You know, this whole idea of financial institutions being too big to fail? Well, aren't we doing every fool thing we can to ensure that every other industry or institution we have is also too big to fail?
Increasingly, the distribution of cheap imported shit comes from only a handful of large companies. (WalMart, Target)
Increasingly, the distribution of pharmaceuticals comes from only a handful of large multinationals. (Pfizer, Glaxo)
Increasingly, the distribution of military hardware comes from only a handful of large multinationals. (Colt, Raytheon)
Increasingly, the distribution of all our food comes from only a handful of large multinationals.
Focus on that last one for a minute. Suppose instead of Goldman, Cargill was on the verge of failing. Instead of Lehman, Archer Daniels Midland went bust. Or instead of AIG, Monsanto needed $150,000,000,000. You think we'd allow any of these to fail?
At the same time, it's salmonella this, salmonella that. Don't eat peanut butter, bypass the spinach, avoid all pistachios. Do you possibly believe that food safety could be any more elusive due to our increasingly concentrated food industry? Do you really think that when our basic needs can be traded off for profit to a diminishing number of power brokers that we are better off?
Tell me how easy it is for FDA to trace the source of an "outbreak" from tainted polenta when wheels and wheels of it come off some centralized processing line and distributed to all four corners at all four seasons. Tell me that agribusiness isn't in the business of trying to eradicate and eliminate every diverse microbe culture that might be the cause of this "outbreak," eliminating competitive cultures from preventing any one pathogen from dominating. Superbugs rejoice. And tell me that, next to the financial sector, ADM and Cargill weren't right up there in lobbying expenditures, successfully pushing reams of legislation "favorable" to business and "unfavorable" for you...with the exception of cheap prices.
Trade off basic rights for profit. Yeah, go fuck yourselves, Americans. Get sick and die from food poisoning you can't source because of our 'concentrated distribution networks.' You are too small to matter. That's your comeuppance for demanding cheap products produced through cheap energy. Pretty soon, there will only be one provider for everything, because that's ultimately the most efficient, cheapest solution, right? and that's all that matters. Happily motor to the centralized warehouse to collect all your pre-arranged purchases -- quality of living at its finest.
This is my simplistic view of things, but I've said it before -- as we allow the Home Depots and the JoAnns and the WalMarts and the J.R. Simplot's of the world to collect, to aggregate, to control an increasing share of our lives, we lose far more that they can possibly return to us. We lose job and product diversification, we lose quality for quantity, we lose non-renewable resources, and we lose the dignity of work when we focus on line-speed, quotas, and the dogged pursuit of more.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Sunday, March 29, 2009
ADT
Here's another classic example of how my Elk Grove has done things completely wrong (actually, every city in America for that matter). After spending the last eighteen years doing everything it could to fuck up its historic town center, to intentionally destroy it, Elk Grove is priming itself to "revitalize its core."
Old Town is right on Elk Grove Blvd., an east-west street dating back to the 1860's, and this road (dirt at first, then a two lane for many, many years) was more than enough to service the town core. Elk Grove was always something of a very small city, but (wouldn't you know it) people a century ago decided that a human scaled, walkable, tree-lined, compact community would provide for most everyday needs for its residents who lived both on the main street as well as close adjacent streets.
For over a full century, there was never a need for "redevelopment," or "revitalization." The city core organically adjusted to the new conditions of living during the earlier decades of this century.
Today, within a span of less than twenty years, we are shuttling 22 thousand cars per day (ADT, or average daily traffic) through the intersection of Elk Grove Blvd. and Elk Grove Florin Rd, a half mile west of the Old Town. To preserve the core "character," Elk Grove Blvd. became a zipper street, necking down from a four lane 'freeway' to a two lane 'expressway' straight through the heart of the town core, slicing it in half with commuter traffic from Highway 99 to the 8,000+ housal units (we'll call this development) to the east. The city has no intention of stopping further development to the east...although our "tough economic times" has sorta squashed any recent growth. Once Elk Grove is back to 15% growth and 20% annual housal unit price increases then Elk Grove will expect (and rightfully deserve) suburban sprawl all the way from Old Town to the Consumnes river, with all these new "happy" citizens gleefully commuting through Old Town to get to the freeway and to all those jobs elsewhere in other cities. They represent all the future potential spenders in the core.
Having already spent north of $6 million to "revitalize" the core with sidewalks and vehicular amenities that (wouldn't you know it, it made traffic worse!) was a complete failure, businesses are dead and dying. And guess what all the council members, business owners, and historic preservationists are suggesting as the "antidote" to this fucking fiasco?
A Parking Structure!
Wa-hey! That will cure it!
Strip retail success in our great, grand America is predicated on one thing, and one thing only: ADT. The only bit of information any developer needs is "how many cars will drive by, because that defines the pool of potential 'hits.'" Hmmmm....somehow, eight thousand vehicles a day commuting through Old Town, somehow, hasn't managed to spur Old Town spending. So let's build vertical parking and lure thosecitizens consumers in. And make it free! Yes! Free parking, subsidized by all of Elk Grove.
"Some type of parking structure [is] vital, vital for the area." -- Elk Grove Mayor Pat Hume
You know, my fair city is going to spend hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, studying, planning, examining, reviewing, and recommending options that won't do, that can't do, anything to rectify decades of bad civic design. The only thing that works is correct urban design from the beginning or correct infill afterwards. Unfortunately, with suburban sprawl proponents funding 87% of our elected officials' coffers and re-election campaigns, Elk Grove will never be in the business of doing things correctly. It can never recommend solutions that work for an old city core atop a framework of car dependency and single use zoning.
Why do you suppose nearly every original city core in America also needs "revitalization?" If our suburban sprawl model is so fucking superior, then why is anyone concerned with "preserving" these cores? Why don't we just raze them all down, all of 'em, and erect more efficient large format retail and acres of parking to shuttle in all our superiorcitizens consumers?
Old Town Elk Grove is doomed to fail.
Old Town is right on Elk Grove Blvd., an east-west street dating back to the 1860's, and this road (dirt at first, then a two lane for many, many years) was more than enough to service the town core. Elk Grove was always something of a very small city, but (wouldn't you know it) people a century ago decided that a human scaled, walkable, tree-lined, compact community would provide for most everyday needs for its residents who lived both on the main street as well as close adjacent streets.
For over a full century, there was never a need for "redevelopment," or "revitalization." The city core organically adjusted to the new conditions of living during the earlier decades of this century.
Today, within a span of less than twenty years, we are shuttling 22 thousand cars per day (ADT, or average daily traffic) through the intersection of Elk Grove Blvd. and Elk Grove Florin Rd, a half mile west of the Old Town. To preserve the core "character," Elk Grove Blvd. became a zipper street, necking down from a four lane 'freeway' to a two lane 'expressway' straight through the heart of the town core, slicing it in half with commuter traffic from Highway 99 to the 8,000+ housal units (we'll call this development) to the east. The city has no intention of stopping further development to the east...although our "tough economic times" has sorta squashed any recent growth. Once Elk Grove is back to 15% growth and 20% annual housal unit price increases then Elk Grove will expect (and rightfully deserve) suburban sprawl all the way from Old Town to the Consumnes river, with all these new "happy" citizens gleefully commuting through Old Town to get to the freeway and to all those jobs elsewhere in other cities. They represent all the future potential spenders in the core.
Having already spent north of $6 million to "revitalize" the core with sidewalks and vehicular amenities that (wouldn't you know it, it made traffic worse!) was a complete failure, businesses are dead and dying. And guess what all the council members, business owners, and historic preservationists are suggesting as the "antidote" to this fucking fiasco?
A Parking Structure!
Wa-hey! That will cure it!
Strip retail success in our great, grand America is predicated on one thing, and one thing only: ADT. The only bit of information any developer needs is "how many cars will drive by, because that defines the pool of potential 'hits.'" Hmmmm....somehow, eight thousand vehicles a day commuting through Old Town, somehow, hasn't managed to spur Old Town spending. So let's build vertical parking and lure those
"Some type of parking structure [is] vital, vital for the area." -- Elk Grove Mayor Pat Hume
You know, my fair city is going to spend hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, studying, planning, examining, reviewing, and recommending options that won't do, that can't do, anything to rectify decades of bad civic design. The only thing that works is correct urban design from the beginning or correct infill afterwards. Unfortunately, with suburban sprawl proponents funding 87% of our elected officials' coffers and re-election campaigns, Elk Grove will never be in the business of doing things correctly. It can never recommend solutions that work for an old city core atop a framework of car dependency and single use zoning.
Why do you suppose nearly every original city core in America also needs "revitalization?" If our suburban sprawl model is so fucking superior, then why is anyone concerned with "preserving" these cores? Why don't we just raze them all down, all of 'em, and erect more efficient large format retail and acres of parking to shuttle in all our superior
Old Town Elk Grove is doomed to fail.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
The Uninsured
I've been reading about how, in these "tough economic times," California is approaching an 18% uninsured motorist rate.
My predictions for 2009 said that there would be more unregistered drivers in the state, and this prediction is holding true. However, I failed to also account for the correlation between the unregistered and the uninsured and the unemployed, which all rise and fall together.
By some accounts, this percentage is set to rise to almost 1 in six drivers. And indeed, there's also those who, instead of dropping their coverage, decide to take on minimum coverage.
Even so, I don't carry uninsured motorist -- but I am considering a change. Considering a change, because I recently found out that uninsured motorist insurance covers me (in California) for any roadway accident where contact was made by the uninsured vehicle. Read: as I ride my bike along Franklin Blvd., my auto uninsured motorist policy would cover me for any motor vehicle accident, even if my covered vehicle is in my driveway.
However, I do have medical insurance. My own medical insurance should cover the costs to fix me up, but it won't cover lost wages or other forms of compensation I could be entitled to. I will weigh the cost of this supplemental coverage against its benefits.
So here's my plan of attack, and I'm wondering if you agree: I will drop my liability coverage by half, to 50/100, from 100/300, to account for the fact that I'm an infrequent, small car driver. I will offset this with a 50/100 uninsured motorist policy.
I will assume all the risk of causing more than a $50k accident with my little Honda car, offset by the more likely possibility of getting hit by a hit and run motorist on Franklin Blvd. on my bike.
First of all, I follow the Smith Driving principles. One of the best mandatory training courses my employer has ever enrolled me in. It drives my wife fucking nuts, but hey, at least I got a better chance of not causing an accident than your average moronic NASCAR crazed driver. I drive to work on average only once every two weeks, so I'll take my chances on that day. Weekends and holidays, I'll also take my chances. And, I drive a small car. I'm not likely to total that Yukon Denali or cause too much damage.
Second of all...I ride my bike through economically and employment depressed Elk Grove and South Sacramento. What, you think these drivers are statistically below the 18% statewide uninsured rate? Not fucking likely; in fact, I'd bet the number approaches 25% where I ride. And consider that these sorts of drivers are also predisposed to alcohol abuse, also fail to maintain their vehicles correctly, and simply don't take responsibility for their actions or inactions (such as texting, cell phone use, eating while driving, speeding, running red lights, inattentiveness, etc).
When Lupe Romero Rodriguez, the immigrant with an expired visa from Tabasco hits me from behind in his unregisted red Chevy beater truck on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., drunk on Tecate after another unsuccessful attempt to secure day labor, you think he's gonna stick around "exchanging information" or "assisting the police in reporting?" Right...
My predictions for 2009 said that there would be more unregistered drivers in the state, and this prediction is holding true. However, I failed to also account for the correlation between the unregistered and the uninsured and the unemployed, which all rise and fall together.
By some accounts, this percentage is set to rise to almost 1 in six drivers. And indeed, there's also those who, instead of dropping their coverage, decide to take on minimum coverage.
Even so, I don't carry uninsured motorist -- but I am considering a change. Considering a change, because I recently found out that uninsured motorist insurance covers me (in California) for any roadway accident where contact was made by the uninsured vehicle. Read: as I ride my bike along Franklin Blvd., my auto uninsured motorist policy would cover me for any motor vehicle accident, even if my covered vehicle is in my driveway.
However, I do have medical insurance. My own medical insurance should cover the costs to fix me up, but it won't cover lost wages or other forms of compensation I could be entitled to. I will weigh the cost of this supplemental coverage against its benefits.
So here's my plan of attack, and I'm wondering if you agree: I will drop my liability coverage by half, to 50/100, from 100/300, to account for the fact that I'm an infrequent, small car driver. I will offset this with a 50/100 uninsured motorist policy.
I will assume all the risk of causing more than a $50k accident with my little Honda car, offset by the more likely possibility of getting hit by a hit and run motorist on Franklin Blvd. on my bike.
First of all, I follow the Smith Driving principles. One of the best mandatory training courses my employer has ever enrolled me in. It drives my wife fucking nuts, but hey, at least I got a better chance of not causing an accident than your average moronic NASCAR crazed driver. I drive to work on average only once every two weeks, so I'll take my chances on that day. Weekends and holidays, I'll also take my chances. And, I drive a small car. I'm not likely to total that Yukon Denali or cause too much damage.
Second of all...I ride my bike through economically and employment depressed Elk Grove and South Sacramento. What, you think these drivers are statistically below the 18% statewide uninsured rate? Not fucking likely; in fact, I'd bet the number approaches 25% where I ride. And consider that these sorts of drivers are also predisposed to alcohol abuse, also fail to maintain their vehicles correctly, and simply don't take responsibility for their actions or inactions (such as texting, cell phone use, eating while driving, speeding, running red lights, inattentiveness, etc).
When Lupe Romero Rodriguez, the immigrant with an expired visa from Tabasco hits me from behind in his unregisted red Chevy beater truck on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., drunk on Tecate after another unsuccessful attempt to secure day labor, you think he's gonna stick around "exchanging information" or "assisting the police in reporting?" Right...
Beat the Increase
Only four days left!
Californians need to go out, now, and buy that new car, lest they get hit with that 1% sales tax increase set for April 1st. Sacramento county sales tax rises to 8.75%, while in some parts of the state, with city and/or district taxes, the sales tax is 10.25%.
Yep, save $220 on that $22,000 new car purchase. And, and! you'll get to write off that $1705 tax bill on your federal taxes. What a stimulus! New Hyundai buyers are also "protected," in that if they lose their job anytime in the next 12 months, the dealer will be gracious enough to buy it back from you. This unprecedented level of compassion and human understanding sets the bar much higher for all car dealerships, doesn't it?
Lastly, Big O tires is having a special sale -- if you trade in your "used" tires, you'll be credited against the purchase of a new set of tires. Oh! Such charity! Big O's on our side, fighting for the dignity of the destitute! Although...the level of the rebate is dependent on how much tread is left. So...if you have any tread left...why the hell should you replace your tires, huh? I'd bet there were hundreds of Merikans who did just that. Buying things they didn't need, simply for the sake of buying. Perhaps they thought it was a "safety" issue. Hey, with more tread, little Tina and Charlie will be safer in the minivan, right? Always looking out for the safety of our children, we are.
Californians need to go out, now, and buy that new car, lest they get hit with that 1% sales tax increase set for April 1st. Sacramento county sales tax rises to 8.75%, while in some parts of the state, with city and/or district taxes, the sales tax is 10.25%.
Yep, save $220 on that $22,000 new car purchase. And, and! you'll get to write off that $1705 tax bill on your federal taxes. What a stimulus! New Hyundai buyers are also "protected," in that if they lose their job anytime in the next 12 months, the dealer will be gracious enough to buy it back from you. This unprecedented level of compassion and human understanding sets the bar much higher for all car dealerships, doesn't it?
Lastly, Big O tires is having a special sale -- if you trade in your "used" tires, you'll be credited against the purchase of a new set of tires. Oh! Such charity! Big O's on our side, fighting for the dignity of the destitute! Although...the level of the rebate is dependent on how much tread is left. So...if you have any tread left...why the hell should you replace your tires, huh? I'd bet there were hundreds of Merikans who did just that. Buying things they didn't need, simply for the sake of buying. Perhaps they thought it was a "safety" issue. Hey, with more tread, little Tina and Charlie will be safer in the minivan, right? Always looking out for the safety of our children, we are.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
19 MMBPD
The United States has dropped from 21 million barrels of oil consumed per day in 2005, 2006, and 2007, to 19 million barrels per day in 2008 and today. A ten percent drop. That really isn't a significant drop in consumption. We are still burning oil at the rate we did in the earlier part of this decade, while our domestic production is continuing to drop.
Tell me something. Is there any Republican out there still chanting Drill! Baby! Drill!? No? Now, why would that be, huh? How come these cretins aren't now trying to take a $50 barrel down to $10...to spur "economic recovery?" How come they aren't crying for all the new jobs this new drilling would create?
I believe that at $50 a barrel, not a single drop of ANWRian oil could possibly be extracted, because the lifting cost is higher than the going price. If ever there was a time to start investing in our domestic oil infrastructure, it'd be now, to stem higher prices a decade from now. But no. We live in a crisis and complacency Merika. Oil is in a complacent place right now.
Tell me something. Is there any Republican out there still chanting Drill! Baby! Drill!? No? Now, why would that be, huh? How come these cretins aren't now trying to take a $50 barrel down to $10...to spur "economic recovery?" How come they aren't crying for all the new jobs this new drilling would create?
I believe that at $50 a barrel, not a single drop of ANWRian oil could possibly be extracted, because the lifting cost is higher than the going price. If ever there was a time to start investing in our domestic oil infrastructure, it'd be now, to stem higher prices a decade from now. But no. We live in a crisis and complacency Merika. Oil is in a complacent place right now.
Landscraper
Having returned from a week long visit to northern Colorado, I come to the sad conclusion that our wretched suburban experiment has metastasized into every corner of our America. Greeley, CO has become identical to Inglewood, CA, to Elk Grove, CA, or to XXXXX, XX. Every city in America has become every other city in America...and what used to be a someplace, Greeley has become a noplace.
Driving through Greeley is identical to driving through Elk Grove, CA in every respect. The exact same chain stores, sporting the exact same architectural "embellishments" such as false fronts and useless cupolas, the exact same parking arrangements, layouts, and lighting. Single use zoning, leapfrogged residential tracts, car dealerships, fill stations and fast-food shacks. Why we all believe that this is the best possible use of our talents, our wealth and our energies, only demonstrates to me how utterly fucked up Americans are. We are collectively smitten with the same belief that razing grazing lands for low-density development is what we should be, what we ought to be doing.
Greeley is so sprawled out that I had a hard time imagining how a worker in one of the last remaining grain mills in the city could use any public transit to get to his job from his house twelve miles away. Indeed, he can't. So into his single occupant car he goes, along with every other Greeleyian. A large portion of the population commutes to Denver each day, too, and they wonder why I-25 is in such bad shape, or why incessant construction to expand capacity is required. For ninety five years the two lane highway 34 was more than adequate to serve the town. Now, in less than a decade of unmitigated sprawl they've decided that four lanes were required, and one can only predict that this won't be sufficient come 2019, when six lanes to service its commuters will be required.
Greeley has become a landscraper, devouring all the regional farmland that was used for the last two centuries. Somehow, they've decided that duing the last 200 years they've squandered its potential and that TJ-Maxx, Target stores and oceans of parking lots are a superior use of this resource. Never mind the fact that it might be marginal land -- it is still land, and it was used as a local resource for generations, providing hardscrabble crops, pasture, or simply open space.
Nope, the water rights were sold off, the farmers sold off to buy condos in North Carolina, the landscrapers were erected, new residents flocked in from southern California and New Jersey and they all think "Wow! We live in rural America!" while the original town core is rotted out, manufacturing and factory jobs disappeared, replaced by insurance adjusters, theater attendants and retail sales positions, where mandatory driving is the law and where his-and-her SUVs are compulsory instruments of daily living, indispensable for all those twin commutes required to support fantastic mortgages on starter mansions in the rural countryside.
Having a hard time imagining how some wage-earning underclassman would use a non-existent transit system, I also had a hard time imagining how Greeley would manage in any fossil fuel crisis, in any possible scenario of sustained high gasoline and diesel prices, or how Greeley could possibly support itself with PHEVs when the average commuter probably drives forty seven miles a day. Green Greeley? More like Browinsh-Ochre Greeley, what with its expanding auto-emissions and laced storm water runoff from several square miles of pavement. Do any of us really, really, imagine windmills, solar cells, PHEVs and a smart grid all working seamlessly to keep Greeley sprawl going, to continue exurban commuting, to allow us each a 5,400 sq ft housal unit loaded up with electronic gadgets and other time-saving devices, to provide for perpetual leisure?
I can't imagine it.
Driving through Greeley is identical to driving through Elk Grove, CA in every respect. The exact same chain stores, sporting the exact same architectural "embellishments" such as false fronts and useless cupolas, the exact same parking arrangements, layouts, and lighting. Single use zoning, leapfrogged residential tracts, car dealerships, fill stations and fast-food shacks. Why we all believe that this is the best possible use of our talents, our wealth and our energies, only demonstrates to me how utterly fucked up Americans are. We are collectively smitten with the same belief that razing grazing lands for low-density development is what we should be, what we ought to be doing.
Greeley is so sprawled out that I had a hard time imagining how a worker in one of the last remaining grain mills in the city could use any public transit to get to his job from his house twelve miles away. Indeed, he can't. So into his single occupant car he goes, along with every other Greeleyian. A large portion of the population commutes to Denver each day, too, and they wonder why I-25 is in such bad shape, or why incessant construction to expand capacity is required. For ninety five years the two lane highway 34 was more than adequate to serve the town. Now, in less than a decade of unmitigated sprawl they've decided that four lanes were required, and one can only predict that this won't be sufficient come 2019, when six lanes to service its commuters will be required.
Greeley has become a landscraper, devouring all the regional farmland that was used for the last two centuries. Somehow, they've decided that duing the last 200 years they've squandered its potential and that TJ-Maxx, Target stores and oceans of parking lots are a superior use of this resource. Never mind the fact that it might be marginal land -- it is still land, and it was used as a local resource for generations, providing hardscrabble crops, pasture, or simply open space.
Nope, the water rights were sold off, the farmers sold off to buy condos in North Carolina, the landscrapers were erected, new residents flocked in from southern California and New Jersey and they all think "Wow! We live in rural America!" while the original town core is rotted out, manufacturing and factory jobs disappeared, replaced by insurance adjusters, theater attendants and retail sales positions, where mandatory driving is the law and where his-and-her SUVs are compulsory instruments of daily living, indispensable for all those twin commutes required to support fantastic mortgages on starter mansions in the rural countryside.
Having a hard time imagining how some wage-earning underclassman would use a non-existent transit system, I also had a hard time imagining how Greeley would manage in any fossil fuel crisis, in any possible scenario of sustained high gasoline and diesel prices, or how Greeley could possibly support itself with PHEVs when the average commuter probably drives forty seven miles a day. Green Greeley? More like Browinsh-Ochre Greeley, what with its expanding auto-emissions and laced storm water runoff from several square miles of pavement. Do any of us really, really, imagine windmills, solar cells, PHEVs and a smart grid all working seamlessly to keep Greeley sprawl going, to continue exurban commuting, to allow us each a 5,400 sq ft housal unit loaded up with electronic gadgets and other time-saving devices, to provide for perpetual leisure?
I can't imagine it.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Hyperopic
After eleven days in Colorado I will temper down my earlier thoughts on our economy.
Having spent some time outside my Elk Grovian confides, I am becoming aware that this "recession" is most certainly worse here than elsewhere across my America. Sure, Aurora, CO home values have dropped, but not anywhere near what Elk Grove has seen, along with unemployment and all other economic activity. Our national economy appears better outside Elk Grove and California -- these two are not an accurate barometer of our nation's overall economy. Not all communities and cities fucked themselves over like Elk Grove has.
I am cheering on our recession. Still, I'm convinced, now even more so, that a depression is highly unlikely. While I personally believe we'd find ultimate value in total collapse, I grudgingly accept that we won't make any headway towards stemming our complete rout of the independent American farm family and accept that we will continue to pave over of all our countryside with strip malls, low density suburban tracts and fried food huts, even in the wake of taxpayer funding of Wall Street bonuses for abject failure. We collectively think this is the best of all possible outcomes and we passively accept it. This is our Merika. Love it or leave it.
I will never accept it, but then again, I hold an extreme minority opinion. I happen to think we could do better. This is my opinion, but clearly it's not going to be actively accepted by anyone else. OK.
To that end I will strive to keep to my own hyperopic view, that I can do well during any long term feast or famine, and fuck whatever else might rise or fall around me. I personally will do fine regardless of how you do, or how the nation does.
Having spent some time outside my Elk Grovian confides, I am becoming aware that this "recession" is most certainly worse here than elsewhere across my America. Sure, Aurora, CO home values have dropped, but not anywhere near what Elk Grove has seen, along with unemployment and all other economic activity. Our national economy appears better outside Elk Grove and California -- these two are not an accurate barometer of our nation's overall economy. Not all communities and cities fucked themselves over like Elk Grove has.
I am cheering on our recession. Still, I'm convinced, now even more so, that a depression is highly unlikely. While I personally believe we'd find ultimate value in total collapse, I grudgingly accept that we won't make any headway towards stemming our complete rout of the independent American farm family and accept that we will continue to pave over of all our countryside with strip malls, low density suburban tracts and fried food huts, even in the wake of taxpayer funding of Wall Street bonuses for abject failure. We collectively think this is the best of all possible outcomes and we passively accept it. This is our Merika. Love it or leave it.
I will never accept it, but then again, I hold an extreme minority opinion. I happen to think we could do better. This is my opinion, but clearly it's not going to be actively accepted by anyone else. OK.
To that end I will strive to keep to my own hyperopic view, that I can do well during any long term feast or famine, and fuck whatever else might rise or fall around me. I personally will do fine regardless of how you do, or how the nation does.
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