Adios for a week (Don't worry, things can always get worse)

By Arthurstone

I’m as fervent a capitalist as anyone. That said I am not afraid of government (though I’m mindful of its endless inefficiencies) nor am I in thrall to the idea of self-correcting, efficient markets. When they ‘correct,’ it costs me a lot of money. Their ‘efficiencies’ add to the number of crackheads in my neighborhood. The co-mingling of ‘laissez-faire’ capitalists and government is a hideous mutation well described by Naomi Klein in ‘The Shock Doctrine’ and now playing out in Greece and soon to come to a theatre near you in Spain, Portugal and other EU countries who have chosen to put the interests of their citizens ahead of predatory bankers, investors and global enterprises as encouraged by the good old US of A.

Pre-natal care and maternity leave? Labor unions? Workplace safety rules? Pensions? Universal medical care? Comprehensive and accessible educational opportunities? Support for the arts? Investment in infrastructure? Environmental concern? Affirmative action? All expensive and all hindrances to unfettered capitalism and the enormous benefit to the most predatory, greedy and selfish members of our society which accrues through unethical (if not illegal) investor practices, credit swaps, short selling, TARP and other bail-outs we fund in lieu of spending on the common good.

And while we’re at it let’s not neglect that grand daddy of all American obsessions. The great American pastime itself. The thing we never seem to tire of nor ever seem not to be able to afford:

War!

There’s always time and treasure to devote to ‘defending’ out interests. That defending our interests currently takes place several thousand miles from our borders and involves ‘enemies’ who have not attacked us is beside the point and not without historical precedence. While it’s the Afghans and Iraqis turn in the barrel this go round don’t forget that in last century it was Filipinos, Hawaiians, Guatemalans, Hondurans, Iranians and a host of others who paid the price for having the audacity to question our ‘national interests’. Interestingly enough, our ‘national interests’ so often seem to require satisfaction within the borders of other sovereign states. Such is the burden we must bear. Empire never did come cheap.

My business has suffered the past couple of years. I own and operate an art gallery dealing in contemporary painting and sculpture. No one knows better than I how ‘unnecessary’ what I do actually is. Compared to bankers bundling toxic mortgages, computer whizzes counting keystrokes and inventing new pop-up ads and methods of tracking me in real time and marketers turning every lifted toilet lid I encounter into an advertisement, I’m keenly aware of the insignificance of my contribution. The impulse to tell a story, paint a picture, write a song, carve a block of wood or throw a pot is interesting in a puny way but pales in comparison to the far more important impulse to ‘earn’ vast sums of money.

And I’m okay with that.

So Sunday morning my lovely wife Marianne and I are off to Akumal on the Yucatan peninsula for a week of reading, cycling, snorkeling, sunning and eating. It’s my gift to Marianne on her birthday. Measured strictly in financial terms, probably, I can’t really afford to go right now. Business is at the same level as it was in 1994, the third year of operation. And it’s a real struggle right now. But I figure I can’t afford not to go. My Father died last year, Mother the year before. We all ended on good terms and one wise thing (among a great many) Mother told me was to enjoy this while I can. And I still can. I’m 58, healthy and have a little saved up. In the great scheme of things, I’m essentially a lottery winner compared to so many far less fortunate.

And I choose not to let the bastards whining, kvetching, complaining and mewling about our current state in the US get me down. Most of us (and certainly many of those making the most noise) have far more than our share and are, through the accident of our birth, among the luckiest people on the planet.

It’s a big world out there and we as Americans too often forget that simple fact.