Good-bye Mayberry

Several years ago, there was a television show called Family Ties.  It was a big hit with Michael J. Fox as a young, straight-laced kid.  I knew right off the bat, I was that kid.

Back in the late 60's, I was in junior high school.  In the news would be pictures of war protesters being beaten by the police.  My position at the time, "Damn hippies deserve it."  I had no idea what the war was about but I trusted government.

Then, one day, while I was attending a party at a park, my whole view of authority changed.  It was a party thrown by my ship, one that I had just been assigned to so I knew none of the players.  Anyway, the port police show up and start spraying Mace at everyone.  I saw the unprovoked attack from the start and there was nothing that could be said other than...it was unprovoked - totally.

My ship's captain showed up and a whole bunch of rental cops lost their jobs on the spot.  However, the damage had been done.  I had seen authority; I had seen men with badges and they were wrong.

For the first time in my life, I had seen that the King had no clothes.  Authority does not equal right.

For the first time I thought, "maybe those hippies from the 60's had been right all along."

My world view was forever changed.  There was no Mayberry.  The world was not run by highly evolved apes in suits.  It was run by un-evolved apes in suits.  We used our opposable thumbs to sew in order that we may appear civilized.  But in the end, an ape in a suit, is still an ape.

Now I am much older and have taken on "cynical" as a second middle name.

I have watched as religious leaders cry, "I have sinned," while holding out a hand for tithing that will be used to put their mistresses up in free housing.  I have seen politicians impeach each other for "indiscretions,"  while failing to pay taxes or while maintaining several extra-marital affairs themselves.  I have seen Governors go to jail.

But at no time have I ever seen anything as tragic as the true story of the banking crisis of 2008 as told by Michael Lewis.   This is the guy the wrote MoneyBall and The Blind Side.  It is a true store called The Big Short.

Read this book!

It should be as mandatory to read and discuss as Catcher in the Rye or To Kill a Mocking Bird.

The scariest part of the story is that we are continuing to be ripped off by the same people that made this all happen in the first place.  I'm not talking about a $250 toilet seat for the army.  I'm talking about the end of democracy so a few can have it all in the short run.

In America, our greatest strength is our economy; not the number of tanks on the ground or planes in the air.  We make up about 30% of the world's economy.  Two years ago, that nearly changed.  Today, the gun that we shot ourselves with is still smoking and ... it's still in the hands of those that pulled the trigger to begin with.

If you don't want to read the book go to the following link and watch a 60 minutes section on it: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6298082n&tag=related;photovideo

I am still on vacation so have been away from the news lately.  Apparently, North Korea has yet to unleash the Mother of all Deaths.  American politics is still filled with "You shut up; no you shut up," and the department of Homeland Defense is still at threat level orange, whatever that means.

As for me, I am relaxing.  I went snowboarding for three days and survived.  It's freezing here in Hungary but I have a wife that makes sure I dress in layers.  My Peanut M&M intake is way down but only because I have other sugary treats to fill the gap.  I have not been writing but I will finish one book by March and a second in the Spring.

I have one more week here before I head home.  I can see that there is a world to save and I am nearly rested up enough to do just that.

Up, up and away...

jim