Anger and Apathy

Most of the news and most political discourse consists of lunatics raving about things that don't matter. Important issues are ignored, or if they are talked about, they are discussed in dry academic  terms by people who are not in a position to do anything about it. What am I going to do about it? I'm going to write this post, that'll show 'em.

The United States of America is like a giant ocean liner. Up top we have a large wheel house where the captains of industry attempt to keep the ship on course (plowing straight ahead). Just below the wheelhouse, but above the main deck are the politicians. They are on two stages, one red and one blue. Just below them, on the main deck is everyone who has come up from below decks for a bit of fresh air, although how fresh it is with all the hooting and hollering going on is debatable. A good portion of these folks are engage in a game of rugby, trying to get the ball to one end of the ship or the other, and when the competition gets particularly vigorous, pushing the opponents over the side.
Below this main deck are all the compartments of modern life where people live and work.

So what are the important issues that we are doing an adequate job of dealing with?

• mental health, especially the number of crazies locked up in prisons
• the large number of people in prison and the consequent overcrowding
• the growing number of homeless people
• inflation
• Mexico

I don't particularly care about the Mideast. They have their own brand of crazy. They are going to have to sort it out for themselves. It ought to burn itself out sometime within the next century. Any attempts to bring it into the modern age should be looking at a timeline measured in decades, which means that very few people will pay any attention to it. We should support Israel because they are the one beacon of rational thought in an otherwise insane and hostile environment.

Mexico is right next door. If we want to help anyone, we should be helping our neighbors. Whether they want any help is another matter, as is what kind of help would be beneficial. I think they need a new constitution, one that protects property rights and restricts the influence of the Catholic Church. They might have to go through a civil war before they can enact any real changes. They seem to be well down that road. We shall see.

Inflation means that diligently putting a few bucks into a savings account every week and hoping that in 30 or 40 years it will have grown to a sizable amount is foolish. The number will be big, but the value will be less than zero. The cause of inflation is deficit spending by the Federal government. I don't know how we're going to stop that. My old style, analog brain tells me that this house of cards is eventually going to collapse. But that won't happen as long as people keep buying government bonds. The biggest customers might be foreigners who are looking for a safe haven to stash their loot. Any normal capitalist would invest in their own country, but when your country is a disaster, that would be pointless. The money might provide a spark for a moment, but it would quickly be consumed. Anyway, when the Saudis stop buying bonds, watch out because the end is near.

The problem with our prisons is similar to the problems with our health care system. We have this idea of how these systems should be run, an idea that has been formed by countless lawsuits, but there isn't enough money in the world to run these systems as we would like to see them run. What we need is a lower level but pervasive level of care.

Prisons don't need to be made of concrete. Tents and chain link fence is enough. A little fresh air and sunshine could help improve mental health. And prisoners don't need to be protected from each other. They gave up that protection when they committed their crime. Let them sort themselves out. Let them decide who among them is suitable for parole, and who should be sent to the next inner circle.

Of course, there is also the problem of who ends up in prison. But right now I need a cup of coffee.