A Novel Solution

We have too many people and not enough money, energy or space to deal with a world of nearly seven billion people. What is needed is a cheap, efficient way to deal with the strain on our resources. Here in America we have to share in the solution to cut costs and return some balance to the economy.

We can start by eliminating the sick, handicapped and elderly. They contribute nothing to the economy, they take up space and energy. The elderly spend their time in idle retirement draining Social Security. Raise the retirement age to seventy. Anyone above that-eliminate. The handicapped are obviously a waste of money. Do you know how much it cost to keep this man alone alive? We’re talking serious liability here. The cost to extend the lives of the sick and terminal ill is staggering- and for what? It’s just an ugly dilemma when the pesky notion of ethics meets the realities of commerce.

Paul Krugman asked in a recent column: “How did it become normal- or for that matter acceptable - to refer to medical patients as ‘consumers’ and doctors as ‘care providers’ ?” Because Mr. Wimpy liberal, health care is a business. It’s a product to be consumed and the cost efficiency must be contained if it is to remain profitable. It’s not just some essential need to keep people healthy.

Why stop there? Let’s bring back eugenics. The state can’t afford to pay for the lazy poor, pregnant single women, and illegal immigrants. It puts a strain on those who contribute to society; you know, people who work for a living. This solution has many advantages. It opens up more housing and resources thus improving profitability.

Forget all the abstract talk of ethics and such, this is about practicality.
Instead of sitting around pondering the morality of every goddamn problem let’s just do something for a change and worry about the consequences later. Humanity never could come to an agreement on such weighty matters anyway. Regarding problems as black or white has a certain elegant simplicity to it.

Either you are a contributing member of a capitalistic, consumer driven economy or you are a loafing socialist who’s thinks you are entitled to a free handout from the government. Only the fit and productive are allowed to live and prosper.

If you are nodding your head in agreement at any of this Swiftian satire, then you need to reconsider your values. It’s a shameful world when we look on each other as commodities or liabilities. We are human beings not products to be thrown away carelessly like a cheap plastic toy. What each of us contributes to the world can not be measured on a ledger sheet. Oscar Wilde remarked that “Americans know the price of everything but the value of nothing.”

Economics has ruined everything. There is no room for such things as kindness where profits are the only measure or worth. Our society is so desperate and money driven that we have lost sight of the social values we esteem. Discussion of ethics has become an abstract we praise without practicing. Mr. Krugman- an economist- sees the danger of this kind of thinking and we need to stop it.

Quote of the Day

"Democrats had a lot of harsh things to say about former President George W. Bush- but you'll search in vain for anything comparably menacing, anything that even hinted at an appeal to violence, from members of Congress, let alone senior party officials." Paul Krugman.

Intelligence vs. nihilism

I was recently lectured on the futility of cynicism- which I agree but find it hard to look at the world any other way. Well I do believe cynicism used correctly in sharp intelligence discourse can make a difference I offer two stunning examples of the mind at work. First I suggest you watch Stephen Fry's eloquent smack down of the hypocrisy being dished out by the Catholic Church.

Ben Bernecke was recently reappointed as the nations' banker but Paul Krugman is the man should have that job. Maybe it's just as well he is a private citizen, free to give an honest opinion which a member of Congress couldn't do if you put a gun to their head. Sorry for the sarcasm, that's the way I am.