Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Ice, ice baby - money, madness and mad kittens

I am sitting here, the Mad Kitten is laying on my foot, holding my ankle with her claws just so and her head is stuffed up my pants leg. She is purring. When I shift, she extends her claws just the smallest bit to let me know that is not acceptable. It is our holiday tableaux. I would make it my Christmas card if I did such things.

It would appear the Pope is a communist. Or at least a Marxist, if his critics are believed. Francis has impressed me from the beginning with his words and actions. His recent public questioning of bonuses and salaries has brought about the denouncement of Marxism. I love him for his response that he wasn't but had known quite a few and they had been wonderful people.



The point that he is making is that there is a point when the reward ceases to have value and becomes just greed. Money is a curious thing. By itself it has no value, but currency is meant to represent the value of something else that cannot easily be toted around. Is money a necessity? Of course, even if you take a vow of poverty and refuse payment there will be someone 13 feet behind them with a small bag of coins to make the payment. Is there such a thing as too much money? Yes. Hard to believe isn't it? But there does come a time when money loses its value because it loses its usefulness. There is only so much rainy day security that you can have - money won't prevent death, illness or injury - while money can make care and recovery easier, there is no amount that can restore a human life, even if only partially taken.

That said, did you know that the human life is valued at $200,000? Give of take some inflation adjustments, in America this is the base amount assigned to every life. This is how we calculate costs when reviewing what highway projects and repair projects to undertake, as well as any other endeavor that carries the risk. You see, you don't have to do a 200 million dollar bridge repair if you have have 1.6 million to cover the average loss of human life or damage that will statistically happen over 10 years if the bridge is left untouched. When you run through the human slush fund, then you have to do the other repair work. Until then - go build a stadium.

The problem with capitalism and a free economy only lies with the resistance of its proponents to honestly state what they consider a commodity. Under these systems, a human life is a commodity that has a cash valuation in everything. The twisted faux capitalistic market we prance around where everyone tries to fund social welfare programs for no other reason that "life is cherished" and for reasons of "social responsibility," is why the economy is screwed up. A free market economy requires that all life have a monetary value placed on it, money is the placeholder for life - end of story.

The poor Pope makes the common mistake of blaming capitalism for not being something else.
But that's like kicking a dog because it should have been a platypus. The thing is, no society can exist with just one type of economy. Ask any 8 year old what the phrase "putting all your eggs in one basket" means and you can save yourself the trouble of
reading volumes on economic theory. Each part of society requires a separate micro
economy and then there must be a shared currency. Here's the problem - that currency must
be backed by something that holds the same level of value across all the micro-economies.
This is why a economy that values gold will never be compatible, or successful partners, with one that values frugality (the traditional definition of that word).

The other thing I watch with interest is the bitcoin, but that is a whole other story.

In short, the Pope is not a Marxist, its just that he is the leader of a marginalized society with an incompatible economic model and is trying to sway a society with a majority capitalistic one. But economic currencies also represent our core values - think about it.

I successfully swapped out the kitty crack with diet treats and the Mad Kitten is becoming
lighter, happier and more of a pain. She no longer has to lean against a wall to clean herself and no longer wheezes which is a relief. Of course, I have to suspend the diet food from a coat hook because she is just mad for it.

heh...

just mad for it

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