So Are You Fed Up Yet? I Am

Lynne Kiesling

Another reason I’ve been staying away from the computer over the holidays is that between the Senate health care bill process, the futilely constructivist quest for government policy to stimulate the economy, proposals for financial regulation, and the craven stupidity of TSA policy proposals after the Christmas day bomb failure, I am fed up and disgusted with pretty much everything having to do with economic policy.

Of course, the frustrating thing with all of these issues is that I am so fed up and annoyed and disgusted, but feel so powerless. It’s not enough to call my so-called elected representatives and tell a staffer that I am fed up and disgusted. Democratic politics is so soul-sucking in this way that I am focusing my mental and emotional energy on the areas where I can find meaning and can see a difference due to my efforts. Sadly, though, I do feel like I’m fiddling while the republic is burning around me.

One meme has recurred in my reading over the past couple of days, particularly at Bruce Schneier’s blog where he discussed the Christmas bomb attempt, Christopher Hitchens on the TSA and how good we are at collective punishment of the innocent, and Bruce Schneier talking with Jeffrey Goldberg at the Atlantic: it’s increasingly hard to escape the feeling of being terrorized by our own government. And not just at the airport.

9 thoughts on “So Are You Fed Up Yet? I Am”

  1. I agree. I hate the feeling of impotent rage at the rampant idiocy, and I like to deal with things I can change. Like my socks. Sure the President and the Congress can destroy the economy and embrace the stupid, but I can make sure my socks match. That’s something.

  2. Your 1-paragraph venting seems useless. You complain without any substance (explanation) and make no suggestions. What’s the point?

  3. Hah! We discussed Texas several posts back, Reader. Or is it A? šŸ˜‰ We could (ab)use a thread on that subject, but it’s a little off-topic here. Nevertheless, I would say that whether one agrees or disagrees that TX is a shining example of how to deregulate electricity, simple comparison of average retail rates among states is not a good way to make that determination. We can discuss further when an appropriate thread is opened.

  4. Thanks Doug, Looking forward to it. I’m not an “A”, I just stumbled on your site while researching how much civilian nuclear power actually costs.

  5. Sorry Lynne. As a recommendation for one of your New Year’s resolutions I was going to suggest you read more of Ezra Klein’s stuff on the WaPo website; however, I’m going to take a wild guess and say I don’t think that would be the right way to go for 2010-or any year for that matter. šŸ˜‰

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