A living laboratory for our governing bodies here. Seeing our own elite's egotistical tendency to insist on "doubling down" on such failed policies, though, I'm not overly optimistic.
I intend to write more of them as time goes on, to generate original content for this site.
Peace and love to y'all.
Very well said, Laz.
A living laboratory for our governing bodies here. Seeing our own elite's egotistical tendency to insist on "doubling down" on such failed policies, though, I'm not overly optimistic.
Very nice, Laz.
Why should they take personal responsibility? Seriously, what possible purpose would doing something hard, owning up to your mistakes, going without some “entitlements” serve? For them to do ANYTHING, without regard to how small - is utterly pointless.
You know, I know, and they know, that “someone” else will have to come swoop in, invest Trillions of dollars, and patch things up again. That “someone” is the USA. Always has been, always will be - regardless how stupid such a move is.
Meanwhile, they will continue to bitch and whine about how their rescue didn’t come fast enough, or do enough for them; and they will curse us for their burdens and responsibilities we pick up.
They have done it before, and they will do it again. And the most insane part of it all - neither we, nor they will learn a single lesson from history.
Laz, I hardly recognize ye. (I like it!)
AS I PASS through my incarnations in every age and race,
I make my proper prostrations to the Gods of the Market Place.
Peering through reverent fingers I watch them flourish and fall,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings, I notice, outlast them all.
We were living in trees when they met us. They showed us each in turn
That Water would certainly wet us, as Fire would certainly burn:
But we found them lacking in Uplift, Vision and Breadth of Mind,
So we left them to teach the Gorillas while we followed the March of Mankind.
We moved as the Spirit listed. They never altered their pace,
Being neither cloud nor wind-borne like the Gods of the Market Place,
But they always caught up with our progress, and presently word would come
That a tribe had been wiped off its icefield, or the lights had gone out in Rome.
With the Hopes that our World is built on they were utterly out of touch,
They denied that the Moon was Stilton; they denied she was even Dutch;
They denied that Wishes were Horses; they denied that a Pig had Wings;
So we worshipped the Gods of the Market Who promised these beautiful things.
When the Cambrian measures were forming, They promised perpetual peace.
They swore, if we gave them our weapons, that the wars of the tribes would cease.
But when we disarmed They sold us and delivered us bound to our foe,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: “Stick to the Devil you know.”
On the first Feminian Sandstones we were promised the Fuller Life
(Which started by loving our neighbour and ended by loving his wife)
Till our women had no more children and the men lost reason and faith,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: “The Wages of Sin is Death.”
In the Carboniferous Epoch we were promised abundance for all,
By robbing selected Peter to pay for collective Paul;
But, though we had plenty of money, there was nothing our money could buy,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: “If you don’t work you die.”
Then the Gods of the Market tumbled, and their smooth-tongued wizards withdrew
And the hearts of the meanest were humbled and began to believe it was true
That All is not Gold that Glitters, and Two and Two make Four
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings limped up to explain it once more.
As it will be in the future, it was at the birth of Man
There are only four things certain since Social Progress began.
That the Dog returns to his Vomit and the Sow returns to her Mire,
And the burnt Fool’s bandaged finger goes wabbling back to the Fire;
And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins
When all men are paid for existing and no man must pay for his sins,
As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will burn,
The Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return!
Well done.
Bloggers should note that the piece is posted in its entirety
here, with no attempt to leech away Free Republic’s traffic.
Of course, the above mentioned group has their own kind of insanity...
The Gods of the Copybook Headings Rudyard Kipling |
| AS I PASS through my incarnations in every age and race, I make my proper prostrations to the Gods of the Market Place. Peering through reverent fingers I watch them flourish and fall, And the Gods of the Copybook Headings, I notice, outlast them all. We were living in trees when they met us. They showed us each in turn That Water would certainly wet us, as Fire would certainly burn: But we found them lacking in Uplift, Vision and Breadth of Mind, So we left them to teach the Gorillas while we followed the March of Mankind. We moved as the Spirit listed. They never altered their pace, Being neither cloud nor wind-borne like the Gods of the Market Place, But they always caught up with our progress, and presently word would come That a tribe had been wiped off its icefield, or the lights had gone out in Rome. With the Hopes that our World is built on they were utterly out of touch, They denied that the Moon was Stilton; they denied she was even Dutch; They denied that Wishes were Horses; they denied that a Pig had Wings; So we worshipped the Gods of the Market Who promised these beautiful things. When the Cambrian measures were forming, They promised perpetual peace. They swore, if we gave them our weapons, that the wars of the tribes would cease. But when we disarmed They sold us and delivered us bound to our foe, And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "Stick to the Devil you know." On the first Feminian Sandstones we were promised the Fuller Life (Which started by loving our neighbour and ended by loving his wife) Till our women had no more children and the men lost reason and faith, And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "The Wages of Sin is Death." In the Carboniferous Epoch we were promised abundance for all, By robbing selected Peter to pay for collective Paul; But, though we had plenty of money, there was nothing our money could buy, And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "If you don't work you die." Then the Gods of the Market tumbled, and their smooth-tongued wizards withdrew And the hearts of the meanest were humbled and began to believe it was true That All is not Gold that Glitters, and Two and Two make Four And the Gods of the Copybook Headings limped up to explain it once more. As it will be in the future, it was at the birth of Man There are only four things certain since Social Progress began. That the Dog returns to his Vomit and the Sow returns to her Mire, And the burnt Fool's bandaged finger goes wabbling back to the Fire; And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins When all men are paid for existing and no man must pay for his sins, As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will burn, The Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return! |
You're absolutely right, Laz, and this is why I have more concerns about an easy life for my family than a difficult one.
My boys and I were at a religious foundation on Saturday, and one of the religious Brothers, a gentleman from Kenya, told me the boys needed to see me eating, or they would be worried about me. He was not used to societies in which there is always plenty of food available, but to ones in which there was no surplus.
Does any of us have experience of children's being concerned that their parents might not get enough to eat? I certainly don't!
I talked to my next door neighbor over the fence yesterday. She is French (now a Texan and US citizen) but works at the French Consulate and was in charge of the election yesterday. She is very conservative and is totally disgusted with the “Frogs” as she calls them because of the vote.
“It appears that the solution, albeit one impossible to forestall this collapse, is decidedly local. It is inside one’s self. To become less selfish, to become a person of character, to think of serving others before you serve yourself: These are the character traits that would have prompted people to have voted for fiscal responsibility in Europe, instead of the few remaining months of government largesse.”
SPOT ON, Laz. And we have the example here of Wisconsin, with Gov. Walker having great success in turning things around, but falling prey (if not out of office) to the greedy and the public employee unions (not necessarily two separate things).
A good part of our challenge seems to be to press legislators to shift the tide to expectations of greater personal responsbility, and to make sure we are getting that message to our offspring, so there are some torch bearers in the future.
Thanks for the post, Laz.
Good word indeed, Laz. Simple truth.
Keep’em coming......
Please add me to the PING list. Thank you.
I spent several moments looking down on the French voters for that selfish decision - and then I remembered:
It is nice to see, even just on FR, a recognition that socialism is selfish. The far left likes to control our language through tactics such as characterizing conservatives as selfish, while they pile unsustainable debt on our children to put off the reckoning for another year . . . making that reckoning far more severe.
Much truth there Laz. Good bit of verbage.
If you would be so kind, add be to the throngs of followers you are sure to amass ;)
If I can add a bit to the thought, this is the end result of removing education from the education system. Humanity in the western world has not been given an education in the basics of how the world works in a couple decades or more. The basic Home Ec/Shop classes have been all but eliminated from schools. Most have no clue how to do basic economics such as balancing a check/card acct.
This is of course by design. When people are made too stupid to be able to do such things as carry out life’s most basic/needed things, they naturally gravitate to the ‘aid’ of those who will do it for them. Such as we have seen played out since the 60s and even before.
An genuinely educated man is and always will be a free man. Unless he abandons that freedom by his own choosing. A modern product of the “educational” system is enslaved as he knows no better.
Keep typin Laz. I’ll keep reading ;)
Excellent!
I don’t think it’s right to assume that voters understand what’s going on politically and economically, especially in terms of broad principles. They generally know only how circumstances are affecting them personally, and if things aren’t perceived as going well, they tend to jump from party to party, thinking that if the party in power isn’t fulfilling their expectations, the other one will.
It does boggle the mind that France and perhaps Germany are turning away from reality. With the secondary economies of the PIGS it is possible to imagine the Portugese, for example, convincing themselves that the larger economies will bail them out, but with the big boys it shows the mental block is systemic.
As this moves forward inflation is certain as they print the paper. The Brits might escape but the others are locked in by the Euro.
Our own country is tied more closely than we realize.