The one thing that amazes me about our ‘instantaneous-quick as a flash’ culture is our ability to forget situations, items and events as quickly as we learn about them. There appears to be a direct correlation between these two events. So I, Grandpa T am offering the following formula for our ‘instantaneous- quick as a flash’ culture.
The faster we receive news and information is in direct proportion to the speed with which we forget that news and information. Or, f {fast} I {information} = f {fast} f {forgetting}. Now that I have advanced that formula, am I eligible for some kind of Nobel prize? After all, if the POTUS can get the Nobel Peace Prize after being president for about 10 minutes, I should be able to get some kind of a prize, too! (Or…….did you forget he received it?)
There is no question that we receive information much, much faster than we did during my formative years. Look at all the available sources. We have the obvious mass media sources of TV, radio and newspapers. But what really makes this instantaneous is the internet, personal computers, personal handheld devices, cell phones and personal devices that can take either pictures or movies and the ability to create a flash mob in a moments notice with these devices, all with the use of social media. Look at what can be instantaneously flashed around the world because of dash cams in police cars, from cell phones and from other hand held devices. It is truly amazing!
Grandma P has a cell phone that has an app that reports traffic accidents, road closures or bridge closures in our area. Amazing! Rather than go into a bad traffic area, the app directs you to an alternate route. Need another example? Recently, my best friend’s daughter got married. Because of time and distance, Grandma P and I were not unable to attend. I was on my computer at the same time the wedding was occurring at the opposite end of the country. Golly and gadzooks, pictures of my friend escorting his daughter down the aisle were appearing on a social media website within seconds of it taking place! Pictures of the ceremony and reception were being posted within minutes of the actual occurrence! My friend was amazed when I called to tell him how beautiful the bride looked and how good he looked in his tailored suit. It was as if I were in attendance.
November 7, marks the 3rd anniversary of writing this blog. Yes, if you are sharp, you will realize that I began writing this within minutes of the last presidential election in 2012. I was bummed and I needed a way to vent my anger, angst and disbelief. Our country (as you may have forgotten) was experiencing high unemployment, a colossal increase in the national debt, did not have a budget for four years, a large percentage of people receiving welfare and food stamps…..and the country decided we liked that situation so much that we reelected the person that got us there. That would be Barack Hussein Obama. I digress.
I began visiting some of my previous written posts on the blog site. Then I realized that what was the ‘hot topic’ at the time of my writing the blog is all but forgotten. Thus my formula for the Nobel prize of fast information = fast forgetting. I have given examples of the quickness of obtaining information, let me give you some examples of how quickly we forget.
The financial crisis in Greece. Do you remember that? The country of Greece represents less than 2% of the world GDP. Because of its socialistic society, it could no longer afford all the socialistic programs. Over 40% of the population was on the government payroll. People were retiring in their 50s with full salary and benefits. Coupled with the high unemployment rate, it was a disaster in the making. They raised taxes on the wealthy to afford their bloated programs. The result? The wealthy, which pretty much encompassed all of their educated professionals such as doctors, dentists and engineers, began migrating to other countries to escape the high taxes. The Greek financial crisis whipsawed the world financial markets and stock exchanges for months. There was a movement to kick them out of the European Economic Community, thus taking them off the euro and forcing them to go back to the drachma as their currency. Here is the point of this blog…have you heard about the Greek financial crisis lately and do you think it has gone away?
Benghazi and lost emails. Benghazi is all but forgotten. The only reason the name is ever brought up is because of Hillary Clinton’s presidential candidacy. If she were not a candidate, I very much doubt it would ever be heard of again. As for the emails? Well, it is amazing to me that she has abused her position as former Secretary of State to do something infinity larger than Richard Nixon’s Watergate break-in, and he resigned the presidency. His crime involved reelection. Hers involved national security.
IRS and the Tea Party Scandal. This whole event has been swept under the carpet to the point of creating a mountain of dirt under the fibers. You would think that much dirt would eventually cause a problem, but rest assured, Lois Lerner is still retired, walking the streets and collecting a full pension for being the director of the IRS. She is thus liberated even after using her position to throttle the Tea Party movement prior to the elections by not granting tax exempt status to their cause. The IRS throttled many conservative groups other than the Tea Party. In front of numerous congressional fact-finding committees, our Lois, our government employee, pleaded the 5th amendment to many of the direct questions. A classic case of the government forgetting that they work for the people. Why has this whole affair gone MIA from the media? Well, it was my opinion that Lois Lerner was not the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree and that she was directed in her actions by her boss. At that time it would have been the Attorney General, Eric Holder, and he worked for the POTUS. How convenient during an election year.
Fiscal Cliff and National Debt. How can anyone forget the overused usage of the words ‘fiscal cliff?’ Yet, when was the last time you heard the term? Two years ago, it was the term de jour coupled with the continuing controversy about our national debt. At the time, the national debt was $18 trillion and rising. The prognosis was it would be over $20 trillion before Obama left office in 2016. If you can believe Donald Trump, it is already over $19 trillion with over a year to go in the Obama presidency. Wow! If you can believe financial pundits, they are predicting a fiscal collapse of mega-proportions on a world scale once the US debt reaches $24 trillion. I have never heard the reason why, but I have heard that figure and predicted result more than once. Perhaps the dollar will be replaced as the world reserve currency by some other currency. The dollar being the world reserve currency is the only reason why we have been able to accumulate so much debt. If the government was a corporation, it would have had to declare bankruptcy long ago! Look at what the Greek government has had to do, and then magnify that by about 15. It is surprising that this pending fiscal crisis was not thoroughly addressed in the first two Republican presidential debates. But then, it would have made the present administration look bad for quadrupling our national debt in 8 years!
After reading the previous paragraph about our predicted financial doom, isn’t it interesting that the three of the leading Republican presidential contenders; Trump, Fiorina and Carson are not career politicians. Unlike the present administration, where less than 10% of the cabinet or staff have had experience in the private sectors of our economy, you can surmise that if any of these three become president, 40% or more of the cabinet or staff will have experience in the private sector of our economy. That is what we needed in 2012, but opted for the status quo by reelecting Obama. These three leading Republican contenders have sent shock waves through all career politicians because of their non-political experiences and their rapidly growing popularity among the populous by not being career politicians. Regardless who the next president will be, they will have to face some very burgeoning fiscal issues. They will also have to retool our country from socialism back to its capitalistic roots. But again, I digress. (Its my blog, and I can digress if I want!)
There were many other terms that have come and gone over the last three years. Disappearing with nary a whimper. Government gridlock. Voter ID. Washington Redskins name change. The situation in the Ukraine. These are just some of the terms and events that were in the forefront and have somehow evaporated from sight like mist in a wind. Too bad that can’t be said about the Kardashians.
I am writing and practicing my acceptance speech for the first Nobel prize for Common Sense. I can just see it now, sitting in Stockholm waiting for that grand announcement….”And the winner of the first ever Nobel prize for Common Sense goes to”……….(Oh crap! Sitting in Stockholm with no place to go.)