Ever wonder why? . . . a reality check

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airplane construction, airport terminals, Do you wonder why?, drug stores, mascara, mouse flavored cat food, politics, stirring up the gray matter, the beauty and absurdity of American language and life, unanswered questions, why?

Some questions simply don’t appear to have answers, at least good answers.  Case in point – consider these reality check questions as you ask “Ever wonder why . . .

• drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get their prescriptions while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front?
• people order double cheeseburgers, large fries, and a diet coke?
• banks leave both doors open and then chain the pens to the counters?
• we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and put our useless junk in the garage?
• we buy hot  dogs in packages of ten and buns in packages of eight?
• we use the word ‘politics’  when  ‘poli’ in Latin means ‘many’ and  ‘tics’  means ‘bloodsucking creatures’?
• we have drive-up ATM machines with Braille lettering?
• women can’t put on mascara with their mouth closed?
• you don’t ever see the headline: “Psychic Wins Lottery”?
• “abbreviated” is such a long word?
• doctors call what they do “practice”?
• lemon juice is made with artificial flavor, and dishwashing liquid is made with real lemons?
• the time of day with  the slowest traffic is called rush hour?
• there isn’t mouse-flavored cat food?
• they don’t make the whole plane out of that stuff they make the indestructible black box out of?
• sheep don’t shrink when it rains?
• they are called apartments when they are all stuck together?
• if con is the opposite of pro, wouldn’t that make Congress the opposite of progress?
• if flying is so safe,  they call the airport  the terminal?

 

 

 

 

Money, morality, and politics

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"de Toqueville", money, morality, politics

Clearly, Bob was royally ticked off.  He had good reason to be.  It had to do with money, and it can be summed up as follows —

The country’s leaders claim that money has to be borrowed to provide for the well being of the country.  The lenders are people and institutions from both within and outside the country, who figure they will gain something by loaning the money.  They are not giving the money away.  The amount borrowed has now gotten so high that many question if the debt can ever be paid off.  Unanswered questions abound, like “what happens when the lenders call in the loans and the country can’t pay it off”, “what collateral will have to be surrendered?”, “what is the collateral that has been used to get the loans?” and “could the country lose its independent existence if the loans ever had to be paid off?”

Although Bob’s frustration and anger were beyond any concrete, short-term remedy I could suggest, it has triggered some thinking about cause and effect.  One of the major causes (I recognize that multiple causation is involved) is that a significant number of the power people have abandoned the basic justice needed by a well functioning society.  Let me illustrate.

If a person steals from someone else, it is not full justice to simply put the thief in jail.  No, full justice includes that the stolen goods be returned in some form.  If a person injures someone, the injurer has to somehow return to the injured something of equal value.  Going to jail doesn’t satisfy the full demands of justice.

When power people know they can make decisions resulting in a country being socially damaged, and know that the worst consequence may be not being reelected, justice is not being served.   And even that “worst consequence” is avoided in a simple way.  They “protect” themselves by establishing a “benefactor” role with the voters, who in turn “gain” by the corruption of their benefactor.  Voters tend to elect those who “bring home the bacon” to their district or their state.  That is what is behind the expressions, “all politics are local” and “keep your constituency happy.”

And so the old refrain normally attributed to de Tocqueville continues to be actualized, “the people have the government they deserve.”  Where and when the society is plagued by varying degrees of injustice, unpayable loans should not surprise anyone.