So I was thinkin' about that last post, which yeah, was kinda' lame. Unfortunately, the concept for the post idea itself, was perfectly fine, and could have been awesome...if it had been fleshed out in more interesting ways.
Why wasn't it? Why didn't I?
What an interesting question, I'm glad you asked!
The answer is simply lingering over words. When I started that piece, I had a kernel of an idea that I was sure was going to evolve into something that had a ton more meaning than what I actually wrote on the internet for everyone and their sisters to read. But I didn't linger on the words, I just wanted something new on the front page of Fjord...something, anything. I should have just posted a link to a goofy story.
It's never spoken of much, but there's magic in words. Rarely do people talk about it, because it's so commonplace. But you hear about people who can't read, and what it means to them when they learn how to do it. It's always something that is a huge milestone in their lives, something they boast about, they are, for good reason, proud they can read.
Of course, for those of us who've been doing this reading thing since we were young, there's an awareness that words mean all sorts of things and often, they are wrapped around misleading ideas and information. As well, the utter ubiquity of words, makes a pretty cheap currency. And that, is why you get not-quite-fleshed out posts, and not-quite-fleshed-out news.
There's a reason that we are bigger consumers of information than broadcasters of it. How many times have you read a post or a news piece which taught you something new? It's rare, because it's hard. It's tricky. For the most part, you read stuff you already know. To make words mean something, you've got to spend time and effort, linger over them and not only put the magic of words together like a puzzle, but also feel where the words are taking you, and roll with it, with them. I could have taken the last post and made some connections of fighting aliens with Gaza, or Al-Qaida, or the bankers and traders that have been the enemy of Truth, Justice, and the American Way.
As I was writing it, I could feel the pull of the words wanting to get to those places, but I didn't linger over it. I didn't have the force of will to roll with the magic of the words that were spilling out from my keyboard, and follow them to a better (or bitter-er) conclusion. Why? Ah, there's the rub.
To that, I'll respond, I used to be a file clerk. When I was a file clerk, I used to come home day after day, and make words on this here webzine to prove to myself (and everybody) that I wasn't a fucking file clerk, that I was an INNERNET SUPERSTAR!
Then, I got laid-off, which I thought was the coolest thing ever. This was finally a reason for me to go out and grab a job I was worthy of. A full year later, and here I am, looking for anything that'll pay enough to cover rent. I didn't know it at the time, but I was one of the first victims of this here depression we're mucking around in right now.
Whether I'm an INNERNET SUPERSTAR or not, I'm pretty up-to-date on all the economic/political crap that's been going on, and that means billions of fresh dollars tossed around like words. Super Cheap Fjucking Words, and definitely words not lingered over. Unlike bankers, or trading houses, or A.I.G., I'm willing to work for money...I just keep waiting to see an offer where I get my grubby little hands on enough to keep the Casa Aloha running. That's less than 30-grand for a year, but we'll use that number to aid the maths. According to my calculator, the money I need is a tiny chunk that is 26,233,333% - of the lately passed stimulus bill of 787 billion dollars.
My fraction of the Federal Money that would keep this joint rolling, is so small that you'd have to multiply it by 26-million, two hundred thirty-three thousand, three hundred thirty-three. I keep looking for it, that money, on the job-boards on the innernet...but it's not there. All I see is my lousy clerk-skills being challenged by more and more laid-off people who have better looking resumes and skills on paper than I do.
*Alert!* Waah, waaah!
I know, I know, I'm complaining probably too much, and...to nobody but the giant vortex of the all-consuming webmonster.
But here's the fantastic post conclusion!!!
F.D.R. gave the U.S.A. the "New Deal" and as a fella who's already made a point about the magic of words in this piece, I think the words "new deal" were a pretty clever construction for a time when words were not quite as crazy everywhere as they are now. I don't think the term "new deal" means "I'm going to give you a great new deal on this car." I think the words mean, "I'm changing the deck, and I'm giving you a new hand."
We seen with brutal consequence, that the last deck was stacked against us.
Earlier, I wrote the words, "How many times have you read a post or a news piece which taught you something new?"
I'm not saying that I predicted any of this, but if you look up where The King of the Swamp People started getting pissed and started calling for heads on pikes, it wasn't just for show. It was the first moment that the curtain was torn back, and the truth revealed. (strangely, a truth we already knew, yeah?) And what happened? Nothing. The one man responsible for a 14-billion dollar theft, died in his vacation mansion in Colorado, still an un-imprisoned billionaire. There are plenty of humanids that took this lesson and ran with it. Their punishment now is a cash "bonus" that exceeds what most people make in a lifetime, and it's being paid for right now, with your bailout tax dollars.
I'm not telling you anything new. You already know all this.
Obama's been talking up our troubles for a while now..."there's nothing like this since the great depression" has slipped off his tongue more than a few times. And there's plenty of legit evidence to say he ain't just using his powerful rhetorical skills to get himself out of a political jam. It really does appear, that the entire global financial system is so fjucked that nobody-not even one solvent, still-super-productive country, will stop this downward slide.
We need a new deck.
We need a new hand.
We need a new game, with new rules.
It's obvious.
"What the fjuck," I would ask, "is he waiting for?"
The entire world is waiting for a new dealer, a new deck, and a new game. Be ballsy and go ahead and call it like it is. Who cares if you're recycling words that have rung thru the modern age - synonymous with prosperity.
It's time for a new deal.
***Update***
Seems like I'm not the only fella with his proverbial fingers on this zeitgeist. In fact, I apparently tapped into the thinking of the Prime Minister of England! Kickass. I'm sure a governmental consulting job is comin' just down the pike!
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