It’s extremely difficult for me as an American to look at the world around me in this day and age. I wonder if I will outlive my retirement income and, if so, what happens to me then.
Internationally, several countries appear to be on the verge of bankruptcy. What does that actually mean? Is it as bad as some would lead us to believe? Will Greece, France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom fall apart? Will civil war and anarchy ensure? Should I be worried about this or should I just say, “Ah, screw it,” and go on with my life? Perhaps this is one of those times when it would be good to be an authority on international banking and economics…or perhaps not. If I did possess that kind of expertise, would I be tearing my hair out – an impossibility in my own case – or would I merely be chuckling over the panic that is being created by one media outlet after another.
As I understand it, nation bankruptcy simply means that a country cannot pay its outstanding debt. Its currency measure decreases in value and the world goes on. Interest rates increase, public employees will lose jobs or may suffer salary cuts; social programs may be put on hold, which in the U.S. would certainly mess up Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, and they’d be a whole pile of belt tightening. As usual, those in upper income brackets would suffer less than those on the lower economic ladder.
Please don’t get me wrong. I have no quarrel with those who, by the sweat of their brow, have achieved wealth. I look at people like Berry Gordy, Soichiro Honda, Byung Chul Lee, and many others who, with less than a high school diploma, busted their butts and hit it big. I don’t care for the woman personally but I believe that Oprah Winfrey, other than her overwhelming narcissistic behavior, has worked tirelessly to attain the wealth she has and that she has done some wonderful things with her wealth. The list of people in this category could go on and on and on. Why didn’t Bill Gates ever receive a college degree? He was too busy putting his mind to work creating. Now, through their foundation, he and his wife are giving back. The unfortunate thing is that there are too many people, worldwide, who refuse to share their good fortune; who will watch others suffer and not really give a damn. In some cases, the wealth has gone so far to their heads that they actually prefer to foment discontent rather than bring about helpful social change. I look at many of the OPEC nations as falling into this category.
It seems that whenever an argument becomes too politically charged, particularly in this country, there are always those who will pull out the old chestnut, “We cannot leave out children with such a financial burden.” That is such bullshit. Of course we can; not only that, but it’s inevitable that that is exactly what is going to happen. Trying to stop financial calamity in the United States and in other countries reminds me of the little Dutch boy sticking his fingers in the dike. You just cannot plug all of the wholes that will occur. If, for example, the United States had not involved itself in the wars in the Middle East, how would we now be faring financially? If we had devoted more of our energies and resources to wiping out – covertly or overtly – the drug dealers worldwide, would it have cost us less? If we had used our intelligence resources more wisely, could we have averted 911 and other terrorist attacks? In other words, are we using what we possess in the most efficient and effective manner or are we merely being reactive as opposed to proactive? I don’t know the answers to these questions. As the saying goes, “I haven’t been read in.” I don’t have a “need to know.” Perhaps not, but what would those who are “read in” and who do have a “need to know” have me do when I become concerned? Because, quite frankly, it appears that they don’t know what the fuck is going on…pardon my use of that word, but it’s the only one that expresses sufficiently my disgust with the way things are being done today.
Here’s my take on the “world in panic.” Those who have been in charge of countries for the past half century wanted to accomplish great things for their nations. In attempting to do so, they looked only ahead, only what was in the future. Cost didn’t matter because revenues were coming in. Even when the revenue stream slowed down to a trickle, these leaders found it impossible to believe that it would not become a strong, flowing stream once more. It didn’t. Calamity followed calamity, whether natural or man-made, but the leaders kept up their level of spending, more out of pure optimism than out of any great intelligence. Now it is time to pay for the good that everyone was trying to do and no one is able to pay the bill. Oops, what do we do now? Well, the party in power, no matter what party – Social Democrats, Labor, a People’s Party, the Communist Party, Socialists, Republicans, Democrats, or any one of a thousand others – blames the party that preceded them to power. The party that’s out of power blames those who are in power. Rather than trying to solve problems reasonably, they prefer to blame and find fault. In that way, no one has to admit responsibility. When put in this way, it sounds rather humorous. The only problem is that there’s nothing funny about it. In a worst case scenario, civil war breaks out in any of the countries in question. People die, and for what? Because political leaders were unable to act like reasonable human beings and reach accord. In some respects, perhaps we’re not as evolved as we’d like to believe we are.
I guess that what I should do is to stop worrying about whether or not I’ll outlive my retirement income. Perhaps I can become a one-man nation. I have a well for water and I suppose I could trade vegetables for a gas-powered generator. Maybe I could borrow money from Saudi Arabia to drill for oil on my own land or build solar reflectors for electricity. There are enough wild turkeys, deer, and rabbit in the area that I could have my own meat supply. I could apply to the United States for fishing rights off the Atlantic and tell them that if they don’t grant them, I’ll take them to war (Does “The Mouse that Roared” sound familiar). No, I won’t do any of those things. I’ll just bumble along in my own merry way, poking fun at the idiots in Washington – those on both sides of the aisle and in the other two skinny branches of government – giving a few shots to a justice system that allows baby killers and other law breakers to take a walk, and taking the media to task for their overblown reporting with which they attempt to terrorize their readers, listeners, and viewers. I have become firmly convinced that to worry about something so minor as whether or not I’ll outlive my retirement funds, is rather stupid. As the song goes, “I’ve got the sun in the morning and the moon at night.” I have the love of a good woman. I have children and grandchildren, and reasonably good health. Why should I worry about money? Heck, the government can always print more!
Dick Bishop
Dick Bishop's Blog 