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| Joe Bakewell. |
TRIVIAL PURSUIT
In 1979, a
new board game was introduced—Trivial Pursuit. There were categories with cards
containing both questions and answers. As I recall, to play it well one needed
to bone up on pop culture.
You can play
the game today—for free. Just ask a friend to name the nation’s top problems.
Of course, the answer will depend on whom you ask, and you undoubtedly have
your own opinion.
If you live
in the northeast and you ask enough people, you’ll likely find that ‘Donald
Trump’ is the top answer; with a few it might be ‘Our growing debt’. You
might also get, “I haven’t thought about it, what do you think?” Be
prepared.
Those who
read, and understand these essays already know my answer. Those who have not
been reading them can stop here.
The rest
understand that I will name ‘Special Interest corruption of our elected representatives—Crony
Capitalism’ as our overriding problem.
A specific
example that almost everyone can understand is the cost of healthcare. As a
nation, we spend 2 ½ times the average for developed countries. It amounts to
almost 1/5 of our GDP. This has nothing to do with Obama Care, Trump Care, or
any other means of paying the bills. Plus, our results are poor—we lead the
world in obesity and diabetes, and we lead, or are near the top, in heart
disease, addiction, and suicides.
Much of the
costs are ‘payola’—politicians paying off their benefactors. Topping my list is
the Trial Lawyers Assoc. They never go to trial because they know that every
target will settle out of court for a sum lower than the legal fees involved in
defending their rights. The result is that health care providers need to
purchase liability insurance to cover these ‘settlements’. A very expensive
proposition. The insurance companies constitute another ‘special interest’.
Those of you,
who are still reading, will recall that I’ve written before about Special
Interests, and the insidious effects, taking our country toward some kind to
‘reconciliation’.
So why now?
For years,
Una and I have watched the News Hour on Friday nights. I’ve recognized that PBS
has a liberal bias, and I’ve often agreed with their point of view. And much of
the content has been of general interest. Nowadays, they feature the ‘issue of
the week’, currently Comey’s book, and little else. All other media fall in
line, some feigning a sophisticated, ‘above it all’ view. But the general
pattern holds true. We have become a trivial nation following an endless line
of crises, all of which seem to last for about a week.
Meanwhile,
government by Special Interest corruption continues as does our immigration
‘system’—the most expensive and inefficient system of any democracy in the
world. Our infrastructure is obsolete and in disrepair. Our debt, especially
when unfunded liabilities are thrown in, is out of control. All this and more
are ignored by our media and politicians as they indulge in frenzied activities
to keep us focused on this week’s crises.
Check out The
Anticorruption Act.org.
Joe Bakewell.
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