parties are included in the numbers and one Independent. But the promises they make we believe.

Everywhere you look Greed and self centeredness.

But an economic depression cures this disease.
People that had five houses find out what it’s like to have none.
People who looked down on the guy on welfare are now the guys on welfare.
CEOs who ran their company into bankruptcy are now out on the street ( unless the government bailed them out and even let them get big bonuses )
Workers are discovering that the union can’t help when the company is gone.
The cost of housing is coming down.
People are rediscovering old values.

It is a hard and painful cure. But my grandparents and parents learned from it.
They learned :
To share what they had with others.
Buy as little on credit as possible.
Be loyal to the company you work for and give it your best.
If you move up don’t forget the little guy.
Work for the common good.
Personal pleasure is not as important as personal responsibility.

There is one other side effect. People so committed to themselves give more and more power to the government in exchange for it giving them what they want. At the same time they look for scapegoats. It’s the fault of illegal migrant workers, it’s the fault of the evil Republicans, it’s the fault of radio conservatives, it’s the fault of nasty Democrats who spend too much, and on and on.

So in the last great depression while we were learning and changing the Germans turned to Hitler and gave him all the power. He scapegoated the Jews.

Perhaps, by the time the stimulus package kicks in we will have begun to heal.
If not we will be down here again or worse.

News from Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal.
Nancy got up this morning and went to make herself some toast only to find that all the bread in the house had gone moldy. She just bought the loaf yesterday so it made no sense. Well she thought she could still have a nice fried egg but when cracked open the egg it was obviously rotten. In fact she had never smelled anything that bad. She poured a glass of milk only to find it was sour but the refrigerator was working fine. Then she noticed that she had a rash on her arm and it seemed to be getting worse.
She called Carol who sometimes helped out at the Coffee Shop and went to the clinic. Both the Nurse Practitioner and the Physician’s Assistant were at a loss. They had never seen anything like it. As they watched it it kept changing colors and getting itchier and itchier . Old Doc Simons wouldn’t be back until Thursday so they took pictures and sent them over the internet to a Doctor in Iron Mountain.
Nancy went down to the coffee shop. The moment she entered the building the rash disappeared. That in itself was a little weird but she also felt like a heavy load had been lifted from her shoulders. She couldn’t understand what was happening to her. This was certainly an unlucky day.

Wrap UP

Today the sun was shining again. Then it is going to get warm enough to have an ice storm. Will it never end. Today I visited everyone of my links and left comments on many of them. It took over three and one half hours . I do this once a week. The rest of the week I just visit the people's blogs who commented on mine the day before. In the afternoon ,between reading blogs, Betty and I cleaned out another cabinet. A lot of stuff went into the garbage and we organized everything. My sister Dawn called to tell me she was right the last time we talked and I was wrong. Now I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

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