"I guess what started me on this track was Old Dog's statement about everything the government does being a failure."
Huh. I don't think I said that but it may have been inferred by the examples I used. The government does do many things right, too numerous to mention, but they are invisible to us and we seldom take notice. It's the things that go wrong that grab our attention. We can't, and shouldn't, fail to address such social issues as poverty, drugs, crime, and terrorism but I think the many Wars on This, That, and The Other Thing are nothing more than PR hype and never get around to underlying causes.
Trouble is, those underlying causes are devilishly difficult to nail down and we don't know who to believe or trust. If the causes were simple we would have arrived at simple answers long ago and all would be right with the world. Historically, Americans (meaning folks in the U.S. of A.) have been independent, often stubborn, and perhaps a bit greedy with an overblown sense of entitlement, tempered with a belief in fair play and core values of liberty and equality for all. Inability to maintain those qualities in good balance might be at the root of many underlying causes of social problems. There is more to it than that oversimplification but it will have to do for now.
But I don't think there has been enough of an emphasis on individual responsibility, a value difficult to instill and a topic of much previous discussion. Another can of worms, and lacking the narrative skills demonstrated in the tales of Joe's Bait Shop I'll have to let that one go, too.
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I can't stop thinking about the irony of the post WW2 era. About 75 years ago our biggest foes were Germany and Japan and now they're among our best buds. And among our best pals at the time, the Soviet Union (now Russia) and China are now our most formidable foes. Go figure. Maybe foes is too strong a term and antagonists would be better; I don't think they are really enemies. China has too much of an economic stake in global affairs and Russia is, well, Russia. I don't think they've gotten over the fact that their role in WW2 has not been properly acknowledged or respected. Growing up in the US you'd think that we single-handedly defeated the Axis and that is not the case. They paid a terrible price and if they stopped at their border in the Great Patriotic War we'd be driving German cars today (I make joke).
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I thought the election was over, but I guess not. Efforts are being made (and money raised) for recounts in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. I don't know what those folks hope to accomplish and I don't think anything good can come out of it. But as strange and disruptive this past election has been, it pales next to the assassination in Dallas a little more than 53 years ago, an event which gets less and less news coverage as the years go by. And we're still not completely sure of what really happened, at least I'm not. That "magic bullet" has always bothered me, and I think some records of the event are still sealed.
That's the trouble with tin-foil hats, you can't get tin-foil anymore, it's all aluminum now which doesn't work nearly as well. Maybe lead foil is worth a look.
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Yes, the Old Dog has been missing seminars lately, probably shifting to a bi-weekly schedule. No particular reason except that I haven't been doing much lately and don't feel I have much to contribute, which is a self-defeating attitude, I know, and maybe my presence alone is enough (another joke). Drinking has lost much of it's allure, as I used to drink way too much, way too frequently, and it might have caught up to me. But that shouldn't prevent me from hoisting a few, knowing that I am in such august company. I think it makes me a better person, something I should pursue more assiduously.
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