So almost half the year has passed rather quickly I might add.
Que pasa?
The US voters elected a new president, a president that would "change" things and so far there has been the same endless hemorrhaging of money going to whom ever has the best social connections and contributed to the party's champagne campaign....nice change eh?
Kind of reminds me of another style of government.... closer to the equator.
Media hype was next with their version of the next worldwide famine and crisis, called the swine flu.
It fizzled out underscoring the media estimates, but it took the heat off some other topics that someone was being embarrassed over, then we had the old shell game of the huckster on the sidewalk taking your money in a ponzi scheme.
The master of the Ponzi scheme, the king, old Bernie, screwed half the world with his smooth talking and smooth moves as he slipped his hand in various locations all while no one caught on for years....
Can you imagine someone who you know, or at least you think you know stealing so much money from the rich and charitable institutions?
That in my estimation has to be one of the most interesting events so far this year.
While he surfaced so did another dozen of the same style of money sucking con men from around the country.
Seems that somewhere it has become a profession of ripping people off of their money, whether hard eared or not.
Some how it just doesn't seem right that the guy is locked up somewhere getting 3 meals a day.....
The when Bernie was becoming old news, a new Pinocchio surfaced!
"I was never told" by the speaker of the house. Now that one reinforces my opinion of the people that are too ignorant to have a normal job or business, wind up in elected government service.
So now we turn the to mismanaged businesses that were managed so bad that they should be out of businesses. But noooooooo.
If my old business had employees that cost me more than they were worth and were causing the company to lose money, guess what........they would be ex employees....
But they keep their contracts and the CEO kept their jets, pensions and bonuses.......
Chrysler and GM have been transformed into something never seen before, Hummer is now going to be owned by the Chinese, hard earned tax money was given to GM, and now they go BK.
You would think that they should have done that before the billions got flushed down the toilet, so now the unions will own a part of new GM, or better yet the tax payers do and I'll bet you a nice cold Indio, that in 5 years the bill will not be paid but forgiven.......wanna bet?
One test or prerequisite of anyone running for any kind of office, only after proof of prior running a privately owned business for a minimum of 5 years successfully. You know kind of a test to see if they understood, concepts of fiscal responsibilities.....,
All in all , my lack of enthusiasm of politics is gaining more acceptance by my circle of friends.
If I were to poll a dozen people today, not one would tell me that they feel that government is doing even a half decent job.
What's that tell us?
Well at least the price of tortillas has not doubled so far, the water is still reasonable, beans are cheap, I can still buy a chicken for 40 to 50 pesos and my vegetables are doing well.....
My part of the world is still ok, for the rest of today.....tomorrow is another day!
11 comments:
I was surprised to learn a couple of days ago that Tata Motors in India now owns Jaguar.
Our Mexican government works pretty well, I think. And it´s improving. The U.S. government works even better. Before thinking too badly of these and similar governments, it´s good to remember places like:
1. Hitler´s Germany.
2. Stalin´s Russia.
3. Mussolini´s Italy.
4. Idi Amin´s Uganda.
5. Papa Doc Duvalier´s Haiti.
6. Paraguay´s Gen. Stroessner.
7. Nicaragua´s Gen. Somoza.
8. Romania´s Ceausescu.
9. China´s Mao.
10. North Korea´s Kim Il-Sung.
11. Spain's Franco.
12. Panama´s Gen. Noriega.
And that´s just the 20th Century!
I could go on. The point is that we are in pretty good hands when you consider the possible alternatives. I consider myself fortunate.
Ah, Wise old Felipe....you certainly have written about trials and tribulations throughout your career. And you brought a positive balance to my thoughts, Yes, it could be a lot worse, lest we forget the alternatives.....
Gracias por algunos agitando realidad para me.
And Cuba´s Castro! How did I overlook that pinche pendejo?
And many, probably most, of the characters on my list were worse than Mexico´s Porfirio Diaz, who was not one of our nation´s bright lights.
too true Ken, and thanks to Felipe for the reminder!
As a gringo stuck in el Norte for a few more years the political situation is becoming less tolerable. the state government for whom i work is offering early retirement for 'selected positions.' Maybe I'll win the job lottery and the package will be wothwhile. ojala. so fellow bloggers, burn some incense, light a candle or say a quick one to whomever you believe in [i'm flexible] for me and mine.
Though the Bush folks were clearly looking the other way or asleep at the wheel, the economic problems in the U.S. now are just that, economic problems far more than political problems.
It will pass in time, as it always has, and the political system will boogie on. It´s basically a good system. There is no perfect political system, but it´s better than most.
AC, my fingers are crossed for you.
crossed fingers are cool too. gracias Felipe!
and you're the right, no system is perfect. it's like a living thing. it's keeps going.
AC,
Since you can see the light at the end of the tunnel (and it's a photon torpedo), you can prepare for another life where you will see that it will be a full time job managing to hang on to the few assets you have worked hard for all those years! Well, I assume you worked hard for all those years!
Seems, we always will survive, just not sure of the survival will be that which was envisioned for all those working years......
Castro's Cuba:
my 2 cents: Castro had the right idea at the right time. Gangsters, Thugs, Perverts and Other Countries Big Business were destroying the people, the place and the heart of Cuba. They needed a revolution, they needed self government. They needed control of their own natural resources and their own destiny.
Would have turned out better if
Fidel took the bullet and not Che.
(tho an ExPat, himself)
Amazing, how Castro turned on His own people and his own cause so quickly, so completely, so mercilessly.
I do admire someone that takes on the Mafia, and wins, tho.
Yes Constantino,
I can see the light!
I like a challange, that's probably why moving to La Republica is not a frightening prospect. Well, a little daunting perhaps.
Managing the assets will also be a challange, learning to live as part of the culture, not expecting things to be like here in the US.
As for the working hard part, the joke is: "workin' hard or hardly workin'?" Yes hard work. I deal with a chronically violent, self abusive and criminally insane mentally ill population. Looking forward to the daily siesta, what a sensible custom.
Good thread going here.
Charley, some good points about Castro. Well put.
Blog on ALL!
Note to "Felipe." Don't forget Hugo Chavez in your parade of bad leaders.
As for the U.S. government, there are several crucial, and sadly enough likely fatal problems.
The first is that due to lack of business experience, I think there are few people in government who truly appreciate the sheer size of the federal gov't and its budget. Because that size is almost incomprehensible, it leads our political leaders to believe that resources are unlimited.
Second, because of the above, the government has already promised too much to too many for too long. If the federal government were required to use accrual accounting (i.e., book on the budget known liabilities such as social security and medicare), it would be plain as day that the government of the USA is bankrupt. Liabilities far exceed any reasonable ability to collect taxes.
But since it's not done on an accrual basis, few people realize this.
Finally, the above problems are manifest because there are no real restraints on the government. The gold standard was an old-fashioned way to constrain the powers of government. With the abandonment of that, and the government's ability to print money at will, there are essentially no visible constraints.
But there's still a cliff at the end of the road. And even though we can't see it, we are racing toward it as fast as possible.
One day, the USA will drive over that cliff. That day will come when the bond markets tire of financing endless trillion dollar plus deficits, and younger taxpayers don't want to pay the rates necessary to fully fund social security and Medicare.
So for now things don't look all that bad. But trust me. In 10 years, things will look much worse.
Saludos,
Kim G
Boston, MA
Where we spend a lot of time wondering how we personally can avoid driving off the cliff.
I also overlooked Trujillo in the Dominican Republic. The list is bottomless, it seems.
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