As all who are regular readers of this journal are well aware, we at Bloody Nib Manor live pretty simply. Some would say on the edge. We've not managed to come up with the cash to clean out the moat for several years and the results is the growth of all sorts of noxious plants far too close to the house. And we've been forced to use standard-bred horses for our foxhunting instead of lurchers and thoroughbreds. Never mind the dogs. It was difficult to give up our kennel of proper English Foxhounds in favor of Shih-Tzus and mongrels. But, in the current economic climate sacrifices must be made.
The late Baron Nib, a great man in every way, and the still living Baroness Nib, always made it a point to impress upon their scions that to be in debt was to be in a form of slavery. In other words, if you owe a person money you are at their beck and call until you re-pay the debt.
We have, as far as practicable, worked to keep out of debt. Whenever possible we pay cash because we do not want some busybody from American Express or the bank telling us that we are living in a manner that they do not approve. We, the ever lovely Lady Nib and myself, desire freedom more than luxury. We try to be, a much as possible, self-sufficient and self-responsible. We are, in that sense, rather old-fashioned, despite the fact that we just had our Wolsley sedan re-painted with a rather shocking hot pink paint job.
The Baron's comment concerning debt has been proven true recently. Some American banks which had received TARP (in other words, bail-out loans) from the United States government have stated that they have the cash, right now, to pay off their loans. They have told the government that they want to pay off the loans. And the government has told the banks, "Don't bother. We'd rather control you and set your policies and salaries."
There are two things wrong here.
The first is that the government wants to control private institutions. The last time this writer checked, there was no such thing as a national bank outside of the Federal Reserve. Now we find that the federal government wants to run as much of the banking system as it can; not for the protection of the bank customer, but for the idea of controlling the economy because the federal government "knows best." It's a frightening thought and a frightening reality.
The second matter of concern is that the federal government would rather not be repaid a debt in favor of control of the banks. In other words, instead of the money that was loaned to the banks being repaid to the taxpayer and the treasury, the federal government would rather spend your money to control something that really means nothing to you. The idea of control goes beyond the idea of being responsible to the customer (the taxpayer).
He who owns the debt owns he who is in debt. There is something almost Mafia-like about the whole thing.
On a second front, consider this: Michelle paints herself as the queen of arts - Times Online.
We here at the Manor have always been leery about government supported arts programs simply because such programs put the impretuer of official approval on said art. What business does the government have approving one type of art over another or on artist over another? The answer is, in the United States, none. There is no,and should not be, any official art,whether graphic, theatrical, literary or spoken word. The very idea of a national poet laureate is loathsome. The only art that the federal or state governments should even be remotely involved in is the architecture of government buildings and monuments. Consider the fact that even during the age of kings in Europe the said kings used their own money for art projects. Not that of their subjects.
But now we have an administration that seems to hold to the Stalinist theory of art. In other words, the government says what is art and anything outside of that is trash.
Get ready for the new opera, The East is Obama.
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