Been Reading John Galt...
No, not the character in the Ayn Rand story. The Shenandoah blog.
Galt is interesting, if more than a little gloomy about the economic future. I will say that I have begun to appreciate him more and more as the Trump Train continues descending into chaos.
Look.
I voted for Trump - twice.
I did, and continue to believe, that he was screwed out of his victory by rampant voter fraud. Having said that, I am not eager to re-elect him in 2024.
It’s not just one thing, but many:
He lacks good judgement about hiring people. When he does make a mistake, he has been slow to correct it. Too many of his cronies made it into government, where they took advantage of their position to personally benefit - some of them family.
He is not all that truthful. His words are loosely stated, so there is room for doubt about the interpretation of their meaning (a GOOD thing when you’re negotiating), but I gotta say, I really don’t think he can be trusted to keep his word (the Mexican wall is just one example).
Where he does trust, the people often shaft him - Mike Pence is one such. It’s a pretty good bet that Pence will be testifying against him in court about what he said in private. Will Pence tell the truth about it? Well, that depends on what truth is (as some have said). Let’s just say that Pence will shade his testimony to favor conviction - Trump is notorious for using ambiguity in speech, and - in this case - I think it will hurt him.
But the most important reason to turn away from supporting him is that this is four years later, and we have seen the damage that aged people in office can do. He is just too old for the job.
We need younger people. Fine for them to have some older, more seasoned people in advisory positions, but we need to start clearing out the old, senile, and fragile politicians, whether elected or appointed.
So, no to Trump.
That doesn’t mean that Galt is wrong; just that it is depressing to read him, and, when I do, I start planning to up my preps to the next level or two.
I’m not in BAD shape; our debt to income/assets levels are good. But, given that so much of our regular incomes depend on government pensions - SS, teachers’ pensions (3 different states, 5 total checks monthly), it is concerning.
Worst case scenario, both Den and I might have to go back to teaching, at least temporarily. Fortunately, we’re in a high demand specialty - science. So, likely not completely devastating. But, a major league pain, should it be necessary. I’m not up to the daily grind of dealing with unruly kids. But, you do what you have to.
I was looking at our current standard of living, and it’s depressing to see just how much of it is dependent on high tech (which, in an economic downturn, may well collapse). Parts might be hard to acquire, the cost of internet might be out of reach for many (although the use of cell phones as internet access devices means that some of this might work out better than supposed - the government would be loath to enable a shutdown of access).
I could return to using my Raspberry Pi as my regular access device; but I see little reason to think that my current laptop, less than a year old, won’t be usable for a few years, if not longer. As it doesn’t depend on internet for many of its uses, I could work offline, and upload/download periodically. Even the blogging could be managed that way.
I think it’s vital to detach from constant focus on gloom and doom. For that reason, I’m blogging more, working on offline household stuff, and making a point of limiting my access to the more pessimistic sites (or, more realistic, possibly).
What’s your favorite way to relax and get your mind off the news?