Something Isn't right here. You mean to say, you mean to tell me, you assert that this country, which over and over the course of my days has been referred to as the Number 1 country on earth, the country with the 'can do' attitude, the creme de la creme, the Tiger King, the greatest damn country ever, can't provide for its citizens?
Well, okay, it can provide just a little bit but it has to borrow money in order to do that. Huh? Wha...? Don't expect anything more let's run to get this thing restarted but wait.....
.....the ol' U. S. of A. has been around for nearly 250 years and , uh, where did all the money go? You know, all the wealth that has been created? Yeah, I know we've had our troubles, we went through booms and busts, wars here and there, but still.....
....business, in my experience, doesn't stay in business unless a healthy profit is being made. One company I worked for said they needed 14% return on investment otherwise what's the point?
What's the point in building railroads, refineries, automobiles, airplanes, and whatever else if you can't make (a lotta) bucks at it? I know that profit is a consideration whenever I think about doing something that might bring in money and I'm not talking the kind of profit that is going to put me in a private helicopter, behind the desk of a multinational corporation, or where I have people supporting me in chandelier-adorned restaurants where it's X number of dollars a table just to sit down.
I mean, if you think about it, lots of dough must've been squirrled away somewhere over all this time because when you're making the big green there's only so much you can spend it on. Leftovers get put into investments, which grow, usually, and make even more dough which you have to then reinvest so uhm...... .....there must be a big pile of moolah by now, held by very few hands, because money gets concentrated over time.
Point I'm trying to make is that the citizens in this country, of all others, shouldn't have to be caught flat-footed mumbling to themselves and to whoever's within earshot "I can't pay my rent I'm losing my health care thank God for the lifeline but I don't know what's going to happen if this thing drags on". I mean we're better than that, right?
There should be plenty to go around, at the very least, when something like this crisis arrives and worst comes to worst. Plans coulda been in place to insure that those in need don't have to worry. Okay, we were daydreamin' big time and dropped the ball on this, which the crisis is highlighting in a momentous way, so now's the time to fix it I mean we could do that like Eisenhower built the Interstate highway system and FDR got people back to work but even better, we could make it where people only work because they want to and not have to, which has been the goal of every citizen of this country since its inception only a few Capitalized on that idea and left the others in the dust thus,
The Problem.
The real problem.
But I understand 'human nature'. I get it that people want to play. I know they want to experience luxury and exclusiveness, wield power over minions, have fawning sycophants tending to their every need, choose the best partners, eat five star, sleep in king size beds in penthouses overlooking bustling cities, party with their bros, jet to glimmering locales, have entourages, and be able to peel notes from their fat wads to take care of things like getting access while the rest wait but maybe the time for that is over.
Antique Dream
Jonny Caspari- Unsplash.com
Maybe it's time for a new paradigm. Maybe excess has lost its luster for many and the playing field needs to be leveled in a way that better fits the consciousness of the planet. Back in the old days it was almost inevitable that cunning factions, operating in secrecy and aligned with forces of arms, superstitions, and religion would dominate the masses, but we can't live that way anymore. Total self indulgence has never really been supported, and that is especially true now.
Now I just know howls of protest are coming from those who won't give an inch towards amassing huge fortunes and living the life that is the promise of unbridled capitalism but really...
...what's trending is anything but that. If you look on social media what is being supported are people that use their gifts and talents for the betterment of all. Sharing is where it's at, no matter what it is you do. Giving, in other words.
Not to say this is philantropy, because that kind of giving comes because you have a lot and end up, as you get older and more reflective, parceling dribs and drabs of your gains out to entities you deem worthy, to this or that cause, and because doing so saves you on taxes. The new way is giving without expectation in the moment because what is worthy is the elevation of the human race in the moment. The effects of giving in this manner can't be measured or tracked. There's no social elevation of any kind or (OMG) profit in it.
Yet there is, in that the whole benefits and then gives it back in a different way.
Whether or not any of this (pipe dream?) actually births into reality is up to us. I don't see it happening right away, though it could (it also could have happened long ago), but......
.....if the majority of people, the ones below the capstone of the pyramid, were given enough to get their basic needs met- without complaint and because it can be done- who knows what would happen? One thing for sure is these people would certainly not volunteer to work at jobs they didn't like. The great fear of capitalists, then, would instantly be realized. People would become shiftless layabouts, burdening the producers of wealth and- poof- there goes the existing system. The 'End Of The World!'.
Maybe it’s a singularity we’re moving towards.
Joshua Sortino- Unsplash.com
However, maybe another scenario would play out. People would gravitate towards things that inspired them, things that they felt passionate about, and in that regard substantial progress could be made in many areas. Who knows? There's enough good people on the planet right now, enough seasoned souls, to give a new way of living a go towards a diversity of interests.
Maybe life isn't about amassing riches in order to satisfy your every desire. Maybe enough of us have tried that and found it lacking somehow. Maybe 'living the life' has to be redefined. I can't tell you exactly what the new ideal is, but I can feel it. It could be that individual, or even small group experiences, aren't as satisfying as initially imagined. Larger shared experiences have much more oomph. I think many young people are demonstrating that the population on the planet, connected by technology, and intuition, prefers to move in a gestalt, or group way, one that is tweaked and refined moment by moment. The lag time so familiar in disresonant cultures is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. There's really no need for delay in any arena anymore. Yeah, we're still going to have leaders, and there will be troubles, issues that need to be worked out, but most of the unnecessary drama that we've had to experience, man, that is going to be over.