Monday, April 6, 2009

Zillion is the new Billion

I turned off the tube because I'm sick of bad news, and maybe I'll just leave it off all week. A week without news -- imagine that. 1) it keeps me from writing and editing my novel. Words of William Gibson stick in my mind. During an interview someone asked how he could write and publish so many sci-fi thrillers. He said, "I don't own or watch TV. Reading and writing is my entertainment." That blew me away. Think of how much more writing (and reading) I would do with those 6 - 8 hours of tube-time.

2) It's so damn depressing. I wake up, do some meditation and yoga to get my mind focused and in a good place, then turn on the tube and there it is -- more mass murders, mayhem and of course the missing Trillions. Millions, billions and now Trillions of dollars just leaking away through corporate mismanagement and government attempts to prop up those corrupt corps. It just feels hopeless. As much as I trust President Obama, Fed Master Bernanke and even Geithner, it's like throwing gi-normous wads of cash into a black hole. And, I mean GI-normous. I already gave examples of how much a Trillion is (spending a million dollars every day since the birth of Jesus Christ is still NOT a Trillion.)

It's like the world is hell-bent on re-enacting history. First the extreme excesses that led to the Great Depression, now shanty towns and soup lines for the unemployed and finally I guess we'll see wheelbarrows of cash (like post WWII Germany) to buy a loaf of bread. All of this because greedy SOBs could not live within their means or on "reasonable" salaries. I am bone weary of hearing how our outraged populism is bad. Well, to those who were making 400 times what their employees earned FU. And, to those who were profiting from the "toxic mortgages" FU, too. You caused this mess, and now you need to spend 24/7 figuring out how to fix it. Because that's what is really bad. What if a Trillion or two won't fix it?

Meanwhile, I am turning off the tube. I can't fix it and thinking about it every day is unhealthy. If you have a better idea, post away.

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