Red Ink

Photos in the New York Times of bank runs in California. Fanny Mae and Freddy Mac being propped up by the Feds. My IRA losing money in five digits every month. Now my A. G. Edwards broker is scheduling a phone conference to decide what to do next. Evidence that the system doesn’t work showing up on all sides. Can the current crop of criminals in Washington, D.C. keep it together long enough to blame it on the next administration?

This is the ultimate failure of a philosophy that markets should regulate themselves—that it is prudent to just leave them alone (deregulation it was called) and everything will be hunkie dory. Now we know it doesn’t work for the middle class in this country. We are nearly an extinct animal. Soon there will only be the super rich and the very poor. Why was such a huge miscalculation allowed to continue while we were treated to a diet of fear and entertainment? Well, look who benefits—the super rich. When will we take to the streets and declare our own war on them? Well, we can take to the streets but we can’t find them. They are safely hidden away in the form of the multinational corporations. Who are they anyway? Why, they are us! My IRA is invested in those very multinationals.

So can we at least bring the Washington criminals to justice? Not, if the Justice Department and the courts have been packed by the criminals themselves. We have not even been able to bring serious impeachment charges against Bush and Cheney, in spite of clear “high crimes and misdemeanors” that is the constitutional requirement.

Meanwhile, a catastrophe that makes the one in the headlines seem like an afternoon thunder storm is looming on the horizon. Call it global warming—call it climate change. Call it what you will, there is mounting evidence that the planet is getting ready to throw us out because we foul our own nests. We have met the enemy and they are us.

So how can I be having fun in the face of all this? Am I just fiddling while Rome burns? I continue to do what I can to make positive changes, but I can’t let myself become depressed and discouraged or I’ll lose my ability to act. Having fun is my way of keeping my head clear and my eyes open. I don’t know if I’ll be able to save myself and my loved ones when it comes the time to make a leap, but I intend to be clear headed enough to try.