INFLATE YOURSELVES

I don't understand inflation all that much. Or the economy in general, really. Seems like people work, they get paid, they buy things they need, and things they don't, and live their lives. And behind that, there are these powerful companies and individuals who control a lot of it. Banks, Oil companies, Big Pharma. 

I like money, but I think some people love it more than anything else. Or think they do. Maybe they just think that having enough money will fill in that empty spot in their heart or soul of being or whatever you want to call it. Which is sad, really. Paying the bills and having food and shelter and being able to take a trip now and then is awesome, but I don't need a million dollars, five houses, a private island, or anything like that. 

Besides, even if I had any of that, I'd still be mortal. I'd still be able to hear music, feel the wind on my face, experience loss and sorrow, and die. 

We are all in the same boat, and no amount of money can fix that. 

Ever.

And yet, we keep on trying to pretend otherwise. 

We pretend a lot, I think. We pretend we are immortal. That big government don't work due to their size, but that somehow huge corporations work due to their size. 

Because Capitalism. 

I've always felt that capitalism, like communism, doesn't work because all systems that have people in the are subject to corruption.

Maybe there is a system for running the world that works but I haven't seen one yet. 

And now we have global warming and pandemics and who knows what else on the way?

So what do we do? 

Freak out about inflation. 

Yay us.

From what I do understand, inflation is the result of too much spending, leading to high prices. 

Which sounds crazy. I would think that is things are getting sold, those who sell said things would be happy. But no. Prices go up as things get sold, so wages need to increase, interest rates go down, and fingers get pointed.

And we are all still alive, still here, still working the same jobs, leading the same lives. 

I will be honest.

I don't give a shit about inflation.

Or the Dow Jones. 

Or banks or fast food chains or the minimum wage.

I like animals, arts, and people.

I also love theatre, movies, and teaching.

So that's what I do.

Here's a song. It's the Beatles doing Can't Buy Me Love, as seen in the great film A Hard Day's Night, directed by Richard Lester.

PS- I watched the film "Oh, God" from 1977 the other night. It's fucking awesome. Watch it and feel good about the world.

ONE FOR EVERY YARD ON A FOOTBALL FIELD

Every morning,  well, most mornings, I get up and make a French press pot of coffee. While I wait for the water to boil, I heat up a cup from yesterday's pot, let the dog out, and listen to the news while going about the business of wandering around, waking up. I have an Alexa, and while I do this it plays a series of little news snippets from the NY Times; NPR; Fox News, and so on. I think they're trying to be fair and cover all bases by having all these different types of news shows. Today, Fox was really trying to get me excited about the NBA playoffs. And I realized how much I don't really care about them right now. And I started thinking about what has changed for me during this pandemic. What I care about. What excites me. What feels important. And it ain't sports, much as it feels like the powers that be would like them to be. I don't connect normal with professional sports. Or rather, normal as in healthy occupations that I am happy to do for the short span of this life. I think the virus has increased my need and ability to critically think. To parse what people are trying to sell me. Don't get me wrong. I love watching sporting events. Especially baseball. But I find the way most people on TV and radio talk about it is out of touch with reality. There is this strange lionization of sports, like this is what gives our lives meaning, as opposed to it is something we enjoy passing the time with while living our lives. 

Usually, this over exaggeration of the importance of professional sports doesn't bug me. But this morning it did. The only think I find really pertinent about sports these days is how there was a walk out during the recent protests, and that walk out resulted in a lot of arenas being turned into voting centers. That is cool. That actually does have meaning. 

We are still in the midst of a global pandemic. Over a thousand Americans died yesterday. Ten people for every yard on a football field. Imagine them. A thousand people, standing in a line on a football field, from field goal to field goal. 

Now imagine them laying there, dead. 

What I'm trying to say is, I'm tired of people telling me via advertisements and sponsored newscasts what they think I should consider important. Because I don't think they care so much about what is right as they do about making money. 

And money, as Ringo, John, Paul, and George taught us many years ago, can't buy me love. Or more time on this earth. Or joy. 

I would love to go to a ball game. 

I would love more for less people to die every day. 

For more people to take this thing seriously.

For our better angels to finally make an appearance.

Okay. Here's a song. It's the foreshadowed Can't Buy Me Love by The Beatles.