The Hustle

[Brass]

"Do you have any spare change?"

"Of course. In case I lose my primary change, I always carry spare."

"Can I have it?"

"Now where would I be if I lose my primary change after giving you my spare change?"

"Well, what are the odds you're gonna lose your primary change anytime soon?"

"I don't know, but hey, sh** happens. I could get in an accident on the way home and have to use up my primary change to fix my car."

"Yeah right. You want me to believe you ain't got no insurance?"

"It's really none of your business, but no, I don't."

"Well, I'll tell you what," he said, pulling a cellphone out of his pocket, you give me your spare change and I won't call the cops and tell them that the guy leaving Scott's Party Store in a red Chevy Impala with the license plate number _______ is driving without insurance."

"What the hell, man!! You need my spare change, but you got a frickin' cellphone?"

"I stole it."

So I pulled out my cellphone and said, "Well maybe I'll just call the cops and tell them that the homeless-looking guy hanging out in front of Scott's Party Store has a stolen cellphone."

"Go ahead. I'll just take off running for that Walmart across the street and ditch it somewhere inside, but not before calling the cops and reporting that the guy in the red Chevy Impala leaving Scott's Party Store with the license plate number _____ is driving without insurance."

"How 'bout I just kick your ass and take that phone from ya?"

"Go ahead," he said, sticking the phone down the front of his pants. Ya know what it's gonna say on the news? It's going to say, 'Guy driving without insurance beats up on homeless guy.'"

"Fine," I said, reaching into my pocket and pulling out about two dollars in change. "Take it."

"No," he said with an evil little grin, "you keep your spare change. Gimme your primary change. Pull out the wallet."

 

[WickedPerdition]

"Do you have any spare change?"

"Of course. In case I lose my primary change, I always carry spare."

"Can I have it?"

"Now where would I be if I lose my primary change after giving you my spare change?"

"Well, what are the odds you're gonna lose your primary change anytime soon?"

"I don't know, but hey, sh** happens. I could get in an accident on the way home and have to use up my primary change to fix my car."

"Yeah right. You want me to believe you ain't got no insurance?"

"It's really none of your business, but no, I don't."

"Well, I'll tell you what," he said, pulling a cellphone out of his pocket, you give me your spare change and I won't call the cops and tell them that the guy leaving Scott's Party Store in a red Chevy Impala with the license plate number _______ is driving without insurance."

"What the hell, man!! You need my spare change, but you got a frickin' cellphone?"

"I stole it."

So I pulled out my cellphone and said, "Well maybe I'll just call the cops and tell them that the homeless-looking guy hanging out in front of Scott's Party Store has a stolen cellphone."

"Go ahead. I'll just take off running for that Walmart across the street and ditch it somewhere inside, but not before calling the cops and reporting that the guy in the red Chevy Impala leaving Scott's Party Store with the license plate number _____ is driving without insurance."

"How 'bout I just kick your ass and take that phone from ya?"

"Go ahead," he said, sticking the phone down the front of his pants. Ya know what it's gonna say on the news? It's going to say, 'Guy driving without insurance beats up on homeless guy.'"

"Fine," I said, reaching into my pocket and pulling out about two dollars in change. "Take it."

"No," he said with an evil little grin, "you keep your spare change. Gimme your primary change. Pull out the wallet."

Looking forward to the next instalment.

 

[Brass]

Looking forward to the next instalment.

Sure.

The Hustle:

It is obvious the system does not work. The reason for this is that, built into the system is a mechanism designed to insure the survival of the system. In fact, the system is nothing but a self-perpetuating and self-actuating mechanism. And as such, it will not take into account the flesh and blood issues of the human condition when solving its own internal and external problematic imbalances.

In a capitalist society, a human is simply part of an equation whose value is based on personal economic viability. In the interest of its own survival, this system will parasitically drain the very host it is presumed and intended to serve--the public domain. The past bailouts of insurance companies, banks, and car companies using public funds (taxes) certainly bears this out.

What is it when a government requires its citizens to replace the money lost by these for-profit entities? Certainly, a case could be made that corporations are now a branch of government, or that government is now a branch of corporation. Either way, the result is the same; people starve and die because the rescue of fellow humans from such things as exposure, disease, and malnutrition is not in the best interest of the system. If there is such a thing as the Beast of Revelations fame, then money is that beast. Nothing moves and no one eats without the corresponding flow of tokens (money).

An exchange system is all fine and well, but what do you call an exchange system that allows for the disenfranchisement of humans?

Interestingly, when the chief money-handlers/changers fell into hard financial times after somehow mis-managing and losing six-hundred billion dollars, they didn't face financial or personal ruin; they just created further financial and personal ruin for the already-strapped-for-cash taxpayers by telling them to kindly replace the money they themselves lost. To add insult to injury, the taxpayer is also told to put the replacement dollars into the hands of the very same people who lost the first bag of money.

And these money-handlers were so pompous in their acquisition of these funds that they actually said they would take more of our money only on the condition that there would be no oversight by anyone but themselves when it comes to what they will do with it. In essence, as ridiculous as it sounds, they were threatening to not take our money if we didn't close our eyes and turn around and count to ten after handing it over to them. At any rate, they got our money, and the game goes on.

 

[Brass]

Beauty of Nature

The first thing I noticed when I was in the forest is that it is big. Really big! The next thing I noticed is that it is easy to lose your way. The next thing I noticed is that once you lose your way, there are no exit signs. None! The next thing I noticed is that, owing to the absence of exit signs, you can walk for hours in any direction and still be in the middle of nowhere, which forces you to camp out for the night against your will. Maybe camp out is the wrong term to use here because I had no camping gear; no sleeping bag, no tent, no food, and no water. And thanks to my decision to give up smoking four years earlier, no lighter or matches. No fire! I gave up smoking to save my life; the irony . . .

The next thing I noticed is that I needed toilet paper--being really scared does that to me. Since I didn't have toilet paper, I was forced to use a handful of leaves. It was at that point that I learned the hard way that "if the leaves be three, leave it be." Even before that happened, I stopped seeing the beauty of the forest, and instead saw it as a big frickin' . . . thing that had swallowed me alive. I won't talk about the mosquitoes, but they were bad; not as bad as my "if the leaves be three" wiping experience, but still pretty bad!

Then, just before dark, I heard some animal coming my way. So I had to climb a tree. It was a wolf I think, or a large coyote. It was sniffing around and found where I had my wiping incident. I watched in disgust as it . . . yeah. It made me vomit. The wolf or whatever it was heard my vomit hit the ground, and ran over to it and started chowing on that, too. Beauty of nature my ass.

Next time I go into the forest, it's going to be on a motorcycle . . . with a full tank of gas . . . and a tire pump . . . and a tire-patch kit . . . two of 'em . . . and a compass . . . and a cellphone . . . and a handgun . . . and extra gas . . . and toilet paper!