Here's something that was said today by my personal favorite Money Honey, Erin Burnett (sorry Maria, I'm over you...):
[paraphrased] "The government was going to subsidize the production of alternative fuel vehicles, but now we'll have to see...people have short memories, and gas prices are down now..."
Ack...yes. People do have short memories. Very short. This has been proven by the markets over and over again, especially as we walked from one bubble into the next one in less than 10 years. Now, people's memories are so short that they can't remember how much they bitched and moaned when gas was creeping over $4.00 per barrell six months ago?
"Gee, gas is expensive, we should build alternative fuel cars... Oh wait, it's not expensive any more, forget about the alternative fuel cars...." Because of course there's no chance, whatsoever, that the price of gas will EVER go up again.
What are we? Just a bunch of monkeys in some sick expiriment? Hitting the little red "pleasure" button as fast as we can, regardless of the consequences, until we get zapped by the Doctor in the lab coat? Then, it's back to the little red button for more...until BZZAP! Have we learned nothing?
Where's the planning? The forethought? Where's the idea that each of us, as individuals, might be part of something bigger...like a society? Why don't we keep our eyes focused on being "prepared" for the next time the whims of Big Oil decide to jack up the prices on us? Look, I don't especially love the idea of driving a hybrid vehicle either, but I would do it if it meant not having my life and my mood attached to the gas price.
Nothing will curse us, DOOM us as a civilization more than the inability to learn from our mistakes. And it's looking like the worse things get the shorter our memories are getting. Or maybe it's just the last gasps of an out-dated model of consumerism, with people trying to grab what they can, while they can, before the music stops. Well, in case you haven't noticed, the music has stopped, so let's WISE UP a bit.
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Mr. Obama, Will You Please Just Get Innagurated and Get This Over With...
I awoke this morning and turned on the Tube to find President Bush bloviating on Fox News about his legacy as a president and how he's had to fight the media, etc., etc. And then on CNBC I was treated to more news about what the Obama Transition Team is up to.
I feel like I'm trapped in some kind of time-warp, in which Obama is stuck as a President-Elect, and Bush is a lame duck, and I'm forced to listen to hour after hour of retrospectives about the past eight years, and about speculation on what the Obama presidency will or will not accomplish. Only, wait, I'm LIVING this time warp right now.
Does this not seem like the longest election and transition to power in history? Maybe having 100 outlets of up-to-the-minute news coverage is just wearing me out. Maybe it would be better to check in once a WEEK rather than once a day, because I'm almost getting to the point, just like with the election, where I actually BELIEVE Obama will never actually become president. Like the parabolic curve that just keeps getting half as close to the axis...half as close...but never actually touches it. We'll just keep spinning, and spinning, and spinning.
This is just a frustrated rant, and if you've read this far, I've got to applaud you.
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