Anti Federalist
03-10-2011, 07:51 PM
The Little Old Lady Barber Who Understands Far More Than Obama or Bernanke
by Jack D. Douglas
http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/81954.html#more-81954
I dropped in this morning for my quarterly, quick and cheapo shearing at “Great Clips” for $12 [Plus a $3 Over-Tip].
The little old lady who took me right away looked to be in her early 60′s, a tiring job for such a person. She looked a bit frumpy with her own hair flaring out, but she was immediately friendly, talkative and clearly of good, strong common-sense intelligence, like most of the hard working, decent, blue collar folks of my immediate family and those I grew up with all over America. Since I too am a somewhat frumpy old geezer, we were immediately at ease with each other, but had no idea where we were “coming from” in the big American world, so we felt our way along a bit.
I talked about the beautiful, warm day and the cooler breeze over near the ocean. She told me it was a slow time of day but you can never predict when it will pick up or dry up.
Then, seeing that I’m a gabby sort, she asked, “So what have you been doing with yourself today?,” just like one of my many older women relatives would have done when I was a kid, which feels good, not intrusive.
I don’t like to tell people I spend my life thinking, reading and writing, but some times I plunge in a bit, I did and wound up concluding that I’m a retired professor and mostly am writing about the economic crisis.
She was immediately more interested and said pointedly, “So what’s going to happen to us?”
I was a bit taken aback, since few people ask for such real world wisdom from an old geezer in a rumpled warm up outfit with frazzled gray hair, dropping into a bottom fishing barber shop in a local strip mall. I told her no one can predict what will happen, but my “educated guess” is that the government has blown the Bubbles back up, except for housing which is still going down, and I suspect they could start breaking by this summer.
She was more tense as she said, “I was saying to my family last night that ‘We could collapse just like the Soviet Union did.’”
That was a real zinger that woke me up far more, Almost no one has ever seemed to realize we are in danger of IMPLODING as the Soviets did. I mumbled around a bit, not wanting to sound off the deep end or “crazy.” But I then said that these vast societies do collapse like that and it could happen to us.
She asked if there was anything that could be done about it, I said I think the government is just doing more of the same they did before, borrowing and spending many trillions, driving our national debt up.
She said, “Nothing much has changed. Medicare is really pretty much the same.”
I said, lk”Yes, we’ll be paying more for less and less.”
She said, “We’re just sinking and sinking.”
I said ruefully, “Except the rich are getting richer and richer while inflation is getting so bad it eats away more than we get in any small raises, like the 1 penny income raise in the latest official data.”
She said, “Yeah, it’s getting really bad for us old people and it will go on and on for years as we sink and sink…”
I began to feel I had accidentally met the clear eyed Seer Cassandra reincarnated as a little old lady barber. I’ve known that from the beginning of the Great Crash and Great Crisis and written endlessly about it, but few Americans seem willing to even think about such an awful possibility.
Then she said, “So what will happen in the end?”
I pointed out that most people survive even a Great Crash like that of the Soviet Union. I said most Russians suffered awfully, especially the old people who lost their state pensions, but most did survive and I think we’ll find a way out of it once it Crashes. [I suspect a word like "implosion" might seem strange to her, unless her husband is in building replacements.]
I said, “The Russians are holding up pretty well because of their oil and the increased price of oil….And they’re better off in general now, though they are not really a democracy…”
At that point she quickly interjected, “But we aren’t a democracy either, are we?!”
That one knocked me for a loop. How many Americans realize that? Everybody in public life, especially the Media, pretend we’re an ideal democracy except for all the corruption. But this little old lady knows and is making it a question only so she can retreat if I act like it’s a “crazy” idea.
I agreed that now we are not a democracy and felt a bit speechless.
We said our good byes and “have a nice day” partings.
I felt uplifted for the next hour that I had stumbled on a great Seer of strong common sense, passionate concern, and honesty. Then it hit me that she is so right that we old people are going to suffer. She will suffer, probably much more than people like me, and that is very sad indeed, She did absolutely nothing to cause this like the bastards who are getting vastly richer from it, thanks to Obama and Bernanke and all their Oligarchic Elves. And I don’t really think there is anything I or anyone can do to save the decent folk from what the Bastards have cast as their evil fate, I don’t really believe in fate, but I feel this is one of those times when the Muslim statement of resignation fits: “It is written…….”
by Jack D. Douglas
http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/81954.html#more-81954
I dropped in this morning for my quarterly, quick and cheapo shearing at “Great Clips” for $12 [Plus a $3 Over-Tip].
The little old lady who took me right away looked to be in her early 60′s, a tiring job for such a person. She looked a bit frumpy with her own hair flaring out, but she was immediately friendly, talkative and clearly of good, strong common-sense intelligence, like most of the hard working, decent, blue collar folks of my immediate family and those I grew up with all over America. Since I too am a somewhat frumpy old geezer, we were immediately at ease with each other, but had no idea where we were “coming from” in the big American world, so we felt our way along a bit.
I talked about the beautiful, warm day and the cooler breeze over near the ocean. She told me it was a slow time of day but you can never predict when it will pick up or dry up.
Then, seeing that I’m a gabby sort, she asked, “So what have you been doing with yourself today?,” just like one of my many older women relatives would have done when I was a kid, which feels good, not intrusive.
I don’t like to tell people I spend my life thinking, reading and writing, but some times I plunge in a bit, I did and wound up concluding that I’m a retired professor and mostly am writing about the economic crisis.
She was immediately more interested and said pointedly, “So what’s going to happen to us?”
I was a bit taken aback, since few people ask for such real world wisdom from an old geezer in a rumpled warm up outfit with frazzled gray hair, dropping into a bottom fishing barber shop in a local strip mall. I told her no one can predict what will happen, but my “educated guess” is that the government has blown the Bubbles back up, except for housing which is still going down, and I suspect they could start breaking by this summer.
She was more tense as she said, “I was saying to my family last night that ‘We could collapse just like the Soviet Union did.’”
That was a real zinger that woke me up far more, Almost no one has ever seemed to realize we are in danger of IMPLODING as the Soviets did. I mumbled around a bit, not wanting to sound off the deep end or “crazy.” But I then said that these vast societies do collapse like that and it could happen to us.
She asked if there was anything that could be done about it, I said I think the government is just doing more of the same they did before, borrowing and spending many trillions, driving our national debt up.
She said, “Nothing much has changed. Medicare is really pretty much the same.”
I said, lk”Yes, we’ll be paying more for less and less.”
She said, “We’re just sinking and sinking.”
I said ruefully, “Except the rich are getting richer and richer while inflation is getting so bad it eats away more than we get in any small raises, like the 1 penny income raise in the latest official data.”
She said, “Yeah, it’s getting really bad for us old people and it will go on and on for years as we sink and sink…”
I began to feel I had accidentally met the clear eyed Seer Cassandra reincarnated as a little old lady barber. I’ve known that from the beginning of the Great Crash and Great Crisis and written endlessly about it, but few Americans seem willing to even think about such an awful possibility.
Then she said, “So what will happen in the end?”
I pointed out that most people survive even a Great Crash like that of the Soviet Union. I said most Russians suffered awfully, especially the old people who lost their state pensions, but most did survive and I think we’ll find a way out of it once it Crashes. [I suspect a word like "implosion" might seem strange to her, unless her husband is in building replacements.]
I said, “The Russians are holding up pretty well because of their oil and the increased price of oil….And they’re better off in general now, though they are not really a democracy…”
At that point she quickly interjected, “But we aren’t a democracy either, are we?!”
That one knocked me for a loop. How many Americans realize that? Everybody in public life, especially the Media, pretend we’re an ideal democracy except for all the corruption. But this little old lady knows and is making it a question only so she can retreat if I act like it’s a “crazy” idea.
I agreed that now we are not a democracy and felt a bit speechless.
We said our good byes and “have a nice day” partings.
I felt uplifted for the next hour that I had stumbled on a great Seer of strong common sense, passionate concern, and honesty. Then it hit me that she is so right that we old people are going to suffer. She will suffer, probably much more than people like me, and that is very sad indeed, She did absolutely nothing to cause this like the bastards who are getting vastly richer from it, thanks to Obama and Bernanke and all their Oligarchic Elves. And I don’t really think there is anything I or anyone can do to save the decent folk from what the Bastards have cast as their evil fate, I don’t really believe in fate, but I feel this is one of those times when the Muslim statement of resignation fits: “It is written…….”