Another Ride Around the Sun

Another year, a bit of a rambling rant...

Well, here I am a year later. Not everyone made it, just how it goes. Birthdays are no longer about parties, birthday cake (don't need the extra calories, fat grams or tooth decay) or even presents (do I need an iPad or a nicer TV? Nah.). Birthdays are good days to reflect on where we've been in the last year and where we want to go in the coming year. I feel neither guilt from the past or worry for the future. So what about the past? And what's next? 

I feel a little better both physically and mentally. Want to feel better and save money? Eat less. Eat out less often. Replace screen time with cooking. Pay attention to what you put in your body. Okay, enough preaching. I'll eat cake and drink beer again, just not too much, hopefully. Over-all the covid blues are fading in the mirror and history books. It was not the first pandemic, nor will it be the last. Next time, tell 'em Obama wants you to NOT get vaccinated! I doubt we'll have the good, common sense to not politicize something as simple and straight forward as a vaccine. The powers that be need to take politicization into account when creating a response to the next pandemic or disaster. So what else? 

Biden will probably never recover from the debacle of our Afghan pull-out. It does not matter that Trump made that deal or a 100,000 got out for a shot at a better life. Yes, too many were indeed left behind. Please tell me, oh great generals behind the screens and keyboards, what specifically what you would have done differently? Send in our great grandchildren and their kids? Simply steal the vast mineral wealth? I'm all ears. It was a shit-show from the get go with no good ending possible (except all the contractors, middle men and security goons who got rich).        

Now the freedom crowd is crying about high gas prices and inflation. Suddenly, they want government action! No, no, no- this is the Capitalism you love so much at it's finest. Let the market sort it out. The energy giants are laughing their collective asses off while banking your money. Spell it with me now--- R-E-C-O-R-D   P-R-O-F-I-T-S. That's not a bug, it's a feature. Production's down and demand is up, simple supply and demand. The lack of even basic understanding of economics is astounding! Look, it runs in cycles and this will pass. 

The world looks on as Russia slowly tries to grind Ukraine into dust. Russia has gone from respected power to a pariah state almost over night. A pariah state with the world's largest supply of strategic and tactical nukes must be dealt with carefully but dealt with none the less. Keyboard generals, tell me what else Biden can do? Just keep fighting Ukraine, you cannot lose. 

Our epidemic of mass shootings continues unabated. The knee jerk reaction is take away the guns. While that's a nice thought, it's not happening anytime soon. Can we return to a time when guns were just guns and not symbols of toxic masculinity, right-wing hate and pretend bad-ass Cosplay? Can we stop making mass murders instantly famous? Can we hold parents / guardians of minors who commit man murder criminally accountable? Can we reimagine schools as more than pre-jail for prisons and the corporate workplace? Can we rebuild our mental healthcare system (one that does not lead to bankruptcy)? And yes, bring back the assault weapons ban. Given long enough, it will have an impact. Vote out the lunatics that like guns (gun lobby money) more than safe theaters, schools, churches, bars and restaurants. 

Yes, we are going through a period of rapid change with no plan, no known destination totally in the dark. I'll share what my Dad told me decades ago, "Freedom means freedom to fail also. We're free to totally fuck up." We can also help bend the arc towards justice. It is never too late.              

  

July 4, 2022 thoughts...

 

And it is July 4th again! What's going on? 

There's high gas prices and inflation. The economy runs in cycles. This too shall pass. No, the president does not have a magic gas price controller in the upper right drawer of the desk in the Oval Office. Oil rises and falls no matter what flavor occupies the White House. Gas prices are the freedom of capitalism it's finest! Remember kids, corporations are BOUND BY LAW to maximize shareholder profits, FULL STOP. They don't give a shit about working people, the environment, national boarders or you! Here's a novel idea, look it up! Let me help you. These companies are raking in huge amounts of profit. Oil production is kept low to facilitate higher profits, simple supply and demand. Russia is out of business (for the most part), thus no more oil from them. That means even less oil. So isn't inflation Biden's fault? 

Over-all the economy does better under Democrats than Republicans. I think Biden inherited a shit-show from The Donald. The Donald's massive tax cuts for our richest, an unnecessary trade war with China and a totally inept and pathetic response to Covid-19 only accelerates the looming recession the entire world is facing. Still, it's not all the Donald's fault. Yes friends, there are others living outside the USA. In a global economy, dependent on trade, things going on past our borders affect us. Labor costs are rising, the pandemic caused disruptions are still going on and Russia decided this was the ideal time to start a massive war. All wars end and the age of fossil fuels is winding down. The end of fossil fuels will be messy. No one will give up the cash-cow until they have to. I'm agnostic on electric cars. They also depend on scarce resources. We're going to have to radically change how we live to keep the Earth livable but that's for another time... 

What else? 

We are reaping the rewards of McConnell's radical Supreme Court. Throw it all back to the states. Abortion rights, going. EPA's power to regulate, gone. Gay rights are next. Funny how 9 unelected, politically appointed for life, non-accountable people have so much say in our daily lives. Why do they have that much power? Who do they answer to? No one! That's really Democratic! I think Biden is too much a traditionalist to pack the court to regain balance or to consider alternative legal interpretations. Only 9 get to have the final say in a vast legal system for 320 million! Sounds batshit to me. But here we are. Still, as my grandmother used to say, "nothing lasts." How much damage will be done in the mean time?               

There's more; guns / mass shootings, racism, a collapsing, for profit, healthcare system, sentient AI and so on but that's for another time. 

Remember the arc towards a more just future happens only if we make it so.