Great civilizations, no doubt, can rise or fall depending on the presence or absence of an effective leader at a critical juncture. Few would doubt that Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the perfect leader to face a relentless depression and a terrifying world war. His leadership still rings down through the ages with the echo of his forever familiar words, “Only thing we have to fear is fear itself” and “A date which will live in infamy.” But what if there had been no FDR to face the double barrel perils of a depression and a world war? What might have been the darker fate of mankind then? What might it be today?
Of course we have many politicians who pledge to fight for seniors. And defending the middle class is the stock and trade of the “successful” politician – that is, those who get re-elected. And one must not forget…
You know the type — people who doesn’t hesitate to do that falling backwards routine, into the arms of another person without really knowing that person or even if he is still standing there. Another how-much-do-you-trust experiment is to find a straight country road with no traffic or an open parking lot with no cars, close your eyes, and see how far you can walk with your eyes closed before you open them. It’s harder than you might think, even when you know there aren’t any obstacles in the way. But may be for the trusting kind of person, they just keep chugging along, no problem, eyes tight shut.
The trusting kind of person is going to be heir to a number of bad outcomes just waiting to happen. Friends are one of those bad outcomes. Trusting friends without reservation sooner or later is going to mean a very big comeuppance. After the disappointment, you’ll hear the “truster” say of the “trustee” friend who betrayed, but he (or she) was my friend, which translated in the language of trust means friends don’t behave that way — but, unfortunately, they often do.
The same happens with family members. The truster gives extra free rein in the behavior of other family members because naturally they would never do anything to harm another family member, right? Wrong again. So such a trusting person is likely to get burned here again, especially with money matters. It seems that family members don’t regard a financial debt with another family member as really any debt at all — it’s all in the family, isn’t it?
I won’t even go into the area of love and affection. We all know that’s a minefield — actually an extremely lucrative minefield — worth mining — for divorce attorneys. There was a famous line in a famous movie where an older and experienced man advises a recent graduate on lucrative options for his future, and he utters just one word: “Plastics.” I might have said instead two words: “Divorce attorney.” There’s big bucks in the misery of those who trusted in love and affection — and lost.
So, for goodness sake, what does one really get for being trusting. It would seem that it is a house of cards, a calamity waiting to happens, a fool’s errand. Except I like the quotation, “If there is no trust, there is no us.” That’s the conundrum in a nutshell. The true value of your relationships with friends, family members, and lovers only happens with deep and abiding trust. No trust, no real relationship, and so you will be marooned on a cold and unfeeling planet, really alone, that is, feeling very alone. But with trust, there’s the possibility of connection, genuine connection. That’s the wisdom of those who trust, in spite of the risks and the bumps along the way.
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Back in the 1950s when TV was still young, all you needed to get content was an antenna. You put up your antenna and connected it to your TV set, and voila! TV shows appear on the channel you select. It was magic, and the only cost for getting these TV shows was the cost of the antenna and the TV set. The ads that accompanied the TV shows as well as the endorsements put out during the shows paid for the service. One immediately thinks of Wheaties, the Breakfast of Champions, or Dinah Shore belting out: “See the USA in your Chevrolet.” And you got it all for free — what a miracle!
Today, you don’t get TV content for free anymore, but the ads are still there. Think about that for a moment. In effect, you are paying to watch ads that you don’t really want to watch, and the ads are interfering with what you do want to watch. Ad money still underwrites the service, but, in addition to that, you are also paying for the service — a double whammy, no magic here.
It is true that some programming is now ad free. And how much more enjoyable is it to watch a full-length movie without constant interruptions by annoying ads — a lot! But shouldn’t all content paid for directly by the consumer getting it be ad free?
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Henry's Views 