true believers

The Alberton Papers, Vol III, # XVIII
By Dick Darne 2-26-07
True Believers
"I wonder what he meant about ‘true-believer-cons’, you know, about them being worse than greedy, larcenous cons?" Johnny asked.
"Well, can you think of an example?" Bill replied.
"I can", exclaimed Todd. "That nut-case Majority Speaker of The House, over in Helena. Used to be one of my Union Brothers. I don’t know what happened to him."
"Probably O-D’d on the kool-aid" offered Bill.
"There’s a little more to it than that" said an authoritative voice. Elder was back.
"You see, it gets mighty tiresome caring about some things. Worrying about our downtrodden and vulnerable citizens. Single mothers and their kids. Hard working, honest people who just can’t catch a break in a system that’s stacked against most people. People who work two or more jobs and still are one paycheck away from disaster. People, young and old, who are one illness away from disaster .All this on top of a heavy obligation of an oath to ‘extend a helping hand to all branches of honorable toil.’. This can take a heavy toll on a man. He did the only thing that seemed sensible at the time. He became a Republican, drank heavily of the kool-aid, subscribed to the con beliefs and now he thinks he’s a happy man. No more worries."
"Well, if ignorance is bliss, I guess so" chuckled Todd. "I wonder if he’d like to come out and have a beer with his old brothers sometime?"
"I’ve seen this a lot over the ages" said Elder "The oppressed become the oppressors. The crusaders for good go bad. The ‘leader’ who leads you out leads you into worse things. The clean become corrupted."
"By-golly", said Johnny, "Sounds like the kool-aid is more addictive than any of the drugs known to man."
"I’ll offer another little tid-bit for you boys to chew on." said Elder, "then I’ll have to skedaddle over to another ‘Thinkathon’. Read your labor history. Read what a brave hero was John L. Lewis. He organized the coal mines, where it was sorely needed. The story you may have to root a little harder to find is his later years, wearing the three piece suits and hobnobbing with the big business tycoons. And drinking the kool-aid."
Stay tuned and keep-a-thinking. Same time, same place, next week. dd

the phone call

The Alberton Papers, Vol III, # XVII
By Dick Darne 2-17-07
The phone call
"What’s that number" asked Johnny.
"It’s 1-800-NOV-OODO, it’ll put you right through to the Financial Tech Department" answered Gno.
Johnny dialed and put the phone on speaker, turning the volume up. After a few rings, a voice came from the speaker.
"Financial Tech, Professor Berkowitz here, just call me Sven. I see you’re calling from Montana, to give me the latest Nodak joke maybe?"
"Oh no, we have some serious questions from our think tank. We were told you were the best." replied someone in the tank.
"Ah, wunnerful, wunnerful, if we don’t ask questions, how will we ever learn? Not puffballs, but real questions. Go ahead, my friends, ask away!"
At once the queries began, first all at once, then settling down to a moderate stream. Instead of giving detailed answers to each one, he insinuated that one should never depend on a single source, be skeptical, place things in a wider context and always be aware of the framing. For an example, he referred to the raw materials passing in opposite directions.
"It makes perfect sense in a framework of lunacy" said Sven. "Classic economics served us well until ‘Voodoo economics’ came along. There have always been proponents of economic policies designed to make the rich richer and the rest of us poorer. The last time it was tried it turned into a horror show, you boys aren’t old enough to remember the great depression yourselves, but some of you have been told stories by those who were there. It took FDR, massive public works and sadly, a war to recover. After the war, we had some of the best times. Unfortunately, those who would take us back to those times never gave up. Some may call them conservatives, but that’s not true. Real conservatives would never behave this way. Best to refer to them as just ‘cons’. Actually there are two kinds, the good old fashioned greedy, larcenous, without a conscience ones and even worse, the true-believers, who truly do believe that making the rich richer really benefits all of us. Some of the already rich true believers put the money up for all the twisted thinking tanks and backed ‘the Great Communicator to sell us a bill of goods. It’s ‘morning in America again’ indeed. Boys, I’ve got to get back to work now, but call anytime and keep thinking"
Sven hung up and there was a "wow" like silence. The boys now had some serious thinking ahead. Stay tuned for the next thrilling episode. dd

economics

The Alberton Papers Vol III, #XVI

By Dick Darne 2-12-07

Economics

The following morning found the thinkers hard at it.
“Where’s old Dick this morning?” asked Johnny.
“He went to Portland, had to do a bunch of things on his daughter’s house, water heater, furnace, drier, general fixing.” Replied Bill. “Us older guys have figured out that daughters always need their Dads”
“We’ll just have to get along without him” said Todd. “There’s something I noticed on the way here that might warrant some thinking. I passed at least three loads of raw logs heading in opposite directions.”
“Yeah, and I’ve noticed load after load of finished lumber passing each other going in opposite directions too.” Said Bill.
“ Really great sharing the road with those monsters this time of year, too.” added Johnny.
“Ever since the ‘Great-Communicator’ deregulated trucking, there has been no more Sonnys and Wills, they all have to keep on trucking just to make wages.”
“According to the Wall Street Journal, our food travels an average of 1500 miles, from the source to the table” stated Todd.
“I guess this begs even more questions” said a new voice from across the room. “mind if I comment? My name’s Gno Lackowitz, from over across the river.” Without waiting he began. “Don’t we make anything in our great land anymore?” “What happens if we continue to buy like drunken sailors from abroad and sell very little that is made here?” “How in the world can workers making a small fraction of our wages buy anything we made if we did make anything?” “Aren’t we going to eventually ‘square things up’, after all, if things can’t go on forever, then they won’t.”
“Here in the USA we are less than 5% of the population and we consume close to 50% of the resources.” added Todd.
“Your children and grandchildren will!” exclaimed Padre, in a booming voice. “is that justice?”
“And eventually someone’s going to have to reckon with me!” spoken in an even more authoritative voice. Old Mother Nature didn’t speak often, but when she did, everyone knew she had spoken.
“I hear about a place that specializes in economics over in North Dakota. Called ‘The Nodak Institute of Financial Technology’, Professor Sven Berkowitz, studied with the best.” Said Gno.
“Think Dick’ll mind if we make a long distance call?” someone said.

Stay tuned, same time, next week, when the boys race to make the call before Dick gets back from Portland.
dd

high adventure

The Alberton Papers, Vol III, #XV
By Dick Darne 2-5-07
High Adventure
After every one had left, I settled down in the only comfortable chair in the tank. I closed my eyes (to rest them, of course) and thought about the coming spring and summer. I had been planning a bicycle trip from Washington, DC to Pittsburgh Pa. Starting at the mall, right in the middle of the symbols of our history, traveling up the tow path of the historic C&O canal for about 135 miles to Cumberland Md., over the divide and down the Alegheney trail to Pittsburgh. Right through the heart of the history of our Republic. Pittsburgh was at the heart of the Whiskey Rebellion. Cumberland was where George Washington turned back after leading the troops he sent to quell the rebellion. The canal was built to bring goods from the frontier to the seaboard. I grew up just outside DC, while I would never expect to find much the same, I’ll bet the memorials and symbols are unchanged. As I got more comfortable, I drifted back to the thrilling days of yesteryear.
There we were, me and two of my friends, standing on the side of old Chain Bridge Road, about six miles out in Virginia. We extended our thumbs, pointing behind us as we walked backwards toward DC. It didn’t take long in those days, odds were someone who knew us would stop and let us pile in. Or pass us by and tell our mothers. About half the time we would get just over the bridge and our ride would be turning off, leaving us on old Canal Road. Hitching rides was not allowed in DC, so we would hike along the road until we came to one of the many old rowboats tied to each shore, to be used by the people who used to live in "the lowlands" between the canal and the river. If they saw us we were chased away, usually after we crossed the canal. We then followed the towpath to the Mall.
At our ages, the biggest attraction was the Washington Monument. Five hundred and fifty five feet, five and one eighth inches high. Ten cents for the elevator, which we never spent. Like the real men of those days, we walked up the stairs. What a view! There was just openings in the stone for windows, inviting us to roll various objects down the sloping sill and thence to the ground at thirty two feet per second per second or enough to penetrate one of the many living skulls lining the benches around the base but we never found the objects or a broken skull. Just in case, can they still bust us after fifty plus years?
We then had to hike back out of DC and stick out our thumbs in the hitch hiker-friendly state of Virginia.
Out where I lived was lots of "attractive nuisances". One was the old Salona Plantation, where Dolly Madison fled to and watched the Capitol burn. We spent many days searching for the "secret passages". There was a hand dug cave just off an old trail which may have been part of the underground railroad. Are they still there? Can you really go back home?
I’m more excited than the kids in the Disneyland ad. We’ll see. I’ll be reporting from the scene. dd