Troubled times
Posted by Richard on March 10, 2009
I know, I’m a pretty sorry excuse for a blogger. The country is going to hell in a handbasket, there are countless events deserving commentary and criticism, and I went AWOL for over a week. I’m sorry. I’ve been feeling a bit overwhelmed.
I guess it’s time for one of my relatively rare bouts of breast-baring, one of those very personal glimpses that’s the raison d’etre for some bloggers and the sole purpose of most social networking sites, but which I generally eschew. Another beer, and it will come easily.
First, there’s family. In two weeks I’ll be explaining to a judge that someone I used to love and care about has turned out to be a liar and a thief. The closer this gets, the more it weighs on me, disturbs me, and leaves me wanting to just pull the covers over my head and wish it all away.
Then there’s work. I have tough deadlines that aren’t helped by my impending trip to Knoxville for the court case, and I’m a bit stressed out from that, too.
Then there’s the economy. I’ve been saving about a third of my income for a while now — I had to because I started late in life. But that’s a damn good rate, and things were looking pretty good for a while. Now, after losing more than half of my savings, I predict that if the market turns around modestly within the next year or so, I may be able to retire when I’m 70. Or 72.
Or maybe not. All the news out of Washington suggests that the current administration is hell-bent on recreating the plotline of Atlas Shrugged. If they succeed, there’ll be no recovery, at least not in the near term. Their policies mirror Roosevelt’s, so the consequences may be like the 1930s — a decade-long depression. And I’ll never be able to retire. That weighs on me, too.
All in all, I’ve been pretty much in a funk.
The one hopeful thing I’ve seen lately has been the Tea Party rallies around the country. I haven’t been reading widely lately, but I still drop by Instapundit pretty frequently. And bless his heart, Glenn has been commenting on and linking to those Tea Party rallies with a vengeance. There have been several times in the past week when reading the latest Tea Party update or “going John Galt” reference has moved me and made me feel that maybe there’s hope for the future after all. Like this one, and this, and this, and this, and this one with a “protest babe.” But especially this. That Orange County Register story about 8,000 people protesting higher taxes and starting recall petitions actually moved me to tears.
Maybe there are still enough decent, hard-working, honest, productive, caring people in this country to make a difference. Maybe we won’t let them turn us into a banana republic — or France, or Sweden — without a fight.
Maybe the future will be better, and we’ll reclaim the vision of a shining city on a hill.
Maybe I’ll get through this dark period and return to my naturally optimistic self.
Stay tuned. Please. I’ll try not to disappear under the covers again for so long.
Hathor said
Atlas Shrugged is a 19th century scenario. The ” Rapture” is not coming. Put away your tambourine.
RedPencil said
Wishing you a happy defunkment.