Lately I feel like I'm in a house with a leaky roof, sinking foundations, and a serious alligator infestation. There's so much that's so bad, it's hard to know which crisis to worry about most. The anxiety-producing thing is that nothing is at absolute crisis level yet; the dam hasn't burst, but it's making funny grumbling noises, and the water's dripping through the cracks. For example, the government shut down. Surely, they'll strike a deal before we default, right? I mean, even Congress isn't that stupid. And there's still hours left to do it in. Heck, they'll probably already have it settled by the time I post this blog. And then we'll all be fine. La-de-da-ta-ta-ta. Until next time. The US National debt is 16 trillion dollars. Our gross domestic product is about 15 trillion. What could possibly go wrong.Then there's global warming. For years, I'll admit, I was a skeptic. The whole thing seemed so far-fetched. But now I think it's the real deal, and it's got me worried. Even if somehow we convinced everyone in the United States and everyone in the world - yes, China and India, I'm talking about you - to quit emitting greenhouse gasses and reforest the planet, it could take a thousand years for conditions to return to pre-industrial levels. (I'm not just pulling that out of a hat; I found it on the internet, so it must be true.)
And yesterday, I read that North American moose are dying off.
It's like those canaries miners used to carry down with them into the shaft. When the canary fell feet-up into the bottom of the cage, you knew it was time to head back up. Only problem is, we can't; we're in so deep, we can't turn around. Not for a thousand years, anyway.
What could possibly go wrong?
