How long will the public put up with it?

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Once plutocrats were lauded for generating wealth that would, we were told, trickle down to benefit the rest of us. Today we blame them for causing the 2008 crash and for selling off our housing stock to overseas speculators. Our idea of what constitutes the good life has shifted, too: most of us now aspire to a “fuller kind of wealth” that involves enjoying life, having happy relationships and doing work that helps others. We used to envy the lifestyle of the fabulously rich – Learjets, private islands, underground gyms: now it all seems superficial.

In short, many people now aspire to the Epicurean ideal of moderation and mutual inter-dependence, even if they cannot put a name to their feelings and think Epicurus is a catering company. It’s clear that the “trickle-down” economic model was always a sham, thought up at the behest of the grabitariat. Media hacks are still paid to tell us how wonderful the new, (undercover) political bosses are, but who really believes them any more? What is clear is that on both sides of the Atlantic we are losing the old, democratic ethos and passing control to a small, self-perpetuating group, possibly with personalties somewhere on the autistic spectrum (that is, they don’t care about human beings). The Russian and French aristocracy of old exhibited similar traits. So- called “think tanks” are employed to think up new ways of packaging the news and the state of the economy in order to keep the poorly informed poorly informed.  For how much longer?  The current trend is politically dangerous, but this seems to matter not to those incapable of forethought.

Celebratory gunfire – a growing stupidity

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Among some Americans a celebration, be it a wedding or an anniversary, July 4th, or New Year – is marked by gunfire.  A majority of people  (it is thought) use blanks, although why it’s necessary to do so at all isn’t explained.  But when an actual bullet is fired up into the air, guess what, it comes down. Duh! In over 70% of cases it causes head injuries to unsuspecting people far distant from the source of gunfire, and, if not, it injures innocent people in the back or on the shoulders.

NPR reports: “On just about every major holiday worldwide we see reports about “celebratory gunfire” deaths. It’s an ironic term — one man’s moment of irresponsible, thoughtless jubilation leads to another family’s woe. And as the bullet may land miles away, the assailant is rarely identified. For example, a Houston family watching a fireworks show from their driveway lost their father just minutes into 2015 as he suddenly fell back onto the concrete. His bloody head wound was caused by a falling bullet. The coroner finally ruled his death a homicide in March”.

Last year, Virginia made celebratory gunfire a felony, but in most States it is only a misdemeanor ( a “misdemeanor”?), and in any case it is usually difficult to find the culprit.   Epicurus  would no doubt deplore the irresponsibility of mindlessly taking the lives of strangers innocently going about their business.  It is potentially manslaughter, and demonstrates a lack of common sense, personal responsibility, and an ability  to think of others.

 

Colt files for bankruptcy

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American gun-maker Colt Defense has filed for bankruptcy protection, having “failed to win the support of bondholders for a debt reshaping agreement.” It adds: “Colt plans to try to reduce its $355 million debt burden via a court supervised auction of its business, to generate proceeds to repay some of its lenders.”

It appears, according to the Wall Street Journal, that Colt missed the post-2008 ‘Obama surge’ enjoyed by other U.S. gun manufacturers. Whipped up by NRA warnings that the Democratic president intended to toughen gun control, consumers cleared gun store shelves of ammunition and weapons. Better-prepared manufacturers such as Glock saw sales rise sharply. … Colt’s Manufacturing, for its part, offered only a limited selection of the handguns so much in demand. Meanwhile, a contract with the U.S. military ended in 2013.

You won’t see tears for gun manufacturers on this blog. It is rather good news, except for the fact that there is a buyer for the remains of the company, called Sciens Capital management.  The slaughter will continue, you can be sure.

Non-fatal injuries by gunfire in 2013:   84,258

Deaths by gunfire in 2013:  33,636

We are assured that this was what the Founders intended and expected. It’s written in the Constitution, isn’t it?*

(Whoops! Apologies.  Americans don’t do irony.)

Light relief

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To The Oldie
I haven’t got a computer, but I was told about Facebook and Twitter, and am trying to make friends outside Facebook and Twitter while applying the same principles.
Every day, I walk down the street and tell passers-by what I have eaten, how I feel, what I have done the night before and what I will do for the rest of the day. I give them pictures of my wife, my daughter, my dog and me gardening and on holiday, spending time by the pool. I also listen to their conversations, tell them I “like” them and give them my opinion on every subject that interests me… whether it interests them or not.
And it works. I already have four people following me: two police officers, a social worker and a psychiatrist.
Peter White, Holbrook, Derbyshire  (quoted in The Week)