Getting Down to Business

This concealed carry thing is a fairly recent development. When we were kids, no one could buy a handgun in Chicago, not even the police. I know this because the gun shop where I used to hang out moved to the suburbs so that they could sell handguns, and the Chicago police were some of their best customers. There was plenty of violent crime in Chicago in those days, but I don't know if the numbers have gone up since then. I doubt that the two guys who robbed my dad's store at gunpoint had concealed carry permits. My dad didn't need a permit to keep a handgun in his store, but he had to go out of the city limits to buy it. It's true that you don't often hear of a legal gun owner taking out a criminal. It seems like it must happen occasionally, but you don't hear about it. My dad almost got one of the guys who robbed him, but then his partner grabbed the stock boy and held him hostage. Too bad.

Laissez faire is a pie in the sky theory that has never happened in the real world, and there is probably a reason for that. It's true that companies spend way too much on advertising, and there is probably a reason for that too. If people would just disregard the advertising there would probably be less of it. They do it because it works.

It's true that you have to put up with a certain amount of social crap to get laid, but not nearly as much as people think. Back in the day, I found the most effective tactic was to cut a lady out of the herd and get her off by herself as soon as possible. At least that's the way I remember it. It seems so long ago now, like a dream or something. Sure man is a social animal, but I don't think all that name calling is necessary for a society to function. People do it because their friends do it, when all they really need to do is find different friends. There are decent people out there, you just have to look for them.

The awarding of jobs and promotions at he paper mill had nothing to do with social crap, at least not among the hourly workers. Vacancies were posted for bids, and the bids were awarded according to seniority. If it so happened that a guy just couldn't handle his new job, he could go back to his old job and the new opening was re-posted. Of course, management did it differently, but they were all a bunch of big sucks. They had to be because they weren't unionized. I understand there aren't many union shops around anymore, which is one reason I'm glad that I no longer have to work for a living. The other reason is that I no longer have to deal with all the social crap that had nothing to do with the job. It was just gratuitous social crap that people did for entertainment, and it doesn't take much to entertain some people.

I'm sorry that you seem to be rejecting the proposal to annex Central America out of hand. While I could see some problems associated with it, I thought the idea merited further consideration. Maybe you would prefer this one that I came up with myself some time ago: Give Mexico back all the land that they lost to the U.S. in the Mexican War. Then make all the Mexicans in the U.S. go live there, or anyplace else in Mexico. I mean all the Mexicans, legal, illegal, citizens or not. If they look Mexican, talk Mexican, act Mexican, or have a Mexican sounding name, make them go live in the new improved Mexico. We could also do something like that with the Blacks, but I can't claim credit for that idea, it actually was originated by a guy who was Black himself, Elijah Mohammed (real name: Elijah Poole), founder of the Nation of Islam (a.k.a. the Black Muslims). He wanted us to give them five Southern states, all of which this country would be better off without. Interestingly, those were the same five Southern states that George Wallace carried in the 1968 election, and Wallace actually supported Elijah's proposal. Too bad he didn't win the presidency.