While spending a moment in quiet contemplation somewhere between Excel and Adobe Acrobat Professional I was, for some reason, struck with the lunacy of the world we live in and just how ironic things had become. Irony whilst meaning like iron is also and I quote …the expression of one’s meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect… now the one thing that current world wide turmoils seem to not need is additional emphatic effect but I think we need a little humor to get us through the shit storm of financial melt down hellfire that we seem to be heading inexorably to at a great rate of knots.
The Americans, the bastion of free market ideology have a national debt of around $15 trillion and it's going up by around $100,000 every 3 seconds. That works out to just under $50,000 per person. Who do they owe this money to, well mainly the Arab oil nations with their rather less than resounding endoresment of the one man, one vote policy or the Chinese who well let's just say are being forced kicking and screaming into accepting the modern outlook on human rights and the fact that killing your own people in vast numbers isn't very nice. Classic case of can't live with them but can't live without their inexpensive electrical appliances.
How ironic that the only way for a fat man in Boyce Indaho to get an extra large pair of pants for less than $20, which is his god given right, is to have it made by 9 old Vietnamese peasants on 50 pence a week with all the profits going to Sheik Ivalot of camels. Democracy in action! We all know Greece and Portugal are skint as is Italy, Ireland and Spain. What's even more astounding is that all the major industrial nations of the world run a national debt, some like Japan's (which is an eye watering 197% of GDP, that's basically equal to everything the whole counrty makes in nearly 2 years) are massive. Some like China's is quite small, less than 15%, but if everyone owes money to someone then who's money is it in the cash machine?
Here's more irony for you. We currently have a tented protest outside St Pauls in London, an instant demonstartion highlighting people's concerns regarding our capitalist system. Who are these people? Mostly sons & daughters of middle class parents who could afford to give their kids a decent university education only because of 250 years of great British money making, exactly what they are demonstrating against. It is also the very reason they can afford those instant pop-up tents so reasonabily priced at their local camping outlet. Hello China 20,000 more tents for camping and general please. How are we going to pay for them? Barclaycard? If they wanted to make a point they should have brought a bunch of those World War One canvas scouting numbers complete with guide ropes, toggles and rubbish campfire songs. Maybe even living in them would have been better, rather than going home every other night to have a shower and cheat people out of their savings by running over 40's dating websites from the comfort of their mortgaged one bedroom studio flat commanding stunning views of the marina and picturesque harbour.
I'll finish on a lighthearted story I found that is ironic to the core and is completely true. In New York a 60 year old violinist who is suing a music competition for age discrimination because he wasn't allowed to enter a youth competition has asked for the alloted judge to be changed because at 88 he is too old. Classic.
No comments:
Post a Comment