give it up or else

Bill Gates, the white knight of African infectious disease, and one-time founder of Microsucks, now sporting respectable jowls, joined his friend, the long-time illusionist and oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett, to call on all wealthy individuals to give up at least half of their wealth before they die. Or if they should be struck by unexpected death, to do so at the time of their demise.

True to his nature as a second mover, Bill's idea was copied from none other than the queen of mean, Leona Helmsley, who set the example by her generous charitable donation to the welfare of Trouble, the fluffy pooch. Money well spent I might add!

Such is the irony of modern capitalism, that one first has to resort to all kinds of deceit and malice to amass people's sustenance and throw them into poverty so that one can then later come around and rescue them by generous donation. It reminds me of amateur hunters who grow pheasants and other wildlife so they can release them in season and hunt them down.

Surely the eager defenders of capitalism will point out invaluable benefits of this system that has now reduced the wealth over half of our countrymen (and -women) to zero or below. Steve Forbes, whose equally impressive jowls attest to his profound knowhow, has recently come out to teach us how wrong we all are and how unfettered capitalism will ultimately save the day.

Mind you, I have nothing against capitalism. It is, like its cousin democracy, the lesser evil. But like all such things, both natural and man-made, it is a double-edge sword that needs to be kept in check lest it causes more trouble than it is worth. And it is in the latter part -the checks and bounds part- that we have been failing so miserably over the last few decades. We have turned the great engine of wealth creation into an evil machine of wealth-shifting and senseless consumption.

Sooner or later we will all pay the price for this travesty.

shadow of the moon

I saw Shadow of the Moon recently. It is an interesting movie in many respects although overall it was more than a bit disappointing. But there was one thing that really struck me and made me realize how precarious our situation on this planet is.

Astronauts in the movie repeatedly mention the 3 billion people on the planet watching their every move. Three billion? Yes that is right. In the 1960's there were "only" three billion people on the planet. Today there are over 6 billion. The world population doubled in less than a normal lifespan.

Nothing drives it home so clearly than seeing footage you saw before, and events you can remember.

Oh, and before I forget, even back in the 1970's pollution was visible from space. So much for those who think we are too puny to destroy our environment.

jobs?

First a representative from Texas and now lawmakers from Louisiana, all crying to save offshore drilling. The Texas guy, John Culberson, called the oil spill a "statistical anomaly." I guess that is what you call a drive-by shooting, unless you are the victim?

In any case, all these good people are just trying to save jobs. We have to drill oil so people have jobs and the economy recovers. That is of course if other people are so kind to burn that oil, greenhouse gases be damned. Never mind the bad stuff, it is all a "statistical anomaly" anyways, so says the good man from Texas.

The real issue is not jobs of course, it is profits. It is easy enough to create other jobs, in alternative energy for example. But that would not help all the fat cats who own shares in oil companies. All that beautiful infrastructure that decorates the landscape. Doing away with it would hurt the profits of the oilmen. And what is Texas without its oilmen? Just ask George.

not connected

Every day thousands of gallons of oil enter the Gulf of Mexico. The spectacle, now surely the worst environmental disaster in US history, is making people mad. Images of dying birds, floating tar balls and once-pristine beaches covered in muck are making America angry. That much makes sense. But do these same Americans make the connection to their gas-guzzling SUV's, their oversized pickup trucks and all the miles they drive each and every day? Hardly.

When asked, people sounded frustrated, angry and upset. Their rage was directed at BP and big oil companies; their sympathies were with the fishermen of the Gulf. But did they for one instant think they themselves were playing an active role in this disaster? Did they ever sit back and think about the true cause of this travesty? Fat chance.

All the journalists heard was people explaining how they NEEDED to drive all those miles, how they NEEDED their big truck, how they NEEDED their cheap gas, how they NEEDED oil and how America NEEDED to free itself from foreign imports of oil and gas.

Well then, there is only one logical conclusion one can draw from all this: we godt what we deserved. And surely there is more to come.