Perhaps I’m confused. The last thirty years or more seem odd. President Eisenhower’s warning about corrupt dominance seems to have riddled our world.
Knowledge has increased but are we smart? Trade has increased but do perks improve our lives? In the guise of less, government is far from purpose and further from understanding.
Our communities are no longer where we meet each other.
Our neighborhoods are puffed with brands of questionable value. Revenue is drained away. Margins, fees, rates, interest and taxes paid under dubious claims. Exported.
Living is suddenly costly yet inflation is controlled we’re told. Costs skyrocket for critical water, food, housing, transportation, health and education. Services fail. Tickets and potholes. Faltering buildings and forgotten repairs and lines for a clerk. Spending for outside insiders. Picnics of arrangements. A local army. A rules and abatement fiefdom, perhaps more petty. Paid more than presidents and always new vehicles.
I know experts will point to many improvements and these are true. I love expertise. But the system fails to teach. Schools are rich, but a degree is profit paid by a mother for a step still high. Even free is expensive. We first pay for advertising television then pay more to see a production! The web is next. And will somebody tell Martha style is personal and instantly lost in a mass market. We can’t buy a self.
I am glad and grateful too. For example, spring and summer, running a dog along the creek. Kids at recess. Because play is fundamental to living. As serious as politics. As important as war. But I’m worried. The elite increase. They play. We work.
We do not own our world. It’s been taken. It’s gone. We tune to media to learn less about things. Cling to pundits. Most too loud. We rarely assert our opinion, seldom our rights. Perhaps Orwell’s culture. Too few Twain and no Vonnegut to alert our common sense.
We are losing domain and gaining danger. Cameras and cards are watching now. Are we no longer a democracy? Bullies roost. So many pirates, too much poison, such silly mistakes. And of all things during these days, leaders woo and placate and want cash to woo and placate. Arrogance is common. Insisting is rare. Scientists are saying, “If we won’t care for it, Earth will take it from us.”
Too much is already taken. We are offered too little and we give too much. We are spent.
If we ever launch a new political party, we should forget the old campaigns of power and praise and know who takes each penny from our pocket.
The Penny Party. Wealth is true. Audits are honest. It’s your money too. Bravo!