Banking on an apology

In all fairness, I think I owe any of you who actually read (and even tried to understand) the last 10 posts an apology. No really.

How utterly boring was that? Honestly. What amazes me more than anything else - well, other than I wrote it, and more so that some of you read it - is that it was that we exchanged our society for this: an illusory lunacy, full of lies, deceit and dishonesty, leading only to so-called material wealth (in this case, money), and for this some folks are willing to not only lie, cheat, and steal, they are ready to kill and maim as well.

You think I'm joking?

You may not know anyone personally -- or maybe you do -- who lost so much in the crash that they threw themselves out a window or chomped down on a gun barrel "inadvertently" pulling the trigger, but there are people who did just that. There were people who simply lost their homes, were thrown to the wolves on the street, who are now living in a tent city or under a bridge, who may have caught an incurable illness as a result. Hell, there are people with major health issues now who can't afford insurance or care, who worked hard all their lives and have a mere pittance to exist on now that they are old and unproductive and have been more or less thrown on the scrap heap. Societies, at least in principle, represented morals and values and discussions were conducted against a backdrop of what was reasonable and desirable for everyone, for the community-at-large. Economies have no room for values, morals, or - heaven forbid! - concern for the well-being of others. Economies are simply about money, no more and no less.

Societies were composed of members; economies are composed of competitors. And even though we don't like to, and try hard as hell to, avoid thinking of it that way, that is also part of what it means to live in a world in which money is simply more important than people and a few choice legal rights are far more important than any human rights will ever be.

I say the world we live in, because it's just the space in which we find ourselves, it's not a society. At least not anymore. I suppose it could be, if we wanted it to be, but I really don't see a lot of indication that that's what's on the horizon.