Deep thoughts, by Jack Handy Smitty, OK mostly shallow thoughts by just plain ole Smitty

This morning I have taken a few dips in the pool, watched our critters eat, play and go back to sleep and watched Bride sleep for a while (I love that). I wonder why every day is not like this one, today there are no worries that I am worrying about. I lead a pretty idyllic life, is it without problems, of course not but whose is. I still have more days like today than not so why does life seem so crazy lately. I suppose it is not even work, that is a symptom of larger more looming issues and they are not even ones I can do anything about.


I am not sure, maybe it is just me, but I wonder, what is going on in the world and where will we be in a few years. Not just in a superficial news sound bite kind of way but in a more challenging to think about kind of way. I mean if we look at the financial crisis going on it is still out of control, at least from my perspective. We have spent money to get folks back to work but the unemployment numbers are still unacceptably high. The scariest part is the government is spending money it does not have in an attempt to get things moving. Seems our short term memory is not so good, isn’t that what we the people (living the American Dream) did to get ourselves into this problem in the first place. Sure banking institutes were complicit but it was us demanding no money down, no interest for 5000 years on our house notes, on our credit cards, on everything. The old axiom, if it sounds too good to be true is still holding true.

The Scary part about this is that it is the government doing it this time. Let me back up just a bit though. The American Dollar is the world’s currency, things are priced using our money. Yes it is because we are the big dog on the block but that also comes with the some issues. Take for example Germany, when they want to buy oil they have to do it in Dollars, so they have to convert their money to dollars and if they have enough they can buy the oil, if not well then “no oil for you”. The United States on the other hand can just literally print more money, sounds good but that will come to roost at some point. If we continue to borrow like drunken sailors and spend like even drunker sailors our creditors (China) may call some markers due and at some point the yuan will become the world’s currency and then the United States will becomes like Germany, forced to live within its means. That will be such a shock to our way of life that I wonder if we can make it as a nation. It will counter to EVERYTHING that it means to be American.

Another issue I have is our false pretense of giving a shit about Egypt and Libya, and to some degree Iraq and Afghanistan. Those interventions have ZERO to do with helping the oppressed, deposing a despot, no they have EVERYTHING to do with keeping the flow of oil coming to us. If we (as a country) really gave a shit about the oppressed and downtrodden then why did 800,000 Rwandans die in just 100 days in 1994 with little or no intervention from the US? Why have hundreds of thousands died in Darfur with little to no intervention from the US. Do most people even know where Darfur is? Could you point to Rwanda on a map? Could you imagine 800,000 folks being killed in Hawaii or Massachusetts , they are about the same size as Rwanda. Or imagine a few hundred thousand killed in a state somewhere between the size of California and Texas.

We did little because there was no payoff to do anything, at least that is my opinion. We are a scratch my back and I will scratch your back kind of country and for those who have never left our shores you will not have any idea and probably raise hell with me for saying it but that is a fact. That fact is well hidden by our government but it is an inescapable truth. Our interests are keeping our country going and that interest is getting harder each day to maintain by our government.

So the world just seems crazy and I do not know what the answers are, it may be that the problems have been ignored for so long that they can not be fixed by our elected officials. Another one that cracks me up is our Governor here in Florida, he ran telling us all that he was going to cut spending and balance the budget, it was the hallmark of his campaign. He even talked about selling the plane they fly around in. Well once in office he sets about doing just that (balancing the budget) and then even the people who voted for him are saying WHOAAA, you can’t cut that! It reminds me of the lines from “A Few Good Men” , it goes like this “I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom I provide and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said "thank you," and went on your way” We hired him because that is what he told us he would do, how can we then be pissed when he does exactly that. No I do not agree with his approach but he is doing what he said he would do and ya know what, that might be a first for a politician. Seems funny to me that folks want cuts in government, as long as it does not impact them personally and if it does, then it is morally egregious – get over it is what I say to that.

So the world is crazy, so what is Mr. oatmeal to do…………….. study the differences between the ancient Jain Religion and compare that to Buddhism and Hinduism, and why not? The Jain’s were like the engineers of their day so I can definitely relate. Their religion is strongly based in order, lists and processes. To them Karma is thought of as pollution that stains the soul, the bigger the stain the less likely your transmigration (rebirth) will be to a higher level being. In Jainism karmic theory is kind of superglue, meaning that your individual actions are your own responsibility. No longer can we repent, no one but ourselves to blame for our actions, or at least so say the Jain’s. They say that it is possible to change our Karmic aura, mainly through austerities and purity of conduct. Purity of conduct, that is big.

I really don’t know what my point is here, I just wonder why the world is like it is and then wonder, why do I care if I strive to lead a good life and be a good person. That is the bottom line on all the religious orders really isn’t it? Do the right things and in some religions it is VERY important that the reason you are doing the right things is also pure in nature. The intent has to be carefully examined and sometimes the intent is clear, others times it is muddied by the complexities of the world we live in but I know this, right and wrong will always be a battle for us, yin and yang – good and evil - tragedy and comedy – heaven and hell and that, to me, that battle is what is important in my life. Some might say there are scales of evil and good, levels of tragedy, well for me I try to keep things black and white. We talk a lot about how the world is really gray and black and white can’t be defined, that is nothing but an excuse for inaction or apathy because we don’t want the truth, can’t handle the truth. Because deep down in places we don't talk about at parties we don’t want to make hard decisions, we wants things to be like they should be for us as Americans, easy.