Month: March 2020

Panic has arrived in Mesquite.

We only have two grocery stores, Smith’s (a Kroger store) and Walmart, and they are packed with anxious and testy shoppers. Shelves have been stripped of all manner of goods, not just toilet paper. “1 per customer” signs have appeared all over the Smith’s store, and apply to milk, meat, cases of bottled water, etc. In the paper goods aisle, when there is any product available, the buyer can take “1 item: take your pick of Kleenex, toilet paper, or paper towels”.’

Tempers are flaring, as aisles are being blocked by too many shopping carts, being pushed around by demented old fogies who can’t hear or see that good. Any day now I’m expecting to hear of a brawl between cane-wielding 80-year-olds, fighting over the last pack of Depends.

As part of a nationwide effort by Kroger and Walmart to prioritize the needs of the elderly, early store hours are offered to senior citizens only. That may work fine in Los Angeles, but every person in Mesquite is an old fart like me. Realistically, every parking space in town should be reserved for our ancient, but active, population.

(Speaking of our decrepit peers here in town, the rush on grocery stores could be, partially, a result of that age group’s resistance to change. The goods in demand right now can be acquired on-line with a little patience. However, many old folks have resisted modern technological advances: some households do not have computers or cellphones. In fact, it has been a badge of pride for some individuals. So, not only are they not informed as quickly as others, but their only recourse for obtaining necessities in a crisis like this is to troop down to the grocery store and stand in long lines…exactly what epidemiologists recommend that that senior citizens don’t do.)

The massive, local discount liquor store has closed, for some reason. So, now we know that this coronavirus is serious stuff… What’s really a shame is that those Mormons from Utah, who patronize Lee’s Liquor here in Nevada, will have to stay in-state and drink lemonade or tea…to get high…before services at the Temple.

The marijuana dispensary is open, though. It has been deemed “essential” by the State of Nevada. (Gee, how the times have changed!)

Anyway, we’re coping. Social activity is limited, although we are going to eat dinner at a neighbor’s home this Saturday night, and I’m going golfing on Sunday for the first time in a couple of years. (If I get a hole-in-one, while observing my social-distancing, I’ll just high-five myself.)

Our Sun City community center has closed, and so we have no gym, swimming pools, card games, craft rooms, and such. Outdoor activities such as tennis, pickle ball, bocce, and golf are…at your own risk.

Homeowners in our H.O.A. are allowed two community-wide “garage sale” dates per year, and it’s usually quite a social event, visiting driveways in the various subdivisions and chatting with residents. One is still scheduled the day after tomorrow (March 21), but I’m thinkin’ that it will be a bust: no one wants to be sorting through stuff that other people have touched.

We’re just expected to sit a home, watching the young tumbleweeds grow…I guess. We’re hoping for a beautiful Spring.

All of the restaurants in town are closed, as are the three hotel/casinos (i.e. the city’s biggest employers). The economy here, as in many other communities, is tanking. The Nevada state coffers, which depend upon casino income, will be bone dry in a couple of weeks. (Damn…we moved here because the state doesn’t have an income tax; I’ll bet that changes!)

Word out of Washington D.C. is that some hastily-printed greenbacks will be forthcoming to ease the pain. Charlie and I have agreed that, if we get a check, we will pass it along to some other schmo who needs it worse than we do. As the saying goes, “Pay it forward”.

It is amazing that, one month ago, the economy was humming along, jobs were available to those who wanted to work, and store shelves were stocked with everything a person could want or need. Thirty days later and, Kaboom!, it’s a whole new world. What a delicate balance there is between prosperity and poverty!

Who knew?

Well, certainly not our elected officials. This calamity has caught everyone, of both political parties, with their pants down, and it is very discouraging when one realizes how unprepared we are, as a Nation, to respond to something like a pandemic.

(By the way, this current catastrophe can only encourage our many Muslim enemies to strongly consider biological warfare, because it is so easily spread. Who needs nuclear-tipped missiles when a couple of doofuses with Ebola can be flown into our country in Economy class from Damascus? Maybe the Trump Administration should drop the military’s wet dream project, “Space Force”, and put the money into defensive supplies like face masks, ventilators, portable hospitals, and vaccines?)

Speaking of changing the way we think about things, this panic/pandemic will probably permanently change our economy in many ways going forward.

Been to a drive-in movie facility lately? Used a telephone book? Shopped at a mall?

These are relics of yesteryear that are going, going…almost gone because of technology. Macy’s is closing hundreds of stores, and this pandemic only hastened its demise; let’s face it, Amazon Prime killed Macy’s, along with all the other general merchandise department stores. They’re still out there, but hemorrhaging cash. Eventually, Internet buying will wipe out Walmart, too. Big box stores are dinosaurs, soon to be extinct.

Walk-in movie theaters are in Intensive Care, anyway, and this pandemic will kill them; all motion pictures will be streamed in the future. The good news: movie munchies, like a bag of popcorn, won’t cost you $10.

Education doesn’t have to take place in crowded buildings. There was a movement before the pandemic toward “university on-line” learning, due to the high cost of college; I think that will be fast-forwarded because of this catastrophe, as people realize how effective virtual learning can be.

That may also be the future of lower education: more kids sitting in front of computer screens, not playing games, but learning important shit. Don’t laugh. It’s coming.

I think that this vulnerability we are experiencing relating to dissemination of dangerous viruses via close contact may impact events which encourage crowding; i.e. sporting events, conventions, bars and nightclubs, Spring Break, etc. Some people may permanently shy away from such things, and move toward watching the excitement on TV or other streaming device. Why put yourself at risk to being mugged, bombed, trampled, or infected? Someone else can attend…not me.

The cruise industry has likely been mortally wounded by this pandemic, which has demonstrated how isolated and at-risk the passengers can be. Charlie and I have taken at least two dozen cruises, but those days are over. The economic damage that the pandemic has done to the highly-leveraged cruise industry may be insurmountable, anyway. Expect a lot of bankruptcy news in the coming weeks. Expected bailout efforts from Uncle Trump may be a waste of taxpayer dollars, particularly if cruise demand dries up.

(BTW, has anyone noticed besides me…there has been a significant drought of standard issue “bad news” lately on local TV; why is that? I’m talking about robberies, murders, rapes and general mayhem. Could it be that fewer idiots are out doing stupid things after midnight? Like going to nightclubs, bars, hanging out in dimly-lit neighborhoods where criminals prowl. Of course, the birth rate will probably spike, as young people will have fewer things to do.)

This pandemic is probably the impetus/excuse we’ve needed for many years to rid our Nation of in-person voting. There is no reason that this can’t be done by mail (Charlie and I have used the “absentee ballot” function for many years) or on-line. It will cost less, it will be easier for people to vote, results will come in faster, and there will be less opportunity for nefarious politicians to suppress the vote of opponents. We should shift over this year, as we’ll probably still be under Covid-19 quarantine.

I mentioned the other day “thinning the herd”, and how it seems such a callous reaction to the coronavirus pandemic. We are human beings, and the idea of allowing a segment of society to suffer, particularly our elderly blood-kin, is abhorrent.

I pity those poor health professionals in Italy, where hospital beds and ventilators are in such short supply that doctors are having to triage incoming patients at the door; i.e. deciding right there which ones will live (receive care) or die, based upon logistics. It is a horrible responsibility to place on any human being, having the responsibility to “thin the herd” on the spot. The doctors over there are experiencing mental stress that will be with them forever, like the Post Traumatic Stress suffered by battlefield soldiers.

Herd-thinning is something that happens automatically in economics. Businesses that can’t make it go bust. Potential businesses that can’t project a realistic profit don’t get started. Big companies buy out competitors, lay off employees, take advantage of economies of scale, and put the squeeze on suppliers (i.e. demand discounts). Businesses that can’t respond quickly to changes in the marketplace go bye-bye. Smart people create products that make existing ones obsolete.

Business is dog-eat-dog; nothing is guaranteed.

This super-recession that we are entering into right now is going to knock out a lot of businesses that were operating right on the edge. It is a horrible thought, that millions of Americans who work for small, local businesses are going to suffer. Something like half of the employment in the U.S. supports small businesses. Big business will suffer too, as there will be less consumption. And, the housing industry will go into another slump; it always happens in a recession. Pulte Homes, the big mover-shaker in this community, will have to downsize their expectations.

Now is probably the time for our elected officials to get together with “futurists” (i.e. experts at discerning trends) to take advantage of this calamity and push us toward desirable societal outcomes that would have normally taken us decades to reach. I’m wondering what guys like Bill Gates, Elon Musk, and Jeff Bezos would recommend, not so much what Senators McConnell and Pelosi have in mind. We need to be bold, not business-as-usual. As I say, use this situation to take a large leap forward in imagination.

And, not to belabor a tired issue, this global pandemic makes one realize how connected people are in this day in age: i.e. some guy in China gets a virus, and two months later the disease affects everyone in the world. And, the only way the problem can be tackled is by all human beings working together, in their own ways, to defeat the beast.

The government is not going to stifle this virus; human beings are.

Humanity faces a similar, invisible threat from global warming. We are all part of the problem, in that we all contribute, via our lifestyle decisions, to the greenhouse gas load on the atmosphere. It is not up to government to remedy this slow-motion disaster-in-the-making, although it would help if our government would acknowledge it and provide leadership. In the end, it will be people who change their lifestyles, on their own volition, to chip away at the problem. Very much like fighting the pandemic, one person at a time, making responsible decisions to protect other human beings.

I think these two problems have some commonality, and maybe, as a result of this Come-to-Jesus moment, the gravity will spur our society (and elected officials) to take a bold approach.

We need a new Cabinet position: Secretary of BIG THINKING.

Political hacks need not apply.

An acquaintance of Charlie’s came to the house a couple of days ago to pick up her tax documents. We offered her a Margarita and chatted for awhile.

Her name is Tina, and she’s a local aesthetician. She is in a “hands on” business, doing massages, facials, and such. In the past week, virtually every appointment she had on her calendar for the next month has been canceled in the past week. She has no foreseeable work for the next month or so. (And, just today, the State ordered that all salons be shuttered.)

You know things are bad in Nevada when all of the casinos turn off the lights, which they did this week, per orders of the Governor.

Tina is, of course, pissed and scared. She’s 64, single, and makes ends meet through her aesthetician work ($12,000 income in 2019) and Social Security. Now, the former is gone because, she believes, people are panicking over nothing. “It’s a flu, dammit. People die every year from it!”

Then, she callously added, “Old people die all the time from the flu. We should just go on with our business and let the virus “thin the herd” a bit.” She didn’t laugh.

That’s a pretty interesting comment from a lady who is on Social Security and whose customers, in this community, probably average 70 years of age. If the Covid-19 virus were to get a foothold here in Mesquite, Tina could lose, permanently, a large portion of her customer base. And, as a hands-on, personal services provider, she could play a significant role in the herd-thinning that she seems to support…by being a “super spreader” of the virus.

Lots of macho men and partisan politicos seemed to share Tina’s attitude, at least until the past week.

Most people have a sense of fondness and attachment to their parents and grandparents. That latter cohort happens to be the highest at-risk target of the coronavirus. It is a pretty easy thing to toss off a line like “thin the herd”, but those would-be victims are the patriarchs and matriarchs of the family unit. My parents happen to be deceased, but, if they weren’t, I sure as Hell would want them “thinned”.

When this whole pandemic was in its infancy, our political leaders said, “Don’t worry, it’s only the flu!”. When there were only 15 reported cases in the United States, our medical experts were warning of dire things to come.

But, our President said, “We’re going to pretty soon be at only five people. And, we could be at one or two people!”

When the shit started hitting the fan, Mr. Trump announced that our handling of the crisis was “perfect”, adding, “Relax, we have tremendous control” over the situation.

This week, there are 6,100 confirmed cases, but very few sick people have been tested for the virus, so the number of infected citizens is probably many-fold that number.

Italy started slowly, too, but now has 35,000 confirmed cases and 3,000 deaths. The country only recently went all-out to combat the epidemic, with quarantines and “shelter in place” policies. Even so, 475 people died from the virus yesterday.

Three weeks ago, the President assured the Nation, “Anyone who wants to get tested can do so.” That was a lie, of course.

The truth of the matter is that our Nation was not ready to handle anything like this; testing kits are not available, ventilator equipment is scarce, surgical masks are out of stock, etc. Health care professionals are scared for their patients and themselves.

The President didn’t seem to care that much, week after week, because the other shoe hadn’t fallen yet. But, when Wall Street acknowledged that the country’s economy was circling the drain, all of the sudden Donald Trump became interested.

Why?

It probably dawned on him (or his advisors) that the high-risk population in America, the folks he’d assured “The coronavirus is a hoax!”, and the ones who are getting sickest, are the portion of eligible voters who almost always show up at the polling places. (As a matter of fact, they’re the volunteers who run the polling places.)

Now that the economy’s slide jeopardizes his re-election, our President has dropped his cavalier attitude about the “Chinese flu” and is, belatedly, rolling up his sleeves. “We’ve got this!”, he assures us.

I hope so, although epidemiologists interviewed on TV this morning appear to be scared shitless. That would match the mood here in Mesquite, where most of us are senior citizens, that segment of society that some folks, like Tina, want to cull out of the population.

Make no mistake about this: the crisis that President Trump and his cronies are resolute in resolving is not the medical one, it’s the economic one. The measuring stick of his Presidency is the economy, as he has been fond of bragging.

Last week, he told some Governors who begged for Federal assistance to cope with shortage of medical equipment and supplies, “You’re on your own!”.

Meanwhile, he and his operatives are busy conjuring up a huge giveaway of Federal money to workers and businesses affected by the rapidly deteriorating economy. The number being thrown around this morning is $1 trillion. For starters.

(BTW, where does that kind of money come from? Just sayin’…)

That’s great, but what are you doing, Mr. President, to get more facemasks, respirators, Purell, and ICU beds online…ASAP…to keep the rate of infection from going ballistic? Our health professionals are dyin’ out there.

And, so, you send every man, woman, and child $1,000 to help out. That’s a nice gesture. What do you do next month, the following month, and next year, as unemployment skyrockets? How many trillions of dollars do we have laying around for that scenario? If we have that many spare dollars, why can’t we afford universal health care?

“Sir, we’re gonna need a bigger printing press!”

It is obvious that, in this election year, President Trump is going to focus on giving money away to make people like him, crow about his “perfect” response to the medical crisis, and blame anyone and everyone for his failures, like he always does.

The fact that our President and his Administration frittered away about six weeks while the coronavirus was gaining steam doesn’t seem to faze the Boss. In response to a question this week as to the Administration’s slow response in getting virus testing available, Trump said, “I don’t take responsibility at all.”

Real he-men take responsibility for their actions. President Harry Truman, had a sign on his Oval Office desk that attested to that.

I think that what I’d like to hear from President Trump’s lips right about now is, “We can do better, and I promise we will.”

I love Craps.

Not the kind you’re thinking of, pervert! I’m talking about the casino table game where there’s usually a lot of hootin’ and hollerin’ going on, where big money can be made (or lost) pretty fast. There’s nothing more exciting than having some chips in play when a dice thrower is “on a roll”; it’s a huge adrenaline rush, particularly since virtually all the other gamblers at the table are rooting for the “shooter” to succeed.

There are numerous bets one can make at a Craps table. Most of them are “sucker” bets, ones where the “house” (i.e. the casino) enjoys pretty strong odds that the bettor will fail. Gamble-a-holics, folks who want to believe in miracles and Lady Luck, tend to throw money at these exotic bets that may pay 6 to 1, 10 to 1, or even 30 to 1. It’s pretty safe to say that, if the table clearly advertises the odds on a bet, it’s a bad one.

The best Craps bets are the ones that are not advertised: Come/Pass Line bets with “odds”. Basically, when you establish a number with a Come/Pass Line bet, you are hoping that your number will be rolled before a 7 is rolled. The odds of that happening are not in your favor, with a small percentage advantage to the house.

That house advantage can be minimized by taking advantage of “odds” on your original bet, and it is possible, based upon house rules, to increase your odds bet with each roll of the dice. One might start with a $25 Come/Pass Line bet, the shooter rolls a 6, which becomes your number, and you back your original bet with another $75. Now, you’re hoping the shooter rolls a 6 before he rolls a 7. If he does, you get your money back plus $25 on your original bet, plus you get your $75 back plus another $90 on the odds bet.

It is perfectly legal to make as many bets as you want between rolls. So, typically, a “Pass/Come Line” bettor might have several “numbers” that he’s betting on the table. It’s possible, in that way, to make a lot of money on each roll of the dice…as long as the shooter stays hot, avoiding a 7. When you hear great roars in a casino, it is an indication of a hot roller at work, with a dozen gamblers at the table rooting for their hero.

A “cold” table is the antithesis of that situation, where 7’s are thrown a lot, dashing the hopes of the get-rich-quick guys.

Gamblers are superstitious people, and they get very upset, very fast, when someone queers a hot roll or does something to upset a hot table. Number One on the list of boner spoilers is the arrival at the table of a spoilsport that we will call “Mr. Don’t Pass”. His strategy is to bet in favor of the house; i.e. he is hoping that the shooter rolls a 7.

When such a guy sidles up to a craps table and places a “Don’t Pass” bet, it is as if the Grim Reaper has shown up or someone with the plague has begun a throaty cough. The mood changes instantaneously from festive to funereal. A moment earlier, everyone was working together, having a great time. Now, everyone starts dreading the shooter’s next roll. And, usually (it seems) the good vibe turns to shit very quickly, the crowd roars turning to moans.

Bummer.

I was thinking of this type of mood swing yesterday when I read an update on the life of Michael Burry. He’s the guy portrayed by Christian Bale in “The Big Short”, the motion picture about the financial meltdown in 2008.

Mr. Burry (and a few other very smart people), realized that Wall Street and the financial industry as a whole had succumbed to greed, allowing the home mortgage industry to pile risk upon risk, while regulators looked the other way. Burry realized that the whole house of cards was about to collapse, and he bet a whole lot of money on that proposition. In essence, he was Mr. Don’t Pass, betting against millions of American investors, big Wall Street brokerages, banks, insurance firms, and Federal regulators.

Unfortunately, Michael Burry’s bet against everyone else paid off…he made a billion dollars when the market went tits up.

The reason that I bring this up is that Mr. Don’t Pass (Burry) showed up in the news again this past week. It turns out that some time ago, before the coronavirus shit hit the fan, he made another substantial bet against the American economy.

In the past thirty days, the Dow Jones Average has plummeted some 8,000 points, or about 27 percent. Top economists say we’ve entered a recession. Even President Trump, the world’s leading optimist, agreed yesterday.

Let’s hope that recession doesn’t turn into a depression.

Anyway, I don’t know if Mr. Don’t Pass’ bet against the 2020 economy had the effect of souring the mood of the other gamblers at the table (i.e. Wall Street speculators), but it is eerily reminiscent of 2008.

Maybe Donald Trump needs this smart guy on his advisory team?

Grocery stores have been stripped of toilet paper, hand sanitizer, Kleenex, household cleaning agents, paper towels, baby wipes and bottled water. Professional sports leagues have shut down, and Las Vegas is going dark. Wall Street took another ass pounding today.

The world’s going to Hell in a handbasket.

Maybe.

Yes, there is a sense of panic in some quarters. And, yet, most people that I know are taking the pandemic seriously and acting in an adult fashion, avoiding crowds, keeping clean, and paying attention to health experts, rather than political demagogues.

The latter are still out there, but there are fewer of them this week, and their efforts to out-shout the facts are fading. It’s hard for even them to ignore what has happened in Italy, a country that got a late start on combatting the spread of the virus: many people have died there.

(Speaking of demagogues, Jerry Falwell Jr., son of the infamous blowhard Baptist televangelist, is still pitching the idea on Fox News that the coronavirus is a Chinese-North Korean manufactured bioweapon designed to blow up Donald Trump’s re-election chances. The good Reverend, and trusted Presidential advisor, knows this because he heard it from a guy in a restaurant…and, then passed along the “facts” to Fox News’ devoted listeners, including Mr. Trump.)

I feel sorry for President Trump.

Like the Italian leadership, he was late to appreciate the medical, economic, and political magnitude of this beast, and he’s scrambling to make it go away…fast. At this point, he and his Administration are probably doing as much as they can to get their arms around this thing that has a mind of its own. I think that the best thing the President can do at this point is tell the truth; stop telling lies and exaggerations, and stop blaming others for your bad luck. Get to work.

It is probably 100 percent certain that (a) this pandemic will abate in a few months, but (b) it will have kicked the economy into a recession.

The “R” word is something that President Trump hates, and particularly that it might occur on his watch…during an election year, no less.

(Actually, it’s probably not any worse pile of shit than Obama was given by outgoing President George W.; the stock market had just crashed! “Welcome to The Great Recession, Barack!”))

Right now, the Federal government is pulling out all the stops to soften the blow of recession. All manner of “disaster relief” in being conjured to help out failing industries, employees who will lose their jobs, and people who will lose their homes and go hungry. “Send money” is the plan, as I understand it. The Federal Reserve has dropped the prime rate to zero percent in an effort to keep the economy from freezing up.

If I was the President, I would take this opportunity to do something spectacularly beneficial to the Nation…reconstitute the old W.P.A. and provide jobs to rebuild the Nation’s deteriorating infrastructure. Both political parties agree that repairing our infrastructure is one of our highest priorities; maybe this is the time to do something about it. Rather than simply printing more money and giving it away, how about we use it strategically to do something that needs doing? There will be quite a few able-bodied folks sitting on their hands during the next few years. Give them something to do.

That’s what we need from our President in tough times…something positive to focus on, something that brings us together, and something to prove that government is still capable of problem-solving.

Maybe we could use all that labor to get “greener”? President Trump could put a positive spin on his Administration.

One other thing I would recommend: the Federal government adopt some kind of law that would prohibit product hoarding in an emergency. We’ve all heard of the guy in Tennessee who, as soon as he heard the news of the approaching coronavirus shitstorm, went out and purchased 17,000 units of Purell hand sanitizer. Then, he started selling it on the Internet for preposterous mark-ups, like $20 for a $2 bottle.

There will be other pandemics in the future. It would be nice if a hoarding prohibition could be implemented early on, perhaps by a Presidential declaration, where grocery retailers would immediately institute a “limit of two” per customer to stifle panicky buying.

I was lucky yesterday. I got the last chuck roast and last two packets of slow cook seasoning mix at Wal-Mart. Also, the last box of Special K cereal (that Charlie likes). For the most part, the shelves were stripped bare.

Lucky for us, I had bought a large package of toilet paper rolls a week before the pandemic hit the fan.

So, as Doomsday approaches, and our meeting with St. Peter approaches, we’ll at least have clean buttholes.

Maybe I just hang around with old macho men.

After listening to my hiking buddies Mac and Lloyd, dismiss concerns about the coronavirus as “exaggerated”, I happened to overhear one of Charlie’s clients (my ex-golfing buddy Terry) talking to her on the phone this morning, describing the pandemic as “overblown”.

All three of these He-men are Trump guys and Fox News devotees, and are regurgitating the company line.

So, who’s right about this “panic” that has gripped the country?

Yes, Mr. Sean Hannity, it is similar in some ways to the flu, we experience “flu season” every Winter, people get sick, most recover, and some die from it. The CDC estimates that influenza has resulted in between 9 million – 45 million illnesses, between 140,000 – 810,000 hospitalizations and between 12,000 – 61,000 deaths annually since 2010.

Same old, same old…right?

I have some personal experience with these statistics. A couple of years ago Charlie and I held a family pre-Christmas party at our home in Southern California. My 88-year-old Mom couldn’t attend, as she was in a nursing home. We visited her on Christmas morning to spread the holiday cheer. What we didn’t know was that our grandson Joshua, who attended the family party, had the flu. He apparently passed it on to Charlie and I, who apparently passed it on to my Mom. We came down with the heavy symptoms in a week or so, and it was nasty, but within a few weeks we had shaken it. My Mom didn’t make it: the “common flu” had done her in.

So, yes, even the common cold/flu can be a problem. Well-meaning people can kill others with it.

The thing about the Covid-19 coronavirus that’s making the rounds is that it is ten times as lethal as the normal flu. And, it is extremely communicable. And, there’s no available cure.

So, it is more of a threat to society.

The hardest hit state in America has been Washington, where they’ve seen 118 confirmed infections and 18 deaths. The epidemic there was started by one man (Patient Zero) who returned from a conference in Wuhan, China. Within a couple of days, he felt sick and went to the hospital, where he was diagnosed and treated. Unfortunately, while taking group transportation from the airport, he had passed the virus on to several fellow passengers. One of them, in turn, passed the virus along to patients in a nursing home, where a dozen deaths later occurred.

Patient Zero, the guy who brought the virus to America, is doing fine, by the way.

While my macho friends Mac and Lloyd might be super-healthy studs and could probably survive an infection, they could acquire the virus (they might already have!) and pass it on to some of their friends…most of whom are in the higher-risk age groups (70-79, 80-89)…without even knowing that they were carriers.

Our 55+ retirement community here in Mesquite is like a huge nursing home with 5,000 patients. Once the virus gets a foothold here, Katie bar the door.

One of the big problems in America is that, despite what our President has publicly told us, testing for the virus has been limited. As of this week, roughly 7,000 tests had been given in the U.S. This compares to some of the Asian countries where 10,000 tests are being conducted each day.

(The President said today that he’s been tested (although his personal White House physician was unaware of this!), and said he expected the results in a few days. Meanwhile, against the advice of medical experts, he continues to meet with people, shake hands, talk into shared microphones, etc!

The upshot is that there are probably a large number of people out there in American society who are infected and don’t know it. They are going to work, coughing, sneezing, and touching things…before they even begin to suffer from the normal “flu symptoms”. Then, maybe, if they can afford it, they stay home and try to get better.

Or, if they have medical insurance, which many working people don’t, they go to the emergency room. There, they might be tested for Covid-19, if test kits are available. (As of last week, there was a nationwide shortage of such testing kits. President Trump initially lied about this, but his Administration now admits it.)

Those latter folks, who show up at doctor’s offices or emergency rooms, are the one’s that make up the statistic of “positive” infections (i.e. the one’s we know about). Meanwhile, the vast majority of children, working folks, etc., that may be carriers, just go about their normal activities, coping with Kleenex and drugstore cough and cold remedies. To them, their current malady is probably just a “cold”…they get one or two each year.

But, one of them could turn out to be your community’s Covid-19 Patient Zero.

In the past few days, officials of professional sports leagues have canceled or suspended games, conventions have been canceled, ocean cruises have been canceled, and schools have shut down temporarily. Contrary to what Fox News might tell you, these moves haven’t been made by “panicky” officials over a “made-up emergency”. Rather, they are prudent precautions to help contain the spread of this extremely contagious virus.

It is voluntary, corporate “social distancing”, and is an extremely responsible thing to do. In China, with a different kind of government, factories, events, schools, etc. were closed by the government…and the spread of the virus has slowed dramatically. It’s painful, economically and socially, but it works.

Rather than pooh-poohing the seriousness of this medical problem, blaming people or countries for it, or trying to make political hay out of it, all Americans need to focus on stifling its spread.

If the testosterone can be dialed back, if we take this problem seriously, and if everyone does their part, we can knock this thing down and go on with our lives in a few months.

Hopefully.

In his 1971 song, Reason To Believe, singer Rod Stewart, a sentimental sap, laments the relationship he has with his unfaithful girlfriend.

“If I listened long enough to you,

I’d find a way to believe that it’s all true

Knowing that you lied, straight-faced, while I cried,

Still I look to find a reason to believe.”

Too many people believe not because of facts, but because they want to believe. And, once they’ve publicly invested in a belief, they are reluctant to disbelieve, because they’ll lose face; it’s human nature.

The world is awash in conspiracy theories, urban legends, superstition, fact-less gossip, etc. The reality is that it is easier to believe than to know. And, discerning the truth is discouraged by individuals who traffic in dissembling and misdirection.

Pastors and politicians, today’s Pied Pipers, are experts in manipulating belief to their own ends. People fight and die over religious faiths that are not supported by facts but, rather, myths that have been contrived to seemingly make sense of things. The “truth” they’re peddling is what they want you to believe.

Religious leaders traffic in the use of guilt to manipulate their flocks. They want parishioners to believe that their sinful ways are causing retribution from God, and that they can cleanse their guilt by attending church, praying, going to Confession, and…putting money in the collection plates. After all, you’re in “God’s house”, and He needs your help in spreading His word.

It is human nature to need someone to blame for bad things that happen to oneself. Belief that your ill fortune was caused by Jews, Mexicans, Muslims, African-Americans, or the Devil, rather than your own bad choices, doesn’t take much convincing. It’s the easy way out and makes one feel better; it’s not your fault, by the way…the deck has been unfairly stacked against you.

As Voltaire said, “Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.” Picture a lynch mob grabbing one of the “usual suspects”. Evidence be damned; the citizens need to let off some steam. And, they’ve been led to believe (by some hothead) that they’ve got the right guy. So, it feels right.

A salesman’s job is to get you to purchase something that you don’t need for more than it’s worth. His stock in trade is to suspend the potential customer’s disbelief and accept his pie-in-the-sky pitch as the factual, “Honest to God” truth. “It’s a one-time offer!”, “Sale ends today!”, “New and improved!”, “The last one at this rock-bottom price!”, etc.

A great salesman is said to be able to “sell ice cubes to Eskimos”. How does he do it? He flatters, he exaggerates, he misrepresents, he lies, and he convinces the customer that he’d be a damned fool not to take the deal. By the end of his pitch, the customer is so turned around that he believes he is pulling a fast one over on the salesman. “Can I buy two?”

Not without reason, a Czech proverb advises: “When you go to buy, use your eyes, not your ears.” Your eyes see what they see, but the human brain can invent what might seem to be reality.

Of course, pastors and politicians are sophisticated salesmen who would rather you adhere to the idea that “Some things have to be believed to be seen.” That way, they can manipulate you with lies and misdirection to distrust what you’ve actually witnessed. Once they’ve sold you on that lie, your ass is theirs.

One historical example:

The “Lost Cause” was a public relations campaign that succeeded wildly in changing attitudes and beliefs about the Civil War.

The “Lost Cause” was an organized effort by Southern writers, historical societies, and politicians after the War to re-imagine the cause of the conflict, to put the Rebel states in a better, more honorable light. Lost Cause proponents stated that slavery was not the issue that drove the conflict; rather, it was “states’ rights”. And, those Confederate leaders and soldiers weren’t traitors: they were heroic figures.

This is what they wanted people to believe.

Of course, the statements of leading Southern political figures at the time of secession from the Union, and during the War itself, confirmed that the cause was absolutely about slavery…they wanted to keep it going, no matter the cost. In fact, the Vice President of the Confederate States of America, before assuming his office in 1860, stated that slavery was the “cornerstone of the Confederacy”.

The gentleman changed his tune when the Union prevailed.

Then, the ex-Vice President said that the War was all about “states’ rights”. In fact, he and other Lost Causers began calling the now-ended civil war “The War Between The States”. (Another common Lost Cause aphorism was “The War of Northern Aggression”, which is the term that was used commonly in the South during the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries.)

This, despite the fact that the South had initiated the Civil War by firing on Fort Sumpter.

It is difficult for me to fathom how the Lost Cause pseudo-historical, negationist ideology was successfully sold to the American public. But, somehow it was, finding support in, of all places, President Woodrow Wilson’s Administration.

The first motion picture ever screened in the White House was “Birth Of A Nation”, which was based on a book, The Clansman, written by a racist, Southern Baptist minister. In the movie, the Lost Cause narrative is promoted and heroic Ku Klux Klansmen are tasked with putting the Negro scourge in their place. The movie was a box-office smash.

Another blockbuster movie, “Gone With The Wind”, hit the screens in 1939. It, too, retold the Civil War story from the Lost Cause standpoint, puffing up the gallant plantation lords, the gracious Southern belles, and the brave Rebel soldiers, picturing the slaves as a happy, respected lot, and extolling the virtues of the local Clansmen who are protecting their womenfolk from rape and mayhem.

The American public seemed to want to believe the Lost Cause mis-direction, which somehow blamed dark-skinned humans in captivity, who had no freedom, for the War… which the South started, and resulted in its inability to continue the forced labor of slaves. So, the Lost Cause propaganda went, those dang Negroes are at fault for all the destruction, death, and misery. “Believe you me, it was those Black folks that caused it!”

Americans at large, not just the bitter, defeated Southerners, bought into the deceit: they wanted to believe that some people other than their Caucasian brethren in the South were responsible for the National calamity.

As justification, of a sort, Jim Crow laws were instigated throughout the ex-Confederate states to harass the lives and limit the political power of the freed Negro slaves. Home of ex-slaves were burned, African-American would-be-voters were intimidated at the polls, and Black men were lynched routinely. Public facilities were separated by race.

The Federal government, which is responsible to the people of all of the United States, cooperated with the Jim Crow laws, and those state laws lasted for fifty years in the South until the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

During all that time, the American people knew what was happening, but wanted to believe that it was, somehow, appropriate. The Lost Cause campaign had succeeded, probably beyond the expectations of its proponents.

Generations of white Southerners have apparently been taught that the ex-slaves and their progeny are lesser human beings than they, and many apparently believe to this day that African-Americans are fair game for discrimination.

Unbelievably, blatant “voter suppression” schemes abound today in many ex-Confederate states, over 150 years since the Civil War, to hinder or deny Black Americans’ right to vote. Politicians espousing this intent have been elected to the highest public offices; the public seems to believe that this is fair, that God wants it that way, etc.

Our current President and the Supreme Court have, thus far, not opposed these voter suppression schemes, indicating that they believe in the Lost Cause racist ideology.

How can that be? Those millions of African-Americans are citizens of the United States!

To reiterate, “Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.”

Belief and trust are intertwined concepts.

“Trust” is the belief in the reliability, truth, ability or strength of someone or something. As I used to tell my young sons, trust is a finite thing that, once lost or abused, is hard to regain. In graduate management school, I learned that it costs a business $1 in marketing to gain a new customer but $10 to re-gain them, once they’ve left the fold.

Trust is something no one wants to squander; one’s reputation is their bond.

Our country is now grappling with it’s role in a world-wide viral pandemic. President Trump didn’t cause this medical emergency to occur, but, as our leader, it is his responsibility to keep Americans healthy and shepherd the Nation through this jittery economic patch.

The man seemed to enjoy his role when things were going smoothly, as recently as a month ago, confidently steering the ship of state. However, now we’re finding out how he manages in a crisis.

Unfortunately, during Mr. Trump’s first three years in office, he has blatantly lied to the public approximately 7,000 times (according to FactCheck). His credibility with many Americans is low, so trust is minimal.

In typical fashion, during the past month, when the coronavirus poop hit the fan, our President has lied to the public repeatedly about the spread of the epidemic, its mortality, its probable duration, the availability of testing kits, the need for a prompt public health system response, and has pooh-poohed medical experts warnings and recommendations.

“It’s a hoax”, “It’s just the flu”, “It will go away by April”, etc., he tweeted to his followers on Twitter and commented on Fox News.

Last night, in a televised public address to the Nation, the President delivered a prepared speech intended to spell-out what his Administration was doing about the pandemic and allay concerns. He delivered his speech in a monotone and appeared bored by its content, fidgeting with his hands and fighting to keep his eyes open.

Our President didn’t even believe what he was saying…and it was apparent. His message was, “We’ve got this!”, but the details of the Administration’s proposed response were murky and, obviously, self-serving.

It was maybe the worst Presidential televised public address of all time, and I’ve been watching them since TV’s were square boxes with round screens. Professional liar, then V.P. Richard Nixon, in his 1952 “Checkers” address to the Nation, was more believable and sincere.

Accordingly, the stock market, which had been bouncing around for a week or two while Nero fiddled, took a precipitous dive: Wall Street wasn’t buying what super-salesman Trump was peddling.

The Dow Jones Average this morning stands at around 21,000, having lost almost one-third of its value in the past month. The 10-year Treasury note is now selling at an all-time, record low rate of 0.65%, which means that the old money, super rich, conservative billionaires who buy these things are parking their money long-term in a safe haven, foregoing any appreciable monetary return.

All I can say is… when the Park Avenue folks don’t believe in the economy, start looking for a bomb shelter.

Political deal-maker Donald Trump made a bargain with his MAGA coalition when he ran for election in 2016: he promised gun rights activists that he would protect them; he promised religious leaders that he would back their efforts to overturn abortion laws, ease taxes on religious organizations, and support “prayer in school” efforts; he promised his racist supporters that he would defend their nefarious activities and “build a Wall”; and, he promised to bring American soldiers home from the Middle East.

Trump promised to do these things in exchange for the authority, once elected, to run the Nation’s economy as he saw fit. His supporters wanted to believe that their billionaire candidate was an economic genius…as he confidently bragged.

Immediately upon election, his Administration loosened regulations on businesses, diluted the oversight responsibilities of agencies that monitor the financial industry, gave huge tax breaks to corporations and the richest 1% of Americans, and ran up huge budget deficits in the process.

In essence, he “goosed” the economy into a super-charged state.

His supporters believed that this was a good thing, and that this kind of steroid-induced “prosperity” would last forever. The stock market surged, and President Trump bragged about it.

Investors, as they always do in Bull markets, got greedy, and stocks became over-valued. When the “bubble” seemed about to burst, the President goaded the Federal Reserve into lowering its “prime rate” to further encourage borrowing and speculation.

Everyone, it seemed, wanted to believe in the unbelievable: unlimited growth and prosperity. However, as my father often reminded me, “If it seems to good to be true, it probably is.”

As is often the case when the stock market craters, some extraneous matter brings investor thinking into reality, speculators begin to jump ship (or out of buildings), and the economy ends up holding a bag of shit. In this case, it was the coronavirus which toppled the lined-up dominoes.

In the grand scheme of things, the coronavirus will come and go, as these epidemics do, but the lasting impact of the whole mess could likely be the inept leadership displayed by President Trump.

His instincts, in the past month, have been blatantly self-serving, whether it be to proclaim that the Covid-19 was a “hoax” or an effort by the Democrats to embarrass him in an election year. He scoffed at epidemiologists and said, publicly, that he knew more about things like this because his uncle was a doctor. “Trust me”, Trump said, “It’s nothing; it will pass.”

Last night, as the Titanic was taking on water, our President boasted that our economy was “great” and that our financial institutions are “fully capitalized”. In reality, our economy rests precariously on a banana peel, and our banking system is over-leveraged, just like it was in 2008.

I don’t want to believe that we will revisit that calamity, but it is apparent that our economy (and, the world’s) is in for an “adjustment”. Hopefully, it will not be a severe one.

The President’s approval rating has never topped 50 percent since he was elected, which means that most Americans didn’t believe or trust him from the beginning. He has now soiled himself in his first crisis, and it will not surprise me if his approval ratings, in an election year, plummet in the next few weeks.

And, yet, in the midst of this unfortunate turn of events, our leader persists in putting Donald Trump before the Nation. Little noticed in last night’s speech was the curious exemption of the United Kingdom from the President’s list of countries that are banned from airline travel to/from the United States.

Curiously, I say, because Covid-19 virus is working its magic in the U.K. just like everywhere else on the planet; in fact, the country’s Health Minister has a confirmed case, herself.

Of course, Donald Trump, as a private citizen and entrepreneur, owns three golf course resorts in the U.K., all of which have been struggling financially. (Travelers are still welcome there, pandemic or not.)

And, yet he wants Americans to believe his schtick…to trust his judgement, his wisdom, his Honest-to-God pitch that he’s got this problem well under control, and that the best interests of all our citizens are utmost in his mind.

“If I listened long enough to you,

I’d find a way to believe that it’s all true

Knowing that you lied, straight-faced, while I cried,

Still I look to find a reason to believe.”

Uh, not me.

(UPDATE: Today, 3/14, the Trump Administration un-exempted the U.K. from the travel ban, meaning that Mr. Trump’s three golf course resorts over there will have to feel the pain like everyone else.

Nice try, though!)

Charlie and I have decided to cancel our April trip to Mexico with Jeff and Carol due to the coronavirus pandemic.

We are both in the 70-79 at-risk age group where the mortality rate is 8 percent (based upon statistics from China). That mortality rate jumps to over 20 percent in the 80-89 age group. That’s pretty scary.  Air travel is a risky behavior right now, and we’d be smart to avoid airport crowds and recirculated Covid-19 particles in the economy class section of the aircraft.

It’s being called “social distancing” by epidemiologists. Presidential candidates are canceling events and opting not to shake hands…which is a political staple. (No baby kissing, either!)

Better to be safe than sorry.

Besides, I haven’t been able to purchase a bottle of hand sanitizer for a couple of weeks now! People are hoarding the stuff, along with Kleenex, toilet paper, Top Ramen, etc.

(C’mon, Man…you’d think it was the End of Times! And, actually, it could be for some old farts (like us!). Interestingly, our neighbor John was supposed to put his 89 year-old father-in-law in a local nursing home this week. I’m sure that plan has been canceled; it could be a death sentence.)

This means, of course, that we will be canceling our Springtime RV trip to Southern California, too, which means that we will miss not only (a) a week’s vacation in Mexico with our son Jeff and wife Carol, but also (2) our granddaughter Jessica’s graduation from Cal Baptist University’s School of Nursing. It will also mean that eldest son Tim and wife Shanon will not be vacationing in our RV at the beach in Oceanside (dog-sitting) while we would have been in Mexico.

An all-around bummer…that probably cost the economy $3,000 of our money.

The Manning drama is but a very small example of the ripple effect that is commonplace in the world right now, as the coronavirus wreaks medical and economic havoc. People’s lives and plans are changing.

For example, it is the time of the year for many large events, like the Coachella Music Festival, college basketball’s Final Four, professional golf’s Masters’ Tournament, and so forth. Some will be canceled or crowd-limited. Fans that would have attended are going to cancel hotel reservations, airline flights, rental cars, etc. Restaurant meals that would have been eaten now won’t be. All of the hourly wage working stiffs who support these industries (cooks, janitors, luggage porters, taxi and Uber drivers, mechanics, domestics, band “roadies”, et al) will take a hit, which will affect their ability to put food on the table.

Some of the “working poor”, people living paycheck-to-paycheck, might lose their homes or their cars. Or, their marriage. That’s what happens when bills can’t be paid.

(One of the complicating factors of this epidemic in our country is the fact that about one-quarter of our workforce (i.e. the lowest-paid, the service workers that one comes in contact with at airports, restaurants, crowded venues, etc.) do not have paid sick leave available to them. So, they work even when they’re sick. I remember when I was a young, working stiff in college…I worked and attended classes even when I had the flu. This is one of the reasons that the coronavirus will/has spread so quickly in our country.)

All of this will affect corporations’ bottom lines and investors’ decisions. Some businesses, like the cruise industry, may take a mortal blow. Las Vegas, where large conventions occur every month, has got to be hurting. The airline industry is taking a kick to the crotch. All of these impacts involve dollars lost to the economy.

“It’s just the flu!”, “It’s a hoax!”, “It’ll be gone by April!”, etc. These were the reassuring words of the Surgeon General’s boss, Doctor-in-Chief Donald Trump, a few weeks ago. It’s no biggee, he said, and said that the coronavirus was a plot by Democrats to sully the Trump Administration and his re-election chances in the Fall.

Trump also announced, erroneously (as usual), that “Anyone who wants to be tested can do so.” Health officials noted, after this Presidential statement, that the demand for testing kits vastly outstrips the availability of such kits at this time.

This is what passes for leadership in today’s world.

When the Covid-19 coronavirus eventually burns itself out (probably not by April, at the rate it is going), it will have left a lasting mark on the economy, on people’s confidence in the face of epidemics, and on voters trust in government officials. Lessons will have to be learned from this drama, because viral outbreaks like this occur every couple of years. Government and society needs to get better at halting the spread of misery like this.

At least one would think that.

It will be interesting to see who President Trump blames for this scourge on “his” economy. I’m guessing Hillary Clinton’s e-mail server, but he could opt for Obama, illegal Mexican fence-jumpers, James Comey, those devious Ukrainians, or some disloyal staffer.

Or, he could Tweet that it was a good thing, part of a genius plan he’s devised to Make America Greater.

It’s worked before.

(UPDATE: On 3/12 the President blamed Obama for the Trump Administration’s inept response to the coronavirus threat.)

Along with my friends Mac and Lloyd, I hiked this morning in the Mormon Mountains near Hackberry Springs. This area is located about 15 miles south of Mesquite on I-15 (turnoff) and then another 12 miles up into the hills via a dirt road.

We hiked about 8 miles today, over hill and dale, without seeing any animals or evidence of animals (scat), which is pretty rare in this part of Nevada.

We did notice that many of the sagebrush bushes were adorned with web-like pouches containing about-to-be-hatched caterpillars. Evidently, the female butterfly or moth deposits her eggs on the branches of the tree in the Fall, and those that survive the Winter mature into pupae and extrude a web-like material that encloses and protects them as they grow.

Here are a few photos:

The interesting thing, to me, is that we didn’t see one bird out there in the desert. Normally, caterpillars are almost irresistible to birds, and one would think that they would flock to these bushes at this time of the year for a free, tummy-filling buffet.

We did see one snake. He was a six-footer who was laying in the dirt road, evidently shedding some skin. Rather than running him over or harassing him, Mac used my hiking pole to lift him from the road and lay him in some soft dirt. He might have been a Gopher snake.

He looked alot like this guy:

Thank goodness that I have yet to encounter a rattlesnake on one of our hikes. We hike through the brush, in riverbeds, in in rocky areas…exactly where rattlers like to hide out. So far, so good.

A good portion of our drive to/from the Mormon Mountains, and some of our hiking time, was devoted to discussing the latest coronavirus/economic news.

Mac and Lloyd are big Trump honks, so they expend a lot of hot air passing on the latest Fox News conspiracy theories about the pandemic and upbeat thoughts about the Stock Market, which took a horrific beating today as we were hiking (I believe that the Dow Jones dropped 7.75 percent of its value).

In Mac and Lloyd’s opinions, the market is just going through a minor correction and will be back to full speed once the coronavirus jitters are over. Mac said, fearlessly, that he might jump into stocks now, “because they’re going to shoot back up!”

Because…the President said so.

I sure hope he’s right, but I am not so confident about the economy in general.

The stock market has been on the upswing for 11 years, and it was well overdue for a correction, no matter who was President. Trump supporters would like people to believe that a “bull” market can last indefinitely, but…that has never been the case in the past. “Bear” markets happen, periodically, as do recessions.

Right now, a number of things are conspiring to put the fear of God into investors.

First, the stock market is overdue for a correction. Optimism leads to exuberance leads to risk taking which, inevitably, results in the “bubble” bursting. A seven year “bull” run is a good one; it’s been eleven years now.

Second, 10-year Treasury bonds, a safe-harbor for investors in volatile markets, are being offered at .8 percent interest yield, an all-time low. Who invests in these instruments? Other nations and the super-rich, who want certainty and protection of their assets.

And, they are worried.

Third, as has usually been the case in the past, the raging Bull market optimism has encouraged investors and businesses to over-leverage themselves in the rush to make quick money. Now, if the economy shrinks, there will be a lot of loan defaults, which could seriously imperil the U.S. economy, a la 2008.

And, fourth, the coronavirus pandemic has hit many economic sectors very hard. There will be layoffs in the travel and leisure industries, global supply chains have been fouled up, factories have been shut down, and events which draw crowds are being canceled.

Saudi Arabia and Russia have responded to the global slowdown by dropping the price of crude oil, which affects oil producers in America. The U.S. economy, which the President predicted would grow by 2.5 to 5.0 percent this year, may not grow at all.

President Trump has famously claimed full credit for the economy’s 11-year growth, of which eight years took place under Barack Obama. He’s boasted about the stock market’s performance during his Administration, as if that were a referendum on his leadership.

My friends, Mac and Lloyd, typically agree that Trump is an ass, says and does a lot of dumb things, and talks too much about himself. But, they always have the comeback, “Yeah, but look at the economy!”

I certainly am not hoping for a recession; the last one was brutal. But, if the Nation does fall into one in the next few months, the timing couldn’t be worse for President Trump in an election year.

Our “stable genius” might actually have to campaign for re-election against whichever old white man the Democrats put up against him!

I was in my orthopedist’s office the other day, waiting for my SynVisc shot (left knee), when I chanced to read a magazine article about the Celebrity 100 “streaming” millionaires.

I’m so out of touch, I had no idea.

People are making ungodly amounts of money streaming music, humor, opinions, and gobs of trashy stuff to the billions of people on the planet who are connected to the Internet. The article I read was about “celebrities” who are raking in the dough, like P. Diddy ($130 million per year), Beyonce ($105 m), Howard Stern ($90 m), LeBron James ($86 m), Rush Limbaugh ($84 m), Ellen DeGeneres ($77 m), Kim Kardashian ($45 m), etc.

There’s a bunch of these folks that we already knew as “famous” who are really on top of the new way of doing business. They have followings on social media, and their followers must be clicking on website downloads, ads, VIP/premium upgrades, and such at a prodigious clip to forward dimes, quarters and dollars into the celebrity bank accounts.

Good for them; I’d hate to see ‘em go hungry.

In particular, the music business has really changed with the Web. Recording artists aren’t beholden to producers, labels, and distributors like they used to be. I think Prince was the artist who decided that HE should make the real money from his art, not the record producers. Prince cut out the middlemen, selling product directly to his fans via the Internet.

Nowadays, artists give away their music as a means to gain followers, which translates into major venue live concerts, where they can make real money. Chance the Rapper, for example, made $33 million last year, despite the fact that he has never sold a physical album or signed a record deal. He freely distributes his work via a streaming service, and makes his money on festival gigs, arena dates, and has hooked up with some sponsors like Apple and Kit Kat. At the rate he’s going, 24-year-old Chance the Rapper could be rich someday.

Adam Sandler, the comedic actor who hasn’t made a funny movie in twenty years, amazingly made $50 million bucks last year, primarily as a result of a deal with Netflix, which streams their inventory of lousy, old Sandler movies to his bored and demented fans. Netflix reported in April that its members have spent 500 million hours watching Sandler’s movies since December 2015, an average of five hours of Sandler per subscriber. Mr. Sandler is laughing all the way to the bank. As the saying goes, “There’s no accounting for taste!”, and who cares when the cash register is ringing.

Speaking of taste, there seems to be an insatiable appetite out there for weird shit streamed to living room TVs, computers, and smart phones. Plain, ordinary people have become famous, on the Web, for performing asinine stunts, giving how-to instructions, and behaving badly on U-tube.

Anybody can play; just submit a video clip. If you get a lot of “likes”, then it’s time to monetize your product with ads, “premium” come-ons, and VIP treatment…at a small price. And, free stuff, too.

Morbidly obese people are now being rewarded for being gluttons. It appears that there are quite a few Web followers of very fat people, who are “liked” and followed because they are horrendously corpulent and proud of their multi-thousand calorie meals several times per day.

I don’t get the fascination, but some people do, apparently, and don’t mind shipping coin to the celebrity fatsos.

I’ve never given in to the social media thing: I’m not that interested in what you’re doing right now, and it’s none of your business what I’m doing. My “blog” site is not connected with Facebook or any other social media platform because I don’t want to be bothered with “likers” or “dislikers”. I don’t care if one thinks like me, or likes the things I like. Be yourself; that’s my motto. If you want to eat an extra large pizza for breakfast, go for it.

Personally, I’ve fallen prey to golf swing doctors on U-tube who offer “free” advice. Sure, they provide a few useful tips in their video, but to really take advantage of the SECRETS offered, one has only to click a button, for a nominal fee, and the “VIP lesson” is downloaded in an instant. And, once you fall for that, your e-mail is bombarded, once a week, with all manner of ads from other salespeople. Because your friendly golf pro supplemented his income by selling your email address to Madison Avenue.

That sucks for me, but not for the enterprising golf pro, who also has product ads on his U-tube site. He’s a digital entrepreneur who can also golf.

Obviously, your opinions and preferences are valuable to advertisers, politicians, and culture influencers. Every time you buy something at the supermarket, respond to a poll, or “like” something on a streaming service, that data goes into cyberspace to be manipulated into some form that will later be used to steer your behavior in a particular way. For that reason, I don’t respond to polls: I’d like to remain as mysterious as possible.

Can you imagine what our intelligence services know about you, as an individual? They might know you better than you do.

None of this digital economy that I’ve noted above existed twenty years ago. Back then, the jury was still out on how money was to be made on the Internet. Then, with the advent of social media and streaming services, the whole world changed and made multi-millionaires out of perceptive people like Ellen DeGeneres, Adam Sandler, Chance the Rapper, and the 1,000-pound Sisters.

People can say what they will about Donald Trump, but his mastery of social media made possible his election in 2016. He’s not the brightest guy in the room, but he knows how to put himself out there to the folks who are interested in his brand of politics. Prince would be impressed, although he probably wouldn’t vote for him.

It is almost scary to think what life will be like in twenty more years. Artificial intelligence will, undoubtedly, run the world, deciding what you want, when you want it, and if you’re willing to pay for it. Choice may not be necessary: the Algorithm in the Sky may decide that you want/need to watch an Adam Sandler movie tonight.

We may not need a President by then, either.