scarey bedtime stories economic themes

In literature there are plots a work generally follows. . .you know. . .man vs man, man vs nature, man vs himself. . .etc. I have come to realize the the economy also has certain themes. Funny enough generally the less fair the reimbursement rate for goods and services the better it is economically. I mean come on the less you have to spend vs the amount you can charge is what it's all about, right?

In the past an economic theme might have been man vs nature. "Taming" the wild has something to do with using nature for economic growth. Today's economy seems to have two themes. Fiction verses reality.

The majority of people are following the "Someday" theme. This would be man vs the supernatural . . .for somewhere in the universe exists the exact reality to render what one is doing now as productive. . .where as right now it is not, otherwise you would not be telling yourself the fictional "Someday" story. You would have moved onto the reality based "screw them before they can screw me" story line. This of course would be man vs man. . .in a few cases of wo/men with a bit conscience it is also man vs himself. . .but mostly man vs man

These economic story lines are repeated in every aspect of society. Every person already know the story line, believes it and is ready to act according to their scripted roles. Family, church and civilian aid communities all believe these stories. Either you are have not (totally your fault, we all know Amerika is the land of opportunity. . .if you can't make it here. . .you are so screwed) or you are a have (and you know every have not would knock you off your hill if they could, so of course it is kill or be killed the more poor there are, the richer you are win/win) . The haves get their asses kissed "oh please bestow upon us some of your glorious reflection in the form of money" and the have-nots get them kicked "get your butt in gear, if you worked really hard you would be someone already and you wouldn't need our help".

The funny part is each group thinks the others greed is the problem. The have's justify their belief that it is have-not's greed causing our economic woes by the idea of more than. . .there are more of "them" than me. They insist on raising minimum wage, I can't afford to pay to whole country and extra $ an hour. The have-not's, well do I need to point out that a 435% difference in pay can be viewed as greedy. That giving exec's a 6 and 7 figure bonus package when leaving a sinking company and the employees get locked out could be viewed as not so nice.

Trouble is the economic story lines are all doomed to failure. Any student in history knows this is true. Look at the last time so much was in the hands of so few. . .1929. . .carpet baggers in the late 1860's . . .keep in mind the average CEO can earn " as much in four hours as a full-time, full-year minimum wage worker". To study the end times of ancient Rome is to sadly see ourselves. Please doom us not to repeat it.

just ducky

I had a great vacation for a couple of days this summer. A friend invited me to share the house she uses in the summer in Falmoth. It is one of those houses on a small lake. Every morning I was there I walked down and had coffee sitting on the dock. It had all the lake things, lily pads, dragon and damsel flys and ducks.

I noticed the ducks because they noticed me. It became apparent that this was a mother and her two offspring even though they were the same size. The mom turned her head sideways and looked me over several times over the next few days. I was talking to her so I suppose she had a good reason to view me with suspicion.

Anyway. Watched the ducks swim in this near idyllic setting musing that it must be great to be a duck of course I immediately remembered the honking long flight or dealing with winter outdoors. On second thought no thanks. But then it occured to me a thought that has nagged at me ever since.

EVERY DUCK LIVES THE SAME WAY. Not only every duck, but every insect, rabbit, mouse, monkey, fish. . .you get the idea. No speicies has a small portion living in lavish splendor and the rest varying down to squalor. Until humane humans. In fact the reality of squalor is a human invention. There are no ducklings living in squalor. There are no bear cubs that will have an advantage of nutrition, family, shelter and education over other cubs.

How did a home one of the basic necessities of life become an investment opportunity? Why is the cost of a home to the point of absurd. This has created generations of people who will never own their own home. The landlord is not creating a product or providing a service, he is culling his tenants paycheck. His investment grows and the tenant will never see anything from the rent. Again the only results of the trickle down is that all the people on the bottom get is pissed on.