Economy, Junk Mail, and a Few Thoughts
by Barry Bauer
The economy we’re faced with today would have looked pretty damn good if we were just coming out of the Great Depression. A time when men were trading their farm jobs for manufacturing jobs which left them subject to influences they had no control over – just like the weather. The promise of the industrial world providing anymore than farming did in the dust bowl has failed.
Manufacturing jobs are leaving this country faster than rats jumping off a sinking ship. We don’t have leaders anymore to put an end to it. Why not be honest about it, we don’t have any leaders. I’ve only heard one man say that we’ve got to stop this and has not given us that old worn out refrain, “Oh Well, get used to it.” Who am I talking about? Donald Trump.
I want the presidential candidate pool in 2012 to have somebody in it besides the same old tired politicians. They look tired, they act tired, their ideas are tired, and I’m getting tired of them.
Did I say that right?
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I sat around Monday complaining about the mailman being late. Damn, what was I going to do to fill my day? No bills to worry about, no junk mail that’s supposedly must read because the envelope was stamped “Final Notice!,” no letter from the IRS saying we’re being audited. No nothing! Then Betty reminded me that it was Martin Luther King’s holiday and we weren’t going to get any mail.
We need more holidays like that.
We made the mistake of donating to certain charities. We were only trying to help a few of them. We cannot support all of them as we are retired and our income is limited. Their biggest mistake is selling our name to other so-called charities to raise more money. As for this household, they’ve only soured us on them.
Just like the old days when hobos used to mark a house where they and their fellow hobos, could get a free meal. We’ve been marked.
We don’t give out much money to any one charity but five dollars here and five dollars there does add up. We always try to support our local causes first. The deluge of junk mail includes nickels and dimes, a planning calendar, a 12-month calendar, a decal for our window of choice, etc. All meant to make us feel guilty if we don’t contribute.
The latest group asking us for money sent us a letter that was labeled, “Urgent Help For Starving Elderly Jews.” What’s wrong with “Urgent Help For All The Starving Elderly . . . period.
This is not a Jewish household so the junk mail wasn’t appreciated.
All of that brings me to AARP, an organization started originally to sell insurance to older people. We joined when I was fifty and we couldn’t empty our waste baskets fast enough from all the junk mail they sent us. My guess is if you sent them enough money, you could join when you’re forty.
We dropped them quite a while ago.
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There have been five great jokes played on the American people in recent years. The first was Bill Clinton who took the word “dignity” out of the Oval Office. The second was George W. Bush who reminded us not of President Reagan in his prime, but Reagan during his Alzheimer’s years. Remember the episode in Beijing, China when Bush tried to leave a news conference through a locked door. The third, Al Gore, who convinced me to vote for George W. Bush and later traveled around the World yelling “Global Warming.” I came to my senses and didn’t vote for Bush the second time.
Barack Obama, who promised hope and change but in reality has nothing for us except a disastrous trip further into Socialism. When people are mostly worried about the economy, Obama gave us another entitlement program fondly (or whatever) called Obamacare. We’re going broke with the entitlement programs we have now.
He does not listen to the people.
And finally, a Congress that has failed to keep our financial house in order.
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A few thoughts:
If you’re looking for a perfect world, you’re on the wrong planet.
The worst TV interviewers are employed by the Today Show. Take my word for it, they’re terrible. I didn’t know what a stupid question was until I watched them.
We have a renewed call for keeping a civil tongue in our head. It’s a little tough to do when the servants in government refuse to listen to us. Yes, that’s right, they are servants . . . and we’re supposed to be the boss.
I think we’ve forgotten that.
Who in their right mind thinks Canada should be trucking their trash into Michigan? Their cities have agreed to stop hauling theirs here but private haulers are still allowed to do it. Something about commerce laws. We should change our state motto to, “We’ll do anything for money.”
It would be more fitting.
Until the next time . . .