Hi all, I know that it has been a long time since I posted anything (end of January). This has made me realize the immense challenge it is to continually search for something to write about, and it has given me a much greater appreciation for those that have chosen occupations where they must do this on a daily basis. However, don’t assume that my failing to post anything new has been because I haven’t had anything on my mind. To the contrary, I find that I have too many things on my mind and have been unable to focus on any one topic. Sadly, a lot of what I’ve been thinking about is depressing:
- I continue to be very concerned about the upcoming election and the belief that it may produce lasting, negative consequences for our nation and our world.
- The war between Israel and Hamas seems to show no signs of a peaceful resolution. There are no winners, just losers and victims… and every chance of escalation (Hezbollah, Lebanon and Iran).
- Russia’s assault on Ukraine continues with no signs of a peaceful resolution. I’ve heard the word “stalemate” used frequently of late… ugh.
- The debate over abortion is growing and expanding. In the past this seemed to be debate about whether the abortion of a healthy pregnancy should be allowed, and in what cases? Now it has expanded to pregnancies that endanger the mother, IVF and birth control in general.
- Individual’s use of insulting and / or threatening language seems to be growing exponentially. What ever happened to common courtesy and the golden rule?
- Personal accountability and responsibility are becoming the exception, rather than the rule. At the same time, entitlement is on the rise.
- And the Chicago Cubs aren’t playing very well!
Ugh…
Yeah, I know, I sound like Eeyore (the depressed donkey from Winnie the Pooh). Thankfully, I do have some other errant thoughts that keep me sane, and I have some activities, and folks, that keep a smile on my face and hope in my heart.
- “The best thing for attitude is gratitude.”
- I continue to work on my manifesto regarding: getting older, toilets, toilet paper and toilet related activities. For example, you know that you are getting older when you have to do stretching exercises before doing toilet related paperwork…
- Dogs can make the worst day bright.
- You cannot avoid smiling / laughing while watching puppy videos on Facebook.
- Random acts of kindness are almost as good as a dog at brightening your day.
- I do have the greatest partner / spouse / friend that keeps me smiling and is willing to smack me when I get too maudlin. …she also makes me turn off the news now and then.
- Books like Everything I Ever Needed to Know I Learned In Kindergarten and television shows like “The Repair Shop” can help restore your faith in humanity, goodness and kindness.
- Faith in something greater. I can’t imagine being an atheist and having no hope that someone is watching over us and will keep us from totally screwing things up.
So, in the near term I’ve decided to focus on shorter errant thoughts and share them… for what they are worth. I hope that you find them enjoyable and / or thought provoking. Worst case, they will be shorter than my past musings. Here goes a few to start:
- On April 25th the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments regarding Presidential immunity and how far it extends. Today, over 2 months later, they essentially ruled that a President would sometimes have immunity, when it pertains to official acts, and sometimes would not have immunity. They established no real parameters regarding what actions would / would not qualify as official acts warranting immunity. They have thrown it back to lower courts to deal with the repercussions of this underdefined ruling. Bottom line, this will result in lower courts making decisions that will then be appealed back up the chain to the supreme court. This will result in a vicious circle that consumes time, money and faith in the judiciary. …Does it really take this long to do nothing?
- Previously I mentioned a book I truly love, Everything I Ever Needed to Know I Learned In Kindergarten. If you haven’t read it, I would strongly recommend getting a copy. Each chapter tells a separate story, each is only a few pages long, and you’ll find a smile on your face as each chapter ends. It is the perfect book to read just before bedtime. One of my favorite chapters talks about learning to know the difference between a real problem and an inconvenience (I’ll refer you to Robert Fulghum’s story of Sigmund Wollman for details: https://www.livinglifefully.com/flo/flobesigmundwollman.htm).
- Can freedom and personal liberties be protected without responsibility, accountability and integrity?
- Here’s my personal thoughts on inflation:
- The biggest cause of the inflation we have been dealing with over the last few years was the pandemic, not Biden, not Trump. This is reinforced by the fact that significant inflation has been occurring all around the world, not just in the U.S.
- The actions taken by the Federal Reserve and the Federal Government, during the pandemic and as inflation started to go up, have protected the U.S. from even greater inflation and a prolonged recession. Just take a look at how the U.S. has done compared to the other large economies around the world.
- Increasing tariffs on imports will increase inflation, with the greatest burden being on those least able to deal with it. For example, go to any discount or bargain store and start checking labels on the products. you will find an overwhelming majority come from overseas (many from China). If we increase the tariffs on imports (especially from China) consumers will see the prices they pay on these goods go up at a proportionate rate. So, who are most likely to shop at discount / bargain stores, the upper or lower class?
- We have all felt the pain of increased inflation over the last few years, but it has been declining rapidly and consistently. We seem so close to achieving an inflation goal that will allow the Federal Reserve to start lowering interest rates. Is this really the time for us to start changing our economic policies?
- Can someone please explain to me why you would want to watch a survival show about naked people being dumped in some tropical area and left to survive on their own… while a camera crew is only a few feet away filming everything? Yep, dirt, filth, gross food, and bugs in every orifice definitely top my list of things I look for in a show!
- Is anyone else experiencing a competition between needing to go to the bathroom and cramps to see which one will get you out of bed the most times overnight?
- “If the opposite of ‘pro’ is ‘con’, what is the opposite of ‘progress’?” …thank you Nipsey Russell
Stay tuned for more soundbite musings and errant thoughts…
6 responses to “Soundbite Musings”
We’re on the same wavelength brother! Thanks for putting this out.
One can armchair quarterback all these issues and put blame here or there (inflation, etc – many contributing factors) but the one thing I know is IQ45 (thanks Jeff!) is extremely dangerous for this country and needs to be defeated once and for all.
Hi Michael T!
Thanks for the reply! We are most certainly on the same page.
Dave
I see that everyone has their own opinion of what’s causing “inflation”. And one’s opinion is often taken as fact by oneself. So be it. I enjoy the added input of possibilities to choose from to make my own decision of what appears to be fact and what opinion based on my own view of the world. All get my consideration.
I was also under the impression that much of our current increase in prices was a knock off of so many of the minimum wages across the country being raised during COVID by all parties wanting to be seen as proactive to the lower wage earner and high portion of the voting public. Somewhere, when prices of purchases are largely labor driven (eating out, processing food, factory workers, store clerks, etc.), that has to come back as increased revenue supported by pricing of the commodity that maintains positive margins to the employing business so they remain profitable. We’ve seen several long-established businesses closing that evidently weren’t able to do that. Many of them also probably hadn’t factored in the social changes and needs of generations as the generation in majority also changed rapidly over COVID so weren’t able to adjust their business models.
What stands for inflation, under any name, is often a swinging pendulum so that wages go up, followed by prices, then public reaction so labor hours get cut and prices level– followed by complaints about cheap service/lack of service so the labor costs go up again causing another swing. It takes a long time to stabilize but hopefully the swings damp out over time as the labor to cost ratio stabilizes and becomes accepted by more of the public. Prices will head up over time for a healthy labor market, how fast determines the public’s acknowledged pain.
Someone mentioned being concerned about WW3, there’s also CW2 to be concerned about. IMO just as likely and more difficult to fight as the enemy hides among us and is minimally geographic. Lots to think about, Dave. My question is after one of your bouts of cramps vs bathroom dashes overnight, are you able to get back to sleep or do you dwell on the perceived problems and miss more sleep? That’s my problem.
Thanks Chuck! To answer your question, I am typically able to go back to sleep (provided I don’t look at the clock and discover that the alarm is going to go off in less than an hour).
I certainly agree with your point about rising wages contributing to inflation. Supply chain problems also contributed. The reason that I place the primary blame of Covid is that it was the catalyst for everything else. I don’t think we would have seen the rise in wages had it not been that we expected “essential workers” (that were typically the lower wage earners) to still come to work and support everyone else. Covid also contributed to the supply chain problems. In addition, I personally believe that some companies saw the pandemic as an opportunity to increase prices and profits as they could blame it on the pandemic.
All Good!
Dave
Well stated, Dave. And there is truly too much to say, so I will add only a few observations:
First, on inflation let’s get back to the fundamentals. Our recent inflation was (and is) the result of excessive fiscal stimulus at home and abroad and loose monetary policies. Many politicians feared that the fiscal infusions during the Great Recession were too little and too late. So faced with Covid they went overboard and pumped over $5.0 trillion into the economy. Trump is responsible for the bulk of that deficit spending and Biden and Congress didn’t help in March of 2021. Some of those Covid dollars are still being spent today as state and local governments seek places to allocate the largesse.
The excessive fiscal spending was accompanied by a very loose monetary policy. Prior to Covid and through 2020, Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) became the guiding principle. MMT theorized that deficits didn’t matter. As long as a country could cover interest on the debt, excessive deficit spending didn’t matter. This worked until the Fed had to raise rates and everyone began realize that interest on the debt was ballooning and is now more than all of our spending on defense.
Corporate “greed” has little to do with inflation, but does give us someone to blame other than ourselves, Congress and the Fed.
Secondly, President Biden’s continues to strangle the economy with regulations. We have traded energy security for minerals insecurity in his blind drive towards a “green” economy. The truth is that we are simply importing batteries, minerals, and solar panels from China where coal is used as the base load to manufacture these products that are exported to the U.S. Biden’s regulations have prohibited development of copper, lithium, and oil and gas in the United States. And to make the energy situation worse for Europe and Ukraine, he has halted development of LNG export facilities. Given all of this, why should we be surprised that Trump is gaining and may be elected.
Finally, Trump is a master of manipulation. He fooled many in 2016 with his so called pro-life stance. More recently we have seen that he views life as something to be negotiated, like an apartment building. “Is six weeks ok? Maybe we should negotiate and settle on 15 weeks?” to paraphrase his twisted logic.
Sorry, I need to make one more comment, this one on the Gaza war. Some in the Catholic hierarchy all the way back to St. Augustine have posited that there is something called a “Just War.” Has there ever been a war that was not Just in someone’s eyes. Read Lincoln’s Second Address in 1865 when he points out that both sides read from the “same bible.”
Brother Dave, you continue to express thoughts simpatico with my own. On inflation, however, I need to point out that the Pandemic was merely a convenient excuse for Big Business to “correct” their profit share, which they felt was restricted far too much prior to the plague. Add to that the supply chain problems, which WERE REAL to begin with but got much better the further into the lockdown we traveled, and CEOs couldn’t help themselves. And now that those market conditions are gone, how much normalization have you seen? Inflation is mainly corporate greed IMHO.
Have a great ID4, old friend!