443 and 442

“For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his soul?” Matthew 8:36

Didn’t write yesterday ’cause the lovely Susan, Patricia Mary and I did our quarterly brunch..I tried to be a better listener yesterday instead of talking…it was nice.

Back to the title..did a lot of Bible quoting from mostly the OT in the first two books; now on to the NT for book 3. But this quote stuck in my mind as I was reading Neal Irwin, Ross Douthat and some other guy named Ruchir Sharma who works for Morgan Stanley and contributes pieces to the currently being scalded NYT. But you have to invert it for current reality. How about “For what shall it profit America and the planet if we shall regain our souls and lose the whole world?”

A recession be a comin’ people, is the consensus perspective. All the indicators are there when dem bones be thrown. It was Douthat who exclaimed that Trump would be blamed when the recession comes and it would be his undoing. Several of the commentators for Irwin’s piece decried the reality that Republicans always cause the recessions and the Democrats have to clean up the mess. Reminds me of the great quote from Mrs. Lintott (The History Boys), whom I have quoted before..

“History is a commentary on the various and continuing incapabilities of men. What is history? History is women following behind with the bucket.”

A slight variation required here: American history is a commentary on the various and continuing incapabilities of Republican men..history is Democrat women following behind with the bucket.”

What are the current demographics of the two parties in terms of gender? Hmm..let’s check.. why it’s 56% Democrat, 37% Republican and 7% Independent or whatever else (like Libertarian or Green or other small affiliations). So there are half again more women pursuing the Democratic path versus the Republican road at the moment, so I stand by phraseology; not Democrats and women but Democrat women. We will make all the difference?

But back to my point from the quote. Douthat I suppose wants Trump to be defeated; he and Bill Maher are pining for a recession that will pull the plug on the Trump dynasty of one term. But clearly this is a case of be careful what you wish for…if the equality divide is wide, a recession will make it decidedly wider. Can America – or the world – handle that? Nope. But alternatively, is there anything that can be done to stop the decline? Of course! In this order, we should 1) negotiate an end to the tariff wars; 2) have another referendum and stop the Brexit insanity; 3) summon another Bretton Woods to stabilize national currencies to facilitate global cooperation. What are the odds that these three things will happen, in or out of the requisite order? About 5.25%. Where’d I get that number? Out of my left ear. But wait and see what happens…only the shadow knows…

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