They’re flying so thick and fast it is amazing. And take heart – there will be a Meme Overflow and I will back-edit to include the link. And please see last Friday’s Meme Overflow-overflow.
Remember, ridicule and mockery are effective weapons:
- Ridicule cannot easily be fought
- Ridicule makes the enemy angry, and angry people make mistakes
- For those in the “squishy middle” a Thought Splinter (and Part II and Part III) can often be hidden inside humor. Stand by for Thought Splinters IV… when I can get to it. Work has ramped up! Another one, a follow-up to A Curious Incuriosity, is nearing completion as well.
Now, let the mockery and mayhem begin.
*** Warning, a few possibly off-color ones, in case tender eyes are about ***
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But first, a random sampling of three of my cartoons. Please note these are my concepts but I pay a professional to do them.
Note, this last one is on a T-shirt if you’d like to support me. So is the first one. But don’t forget Grok merch as well.
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My choice for the best of the lot:
Also, one other thing. AFAIK not one pol, from the fedgov level to cities, lost a single paycheck.
I remember, back in college, there were budget cuts. I didn’t care for the school President, but… he also voluntarily took a pay cut to help with the budget issue. I may not have liked the man, but at least he stepped up to share the pain.
And, perhaps, a second:
First, this was before the welfare state, before college tuitions were inflated by federal financial aid, and don’t forget the great Vote Pump. Ably discussed by Bill Whittle:
Second, we have feminism. Now, I’m not saying that women should be domestic slaves, mandated to be “barefoot and pregnant” in the kitchen, slaving away scrubbing the house with a toothbrush. But as Thomas Sowell said about traditions (and traditional families):
My wife stayed home for years. It was only budgetary pressures and my having to switch to a consultant life – which has enabled me to be home and there for the kids too – that drove her back to the workplace. And thankfully she’s done well in that, which helps enormously.
Third, materialism. We now have cell phones, and internet, and computers for the whole family. We have cable TV, restaurants galore and we eat out of them often. Kids don’t go outside to play but have electronic games, and sports and “enrichment activities” and so on. We have busy wives hiring cleaning people to do what wives used to do, and – IMHO – shame on husbands who don’t help. We have… so much, but we have to pay for it. We have people traaaaaveling every summer, going on this trip or that to exotic locales annually. We have people living in houses that are way too big – McMansions. We don’t have a car, or even two smaller economy cars… we have both parents having SUVs or minivans or whatever. We have constant house remodelings and new kitchens and bathrooms – I see TV shows where they talk about complete house refurbishing for six-figures on top of the mortgage they already have. to “keeping up with the Joneses” with pools and playground sets at home and new toys and spoiled-brat kids.
We have been made slaves to prosperity.
And this is why the above image rings so true. We could have that, but we’ve been convinced through clever marketing – leveraging ENVY – that we deserve a lifestyle of the rich and famous. Even if we’re not actually rich and famous.
A closing anecdote: my parents always tried to live within our means. Once Christmas holiday, visiting my parents in Florida, we went to an enormous bash at one of my father’s coworker’s house. As we pulled in I noticed how opulent the yard was, the house impeccable from the outside, two BMWs in the driveway while my parents were driving around in a Dodge Colt. And I asked how they could afford all that, knowing that my father and he were roughly equal in pay.
My father’s reply was simple. “Debt. They have leveraged their entire life incomes to borrow to have it now”.
Slaves to prosperity, financed by life-long debt.
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Another recipe from My Tree in Israel (full disclosure: I am friends with one of the owners but receive no compensation for promoting them – just trying to help a friend’s business).
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Palate Cleanser:
Honey, I have returned with dinner!