Wednesday is the day for the big glut of Beatles stuff. Despite the recession, Amazon is sold out of both the remastered stereo and limited edition mono CD sets.
You might think I ordered both sets before they were gone, but I didn’t. Best Buy has a good price for the stereo set, and the ad says not all stores will have the mono set.
My birthday is one after 909, but if I have to settle for the new slippers I asked for, that’s fine too.
Two articles that popped up today present a very instructive contrast. First, rabble rouser Michael Moore says, “Capitalism is evil.”
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE5850PQ20090906
Second, investment banks are contemplating turning life insurance policies into marketable bonds, the way they did mortgages, so I can see why Moore feels the way he does.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/06/business/06insurance.html
But I disagree completely, entirely and totally with Michael Moore. For one thing, no “system” is evil. The correct statement would be, “Capitalists are evil.” The question is, can evil people take better advantage of Capitalism than other systems of economics? No, absolutely not. Not only that, the other systems don’t provide the opportunities for regular people that Capitalism does. Capitalism is by far the best way to lift people up. Michael Moore, the son of an auto worker, is one example of that.
Socialism is a utopian concept that can never exist in reality as envisioned, as is the wacked-out fantasy world of Ayn Rand. Corruption and inequality exist in every economy, and Moore’s wrong about regulation — it CAN work. Much of what went wrong in the past few years can be blamed squarely on the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act. If it were reinstated, investment banks wouldn’t be salivating over life insurance policies.
I agreed with Moore when he knocked GM twenty years ago, and I actually admired him for slamming the Bush administration on Iraq. His gun movie was less compelling, and I haven’t seen “Sicko,” but to denounce Capitalism outright is wrong, and considering the money he’s made, it’s a hypocritical position for Moore to take.
If you’re of a certain (older) age, and American, you remember “Davey and Goliath.” It must have been one of the primary inspirations for “Calvin and Hobbes,” but I don’t know if Bill Watterson has ever acknowledged that.
“Davey and Goliath” really stuck with me as a kid. Later, I was thinking about the Protestant denomination that produced the series when, as a teenager, I walked into a Lutheran Church by myself one Sunday morning.
There are, of course, parodies of “Davey and Goliath,” but I’m uncomfortable with them, because I feel that although the cartoons are now dated, in their day they were sincere, positive and worthwhile. The “Davey and Goliath” Mountain Dew commercial is clever, and it does nothing to undermine the lessons or spirit of the series. Something that’s emphasized repeatedly, and still resonates with me, is that everybody has choices in life, and people have to take responsibility for themselves.
Here is one of my favorite episodes. Animator Art Clokey did some really psychedelic stuff in “Gumby and Pokey,” and “Davey and Goliath” is toned down by comparison, but there’s a brief, slightly surreal dream sequence in “The Winner.” The importance of a lowly cotter pin is something I’ve always remembered. “For want of a nail…”
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