And now, a word from my soap box

I don't normally comment on world events here. Or anywhere else for that matter. And I'm unlikely to do it again any time soon. Had I started this blog a few years ago, that would have been very different. I used to scour news stories, trying to find alternative versions (as there always are and the media simply can't be trusted), seeing what seemed verifiable and what didn't, and basically trying to find out just how messed up this world is.

I had to give that up and go on a media blackout for my own sanity. It was fuelling my depression. I still don't think that was a good thing because, if we're living in ignorance, how can we make the world a better place?

I think I've mentioned all that before.

Well, the whole bank fiasco is like Big Brother over here. Even if you're trying to avoid it, you can't. Everyone is talking about it. So I guess I felt I had to look into it and see what was going on. Yesterday morning, where I am, the local banks almost collapsed. Completely. That would have left most of the people in the country with little to no money. Even if they'd had loads to start with. Many people here don't seem to have realised how close that was to happening yesterday. The Government intervened and guaranteed everything sitting in those banks (although now a whole bunch of hard working average Joes don't realise that many of the banks here are actually owned by foreign banks and those aren't guaranteed in the slightest).

Had it happened, it's hard to know what the fallout would have been. Rioting? Looting? Quite possibly. It effectively would have been the collapse of society here. At least for a time.

So is it self-destructive for me to sit here laughing my ass off at the whole thing?

Yeah, I guess it is. But then I think - this world is completely messed up. We live in a sham of a democracy that only serves the interests of big business, driven by greed and nothing but greed. A huge percentage of everyday people here know it's messed up and yet they are too busy living their lives, paying their mortgages, trying to keep their jobs, raising their children, worrying about the next paycheck or just watching reality tv shows to be able to do anything about it. But they know. So many people know, even as they sleep through their day, that the way things are run right now just isn't working.

And that leaves me thinking that maybe a complete collapse would have woken people up. Maybe it would have led to a fresh start. A new society.

By getting bailed out, it only serves to maintain the status quo and there is a powerful minority that wants nothing more than for us to all stay asleep.