The unusual summer violent storms in the Rockies and elsewhere serves as a classic metaphor for the mounting troubles in many sectors of our society. High octane clouds are gathering...daily. And "winter is coming." These clouds aren't the cute white fluffy kind. They are gray, ominous and fat full of foreboding. And the biggest nastiest storm of the century continues to develop in and over Washington DC.
For the past several months, the American public has been overwhelmed by the media and underwhelmed by our politicians with the reality that our country is broke. We are in the hole by $14 TRILLION due to profligate spending and have been mortgaging our future for years. Well, the bills are coming due soon and the USA is at grave risk of defaulting on its colossal debt. We are told that if we don't raise the debt ceiling another trillion dollars by August 2, we won't be able to pay our bills and all sorts of ugly things will happen, least of which is our government will grind to a halt. Is that really all that bad? It seems that when the politicos do "work" they just gum up everything and create a whole lotta static noise. Those curs in government haven't done a whole lot for any of us...for years. As Englishman Samuel Johnson said, "Politics is the last refuge to the scoundrel." And, sadly, scoundrels govern. How did that happen? Simply, those that do...do. Those who can't do go into politics. Those DC clouds will continue to look inimical because of these dysfunctional "elected officials". When and if the clouds burst, then what governor? Uncertainty #1.
In the sporting world, the warring clouds have blotted out most of the sun all summer. The ongoing labor and management strife in both the National Football League, America's #1 sport, and now the National Basketball Association portends a reality of no professional fall and winter sports (sorry, nobody cares about hockey). The billionaire owners and the millionaire players can't agree on a fair distribution of the income. While normal Americans continue to suffer with high unemployment, being overworked or underworked, high taxes on everything, falling home values, costly health insurance, ravaged 401k's, diminishment of services and wages across the board, rising costs on everything, unsavory and embarassing public servants, crummy schools, job insecurity, retirement doubts, ad infinitum..., these cash rich buffoons can't agree on how to slice up a $9BILLION revenue pie. Shameful really. Is there a solution to these impasses effecting sports? Uncertainty #2.
The stock market this summer is about as fragile as a Royal Doulton figurine. Our churlish governmental leadership and the chronic debt crisis in Europe continues to choke out any real momentum in this market. Business does not trust Washington DC. Washington DC does not trust business. And nobody trusts a floundering Europe. Until uncertainty drops the "un" from the word, instability will persist in the market. Growth will stagnate. Stock prices stall. Real huge investment money will be on the sidelines waiting. And if there is one thing that unnerves and upsets the market the most is uncertainty. When will the markets experience sustained growth in a current environment in which government views capitalism, our country's economic keystone, as the enemy? Maybe never or until sanity returns. Uncertainty #3.
So, summer will fade into fall then winter and the above issues and the many others that plague this great country will either be solved or dismissed to a later date. Washington's fiscal irresponsibility on how to handle money kinda reminds me of the always needy and hungry Wimpy of Popeye fame, when he demanded a hamburger today for payment tomorrow, "I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today." Wimpy's line was funny in the '60s. Not so now.
Finally, the making of money and the distribution of money is at the core of all of these issues. Money by its very nature is uncertain. With that in mind, uncertainty will be with us for some time. So get used to it. But what is certain anymore? Anything? As our brilliant statesman of the 1700's, Benjamin Franklin pithily said, "Certainty? In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes." Ouch. Hmmmm...we got that going for us which is _________ (fill in the blank).
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