Hi People:

I have been doing a lot of reading on a variety of topics, rather than being a good boy and writing Ted’s Head. My mind is chock a block with all manner of social and economic theories. Throughout it all, I keep coming back to try to figure out why people are so unhappy? 

To cut to the chase, people don’t like being screwed. We are bombarded by pundits and the masses alike with messages that show this side or that is getting a raw deal. This election cycle will only amp up the rhetoric. Trump wants to make America great again and Harris will tell you we are going to rework society. All in all, we are pitting ourselves against each other. Can this ever work?

A book in progress for me is, “How To Know A Person” by David Brooks. David is a somewhat conservative writer who is better described as a wonderful thinker. I mentioned him to a friend, who scoffed he liked him a while back but now he is too liberal. I guess that means he is no longer coherent or has anything useful to say. But I digress. 

One of the precepts of the book is how incredibly different each and every one of us are. We live in a stereotypical world where unfortunately we believe we can size up a person in the first few introductory sentences. I’ve got your number and I know where people like you come from. We can be put off or on just by a glance. But the fact of the matter is that you and I are beyond complex and nuanced. 

Think about it. All of your thoughts, environment, relationships and biases shape how you view the world and react to it. You cannot put that into a bottle and label it. Going further, he explains the art of conversation.  Ideally, you are open and welcoming. It is not about you expounding but trying to draw out what the other guy or gal is thinking. You not only listen but do so intently. If you really think about it, it is pretty heavy stuff to come out of your world and into someone else’s. 

We have created a crazy world. It is sterile, calculating and methodical. We have no spare time to interact or if we do it is a hit and run. One of the key elements in anybody’s world is to be noticed and more importantly to have value. Some try to do it by their “things” but this fame turns out to be shallow and fleeting. Some attempt to be brilliant only to have their uniqueness scorned. Most are just put in the blender to be pureed and served up as a shake. It is so much better than that. 

I read an article about credit card debt. It seems that we as individuals have run up a tab of over $1.1 trillion dollars. All that debt supports an interest rate of over 22%. One of the main culprits is “revenge” spending. COVID caused us to miss so much, we are blowing gazillions of dollars on travel and entertainment. Trivial, irrational and flawed are adjectives that come to mind. 

Where am I going with all of this? We let ourselves be dictated to in every sense of the word. We are told what to wear, where to live, how to invest and what we are lacking. Don’t ask questions. Just shut up and we will show you the way to Eden whether it is through Taylor Swift, a new car or a house,way beyond your means. You can’t be yourself because that is not good enough. Everything you have is dated. Keep up or you will fall hopelessly behind. 

Our economy is 75% based on consumption. As long as you keep on buying, the world will be a better place. If you don’t we will go into recession. If you buy too much we have inflation. The Fed, Washington, Wall Street and corporate America are at the controls of the ship of state. Everything from food to healthcare and even dying has been monetized. And you wonder why people get in a bad mood?

I am a capitalist at heart but we have lost it. The disconnect and inequality today is over the top. Small-town America, replete with Main Street and simple pleasures has become passe. People want to be where the action is. Young people are becoming rich beyond compare in their thirties. Old people are counting their shekels and wanting more and more. Let the good times roll! 

But wait. Has anybody heard anything from either side about the National debt? Biden has run up a tab far beyond needs. Trump matched him buck for buck but we don’t hear about it. Drive down an Interstate and tell me how many potholes and bare spots you hit. Yes, even in Flalaland. 

Simply put, we have to sober up in a lot of ways. The oligarchs can’t keep squeezing more and more out of working America. The latter has to set realistic goals and desires. The gang on top does have to kick in more. The crew on the bottom can’t long for an absurd high life. Their playing field is not level but they have to work around it.

 If you have to live in your car you have every right to bitch. If your house is tight make do. How many of us grew up with 1 1/2 baths and made it? On the other end, 10,000 square feet with 8 bedrooms is obscene.  Yes, there is malaise on all ends, but tell me how really bad you have it. The grass is greener on the other side or is it?

As always,

Ted The Great. 

Factoids:

The average consumer has 3-4 credit cards. 1/2 of all those cards carry balances. As mentioned it is over $1.1 trillion.   

Twenty million people have medical debt. That is over $220 billion and could be a serious part of the credit card debt. 

The US debt now stands at $35 trillion. 

Trump administration (1/20/17–1/20/21)

• Net borrowing: $8.4 trillion
• Net borrowing excluding COVID measures: $4.8 trillion

Biden administration (1/20/21–6/21/24)

• Net borrowing: $4.3 trillion
• Borrowing excluding American Rescue Plan: $2.2 trillion

All of these were passed by bipartisan action. 

Fox News

The  Economic Policy Institute found that CEOs were paid 344 times as much as a typical worker in 2022, up from an average pay ratio of just 21 to 1 in 1965. Kids, fun is fun but that is crazy.