Archive for April, 2012

Older Entries »
h1

Time to Play B-Sides

04/27/2012

Time is a funny commodity. When you’re young, you think it is unlimited. As you age, it fluctuates between an eternity (falling asleep Christmas Eve) and an instant (the time it takes your daughter to graduate from high school). It also has a funny way of repeating itself. It isn’t deja vu or like a movie that you see twice. It is more like overlapping loops of experience that occasionally converge. When they do, you get that “deer in the headlights” look on your face because you can’t believe you did something so stupid, again. Sometimes these occur in clusters which is usually the sign that disaster can’t be too far up ahead.

I recently had a visit from a friend who I hadn’t seen in 20 years. Someone who I had worked with when I lived in Los Angeles. While reminiscing, I realized how those time loops were starting to close in. The job stories were the same frustrations over achievement, disenchantment with authority, and malaise. All pretty much the same. Loop, loop, loop.
What I remember from that work experience was being treated like a child where any suggestions was rejected just because I hadn’t been with the company for 20 years. It was a huge company with corporate culture that was glorified at the cost of individual contribution. The never-ending line of obsequious drones filled vacancy after vacancy. The only good memories were of the friendships that had endured. It’s really funny because I had escaped to Los Angeles in search of a corporate world that valued hard work and creative thinking. I left that world disillusioned and returned to Hawaii to find pretty much the exact same thing.
Whenever things seem like they’re spinning out of control for me, I comfort my self with the story of the Gallo Sherry Man (GSM) from when I used to work at Times supermarket. We had this older, 5′, leather-tanned, perpetually unshaved Asian man who came in nearly every day to buy a 1/2 liter bottle of Gallo sherry. He would take it and sit in the bushes outside the store and drink himself silly but he was harmless. I was working there when the Safeway workers went on strike back in the mid 80’s. It was crazy-busy every day with cars waiting around the corner to get into the parking lot and every checkout line open from 4:00 through 7:00 every day. I was working as a cashier on one of these typical days and I didn’t think anything of seeing the GSM standing in line. I wasn’t paying any particular attention to him but all of a sudden, the waiting got to be too much. He really needed that drink. He took the bottle that he had and (with the base in one palm and the top in the other) held the bottle up to his forehead. Then he let out a wail of despair that dispersed the crowd like Raid sprayed into an ant farm. The poor man now stood alone, shuffling a semicircle with that bottle pressed to his head. One of the managers rushed up and took him by the arm to the register at the front of the store and the crisis passed.
On days like today, I feel like the Gallo Sherry Man. I’m not bothering anyone but everything around me is a whirl and I just can’t wait for a calmness to set in. I don’t want a drink but I do want the tide to roll in and level the terrain like an alcoholic stupor. My wail takes the form of this blog but I haven’t seen the crowd scatter yet. Do I need to yell louder?
All my posts are song-themed and I’m old enough to remember albums and 45’s. Some of my favorite songs are on the second side of those singles. Maybe what is required here is a paradigm shift. Maybe it’s time to turn the record over and start playing those b-sides.

Posted in commentary | Leave a Comment »

h1

Watchin the Sun Bake

04/19/2012

My uncle Bob is fond of spouting quotes; often mis-attributed due to this lack of Google skill but that is part of his charm. Sure he attributed “the only thing sure in life is death and taxes” to Mark Twain but I’m sure Benjamin Franklin won’t be insulted.

I was telling him about how the Obama administration was backing the Fair Share tax bill in the Senate. This bill was created in response to Warren Buffett’s statement that people as rich as himself should be required to pay at least 30% of their income in taxes. An amount that has been termed “fair share”. This isn’t a new concept. Politicians have been trying to pacify low-income taxpayers for years. However, this is an election year so the whole thing took on a larger aspect.
As a disclaimer, the odds of me ever being subject to the 30% tax are lower than the chance of Charles Manson being paroled. I certainly do pay that amount now but nobody needed to pass a special law to ensure it. It happens because I actually earn hourly wages instead of sitting on a pile of cash from capital gains. However, even if I were making my money the “old-fashioned way”, I still wouldn’t have a problem with paying the going rate. As I’ve always said, I get the benefit of clean air and water, occasionally paved roads, schools for everyone, and, on top of all that, police, fire, and armed forces protection. I may not agree with every expenditure that is made but, since I never want to be an elected official, I’m not in a position to complain. And, unlike so many people that I grew up with (I’m trying really hard not to call them morons), I don’t have the hubris to pretend that my opinion on individual spending issues should be heeded when I don’t take responsibility for the entire budget. Or, when my personal/religious/social agenda is “offended”, that I should demand that elected officials cave in to special interests with the biggest megaphone.

Now that I’ve established why paying taxes is our obligation, let’s take the President to task for some shoddy leadership.

I won’t pretend that everything that comes out of the White House was uttered by the President himself. I’m sure that at least half come from staff or Mrs. Obama. In this case, some brilliant staff member probably said, “hey, this Buffett Rule thing is a great election-year issue. How can we exploit it?” Politics is a blood sport and I expect this type of scenario to happen. What completely baffles me is why the President doesn’t take more advantage of teachable moments like this.
Does he, or his staff, actually think that ethics can be legislated? Are the uber-rich going to suddenly realize that taking advantage of loopholes is wrong? I don’t have any handy research but I’m going to guess the answer is NO. If behavior could be corrected via laws, we wouldn’t need prisons!
So, instead of having a bill introduced by his ex-cohorts in the Senate, he should have done what any good parent does… motivate the children with guilt. He should have walked the walk and wrote a check for his 30%. Better yet, he and Buffett could have gotten on the phone and convinced every person they know to do the same thing. Peer pressure works a lot better than potential IRS sanctions IF you’re caught avoiding taxes. And, unless Elliot Ness was resurrected to pursue them, I doubt anyone will will be fearing the consequences.
Uncle Bob zoned out half way through this but when he heard Elliot Ness, he perked up. I told him that the Oracle of Omaha was one of the most respected and richest men in the world of high-finance so other rich people would be forced to respect his actions.  Bob shot me a puzzled look and said, ” I know he sold a lot of records but how does that make him an expert in finance?”  It was about then that I realized the disconnect.  Bob had obviously already been visiting Margaritaville.

Posted in commentary | Leave a Comment »

Older Entries »