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I like millions of other people
all over these United States, dream of hitting the lotto and going
directly to Easy Street. I think of all the practical and impractical uses
I could find for the money. Of course the children and grandchildren would
want a pocket full to squander and waste. I myself would try to save up as
much as possible for use in my old age. The other night I dreamed I hit
the lotto and for a very sizable sum (after all its my dream and if I want
it to be a huge amount...) of money. I of course raced to the agency and
got the check. After being agog over all those zeros for a few moments it
hit me like a ton of bricks. Now that I have all this money, where do I
put it? I can put it in a bank, but only the first two hundred and fifty
thousand would be protected by the FDIC. With the amount I see in my dream
I would have to put it in a hundred different banks. I have moved into a
small retirement two bedroom house with a yard the size of a postage
stamp, so there is no where to bury that amount of cash. I could give it
to Madoff and have him invest it for me..... the ideas are endless all
with the same terrible end..... I would wind up losing it all.
For about 85 percent of the people who woke up this morning, life doesn’t
change that much. Some minor adjustment to the grocery bill because the
items they use had a price raise or items going out of season. If its
extra cold they will make allowance for more electricity and gas being
consumed, but for the most part we just go about our day making the most
out of what little we have and dreaming of hitting it big with lotto. But
what about that elite 15 percent? What about those guys that woke up this
morning and found a huge chunk of their investments just disappeared. Not
thousands or millions, but billions. How can you have billions of dollars
disappear? I personally couldn’t tell you. One because I cannot imagine
that much money, and second I don’t know that much about how the markets
work well enough to tell you what could cause such a thing to occur.
In this new year we find ourselves wondering just how the politics and
most importantly the financial direction will head. We were all kind of
blindsided last year with the net worth of the country suddenly
disappearing before our eyes. Between the politicians and the net worth
swindlers of wall street, many felt the blow directly to their midsection
and the very breath taken away. The answers to the dilemma are not simple
but neither is the so called solutions coming out of the nations capital.
The politicians, as always, believe that throwing a lot of money at the
problem will fix it. Most Americans believe that propping up failure is
never a good solution to any problem whether it be fiscal or otherwise.
The biggest problem facing us in this new year is that the problem is not
fiscal.
The real problem facing this country from the presidency to the man on the
street is moral. We are well into the generation of those who have been
taught by their parents, by government and by school that being a moral
person is nice if you are going into a religious or welfare work, but
other wise being moral will only make you a pawn for those who take
advantage of those weaker than themselves. In our new jungle it is more
blessed to take than to give. It is more blessed to break a man and leave
him homeless that to just use his talents and labor to make their business
scheme work.
Our politicians have bought into this theory so far as to turn a blind
side to those who steal and ruin other peoples lives. They call their own
thievery "honest mistakes" and "deniability". It is not them, but the
"Other" guys who are to blame for the problems.
If this nation is to get a handle on the problems that are threatening
this country, then the people with morals must take a more active role in
running it. It is not enough to just elect people and then let them go
about doing what they see is best. We must make our wishes known and
constantly be vigil of what is going on.
We find ourselves, much like the turtle who wakes up and finds himself
sitting atop a fence post. We have two questions. How did we get here and
where do we go from here. |
