Our Best Investment Today

“On The Turning Away”
–Pink Floyd

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEMy34qhQe4

On the turning away
From the pale and downtrodden
And the words they say
Which we won’t understand
"Don’t accept that what’s happening
Is just a case of others’ suffering
Or you’ll find that you’re joining in
The turning away"

It’s a sin that somehow
Light is changing to shadow
And casting its shroud
Over all we have known
Unaware how the ranks have grown
Driven on by a heart of stone
We could find that we’re all alone
In the dream of the proud

On the wings of the night
As the daytime is stirring
Where the speechless unite
In a silent accord
Using words you will find are strange
Mesmerized as they light the flame
Feel the new wind of change
On the wings of the night

No more turning away
From the weak and the weary
No more turning away
From the coldness inside
Just a world that we all must share
It’s not enough just to stand and stare
Is it only a dream that there’ll be
No more turning away?

I apologize up front for what some might consider a political idea. But I insist that this is an idea for investing, to invest in the opportunity to make a meaningful difference in the future of our country, and how our desires are turned into law. Tell me: What better investment can there be?

It’s unusual when 90% of Americans wish for the same agenda–any agenda. But it’s becoming quite normal for our leaders to not only ignore the desires, beliefs and wishes of the 90% majority, but to make laws that support the very opposite views, while lining their pockets with contributions from the 10% minority and the companies that benefit from the status quo. And not once, but repeatedly, time after time.

Maybe today we’re all (well, 90% of us at least) once again sick of our children being slaughtered while they attend school, trying to better their lives and learn and invent the tools they will need to design the future of our country and our very civilization. It’s a tragedy; it’s a travesty that should never happen, but continues to happen without any meaningful attempts made to change the future of similar tragedies.

I have this dream, a simple dream that We The People will rise up against this repetition of tragedy of unbearable magnitude. A dream that someone somewhere, will find a way to fight to force our leaders to accept the will of We The People, to turn away from the bribes offered by the minority and the companies that reap huge profits from selling the tools used to slaughter Americans day after day.

So, if money and power are all that our leaders will accept for making our will, the law of the land, I still have a dream, a dream where 90% of Americans decide to invest funds to fight fire with fire. A dream that maybe a few hundred million dollars’ worth of donations used in the right ad markets would force our “leaders” to do their job, to represent their constituents rather than the very few who fund their election campaigns. Or maybe we could donate funds directly to our leaders’ election campaigns, if that’s what it takes. I’ll leave the choices and details to others better qualified and experienced, but the choice to do nothing is too costly; too many lives will be senselessly taken.

So I have a dream, a dream that someone, somewhere, has a practical outline for making our lawmakers represent the will of the people. Without knowing precisely where that someone somewhere, is or what they’re thinking and planning, I must hold on to my dream and make modifications as information comes forth.

About 18 months ago, I started to take small, baby steps to kickstart my dream. I tried to register a website with the name/domain of We The People, to work to begin to change the way the decisions that affect all of us, are made. Sadly, the name was already taken. Busy with other things, I let the dream slip down my long list of priorities for the time being. My bad.

This year’s market has blown up my investments to the greatest extent ever. But I still continue to invest, and with some portion of my wealth, I’m waiting for that investment that I think will change the world. It isn’t Artificial Intelligence, nor Machine Learning, nor Software as a Service of any kind, although we could use them all if needed, and the sooner the better.

No, I firmly believe the answer is somewhere in the idea and power of We The People. We are the majority. We are the Power. It is our country and our future. How many more of our children are we willing to sacrifice to slaughter before we rise up and insist on change? Each and every excuse is but a twisted lie that needs to be exposed.

If only we had the right idea. Thus my question: What’s yours? When (not if) we come up with the solution, I want to be first in line to invest, and I encourage you to join me.

Is it only a dream that there’ll be
No more turning away?

28 Likes

To prevent this thread from becoming political, I will answer your poem with another:

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43290/the-second-comi…

**The Second Coming**
**By William Butler Yeats, 1919**

**Turning and turning in the widening gyre**
**The falcon cannot hear the falconer;**
**Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;**
**Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,**
**The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere**
**The ceremony of innocence is drowned;**
**The best lack all conviction, while the worst**
**Are full of passionate intensity.**

**Surely some revelation is at hand;**
**Surely the Second Coming is at hand.**
**The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out**
**When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi**
**Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert**
**A shape with lion body and the head of a man,**
**A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,**
**Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it**
**Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.**
**The darkness drops again; but now I know**
**That twenty centuries of stony sleep**
**Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,**
**And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,**
**Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?**

I wish I could be more hopeful. But there is much in this poem that describes today.

Wendy

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Here’s Joni Mitchell’s interpretation of Yeats poem.
https://youtu.be/f1j0j4r_gnw

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10 recs to Wendy
A low price to pay

For bring us Yeats
More apropos today

I owe you 10 more
For not Xing the post

Plus a bonus of 100
To one incredible host*

Here’s 1 for today
(The limit you defend)

In your debt I wonder
Shall it ever end

Methinks it will not
I shall not pretend

I always owe Wendy
(Recs are so lame)

She deserves much more
But this is the game

If anyone is counting
We’re at 119

But the recs won’t end there
(Just like it’s always been)

  • not much rhymes with hostess :slight_smile:
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“The Mostest,” of course.

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I see your poem and raise you this one by Bob Dylan.

Who killed Davey Moore
Why an’ what’s the reason for?

“Not I,” says the referee
"Don’t point your finger at me
I could’ve stopped it in the eighth
An’ maybe kept him from his fate
But the crowd would’ve booed, I’m sure
At not gettin’ their money’s worth
It’s too bad he had to go
But there was a pressure on me too, you know
It wasn’t me that made him fall
No, you can’t blame me at all"

Who killed Davey Moore
Why an’ what’s the reason for?

“Not us,” says the angry crowd
Whose screams filled the arena loud
"It’s too bad he died that night
But we just like to see a fight
We didn’t mean for him t’ meet his death
We just meant to see some sweat
There ain’t nothing wrong in that
It wasn’t us that made him fall
No, you can’t blame us at all"

Who killed Davey Moore
Why an’ what’s the reason for?

“Not me,” says his manager
Puffing on a big cigar
"It’s hard to say, it’s hard to tell
I always thought that he was well
It’s too bad for his wife an’ kids he’s dead
But if he was sick, he should’ve said
It wasn’t me that made him fall
No, you can’t blame me at all"

Who killed Davey Moore
Why an’ what’s the reason for?

“Not me,” says the gambling man
With his ticket stub still in his hand
"It wasn’t me that knocked him down
My hands never touched him none
I didn’t commit no ugly sin
Anyway, I put money on him to win
It wasn’t me that made him fall
No, you can’t blame me at all"

Who killed Davey Moore
Why an’ what’s the reason for?

“Not me,” says the boxing writer
Pounding print on his old typewriter
Sayin’, "Boxing ain’t to blame
There’s just as much danger in a football game"
Sayin’, "Fistfighting is here to stay
It’s just the old American way
It wasn’t me that made him fall
No, you can’t blame me at all"

Who killed Davey Moore
Why an’ what’s the reason for?

“Not me,” says the man whose fists
Laid him low in a cloud of mist
Who came here from Cuba’s door
Where boxing ain’t allowed no more
"I hit him, yes, it’s true
But that’s what I am paid to do
Don’t say ‘murder,’ don’t say ‘kill’
It was destiny, it was God’s will"

Who killed Davey Moore
Why an’ what’s the reason for?

All too sad.

AW

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I have two quotes that are keeping me going right now. One is from a podcast that I listen to.

“Despair is a luxury we can not afford.” – Dr. Allison Gill

The other is from a children’s book.

“Stay angry, little Meg,” Mrs Whatsit whispered. “You will need all your anger now.” – Madeline L’Engle, A Wrinkle in Time.

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Neither anger nor despair will stop gun merchants from murdering children for profit. And we collectively are not going to pass effective laws to stop it.

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Neither anger nor despair will stop gun merchants from murdering children for profit. And we collectively are not going to pass effective laws to stop it.

It is insane to think there will be gun control laws passed when we keep rewarding those who oppose them by re-electing them.

This is on all of us.

We the people.

AW

22 Likes

To prevent this thread from becoming political, I will answer your poem with another…The Second Coming by William Butler Yeats, 1919
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold

There is a similar view which you may remember, by Barry McGuire, called The Eve of Destruction.

No need to quote the lyrics; the tile says it all. However, my point is that it was written over 50 years ago. We have not only survived but are better off now than then.

DB2

We have not only survived but are better off now than then.

Depends on how you measure “better off”.

2 Likes

Since it seems to be allowed on Macro…

I (reluctantly) but firmly - support gun control measures. I am cognizant that this right ways always out there - - but I feel American culture and family structure is devolved to a point where Americans - cannot be trusted with certain Liberties and Rights. One of those is the right to bear arms. Culture has degraded tried and true anchors in life, mechanisms that prevent such extreme behaviors that yes - everyone must be a part of shredding this part of the Constitution. As someone with kids in school- yes- I want to take away the rights of other people in the name of safety. Not proud of it - but I do. I vehemently support detailed background checks. Heck - just a few weeks ago - in one of the most affluent suburbs of PA – a woman shot and killed her kids the morning she was gonna get evicted from her luxury rental house. The evictor also happened to be her ex husband’s family. Anyhow - perhaps a background check would’ve shown immediate financial strife - and those kids would be alive. I personally have said hi to her many times - and she and her son were at our kindergarten birthday party at one of those “Bounce U” kids places many years ago. And then there’s American pop culture: An encouraged march away from the traditional nuclear family. Certain values and traditions blacklisted. Then as the climax- social media, smartphones. Humans have lost each other and see clicks, likes, tweets, retweets – not humanity in other people. This "Meta " Crap will take it to true tragedy levels. People are impatient. People can’t reason. So they shoot. And they “livestream” it. And we are NOT gonna address ANY of that stuff because those who control the culture, those who decide what is cool and what isn’t - aren’t gonna let that happen.

So yes, I vehemently but sadly support any and all gun control measures. BUT – it’s going to take 20 years. Why? Because the people who support gun control - LOVE losing elections. LOVE it. They never made it out of the college campus and they can’t relate to, nor do they care to relate to a majority of America, or at least a huge plurality. Hence - school boards and Supreme Courts are indeed stacked agains them. In 20-25 years, the kids who grew up getting shot at will run the country - and they will indeed enact gun control. If a fortunate political wave happens - yes there can be an assault weapons ban - like in the 90s but that’s about as much as we’ll get.

Now - for 20 years we can keep seeing these mass shootings which eventually will be A NORMAL OCCURENCE that we pay minimal mind to - we’ll pay more attention to the weather report. (Were any kids killed in Detroit or Chicago recently? Do we know about them? NOPE!!! It’s normalized - just as these tragic shootings will be - as culture gets bad…and just WAIT till A.I displaces people out of jobs. Think violence is bad now? Add throngs of people with economic despair and sit back and watch…)

So while we work on and wait for gun control… I really wish our school had ONE or TWO geared entrances. And a metal detector for ALL kids to start their day with - along with bag searches each morning. Guess what? Some of the shooters will NOT ever get in that way. It seems to work ok in the airports. The other day - at Parx Casino - -I took my laptop. I like watching the stock market, or looking at real estate listings in between poker hands. EACH time - they search my laptop bag and guess what? If I had a gun - they’d have found it.

Sadly - I think NONE of this will happen because - the very people who want these nutty killings to stop - are the very perfectionists, the overly cerebrals who can’t just decide that it’s not sensible to let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

Here in my suburb - it’s Yoga-Pilates-Farm-To-Forkville. It was odd for me to be on same team as them - but I was STRONGLY pro-mask, pro-Vax, and pro-social distance- I even kept kids home for 1.5 years. Once on Facebook - I told them how their attitudes will COST us the election and they didn’t believe it. BUT GUESS WHAT? The pro-mask people LOST the school board(lol) by get this…7 votes. Now - there’s book bans going on. Chorus is being cut down. They are fit to be tied. This time I found myself on their side - and the other side won. NOW, when I look back at 2000, 2004, 2016 - those election outcomes don’t surprise me nearly as much.

People who fancy themselves “enlightened” “open minded” - -need to once in awhile practice a bit of introspection.

While we wait 20 years for gun control - I sure wish those metal detectors and bag searches are on.

This morning the local cops parked outside the school. It won’t stop a shooter who wants to die or be caught anyway isn’t gonna be dissuaded. But strict entrances and metal detectors and searches - have a good chance of stopping him.

Anyhow, back to status quo. Today in the school pick up line - all parents and kids will have heads buried in phones. Not even aware of things 2 feet away. And it’s ok that Moms and students alike - many times - will be dressed like Hooters girls. And in more disadvantaged neighborhoods - 70% of kids will go home to a single parent household, many times void of good examples or role models, or encouragement or love or discipline - but those are taboo subjects.

What happened in Texas is tragic but it’s gonna happen over and over and over again.

I’m glad to have kids in today’s world. yeah, I really am.

1 Like

<“The Eve of Destruction”
We have not only survived but are better off now than then.>

Eve Of Destruction
by Bob Dylan (but Wikipedia says by P.F. Sloan so I’m confused)
https://songsear.ch/song/Bob-Dylan/Eve-Of-Destruction/193224…

The eastern world it is explodin’,
Violence flarin’, bullets loadin’,
You’re old enough to kill but not for votin’, [lowered voting age, check]
You don’t believe in war, what’s that gun you’re totin’, [left Vietnam but started several Vietnam-type wars that lasted even longer with forced re-enlistment instead of draft]
And even the Jordan river has bodies floatin’, [no change there]
But you tell me over and over and over again my friend,
Ah, you don’t believe we’re on the eve of destruction.

Don’t you understand, what I’m trying to say?
Can’t you feel the fears that I’m feeling today?
If the button is pushed, there’s no running away,
There’ll be no one to save with the world in a grave… [Nuclear arms, North Korea, Russia, Iran…still a danger of world destruction]

…Handful of Senators don’t pass legislation,
And marches alone can’t bring integration… [passed integration but still not integrated https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_integration_in_the_Unit…

…[end quote]

Turning to the economy…looking much better.

Real gross domestic product per capita
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/A939RX0Q048SBEA

Real Disposable Personal Income: Per Capita
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/A229RX0

Trends in income and wealth inequality. Household incomes have grown only modestly in this century, and household wealth has not returned to its pre-2009 recession level. Economic inequality, whether measured through the gaps in income or wealth between richer and poorer households, continues to widen.
https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2020/01/09/trends-…

Life expectancy growing.
https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/USA/united-states/life…

But the economy has been hollowed out.

Men are dropping the ball.
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LRAC25MAUSM156S

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2021/01/12/the-unrep…

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2021/10/08/the-male-…

The trade deficit is exploding. We don’t make what we use. How much longer can this go on?

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/BOPGSTB

As for the 10-year forecast, see the post I just wrote.

We aren’t on the eve of destruction, but the trends, which improved in many ways for the past 50 years, are not moving in the right direction now. Of course, that could change as the younger generations take the baton. Or they could continue the same unsustainable policies and make things worse.

I probably won’t be around to see it.

Wendy

3 Likes

This morning the local cops parked outside the school. It won’t stop a shooter who wants to die or be caught anyway isn’t gonna be dissuaded. But strict entrances and metal detectors and searches - have a good chance of stopping him.

I worked as a middle school math teacher for a trimester in a private school that was having a hard time getting a replacement teacher for someone who up and quit suddenly. I am not certified in teaching, but was a research chemist prior to kids, and I know math.

Many of my 8th graders I had both for Algebra I and Math Counts, where I prepared them for a math competition later in the year. I was the middle school math department. Pretty quickly I noticed a dynamic where this one brilliant kid, who was flunking my class from lack of submission of work, was systematically torturing this other kid, and with his charisma, getting his classmates to do the same. I told him to cut it out, both in class and privately, had discussions with the other teachers who told me “Boys will be boys. Ignore them.” How I hate that saying.

I felt that allowing this sort of behavior to take place in front of adults without voicing disapproval was tantamount to telling the kids their behavior was OK. I wrote a letter to the parents of the tormentor, describing how intelligent he was and how well he could do if he applied himself in class rather than entertaining himself by using his classmates as a social torture experiment, getting the letter cleared by the middle school director, who like me, was new to the school. He told me to mail it off, and of course, the sh!t hit the fan when the parents got the letter.

Long story significantly shortened, I was eventually able to prove my allegations to the parents, who reined the kid in. The kid who had been tormented showed up after school a few days later to thank me. “I didn’t know what to do. It’s happened for years and no one did anything so I figured I just deserved it. My dad’s a US Marshal. I was going to bring in his gun…” At that point I said a silent “Oh CR@P,” and walked him down to the school psychologist. The two boys got counseled and I gave notice, waiting for them to find that new teacher, and moved my kids to a different school.

Boys will be boys. How about we adults be adults?

IP,
who was later approached in town by the tormentor, who thanked me as well, but he was such a gifted manipulator that I never really took it more seriously than an act of attempted manipulation

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