I’m waiting for the heads to roll; it should be a good spectacle

Ya know, I’m really and truly tired of hearing about what great philanthropists we’ve got on Planet Earth these days….I’m tired of hearing what a great guy Bill Gates is because he gives several billion dollars to charitable causes each year….tired of hearing how great a guy Elon Musk is because he’s out there launching spaceships or whatever…..tired of hearing all this stuff….blah, blah, blah, blah, blah…..Truth of the matter is that if all the rich folk in the world got together and put together some type of super fund, they could solve world hunger and provide health care and education to every living soul on the planet….

You see when Bill Gates donates $4-5 billion through his foundation or some other way, it’s a pittance….Bill is worth – at last count – about $90 billion…..when he donates a few billion here or there, it’s like you or I throwing ten bucks on the collection plate on Sunday morning at church…..it’s not nothing…but it’s pretty damned close. You see, believe it or not, Bill could give away $89 billion of his $90 billion and still live like the proverbial king….$1 billion is a whole of money….

Feel the same way about Mr. Musk and the rest of them…..Glad Elon is reaching for the stars….can’t wait until humanity gets there…..but we need to get our priorities straight….feed the planet…provide a solid level of health care…..get people educated….lift the world out of poverty and deprivation in a way that shows respect and allows people to retain some of their dignity….Until this is accomplished, we might as well all still be living in caves….we continue to live in primitive times – and that’s for sure….

Of course, the rich folks don’t seem very willing to simply give up their huge whacks of money….we’ve been doing this grotesque “trickle down” economic thing since 1980…and how’s that working out for us…..actually, not worth a shit….every study everywhere plainly and graphically illustrates that since the early 1980’s, the rich have gotten richer and the poor have gotten – well – poorer….the inequity on the planet these days is dazzling, to say the least…..

And if the rick folks won’t willingly give of their money to make the system somehow more equitable, then the only solution is to take it from them – likely in some form of taxation….and, of course, we can’t do that because the world economy would certainly collapse and government would simply waste most of the money it collects…. And that assumption is certainly valid given the usual track record of governments around the world….they are usually corrupt and evil things that are not much concerned with the welfare of their citizens. And that is a problem….for sure….

But the real problem is – how do you fix the problem? It should be easy….I mean, I worked in the newspaper business for almost 40 years. I interviewed hundreds, if not thousands, of people who had tossed their hat into the ring and were running for office….and they were generally all running for the same reason – to make things better for them and their fellow citizens….and so how do they all – or nearly all – get co-opted into a system that is wildly dysfunctional and rarely responds to the needs of its consituents? A good question but one we don’t seem able to answer….

Of course, there should be absolutely zero “professional” politicians….elected office is something that should be shared among the citizenry. Everyone in a society should have the opportunity to serve. In fact, it should really be an obligation to serve…and, to that end, there should be term limits on every elected office….political parties should also go extinct. We should just have one simple rule – legislate for the good of all – not for the good of a few….it really is a simple thing.

I’m going to tell you something you should already know. If those without are pushed and shoved too much – if their lot in life gets truly too difficult to endure, they will, at some point, rise up and cut off the heads of the rich people…It has happened consistently throughout the planet’s history. It should come as no surprise when it happens….because it’s not “if” it will happen, but “when”……

Ya know, I’ve been writing about mostly the same sort of thing since I was in high school….and things just sort of get worse and worse. Things will change. Either we will accept that it’s necessary and make it with some modicum or order – or it will simply happen – and it will be a really big mess. And that should also come as no surprise….I guess I’ll keep writing about this stuff, but I’m pretty sure heads will roll before it’s all over….it’s just sort of the way of the world….

“Hew to the line; let the chips fall where they may.”