[at-l] Semi OT - Shakespeare

[ellen at clinic.net (Bob C.)]

>"... we have to stop the dissembling, acknowledge the hand writing on the wall
>that we're up against the wall and then agree to work together, Japanese,
>Indians, Chinese, Americans, French, Brazilians, Inuit, et. al.,  intelligently
>to solve the situation," urges Curtis.

> While Jim thinks, "that, my friend, is a load of horsecrap."

First let me confess that I used to try to understand Jim's long messages, but
after months of experience, I've concluded that the effort is rarely worth it,
especially since he's told me several times that sometimes he's just testing to
see how far he can get people to go out on a limb.

 However, it seems obvious to me that cooperation with the world is important.
 First the obvious. It sure is nice that a great segment of the world's
 population is willing to work for a dollar a day building stuff for us.

 It would be even better if we could figure out a way to distribute the results
 of all that effort more equitably. Logic says that with all this cheap labor
 working 12 hour days for us, we ought to be able make a reasonable living
 pretty close to Henry Thoreau's 19th century achievement of six weeks a year.

 Somehow, though we still manage to work on average more hours a year than any
 of the other so called industrial nation. Perhaps that might be because we have
 achieved a system that allows 400 people to earn one percent of the entire
 national income. And it's getting worse. Only today the administration
 announced new policies to make it easier for companies to work us even longer.

  If these few fabulously wealthy folks would spend their money buying things
 that provide Americans with jobs and decent incomes, thus distributing the
 proceeds from the efforts of all these $1 a day poor folks, I might be inclined
 to appreciate them. However, they mostly spend their riches, it seems, buying
 and selling each other in a kind of giant pyramid game, in which a few play and
 the many work -- or lose their jobs -- to support their fun.

 Unbelievable as it seems, some of these 1 percent folks or 1 percent wanna bes,
 aren't satisfied with legal profits from most of the world building stuff for
 us for $1 A DAY. Some even cheat to earn more money. Why just a minute ago, MCI
 called offering me a new "deal" in thanks for my several months of patronage. I
 had to tell them that telephone service was too important for me to any longer
 negotiate on the phone -- especially from folks whose executives and former
 executives are under indictment for theft and fraud. I said they should send me
 something in print form and I'd evaluate it. It must have been a bad
 connection, for suddenly the phone went dead. I'm sure however, that they will
 call back, since the same thing happened last night also.

 Perhaps, our conservatives are right. Has over regulation played havoc with our
 utilities. Our phone and electric service certainly are in terrible shape. Had
 we deregulated earlier would we have avoided last week's blackouts, and my last
 night and tonight's failed connections?

 Sorry for the digressions. I meant to simply say that anyone who thinks these
 dollar a day folks will meekly keep sending us their resources and the produce
 of their labors for ever more may be dreaming.

 Growth is real. Uncontrolled it may bring us a culture and a life we may not
 appreciate. The patriots among us, may lament the change. But it is one world.

 We have managed to largely exhaust our resources over the past couple of
hundred years.  I suspect that sooner or later we'll need "Japanese, Indians,
Chinese, Americans, French, Brazilians, Inuit, et. al., to intelligently
stabilize the needs of the various haves and have nots. The alternative may be
the further loss of the world's resources through war and conflict.

 A tiny first step might be to concentrate on buying those things we need for
 comfort, as opposed to presumed prestige.

 I'm fascinated that the press these days seems to have anointed the
 "conservationist" owner of six Humvees to be the next governor of California.
 The anointed may be skilled at solving superficial problems. I question his
 wisdom for dealing with long term problems. YMMV.

 Weary