Money/wealth/occupy/tea party/euro bonds/stock market/jobs/elections -- There's a lot to think about these days

We are less than a year away from the culmination of the quadrennial American hoopla known as a Presidential election year.  There are so many things on our minds these days that the 2012 election must be anticipated as critical to the country's future.  Some people talk about making political and governmental decisions on "gut instinct" or via other similar use of that part of the human anatomy.  In other words, ignore the facts and hope that it all goes away and things get better.  Ignorance preserves sanity.

Not here.  My gut is for digesting food.  My decisions are made with my brain.  Ignorance is anathema, and sanity is an afterthought.  Informed analysis of the issues must be a part of voting.

Here's a quick leftwing-ish capitalistic look at some of the things that are setting the stage for the election.

The Black Hole of Wealth

A comment on the prior posting--"Greece on Stage" on November 1--asks: 

"How about some discussion on the growing gap between the rich and the poor and the loss of influence by the workers?"

The literal answer to the question is -- "Because once you get me started on this it might get to a point where you don't know how to get me to stop."

So the discussion begins here and now.  It might be endless.

Wealth and income in this country are becoming increasingly concentrated in a smaller portion of the population.  That fact is an unfortunate experience for millions of Americans who have too little; for many of them it is downright tragic.  That fact is also tragic for the nation.  If not addressed, it will eventually eat away at our cultural, social, economic, political and governmental foundations.

Greece on Stage

My guess is that there was a teleconference earlier today that linked up the leaders of Greece, Germany and France so that they could discuss the Greek and European fiscal situation.  Without knowing any more about this than what is available in the general media, and with a generous amount of imagination, here's what might have been said--by using the English language as a common means of communication--if this were to be performed as one of those one-act plays:

(At the Greek Prime Minister's desk, his telephone rings, he looks at Caller ID and sighs loudly, then picks up the phone on the third ring and says):  "Hello, it's a bright sunny morning here in beautiful Athens, this is Mr. Papandreou, how can I help you?"

(He hears a peevish-sounding woman's voice respond):  "Mr. Prime Minister, I am so happy to have reached you this quickly!  This is Angela calling from Berlin; I have Sarkozy in Paris on the line with me.  We need to speak with you for a few minutes regarding your announcement late yesterday."

(And then he immediately hears an excited man's voice saying):  "George, this is SuperSarko!  Hey, man, we need to get some things cleared up!  Let's talk!"