December 3, 2008

Society replicates Art

Last night I went to see The Dark Knight in the second run theater. I like the movie for all the awesome actions and watching a sixteen wheeler flip over, but I also like ti's social commentary. The Joker has a kinship connection with Anton Chigurh, even though one can be written off as more imbalanced then the other because of his makeup and laughter. But the release of the rules, the desire for freedom, be it violent and destructive yet freedom is still there. The motivations are much different for Anton is mostly a hired psychopath, where as Joker burns a pile of money.

The Dark Knight is a hero that that the city needed but did not want. I tried to reflect the message of anarchy and keeping up appearances, with the current economic crisis, my recent favorite topic. Warren Buffett is the Harvey Dent of today, the man with the plan. He is the hero that is wanted as he is referred to as 'The oracle of Ohmaha' yet should we really listen to the advice of one of the richest man in the world? Did his wealth become acquired by looking our for others? I doubt it, while coke was spreading it's sugar and citric acid around the world Buffets wallet was getting fat. But I will admit it sure tastes good paired with a dark booze. Where is the voice that we need, where is there people from the top saying that growth isn't always good.
Capitalism assumes growth is good, grow the market, grow the profit and spread the peanut butter down the income pyramid. When will someone say that sustainable capitalism is the new source or wealth. Many would contradict that without growth and profit you won't get those entrepreneurs with inventive ideas to risk the fallout without the huge reward. That may be so, but maybe people should look at markets less like upward shooting numbers and more like a ECG printout, up and down rhythmically flowing, sometimes allegro sometimes adagio. The growth is good but so to is the burn of those left at the end of the season. Lets call it ecological capitalism, but growth and retraction may not help your 401K the way that you want.

Someone needs to step up and question the system, when it fails and when it succeeds. Ron Paul is one who is, as well as Ralph Nader, both of these men I feel will go down at martyrs in a all consuming system, Nader more so then Paul. But I'm taking bets now on how high the unemployment numbers get, to the tenth. I think when it hits double digits is when we see real chaos. Unlike the depression we won;t have a dust bowl to make people hungry. To stay hungry helps people interact with the world. Maybe Obama can use the oncoming depression to jump off a new national health plan. Stem the tide of diabetes, so no to cheetos, to be all you can be-eat fruits and veggies, calories not salaries to keep hope alive.

The compassionate conservative should be replaced by the compassionate consumer. Consume what you need, not what you want, that will weed out those businesses that produce the excess and unnecessary Found On Road Deceased- Giant Mortuary. Where are the punk bands and angry country singers ranting about the bailout. Don't worry AIG still get so keep the logo on front of the most popular sports team in the world.

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