Begging, it's the American way
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Published: 01 September, 2011, 08:36
Edited: 01 September, 2011, 17:28
September 2011
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America is a nation of beggars.
No, not the trivial kind you see in less fortunate countries where the kids try to shake a random foreigner down for a buck with that international chant of "Mister, give me one dollar!"
The United States is a developed country, you see. Begging is a business arrangement based on pretense that a lending party will get its money back one day.
Therefore, it is called "borrowing", not begging.
…" Sir, I'm terribly sorry – can I borrow a couple of bucks for a metro ride? Left my wallet at home today. I will repay you tomorrow." The gentleman talking is dressed in an impeccably white shirt, dark suit and shiny formal shoes. In his hand is something that looks remarkably similar to IPhone 4, his wrist is decorated with some subtle but elegant Swiss watch. The gentleman "works" on the corner of K and 16th, two blocks away from the White House, where the crowd is a mixture of dressed up office workers and relaxed tourists in shirts and fanny packs (known as "bum bags" to the rest of the world).
With his artistic abilities and elegance, the gentleman should try his luck in Hollywood not shaking down middle Americans for a buck. Then again, the Iphone costs money so it probably is a profitable undertaking. Wondering how many people are actually expecting to get this "loan" to be repaid.
…Half an hour’s drive outside of DC, there is an upper middle class suburb. Time runs wonderfully slow in that area of leafy streets and 6 bedroom houses. The amount of Mercedes Benz GL-klasse attests to the fact that the all- American Great Recession of 2007 has not touched these blessed streets.
There is a bit of a commotion around one of the buildings. GL-klasse looking people, mostly energetic women in their 40s arrive to the place proudly announcing itself to be Karate Academy of Master B. Master B is a local celebrity, he opened his Academy some 20 years ago and since then hundreds of well-to-do families have sent their offsprings to learn the art of a good kick and righteous behavior. But today is a day to discuss Master B.'s own behavior. The man of high standing and an unblemished reputation pocketed the academy's fees for the last month and went to Las Vegas with an Eastern European girl half his age, whereupon he not only lost the "borrowed" fees but ran up a tab of several hundred thousand dollars. Is Master B resigning in shame? Nope, no way – this is America, after all. It's about doing business. Master B. has a business proposal – he wants to reorganize things in such a way that the parents of his pupils would become co-investors in his Karate Academy. The best part? New "shareholders" are promised a 10% return on their investment, guaranteed. Naturally, everybody in the crowd knows that the enterprise has been loosing money steadily – if not dramatically – for the last couple of years, they also suspect they will never see the principal, never mind the gain on the money they are about to lend to Master B. – but they are ready to do so anyway.
…on October 1st 2011 the new US federal fiscal year will begin. Just like a nameless con artist on the streets of DC and a disgraced but entrepreneurial Master B., Obama will ask his Congress for some money so he can conduct his presidential affairs in a becoming manner . Wearing a white shirt/black suit combo and quoting his unblemished reputation, Obama will likely blame the hard times and talk about how the projected 1.1 trillion dollars in deficit – i.e. the amount his government wants to borrow for the next year – are absolutely necessary to get things right.
He’ll probably convince the lawmakers to authorize the appropriation bill. There will be one major difference between the president of the United States and the two gentlemen mentioned above – with Obama there won’t be even the pretense of repaying the borrowed money any time soon, interest or not.
permalink email to a friend print version
Published: 01 September, 2011, 08:36
Edited: 01 September, 2011, 17:28
September 2011
Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
1 2 3
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
25 26 27 28 29 30
America is a nation of beggars.
No, not the trivial kind you see in less fortunate countries where the kids try to shake a random foreigner down for a buck with that international chant of "Mister, give me one dollar!"
The United States is a developed country, you see. Begging is a business arrangement based on pretense that a lending party will get its money back one day.
Therefore, it is called "borrowing", not begging.
…" Sir, I'm terribly sorry – can I borrow a couple of bucks for a metro ride? Left my wallet at home today. I will repay you tomorrow." The gentleman talking is dressed in an impeccably white shirt, dark suit and shiny formal shoes. In his hand is something that looks remarkably similar to IPhone 4, his wrist is decorated with some subtle but elegant Swiss watch. The gentleman "works" on the corner of K and 16th, two blocks away from the White House, where the crowd is a mixture of dressed up office workers and relaxed tourists in shirts and fanny packs (known as "bum bags" to the rest of the world).
With his artistic abilities and elegance, the gentleman should try his luck in Hollywood not shaking down middle Americans for a buck. Then again, the Iphone costs money so it probably is a profitable undertaking. Wondering how many people are actually expecting to get this "loan" to be repaid.
…Half an hour’s drive outside of DC, there is an upper middle class suburb. Time runs wonderfully slow in that area of leafy streets and 6 bedroom houses. The amount of Mercedes Benz GL-klasse attests to the fact that the all- American Great Recession of 2007 has not touched these blessed streets.
There is a bit of a commotion around one of the buildings. GL-klasse looking people, mostly energetic women in their 40s arrive to the place proudly announcing itself to be Karate Academy of Master B. Master B is a local celebrity, he opened his Academy some 20 years ago and since then hundreds of well-to-do families have sent their offsprings to learn the art of a good kick and righteous behavior. But today is a day to discuss Master B.'s own behavior. The man of high standing and an unblemished reputation pocketed the academy's fees for the last month and went to Las Vegas with an Eastern European girl half his age, whereupon he not only lost the "borrowed" fees but ran up a tab of several hundred thousand dollars. Is Master B resigning in shame? Nope, no way – this is America, after all. It's about doing business. Master B. has a business proposal – he wants to reorganize things in such a way that the parents of his pupils would become co-investors in his Karate Academy. The best part? New "shareholders" are promised a 10% return on their investment, guaranteed. Naturally, everybody in the crowd knows that the enterprise has been loosing money steadily – if not dramatically – for the last couple of years, they also suspect they will never see the principal, never mind the gain on the money they are about to lend to Master B. – but they are ready to do so anyway.
…on October 1st 2011 the new US federal fiscal year will begin. Just like a nameless con artist on the streets of DC and a disgraced but entrepreneurial Master B., Obama will ask his Congress for some money so he can conduct his presidential affairs in a becoming manner . Wearing a white shirt/black suit combo and quoting his unblemished reputation, Obama will likely blame the hard times and talk about how the projected 1.1 trillion dollars in deficit – i.e. the amount his government wants to borrow for the next year – are absolutely necessary to get things right.
He’ll probably convince the lawmakers to authorize the appropriation bill. There will be one major difference between the president of the United States and the two gentlemen mentioned above – with Obama there won’t be even the pretense of repaying the borrowed money any time soon, interest or not.
US dollars
