Allow me, please, to simplify economics, especially now that we’re dealing with budget issues and possible tax reform on a national level.
There are two polarities — the Right and the Left. The Right, natch, is conservative and Republican, at least in this holy land. The Left is liberal (in the traditional 1950s & ’60s sense) and Democratic. And me, BTW.
Okay. The Left holds that everybody who’s born has a right to a fair piece of the pie. All humans in this mad, mad world deserve to eat, have a roof, get an education, and have access to health care. The wealth of the world is ours, in other words.
The Right says wealth must be controlled and allotted by a certain few, that the common clay is too rash and too undisciplined to be trusted with the planet’s treasure. Corporate execs and bankers are messianic figures who make certain the ledger book is neat and that the principles of vaunted economic theorists are honored.
The Left says need is paramount. The Right, process.
I fully expect to be upbraided for this thesis.
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Cop Flop
I wish to remind the world there was once an American television show called Cop Rock. It was a mash-up of the gritty police procedural genre popularized by Steven Bochco (who was the show’s co-creator) and musical theater.
It was set in Los Angeles, in a variety of station houses, courtrooms, and street scenes. The cops’d make a bust, for instance, and then, suddenly, burst into a song and dance routine. TV Guide called it “the single most bizarre TV musical of all time” and ranked in No. 8 in its list of the worst TV shows ever, period.
Here’s a clip:
Thank heavens there’s still capital punishment in this holy land. The wonder is how Steven Bochco has managed to escape the executioner’s noose for these many years.
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