Monthly Archives: August 2026

And All That Class….

These days I am search of a rare object. Class! Being classy means acting with grace, respect, humility and self control. You are calm and discreet. Kindness and authenticity. Yikes! Know anyone? That’s a tough one. 

Class and elegance are closely related but class is a timeless dignity as to  how you act but elegance is a subtle sophistication in how you present yourself. You walk in the room like James Bond but you act like Mother Theresa. Try pulling that off. 

Narcissism seems to be a transmittable disease these days. Maybe RFK could come with a vaccine. Probably not, because he’d say the meds change one’s personality. Why would we ever want to do that?  

 But behind this mask of extreme confidence, they are not sure of their self-worth and are easily upset by the slightest criticism. People with narcissistic personality disorder may be generally unhappy and disappointed when they’re not given the special favors or admiration that they believe they deserve. They may find their relationships troubled and unfulfilling, and other people may not enjoy being around them. 

These last two paragraphs I plagiarized. I am not that smart. But they are worth thinking about. 

Have you ever seen somebody with money or power berate a waiter or someone behind a reception desk? Do you know who I am? No, and I really don’t give a crap. I will have your job! The classic is playing golf with a caddy. Crappy shot? Of course it was his fault not yours. He handed you the wrong club or read the putt wrong. That isn’t just being rude. It is the height of insecurity. Making a lesser person feel even worse. Good for you.

They have an unreasonable sense of self importance and need constant admiration and fawning. They feel they deserve special treatment. They want the best of everything and constantly compare themselves to others. They become impatient with staff and lose it when someone criticizes them. 

Is it just me or is this becoming pervasive in so many walks of life. Government? You can be president, senator, rep or cabinet official. You are squired around and doted on. You are unapproachable unless it is on your terms. Wait! Who do they work for? 

Narcissistic personality disorder is a mental health condition in which people have an unreasonably high sense of their own importance. They need and seek too much attention and want people to admire them. People with this disorder may lack the ability to understand or care about the feelings of others.

CEOS and veeps in corporate suites. Just tell me the good stuff or you are fired. Sports people ? Celebrities? I want only green M and M’s in my dressing room. I will do interviews when I want. I want to be your idol but don’t dare invade my privacy. It is beyond interesting that we not only accept it but want that behavior as a consuming public. Probably would be a great study of human nature an failings. 

If you are classy you are kind, approachable and even humble. You have an authenticity that is palpable. Dolly Parton just died. Does she fit the bill? Never forgot where she came from. She knew who she was and was not afraid to show it. 

I hope I am not overplaying it when I say maybe that is what is missing today. We all have different points view. What if we really listened to people? Not just polite but really trying to understand. What if we were empathetic? I can’t experience your pain but
I can picture it. People really do have crappy lives and huge personal problems. Do you just blow them off? Sorry for your loss but I have things to do. Really interesting stuff. 

Is it silly to aspire to this high level? I hope not. I am one of the worst offenders but it doesn’t mean one settles into being a jerk forever. Work in progress and that is the point. We are all guilty in one manner or another. Maybe a lot of us have just given up? Sad.

Me? I am gong to try to be authentic.

I am going to try not to interrupt. Set my ham radio to receive and not just transmit. I have specific thoughts and beliefs but it does not mean I don’t have a lot to learn. Maybe I just say thank you for all the numbers things people do for me. Perhaps not God’s gift to the music world as the saying goes. Work in progress, right to the end.

As always 

Ted The Great  

Factoids:

Wealth breeds contempt. You think you got there by your brains and not luck. As you have more you want to amp it up. The higher and higher you go the more detached you become from the real world. From what really makes this world tick. 

Classy People

Mother Theresa..top of the list. 

Pope Leo…

Adam Scott and Justin Rose…pro golfers. 

George Herbert Walker and Barbara Bush

Tom Hanks

Jimmy and Rosanne Carter

Kate Middleton

Princess Di

Warren Buffett

MY MOM!

I am sure there are more but I really have to think. Decent, honest and humble probably were my favorite attributes. Interesting as I look online everyone was great because the were beautiful or well dressed. Hmmm.

Implications…

I am starting off with a piece from John Ellison’s Substack. It is not political in any way. It is a clear statement of facts. If anyone wants to take on its accuracy, please do. I hope you take a minute to read and consider its implications. 

“ Not that anyone seems to care, but:

Around 2030, the United States is projected to surpass three milestones that illustrate the lack of precedent for the government’s fiscal predicament. 

According to the Congressional Budget Office, 2030 is the year when federal debt held by the public as a share of the economy will exceed the record set by World War II. Unlike in the ’40s, this debt shows no signs of ever declining. 

In 1945, 84 percent of federal outlays were on defense, a tsunami of spending that would ebb once World War II concluded. In 2025, 73 percent of federal outlays were on mandatory spending or interest payments, which are legally obligated to continue. 

The year 2030 is also roughly when the ratio of seniors to the total population will reach 1 in 5. As recently as 2008, the ratio was around 1 in 8. Seniors’ rising share of the population mechanically raises Social Security and Medicare costs and pushes them onto a proportionally smaller working population. 

The U.S. always used to be able to count on a naturally rising population as an engine for economic growth, but that will no longer be the case. That’s because 2030 is also the year when the CBO projects that deaths will begin to exceed births. The entitlement programs making up much of the budget were designed under 20th-century demographic expectations that no longer hold true. 

Social Security used to take in more money than it gave out, but that money was spent on other things. The program has run annual deficits since 2010. It is projected to go insolvent in 2032, at which point seniors would receive a roughly one-quarter cut in benefits across the board. 

Medicare’s budget-busting makes Social Security’s look modest by comparison. Of the projected $138 trillion budget shortfall over the next 30 years, $109 trillion is from Medicare. Rising health care costs, combined with an aging population receiving far more in benefits than it ever paid in taxes, spells fiscal Armageddon. The Medicare Hospital Insurance trust fund goes insolvent in 2033.”

The sheer simplicity struck me. Anyone should be able to read it and understand it. It focuses on one extremely important aspect of our world…deficit spending. There are many other critical components to pursue ranging from infrastructure to foreign policy. That is not the point. We are so good at avoiding facing difficult solutions. What was I thinking?.It is time for the summer break. 

We have the rich and famous, both individually and as mega corporations. We can tout how much they contribute to society and pay more than their fair share of taxes. Yes and no. Are they scheduled to shell out huge sums as  is touted for the 1or 10% ? Yes, with an asterisk. More importantly is how much of that taxation is subtracted through a variety of loopholes and the definition of what salary is. 

We have given large corporations all sorts of deductions on the hope they will “reinvest in America.” Bravo….except they have spent a majority of this money on share buybacks. Of course that raises the stock price at whose benefit? The average Joe? 

Let’s not let our socialist friends off the hook. They have more ways to spend money than Carter’s Little Liver pills. Subsidized housing. Free healthcare and child care. Perhaps a guaranteed income whether you work or not. If you do we are going to have a fat minute wage. Let’s have all the corporations come under government ownership.

Both sides are tough to reason with. The only way you and I can affect policy is to vote in one side or the other. Every four or eight years we flip our approach to spending and foreign policy. That usually doesn’t work and we go back to ground zero. And to use an abhorrent phrase,”We kick the can down the road.” To my way of thinking we are about to run out of any road whatsoever. 

People ask how we got here? I would ask do we really take this process seriously? When we vote for someone do we really know them or do we just step in the booth and pull the red or white lever   as a robot. Do we listen to attack ads or is there ever any reasonable back and forth?

Let’s take Trump. He ran on closing down the border which I agree wholeheartedly with. He also wanted to round up the crooks and rapists. How can you be against that? Is the government bloated? Mais oui. But…

Did you vote for ripping people out of cars and shooting them? Rousting people in the middle of the night who have been here for 30 years with a wife and kids? Oh and by the way sending them off to Latin America or Africa without any recourse where they will probably die in prison. Are we all that inhumane?

I am not picking on the Donald. He is just the most obvious demonstration of knowing what you are really getting into. Senators and Congresspeople are much more subtle. After a while they settle in and find all the neat escapes and benefits. I will ask you if this is who you and I are? 

Do you really understand that our current crop of politicians are so beholding to party hacks and vested interests? The entire nominating system is so tilted that you have to  pledge undying devotion and loyalty or you are out. Is it US or THEM who are planning our future? We only have ourselves to blame. 

You and I in everyday life have to understand the implications of what we do. If I make an investment it is either good or bad. If I am profligate or just a bad guy I pay the price. Is that what happens in our beloved government  or even corporate America? I think pardons and golden parachutes have made for an air of irresponsibility and insolence. 

My point is simple. You and I have to take our world more seriously. We have to realize the implications of what we do and say. We have to take an interest in what is going on. We have to look at both left and right and realize the long term consequences of what they are saying.Is this even possible? At this point it is a long shot. I sat that as an optimistic pragmatist who really gives a shit. 

I hope you do too. 

As always 

Ted The Great

Factoids:

Only one. The opening statement.