In an excellent essay, titled “There Is No Upside to a Down Economy,” Todd G. Buchholz says basically he is sick of all the rants treating consumers like naughty dogs that need to be rapped on the nose with rolled-up newspapers.
Same goes for a recent thread in the NYT on health care costs—many commenters said, sure, pay your cell phone, but don’t pay your $17,000 ER bill. Like those were interchangeable.
I remember a time when people could have cable TV and see a doctor. Ah, those were good times.
I am not so sure I want to build character or go back to simpler times. My times were already pretty darn simple.
Buchholz points out that if we had pressed “Pause” in 1904, we would never had airplanes or computers or the polio vaccine.
It is the pursuit of knowledge, money, and status, Buchholz says, that releases dopamine and ignites our passion.
People used to think kings and queens were different types of people and the rest of us serfs were fine with herding and drinking ale.
We all died at 50 anyhow, so no need for that stupid health care, leaving more money for Wagyu beef and a cell phone in every pocket.
To read the essay, go to:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124417359117288163.html
Maybe some of us were kinda hoping not to be serfs again.
