Erased Dollar Bill, by Steve Sas Schwartz ©1984
The Greedy Gene
I wasn't born with the greedy gene. I seem to have been born with the just enough gene. I think when people are hungry for money nothing will stop them. And it’s not just about hunger in the sense of drive, it’s about satisfying status, an appetite that knows no end. Case in point is our ruling administration, stuffed with billionaire CEO’s with no experience as elected officials.
Fortunately we still have a system of checks and balances. The resistance will not only be external. Shadow Pres. McCain and many other influential Republicans seem to see the light. It’s one thing to be disruptive and get things done, it’s another when so much seems reckless and uninformed, specifically about consequences. Don’t we teach against bullying in our schools? Don’t we now sound more than ever like the world’s bully? As very bright Trump supporters say, like Scott Adams @ScottAdamsSays, it’s just the new guard getting settled, going through some growing pains. Um, OK, but alienating the intelligence agencies - supposed allies, mocking balanced news sources, denying climate change and attempting to overturn regulations, Obamacare, abortion rights, not to mention kicking sand in the face of Iran, China, Mexico and I’m sure by now I’ve left out a few kind of tends to raise an eyebrow. It sounds more like the whims of an unfiltered narcissistic billionaire trying to get what he wants, holding court on a bar stool. And he seems to possess such a fortified, uncrushable ego nothing gets to him. I think he sees criticism as a challenge, as something leveraged by people that dislike him and his policies because they - the unfortunate that disagree - are misguided, not because of anything he said or did.
You have to admit he does play to the American spirit of rooting for the underdog. First, all reasonable sources said he didn’t have a chance, then so many from his own party denounced him, yet he prevailed and won the Republican nomination and the main prize. He tapped into this reality show underbelly American attitude that was virtually unmeasured by the internet. He saw the frustration and lasered in. I do not think he ever thought for a second he would lose. You know how they say don’t let anyone tell you you can’t do such-and-such no-matter-what if you believe in yourself, well here you go, just sayin’….the can do prez.
The market seems to be loving the lifting of regulations and the rhetoric of America first. Seems like nearsighted giddiness all based on emotion, because outside of the emigration ban and reversal, not that much has actually happened, outside of a ton of wing flapping. Time will tell. In the mean time, profit now, let the next administration clean up the mess, and look out for the shrapnel, there will be plenty.