Just a warning, this is a rant. Yes, you may be used to thinking of this as a food blog, although that would be foolish since I haven’t posted a recipe for months, but I am now about to rant. Girl got somthin to say. You’ve been warned.
Can someone please explain to me why it’s a good idea to spend $700 billion dollars, an amount of money that I argue is not truly comprehensible to any human being, in a plan that probably we hope will improve the economy? And right after we finished spending over $150 billion on the “economic stimulus” package that “oh well, oops, let’s try again”, didn’t work?!!!
I know a lot of very smart people who think this $700 billion “bailout” is not just a very good idea but crucial to our very survival, but I can’t help but think we’re all being a little bit influenced by reports from the media that use phrases like “accounts are hemorrhaging” and “clean up the wreckage on Wall Street” while we all just forget that those are just metaphors, and that Wall Street is not physically crumbling, and no one is physically losing blood. (And before you think I’m a completely callous bitch, yes, I do have GREAT sympathy for honest people who were lied to about their mortage options, and are facing foreclosure and the emotional pain and difficulty of losing their homes. THAT, is what is truly tragic.)
I just think we’ve all gone a little insane, that we accept that doing everything on credit is a sustainable and normal way to carry on our affairs. We have higher personal debt than ever, our cities and states are in debt, our employers are often in debt, and our national government is in so much debt that were we to take up a collection, every single resident of our country would have to pony up $33,000 to just to cover it. I mean, one way to look at it is when you owe a loan shark 10 grand, what’s another 700 bucks? But if you look at the real numbers, we have a debt load of 10 TRILLION dollars, an unfathomable number in itself, but this bailout is not chump change, it’s 7% of the f-ing national debt. Again, ARE WE CRAZY?
Look, I’m not stupid, I know a downturn in the economy could really hit home were I to own stock, or god forbid were my employer to close up shop for failure to secure credit. I do know there are real consequences to the status of the economy. I just think we’ve all forgotten that the whole thing was something we made up in the first place. Improvement in the economy means that people continue to consume and consume more, and this is a little game we modern humans made up not all that long ago, and we’ve forgotten that economic growth is NOT one of the laws of nature. In fact, nature overall calls for equilibrium, and we’ve been counting on constant growth for a long time. It might and probably will be painful, but we’ve got to even out sometime.
LIFE
And now for my second rant. I read someone’s blog tonight in which the writer said “…while I am not especially fond of war (remember I AM pro-life)…”
And I came to a screeching halt.
I’m sorry, what?
Did you think that because I don’t think that the government should regulate whether a woman can have an abortion, that I am an advocate of killing?
Oh, wait, that probably IS what she thinks.
Well, shit, there’s not really anything more I can say about that. “Pro-lifers” can be really crazy.
People, can’t we just agree to disagree and err on the side of giving people more freedom rather than less?
Jeremy Osborne says:
I wish there were loan sharks collecting on the bad spenders in our government ;)
October 6th, 2008 at 10:08 am
Gary says:
You want to see something (relevant, even) that made me lose it today?
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/08/politicians.meltdown.aig.ap/index.html?eref=rss_topstories
October 8th, 2008 at 5:59 pm
Sheila says:
Since I wrote the small comment that I think you misunderstood, I will clarify…
I was comparing MY pro-life status with my offense to war. Not all GOPers are pro-war.
October 10th, 2008 at 3:37 am
jannamo says:
Thanks for commenting Shiela, point taken. In fact I do usually make wide assumptions that Republicans are pro-war, when in fact very few people truly want the killing and horror of war. I guess the big problem I have is equating my belief that the federal government probably shouldn’t be able to decide what is a good reason for a woman to end a pregnancy with an assumption that I have less respect for life. I’m fully aware that it’s a decision that should always be made very carefully with full awareness of the consequences. And I think the government has no business in that choice.
October 10th, 2008 at 8:44 am
Sheila says:
Im glad you commented back. Most people will tell you that I do not always agree with what occurs in Annapolis and DC, I make my own choices based on what my beliefs are.
My first choice was not McCain. In my opinion, the democratic ticket-and what they stand for - go against what I believe is good. I really do not think any party description fits where I particularly stand.
FYI, I was a registered democrat until the mid 90s. I found out that when I spoke up, they really didnt represent me, so I took my voting card and found somewhere else.
I do not believe that any of our choices are qualified enough, but I will hold my nose to at least participate in the process.
But thats MY opinion.
As a well known fact, Americans are free to believe what they want. You now know at least one Republican who wont chastise you for speaking your opinion, as long as it isnt filled with garbage.
October 10th, 2008 at 6:30 pm