The definition of perspective is an interesting one. A “perspective” is a specific way of viewing or understanding something, shaped by your beliefs and experiences”. You and I see things differently.  The world would love to define us by silos but it is not as easy as that. I scan newspapers with articles and op-eds trying to discover what is going on. How do I feel about it.  Now I have to add is it true? That kinda sucks.

I am rereading George Friedman’s, The Storm Before The Calm. He is a favorite read of mine as a geopolitical theorist. He starts by giving you a capsule summary of our history as a young nation. The good, the bad and the ugly. He then separates various time frames into both institutional and socioeconomic outcomes. Each with its own idiosyncrasies and of course, successes and  failures. All without mudslinging or condemnation. It is what it is. 

He heralds that we are a nation born of rebellion and violence. We are upstarts and cocky. We don’t have the centuries of history and traditions like Europe to fall back on. We have been through slavery but so have many other nations in our world. The 13 colonies were each separate and provincial. We united in war but had differences. We have had robber barons, monopolies and  racism at it best. Not only towards blacks but to the Irish,Poles and Chinese. The Catholics and Jews and now Muslims. Please do not get your back up. It is all there. 

Rather than dwelling on it or trying to change that history, he looks at it as a tableau to be studied. Politically we had the era of Washington and then Lincoln and onto FDR and the last of them Regan,as being noteworthy. We are waiting for the next one and it is probably not Trump. True we are fed up with just about everyone from the government to business to education and our very malevolent press. We have not managed our resources well. Wait TTG, our economy is doing great, unemployment is low and we have a few shootings here and there but overall we get a ‘B”. Not so fast.

I would hold out to you we have a bunch of problems that get ignored while your AI stocks and Bitcoin are flying. Not only Obamacare or Medicare but healthcare as an industry is going to put us out of business. I agree let’s get rid of the subsidies but what do you do from there? Do you just let people die or waste away from their chronic diseases. Immigration has been fixed. Sorta. We have removed by force or their own volition about 2 million illegals. Unfortunately not all were criminals and the hard work they did does not fit into the aspirations of our current legal workforce. 

People are getting old! I had to visit a patient in an assisted care facility. Average cost $7,000 per month. It was not exactly what I was hoping for. And these are the people that can afford it. As the elderly section gets larger and larger there are a lot less young people that are around and better yet willing to take care of Mom and Dad. I could go on but the point is we are approaching tilt on our little pinball game of life. No one and I mean no one is providing answers. 

Friedman will tell you the end of the cycle is not pretty. Our government is moribund. Corporations are too busy making money and will continue to automate. Educational standards are getting lower and lower as we continue to throw money at it. Today’s morality is questionable.Anything goes. We have no states people nor leaders of industry that are willing to come forward and  say,”Hey gang, we have to fix a lot of things. It will require a different way of looking at our livelihood. We have to have the humility to realize what isn’t working and we will ALL have to pitch in to fix it”. Maybe you know that dude or dudette but I don’t. 

This will probably sound crazy but I am suddenly at ease. I take comfort that this has happened before and we have worked our way out of it. In my lifetime,WWII,Viet Nam, the Oil Embargo, Watergate, 9/11, 2008, Afghanistan, Ukraine ,COVID. That is only naming a few. Going back in history was the The Revolution, Great Depression, Civil War. In all those happenings an adult in the room had to come forward. Out of the box thinking and cutting through red tape. Political parties talking to one another. Or perhaps blowing by rules and regs en masse to get things done. We are truly at a crisis precipice. Oops, I better shut up or I will get gaslighted or deported. 

In an absurd way I am accepting our current situation. I have so little power to change things I have to search anywhere to find someone who will. A group of men and women who have to give us tough love. If you think we can go on this way, go for it. I am a little too practical and maybe have seen too much to dig out my rose colored glasses once again. My IRA may be gaining but the underpinning of this big blue marble is showing some serious cracks. As they say,Look Out Below. 

We have become gigantic from corporations to government to our universities. They are hard to control, unwieldy, prone to error and corruption. Friedman will tell you minor repairs and band aids won’t work. In the end we will sober up. Throw the bad parts out and polish up and streamline the good ones. If you believe AI is the salvation tell me what we do with the other 90% that do not directly benefit. I really do have a different perspective and it is not all bad. It sure beats just bitching about it. 

As always

Ted The Great 

Factoids. 

Interestingly the government in relation to the population is less than it was 80 years ago. In 1945 it was 2.6% of the population. In the 70’s it was 1.1% Today it is .6%That’s a scary thought. 

There are approximately 5,000 laws on the federal books. There are also 300,000 rules and regs. Obamacare was 1,000 pages as a bill. There are untold number of rules all written by the staffs of agencies. …ably assisted by insurers, drug companies and HMO’s. Many nullify others or are in direct conflict. 

The National debt is currently $38 trillion. That is $112,000 for each person in the US. 10,000 people turn 65 every day. They are consumers not producers. Healthcare costs $15,000 per every single person every year. We simply do not have the revenue through taxes of all sorts to cover our current expenditures. 

Our life expectancy in the US is 78.4 years  Men at 74 and women at 81. Older people can expect to live around 5 years with pain or a serious illness. Sorry kids, that costs a lot of money.