A 90,000 square-foot ball room next to the White House? In these uncertain and unnerving times when the government might be closed and DOGE is slashing budgets? After already paving over the Rose Garden and turning it into a social club for rich people? A reckoning might be coming along the lines of the French Revolution or the Domus Aurea. Ask Ai. Ask about “decadence”, too, while you’re at it.
Income inequality. Period. Aren’t rich people smart enough to know there is only so much “poor” the rest of us can take?
People who don’t want government or taxes. Really, who needs roads, police departments, fire companies, sewer systems. Maybe we can get our cities and towns professional sports teams and stars to fund everything? An outfield “star” for the New York Mets makes more money per year than the entire budget for the upstate NY city I live in. The national “tax” that keeps the NFL and others paying millions to players for a game,…think about it yourself. Don’t make me say it.
Why aren’t firemen, teachers, police men, and even garbage men more respected than Aaron Judge? Or Juan Soto? Should public servants start their own trading cards? Allow betting on how soon a police department might catch a criminal? How much lead is in the water? Vegas will handicap anything, set odds, and offer SGPs galore. Googe it but ignore the first three examples.
Why people don’t know more about history. Because of a long-standing national cognitive crisis, we are doomed to taking one step forward in one generation and then falling two steps backward when the next generation has no idea what the preceding generation did. That is a generic statement that, however, holds true for almost all our current problems. This innate genetic and systemic fragmentation is why we still fight and argue over broken legal systems, immigration, elections, and health care systems, to name a few, after hundreds of years.
Why people don’t realize they are being manipulated? It’s time we all said this about ANY and ALL information suppliers: some of it’s true, some of it isn’t. Letters to the editors and online comments reveal most people think they have the only true source of facts and information, and everyone else is an idiot. This first appeared years ago with the new Fox viewers, but now every political ideology and fringe group has its own information supplier with its own baked-in bias. How long will it take the entire country to realize this and read each different bias and sort out the truth? Hm. That is impossible, so let’s at least admit our favorite sources of news might not be right all the time? And maybe then we can see the ones who purposely try to fool us and lead us by the nose.
The world is an interesting place if you look at it and see it. It’s human nature to let the grind of life wear us down and make us think bad thoughts but remember this is your only shot. Don’t blow it by burying your head in the sand. Look up, look out, and be aware. As the good Doctor Wright once said: “Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm,”
And for good measure: What did the grape say when the elephant sat on it? Nothing. It just let out a little whine. If you get the joke, you’ll be okay.
The Aging Man 