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Ongoing Thoughts Eight:
By William E. Steinman:
May 12, 2008:
Good, Beautiful, and Incredibly Stupid:
I am talking about my home state, Michigan,
but I suspect I could be talking about almost any state in America.
When I speak of good, I think of all the good things about my home, including
theaters, restaurants, parks, forests, and many other things. For sure, many of
these things also fit into the beautiful category, which includes all of the
natural beauty of this state. Of course, the incredibly stupid can only be
about the behavior of our government and corporations. I will discuss each of
these in a bit more detail.
Except for my time in military service, I have lived my
entire life in the State of Michigan.
However, I don’t want you to consider me a provincial. I traveled to Japan,
and Korea when
I was in the army, albeit, not by choice. Afterward, as an employee of Bendix
Corporation and Ford Motor Company, I visited many places in North
America. I have considered moving a few times, usually when times
were tough or I was not completely happy with my employment.
While looking for alternative employment, I visited many
cities in North America to interview with outfits that
were willing to pay my travel expenses. I must say, the strangest of these was
my visit to Salt Lake City to
interview with what was then a major corporation, a company in the computer and
aerospace industries. One of the first things I learned is, since I was not a
Mormon, even if I was hired my chances of promotion in this outfit were little
and none. If they had told me that before I went, I could have saved a trip and
they could have avoided paying my expenses. The other thing that happened in
this very religious community is a Harlot hit on me in a parking lot. I said,
“No thank you.” I returned home, just a little better educated.
That is how all of my attempts to relocate ended. I learned
things and encountered a lot of stupid people, but I never found a place I
would rather work that where I was. I also never found a place I would rather
live than where I am. I suspect that is true of most people. We get used to the
problems of our particular environment and evolve ways of dealing with them to
remain relatively comfortable. For example, we do deal with some tough winter
weather. We also notice an occasional tornado. Then I listen to the news
reports and learn about mudslides, floods, forest fires, and hurricanes and I
say to Mrs. Gaffer, “You know an occasional tornado or blizzard
ain’t all that bad.”
What is good and or beautiful about Michigan?
Many of the things that are also good about wherever you live. We do have
theaters with live performances in Detroit
and in Flint. When we were younger,
we took advantage of these features and enjoyed them. We also enjoyed the
Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the Flint Symphony Orchestra, both outstanding
groups. Of course, the Detroit Symphony is world class. The Flint Symphony is a
smaller local organization, but good nonetheless.
For those who like sports, the Detroit
area boasts four major league teams. These are the Detroit Lions in football,
the Detroit Tigers in baseball, the Detroit Pistons in basketball, and the
Detroit Redwings in hockey. In addition, there is a multitude of minor league
teams. Many of these are associated with major league organizations and act as
farm clubs.
For Mrs. Gaffer and myself, gardening is a very good thing
about our home. We have a large garden in which we grow our favorite
vegetables. We only have one season, unlike some of the southern states, which
have two. Still, we manage to enjoy a good long harvest season from May to
November and sometimes December. In May we begin with green onions and
asparagus and graduate to strawberries. In November, the last thing standing is
usually sweet corn.
I must mention the beautiful forestland of this state. It is
second growth now, but getting better all the time. Like many Midwestern
states, we had to recover from the rape of the land by the early lumber barons.
These were the bigshots who amassed huge fortunes at the expense of the land
and had streets named after them in Detroit.
The forest is recovering with time and gives a green mantle to the land in the
summertime.
Finally, Michigan
has some of the most beautiful public parklands you will see anywhere. However,
if you want to see them, time may be running short. This land was set aside as
a trust for the public use and we have a Department of Natural Resources that
cares for and maintains this land. Unfortunately, in the area of the incredibly
stupid, we have an insane government that is offering up this real estate for
commercial use. Never mind that this land was a sacred trust for the people.
Insatiable shortsighted greed and stupidity have taken over in Lansing,
our Capital. Once that land is gone, it can never be recovered. One stupid
shortsighted fool can ruin it for all future generations.
Also in the area of the incredibly stupid is the ethanol
fraud spearheaded by that woman in Lansing, our governor. Massive areas of
farmland are being subsidized and diverted into the production of a very
low-grade fuel for automobiles. It is a fraud. Without subsidies this fuel is not
competitive even with gas at $4.00 a gallon.
That woman in Lansing
is ignorant as are most of the legislators. That is why they do evil things.
They are ignorant of the consequences of what they do. They are given to quick
solutions and lazy easy thinking. They do not think things through because they
are incapable of sustained rational thought. They do not know how to make Michigan
economically viable again. They have no clue. So they screw around with the tax
structure and try for easy solutions like the ethanol fraud. People are
starving to death as a result of that fraud. Instead of helping, they are
destroying our economy by putting food prices out of the range of common
people.
In the last election, we had a choice between an inane
insipid Dumbocrat and a conman Republicrumb. That was no choice at all. I
don’t know, but I suspect it is also like that in most other states. I
believe evil people do not outnumber good people. It only seems that way
because the evil people seek and acquire power. Tragically enough, it is the
good people who vote stupidly and put them in power.
In another example, on a balmy spring evening where we
should be able to sit on our deck and enjoy the peace we can often count on
intrusive noise. We have a disaster alert system that is supposed to warn us in
the event of some kind of threat. That is not what happens. We get alarm sirens
for no reason at all. It is just a malfunction of one of the sirens. The only
time we hear the siren is when it is being tested or when it malfunctions. That
is why we ignore it when it goes off. This is government specified equipment.
They use contractors who bid these jobs and install inferior stuff. Everyone
knows you can cheat the government. The government welcomes cheaters.
For incredible corporate stupidity, I will simply point out Michigan’s
incompetent auto industry managers. Though business as usual bumbling and
stumbling, they managed to turn their market over to non-American companies. I
doubt if they will ever recover that.
Now, I cannot end on a negative like the above. On the
positive side, we harvested our first asparagus and green onions last week. I
would not want our stupid government to drive me away from that. I will enjoy
it tremendously and hope for a change in government while I do.
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