This site is best viewed using Mozilla Firefox browser.

What's New

2011-02-01 14:24:00

Our borrowed existence - series

Question: What’s new?

Answer: Like I always say…I’m glad to be asked. In the past, I have written on just about every subject from “hair nets to hip boots” and from “soup to nuts.” This month I will begin a series of what I believe to be one of the most serious problems we have ever faced…both as a nation…and as citizens of the world at large. This problem is not being discussed by nearly enough people. It’s one thing to have to experience something that is not of our liking, if we are properly warned beforehand and make the decision to “stick our heads in the sand.” It is another thing if we have to say, “I didn’t know.” You will know about and understand this problem at the conclusion of this series. I would prefer a person or persons with much more knowledge in these areas than myself to write this, but unless it is done very quickly, it may be too late. Perhaps it’s already too late…but I will do what I can. Before I begin, please understand…I am not an economist. I am not a politician. I do not have an agenda…other than using this column to inform as many people as I can of what I see and have researched, in the hope that something can be done. It is always possible I will be “shut down” before I finish. I believe, as do others who I will tell you about, that something very major is going to happen to us…again as a nation, and as citizens of the world, within the foreseeable future...and that this future will not be measured in years but in months. I know, when anyone says something like this, they are immediately accused of being hateful, nuts, stirring things up needlessly, being ignorant, or crying wolf when wolf should not be cried. I will attempt to dispel the first in this article, as I try to position you for what is to come. Hopefully, I will dispel the rest of the accusations in ensuing articles. First…a few preliminaries... If you are a regular reader of this column, you already know I place God into most all of the things I write and do. This series will be no different. This does not mean I am some kind of holier than anyone kind of person. It only means that I recognize, believe and understand why I am here and what the final “prize” is we all seek. I think…with what we have staring at us…it is something we all need to do much more of. In the midst of the seriousness of this subject, I will attempt to integrate as much lightheartedness and levity as possible, where it makes sense. The information I will present throughout this series has come from several sources, including but not limited to, Stansberry & Associates, Kipplinger, Weiss Research, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Congressional Budget Office, the National Inflation Association, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, several others…as well as my own analysis...for what it’s worth. You may notice a bit more moderate tone from me than what I have displayed in previous articles. In earlier days, it would not have been unlike me to say, “This is the way it is because I’ve checked it out. Believe it.” Today however…and particularly for this series…I prefer to say, “Faith is negated if coerced. Check it out for yourself…but please…check it out thoroughly.” Lastly, of my preliminaries (what a phrase, huh?), let me say this about the title of this series. It has a double meaning. The first…hopefully faith will cause you to understand…that you, me, and every creature, plant, bacteria and cell in the universe lives on a borrowed existence. It is borrowed from and lent by God. He can demand it back at any time of His choosing. If you differ with this…you may not get too much out of this series, so if you want to stop now, that is fine. Assuming you’re still reading…let me continue. The second, our existence as a super power nation, in all of the things in which we reign, is borrowed. It is borrowed from and lent by God as well, but it is also borrowed from and lent by the rest of the world, from all of those who were here before us…including our leaders in both government and business, our parents, grandparents, their parents, and every one of the brave men and women who have served, fought and died for our country since its beginning. This borrowed existence can be taken back too, and it is the basis for this entire series. The act of borrowing is something that has been around for as long as man has lived on this planet. It has certain implications and principles that must be followed. Sometimes a story illustrates it and positions you best for the things I want to impart. Other than toys I borrowed from my siblings, I think the first time I ever remember being a party to something that was borrowed of a bigger nature, was when I was very young on the farm. My Dad had a WD-45 Allis Chalmers tractor. He used it for all of our farming. To those of you who may not be familiar, this tractor could pull no more than a two bottom, 16 inch plow, or a 12 foot spring tooth, or an 8 foot tandem disc. In other words, it was a small tractor. With equipment no bigger than these, it took a long time to do anything. While there were Caterpillars and bulldozers around, we didn’t have access to them. So the terraces (man-made rows of dirt to direct water when it rained) in our cultivated ground that we built were very small compared to the size they are today. Every couple of years they needed to be built up and the channels cleaned out that had filled in with run off soil. We had a blade that could be hooked to the back of Dad’s tractor, but it wasn’t big enough, wide enough and built right to do a good job. Fred Bauer, our neighbor, had a different kind of a blade, he called it a grader. It had a much wider blade with two steering mechanisms that could be adjusted by someone riding on its platform behind the blade. It was pulled behind a tractor and did a much better job. I remember going over to Fred’s with Dad and Dad asking him if he could borrow his grader to work his terraces. Fred always obliged. While we always treated Fred with respect because he was a very good man and because he was about 20 years older than Dad…we especially did so during the period of time that we borrowed his grader. It just seemed like it was the thing to do. You should always treat everyone with respect, but it made a lot of sense to treat them with even more respect if you were borrowing something of theirs. Not only because they might take whatever you were borrowing back, but also because they may never let you borrow it or anything again. This is a good thought to have when it comes to borrowing anything. As promised, I need to dispel the notion that I am going to write this series from a hateful perspective. This is something one didn’t have to think about 75-years ago, but today, if you differ with this guy or gal, or this group, or you are on the left, the right, or in the middle, whatever you say is obviously tainted with hate. It would be so good to go back to the good ol’ days where one could talk about something without this hanging over their heads, but I don’t know if we’ll ever get there again. Did you ever wonder where all of this hate began? The other day, I started chasing my past back, trying to remember the incident or the period in time when things changed. Let me tell you what I came up with…and in so doing…perhaps you will buy into there being no hate in this series. As many of you know, I’m getting a little “long in the tooth.” I’m not as “long” as some but “longer” than most. I am 60 years old. My first memories were in the mid to late 50’s as a young boy. I have three older sisters and two younger brothers. The things I remember most about them was that my younger brother Tim (two years younger than me), always found a way to get out of doing the chores; Rory (seven years younger than me), was spoiled; and Gloria, Kathy and Mary (four, three and two years older than me) were Mom and Dad’s favorites, wearing pinafores and thongs most of the time, watching American Bandstand, and crooning over songs like Pineapple Princess by Annette Funicello, Wild One by Bobby Rydell, Tiger by Fabian and of course a bunch of songs by Elvis. I remember most all of the 60’s…the early 60’s…high school in the mid 60’s…and college in the late 60’s. I remember all of the 70’s, and 80’s. Okay, there may have been a few days out of all of those years from the late 60’s through the 80’s that I can’t remember…but a bit later in the morning on those days I began to remember. I say all of this so you will know, I spent some time going back through lots of memories before I wrote this piece. As I went back, I cannot ever remember a time when people viciously attacked each other anywhere close to the extent that it is done today. I don’t think it was that we were all so politically correct, rather…it just wasn’t the thing to do. Politicians tactfully addressed their opponents. I remember hearing some of them who were getting ready to confront one another saying something like, “The distinguished Senator from North Carolina must have a file or two missing from his report,” or, “My good friend, the Honorable Congressman from Ohio, is having a bit of lapse of memory this morning.” Sports stars and movie celebrities were cordial and kind for the most part. Oh there were moments and situations…but not too many people verbally…viciously…attacked one another like they do today. I can’t even remember news anchors that shared with us these kinds of attacks or confrontations. Can you? Then Don Rickles came along. He was born in 1926. He tried acting in the late 40’s and 50’s and early 60’s, unsuccessfully. In the mid to late 60’s, he turned to comedy. Fellow and older comedians of the time were the likes of Groucho Marx, Jack Benny, Milton Berle, Bob Hope, Jackie Mason and Redd Foxx. Comedy was not Rickles’ bag either. The crowd would boo and jeer him. But rather than quit that too, he began to give it right back to them…in a hateful manner…more so than any other comic that had preceded him. Even Jackie Leonard, who was his mentor, did not do what Rickles did, to the degree that he did it. He turned into an “insult comic.” Insult comics, for the most part, always had short careers, but Don Rickles career has lasted longer than any. At first people were shocked at the things he would dish out. Then, some of them began to laugh. Then in order to keep them laughing, he got more hateful and more rude. I have to say, I love a good story and sharp wit as well as anyone, but I cannot remember ever laughing at anything Don Rickles ever had to say. Isn’t that something? I cannot remember a single thing he ever said that I thought was funny. I really can’t. I’m sure I’m strange. It took me the longest time to realize what I was watching was real. I just couldn’t believe someone could be that insulting and rude to someone else. It was always too “cutting” for me, so my appreciation for his humor or the story or the remark was always lost. No one could belittle someone in a public forum like Don Rickles. No one could call someone the names he called people…to their face…like him. No one could…no one did…for a long time. Then somehow, over the years, probably the same “others” that began to laugh at him at the beginning, thought it was okay to do it…then more and more. Before long…it was everywhere. Today we have reality this and reality that. Everywhere you look…there is hate. Following the Tucson tragedy, President Obama asked for civility in all of our dealings with everyone. I thought it was rather odd that his request was not accompanied by a confession of some of the things he had said throughout his campaign and his first two years of his presidency that were uncivil. It would have given his request much more credibility if he would have said, “I have been as guilty as anyone. It is wrong for me. It is wrong for you. From this day forward, let us debate the issues…not criticize the person…and restore civility to America.” He didn’t. Now before you get all upset thinking that I just made a hateful comment, get over it…I didn’t. These are the facts. This is what he said and what he did. I’m not talking about him as a person…but what he said and did. After his speech, less than three days later…and ever since, the “right,” “left,” and “middle,” along with the pundits have been just as venomous as ever, if not more so. I don’t know whether Don Rickles single handedly brought hate to America or not. I just can’t remember it being so prevalent before him. If he was the one that started it all, he should be spanked…and spanked hard. As a nation…as citizens of this world…we have to get away from hate. We have to get back to debating the issues, then let our democratic way of doing things work. I will promise you now…there will be nothing in this series about hate. I will stay with the facts…every one of which you will be able to authenticate for yourself. For now, I am out of space. Next month, we will talk about the borrowed existence we have enjoyed as a nation, and why I and many others feel…it is in more peril today than it has ever been before.