I'm a bit worried about Crow who may be more depressed about George Carlin than I could have guessed. He came by late this afternoon wearing another of his bizarre disguises to tell me he was off on what could be an extended hiatus. When I asked him if he had any pithy political or financial analyses for our continuing edification he offered the following cryptic statement:"An empire is synonymous with centralized hierarchical power structures in which influence is restricted to an economically privileged class retaining its advantage through a judicious use of oppression and skilled manipulation of both the society's information dissemination systems and its lesser power structures. It's all about dominance. Empires are not about efficient use of resources and the spread of happiness; corruption and favoritism are endemic to the system."
While I was understandably shocked by his erudition, I was even more surprised when he went on to say, "If you think politicians give a rusty fuck about you and your hopes for the future.. there's a really nice bridge in New York I'd be willing to sell you for the small price of a super size bag of premium birdseed."
See what I mean? Oh well, perhaps he wasn't feeling so bad after all since he circled back to say one last thing, "Remember, empires fall."
Keep the faith in each other.
Crow is right on the money. I think in order to wash away such depressing talk - yes, empire, that's exactly what you want me to do; I don't care - I'm going to listen to a song about the sea.
ReplyDeleteMan, that Crow is a bird after my own Heart.
ReplyDeleteGod Bless the Corporation, and Pass the Metamucil.
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ReplyDeleteOh, you're not going on a long hiatus with him, are you?
ReplyDeleteHope from a bird wearing an interesting disguise. I love it.
ReplyDeletehmmm... yes, empires fall, but jutst like elephants, when they fall, the grass is crushed.
ReplyDeleteSusan....ah, I'm kinda of a newbie and all, are those YOUR paintings?
ReplyDeleteIf so, shit&whiskers....I gotta go sit down and be really impressed.....might take a beer or two
rg - I loved the song.. then and now.
ReplyDeletefairlane - I think you and Crow might be blood brothers.. and, no, I'm still here. New story soon.
dcup - It's a good schtick!
gfid - It was Trudeau who compared living next to the US like sleeping with an elephant. If it's sleep is disturbed, you stay awake.
okjimm - I would be very happy if to be 10% as good as Rudi Herzlmeier or Michael Sowa (and better off financially too). Here's some of my drawings with a story attached.
okjimm - When I first started the blog last Sept. I posted pictures of all the paintings I had digital photos of.. then I did a few more after finding old pics of ones sold or otherwise gone. I've talked about Sowa, Herzlmeier, Dulac and R. Crumb in older posts so now when I use one of their images I just label them. Here's the post I did about the last painting I finished in April. When it's one of mine I make sure everybody knows (so they're less inclined to make rude comments).
ReplyDeleteYou might even say that starting an empire speeds the way to fall. As with any pyramid scheme, you gamble on being out of the racket before the bills come due.
ReplyDeleteIt's always good to hear from Crow.
Hi Susan
ReplyDeleteAnother interesting post from your feathered investigator!! On the collection of info I think I agree with him. It is on the economic front I remain constantly amazed at the lack of any sound economic debate in the USA, particularly in electioneering where no costing or likely outcomes for policy measures receive any other than very superficial analysis
e.g. Obama may use a similar model to Clinton, but never mind we are now in 2008 with a completely different situation than what existed then.
There seems to me to be a deep rooted fear that any form of Government taking responsibility for future planning, by first getting a handle as to what is the current state of play is,
(e.g. Improving the integrity of information sources and not relying on rubbery market information) must be socialistic in nature and likely to destroy what is touted as one of the world’s great free markets.
Now we have 200 arrests by the FBI on sub prime fraud and I note the likely the full cost in bad loans will reach a staggering 1 trillion. How much could have sensibly been avoided?
Even the election results are subcontracted out to the parties themselves. It boils down to a philosophy of …….if it doesn’t make money it doesn’t count, so whatever you do don’t allow or have in place a regulatory system to collect sensible information to help plan the future, to best allocate resources and to regulate sector activities within the national economy.
I haven’t heard any evangelists of note yet speaking about it?
Best wishes
ben - Astute, as usual.
ReplyDeletelindsay - You're absolutely correct in your observation about planning. A very serious problem in this country is the perverse element of constant war between the two parties with both trying to position themselves in the role of good vs evil. It's very sick and will continue to cause harm for the forseeable future.
Lol, I *love* the little yellow boots on Crow. I assume he does not fly everywhere he goes... and everyone knows if you are knee deep in it, you need to wear those little yellow boots.
ReplyDeleteEmpires fall, and new ones start again. That's good, because there's constant renewal and adjustment. The more things change, the more they stay the same, or vice versa.
Something has to give. Unfortunatly, some of us have to give more than others...
PS. I framed it. It's beautiful. I love seeing the name in the corner and knowing it's you. Hugs.
Very nice. I agree with Randal, that is one smart crow. And yes, empires fall. The fortunate ones fall only a few stories and arise to be reasonably sound, the Netherlands and Spain come to mind. Others go never to be seen again.
ReplyDeleteAsk crow his prognosis for this one.
oh, gees, susan...I read the story...breaks me up...my sister-in-law was born in England...they moved after WWII to Saskatchewan and then BC. They currently have a house in the country just south of the border in WA, about 30 minutes from Vancouver. She has the strangest accent and still has a lot of difficulty saying 'Wisconsin'.
ReplyDeleteI like your painting, too.
I'm kinda of an artist as well. I 'over-draw' my bank account weekly. ;)
If you think politicians give a rusty fuck about you and your hopes for the future.. there's a really nice bridge in New York I'd be willing to sell you for the small price of a super size bag of premium birdseed.
ReplyDeleteLoved this quote. But please tgell crow that Mayor Bloomberg already beat him to it.
Right on, Crow!
ReplyDeletesera - I like the little yellow boots too. The thing I like about Herzlmeier and Sowa both is that they don't anthropomorphize which shows respect for the alternate species we share the space with. Yet they are tenderly humourous.. yes, whimsical.
ReplyDeleteI'm happy it turned out well :-)
Gary - The great tulip crisis. How innocent that all seems now. The Spanish too did their best to be worst as well but the problem now is the scope for potential world-wide disaster. I'm remembering Jimmie Cliff's The Harder They Come"
okjimm - How the hell can anybody have a problem saying Wisconsin? Out here I had a problem learning how to pronounce Couch St and still think it's weird the correct way sounds like cooch. Then again they have a state university football team called the Beavers. They aren't even aware it's funny.
spartacus - I bet Bloomberg got more than a super-size bag of premium birdseed.
suzi - We need to keep the focus on the corporations whose economies are larger than most countries. Politics is a sideshow.
the Beavers...yups....and the other team is the "Fighting Ducks"
ReplyDelete....and when they play each other the fur&feathers fly..... buncha Duck F...ing Beavers
I think it rains too much out there...warped minds. ;)
okjimm - You're right - moss on the brain and not enough good beer and strange companionship.
ReplyDeleteWow, I'm a little worried about Crow, too, now.
ReplyDeleteYou painted the bird with the little rubber boots? I adore it. That bird would be such a hit in a children's picture book. But you probably know that already.
ReplyDelete:-)
scarlet - Crow's off recuperating somewhere. He's a tough, old bird..
ReplyDeletepagan sphinx - Glad you made it by for a visit. The painting was done by Michael Sowa, a German artist celebrated for his whimsical yet profound paintings of the animals who share our world but have even less say than the average individual of our species.