Are You Close to the Line?

Our lives are a series of seemingly trivial choices that add up. Why do I harp on some trivial things? Even I think they are trivial. But these trivial decisions add up. Having a Big Mac is not a big deal, but after a lifetime of Big Macs...see where that gets you. In my case it had me lying on a table with tubes stuck in my belly as they removed cancer. 

This is a quote from a novel I am reading, Jim Butcher's Cold Days. The hero had aligned himself with evil, for all the best of reasons, at least it seemed so at the time. 

Murphy said quietly. “No one just starts giggling and wearing black and signs up to become a villainous monster. How the hell do you think it happens?” She shook her head, her eyes pained. “It happens to people. Just people. They make questionable choices, for what might be very good reasons. They make choice after choice, and none of them is slaughtering roomfuls of saints, or murdering hundreds of baby seals, or rubber-room irrational. But it adds up. And then one day they look around and realize that they’re so far over the line that they can’t remember where it was.”

How far over the line am I? I see areas where I might be. After the excesses of the holiday season, New Year's is the traditional time to think about such things. I suggest you do so. Not all of our cultural traditions are bad. While I do not expect any of my readers are "over the line," I think each of us, through drifting along in life without much thought, are a lot closer to the line than we realize. Most of the big sins in our lives often begin with neglect. 

Here are some Bible verses that might be helpful. 

Galatians 6:7 ESV 

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.

Matthew 24:42 ESV 

Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.

The example of Sodom is interesting. Ezekiel 16 tells us what their sin was. 

⁴⁹ Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.

Coming to a Town Near You? That is not the sin I was expecting. 

Sodom had neglected the poor. They did not know that God was coming. What have we neglected--both individually and nationally? Can we be so sure that God is not coming for the US in the same way He came for Sodom?

Not much you can do about the nation. But think about what you have neglected personally. Try not to neglect that next year, the little decisions add up. 

Good Advice

Blow up your TV, throw away your paper
Go to the country, build you a home
Plant a little garden, eat a lot of peaches
Try and find Jesus on your own. 

~John Prine

Country and Comedy Classics

My favorite record album when I was a kid was Songs of the West That the Children Love Best. Even though I was a cowboy for a time, this never translated into a desire to listen to country music. Although I do have an affection (although my kids considered it an “affliction,” if I made them listen to it) for Blue Grass music. 

So when I came across this clip from an old Johnny Cash Show where Marty Robbins sings a medley of his classics, I thought that some might enjoy it. Here it is. 

But in my own whimsical way, I thought you might also like Steve Martin's “cover” of Marty Robbins most famous song, El Paso. 

This naturally leads to Steve Martin’s first TV special. Here is part 1. 

There are a lot of questionable things on YouTube, but with discretion, YouTube can be a part of leaving Babylon the Great’s entertainment industry as a consumer of advertising. You would be surprised at the large variety of videos there. Netflix can also be a part of this. Yes, that might mean waiting for 6 months for your favorite series, but that really should not be a problem. Personally I prefer to watch a whole season over a few weeks, especially when the series has a story arc. 

Do Not Watch The Ads. They are affecting you. 

That is a central point to leaving Babylon the Great.  

Bubble

The upcoming documentary Bubble has posted some of the raw footage from various economic pundits used in the documentary. I will post this footage today and over the next week.

 

Today the footage is from Marc Farber. 

 

I mostly agree with Faber, but he did make one error. If you borrow money for a house and lose the house to the bank, you may still be responsible for the debt. It depends on the state. In Missouri you are responsible; in California you are not unless you refinance.

Pig Feces?

I think a lot of people are convinced our future is like a movie script from the Mad Max series.

Wikipedia describes Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome:

The film opens as Max (Mel Gibson) is riding a camel-drawn wagon across the Australian desert when he is attacked by a pilot flying a Transavia PL-12 Airtruk, who steals his belongings and vehicle. Max continues on foot and stumbles upon the only nearby human outpost in the wasteland—the seedy community of Bartertown, founded and run by the ruthless Aunty Entity (Tina Turner). In Bartertown, electricity, vehicles, functioning technology are made possible by a crude methane refinery, fueled by pigs' feces.

Or maybe it is the Panic in the Year Zero movie they have in mind. Also from Wikipedia:

Soon after Harry Baldwin (Ray Milland), his wife Ann (Jean Hagen), their son Rick (Frankie Avalon), and daughter Karen (Mary Mitchell) leave suburban Los Angeles on a camping trip, the Baldwins note unusually bright light flashes coming from a great distance. Sporadic news reports on CONELRAD broadcasts hint at the start of a World War - which is confirmed as the Baldwins see a large mushroom cloud over what was Los Angeles. The family initially attempts to return to rescue Ann's mother near Los Angeles, but soon abandons these plans as panicked refugees from Los Angeles climb over one another to escape the fallout from the multiple nuclear explosions. Witnessing the very threads of society breaking down in front of them, Harry makes the decision that the family must make it to their secluded vacation spot in search of an isolated refuge. Along the way, they stop off to buy supplies — or, in the case of hardware store owner Ed Johnson (Richard Garland), take them by force when he won't accept a check — and extra gasoline. They also encounter three threatening young hoodlums, Carl (Richard Bakalyan), Mickey (Rex Holman), and Andy (Neil Nephew), on the road, but manage to drive them off.

You may remember Ray Milland from the campy cult classic The Man with the X-Ray Eyes. At the end of that movie Ray ripped out his eyes because he saw a great evil light years away. After reading a lot of these apocalyptic types and their "financial" newsletters, I can sympathize with the Milland character. I do not want to see anymore. Do not misunderstand, these kinds of scenarios are not impossible. The destruction of Atlanta by Sherman in 1865, or the announcement by the governor general of New Orleans in that same year that rapists would not be punished, are examples of deep troubles right here is America.  Yes it can happen here. But how can one prepare for this possibility? If a good man like the Ray Milland character in Year Zero is willing to steal from the hardware store owner to help his family, how much worse would the three hoodlums from that movie act? As a hardware store owner, I do not approve of the stealing shown in the movie.

Why did I move from relatively "safe" Missouri to near Los Angeles? If things get that bad it is not going to matter where you live. There is no place in Missouri that is not one gas tank away from large cities with millions of potential Ray Millands. While you might fight off the first attackers, what about the second, the third, and so on. If there is a trouble you cannot plan for, do not plan for it. If things are going to get that bad, you need to immigrate. (And there are financial newsletters advocating that too.)

Here in California I am a part of a small community in the mountains. I have a small business my family has owned since the 60's. I am becoming a part of the community. We sponsor a local baseball and volleyball team. If the troubling times I am expecting to occur happen, there are few better places for me and my family.

But will armed citizens break in and loot my hardware store? Will we power our vehicles with pig feces? I do not think so.