I am always pleased when one of my articles generates as much dialogue as “Welcome To The World” generated. That means I have succeeded in making my readers think, ponder, muse and perhaps puzzle over the subject matter. It is a powerful feeling, which goes away quickly when the love of my life, Deborah, reminds me that I really do not rule the world. Because she does love me she is always kindhearted enough to let me feel as though I am the most powerful man in the world for a few minutes… provided I do not try to do anything with that power. She is kindhearted, not crazy!
Without a lengthy discussion here of the prequel to this article, let's just say most of the responses I received asked the second most important question… how can it be done? That is truly the second most important question. The most important question, the one I look for when reading through emails or blog responses is, “What can I do?” That is truly the question we all must answer and be willing act positively on that answer.
A step in the right direction is the acknowledgement that “I” can do something and I am willing to do something. An eagerness to do something is best, but for now, let's go with willingness and work forward from that point. It is a huge step from reading the prequel to this article as the ramblings of a fiction writer to curiosity about our personal roles in a new reality that could sweep the nation; the reality that our government is answerable to “we the people”.
Actually, is that a new reality, or is that the way our founding fathers wrote it in the constitution? Let's not spend too much time answering that one, and do not present that question for discussion with your congressperson. I assure you he, or she, only thinks about constitutional matters as they relate to his or her morning one. So, for the sake of argument we are taking the position that everyone sees the constitutional rights of Americans as the writer of this article. Oh yes, I'm starting to feel powerful again. Get ready to bring me back down to earth Deborah!
This all started with my article about the national debt, which at the time was around 9.4 trillion dollars. I suppose I could do some research to determine if that number has been reduced or if it has increased. Work with me here; does anyone really believe it has gone down? If so, maybe you should look for another article to read. I have already lost you and I'm astonished you read this far, but I do thank you for sticking with me this long.
For those who are still reading, we should try to get our minds around the concept of one trillion dollars, never mind the fact that our government has committed us to 9.4 of them. It is easy to talk about numbers that large in the abstract, but let's make them real dollars..
I remember reading many years ago about Sam Walton, Founder of Wal-Mart. The article was about him becoming a billionaire and what it meant to him. The reporter asked him if he actually understood the extent of his wealth. Sam tried to put it in layman's terms, for those of us who lived paycheck to paycheck and had to calculate our bank balance after each check was written. This was long before debit cards. Anyway, Sam thought for a few seconds and said, “I'm not really sure, but I know I have enough in the bank to get free checking.” That was Sam's way of keeping it simple for people like me.
So, let's try to keep it simple. Look at your watch; how long does it take for the second hand to advance by one tick. If you do not have a watch, or your watch does not have a second hand, count to one, and stop. This is not a trick question. I will give you the answer. It should take one second, or you need to buy a new watch. There are 525,600 of those seconds in one year, but let's focus on one of them for now.
Deborah has graciously allowed me to feel powerful again for the purposes of this illustration and I am going to hand you $1,902,587.52. It took about one second for you to reach out and grab the money. I could do that every second of every day, 24 hours a day, 7 days per week, for one year, for a total give away of one trillion dollars. At that point I would be broke again, which means back to normal for me.
