Dubai-Adieu

Maybe we are out of ideas. Maybe there is nothing left to do. Maybe it’s all been done and we have been in the midst of it for a little too long.

As it stands, there is no more room for ideology and big words. Wars have become a prime time reality show, so have break-ups and family deadlocks. Community is outdated, success a given, food is plenty, clothes are cheap, and our future is under control -- the climate crisis a mere matter of technological innovation. Someone is going to cash in big on that one!

The question is just whether we put a fifth plasma TV up and whether we revamp the kitchen to look like a French massage salon right now or wait until next week. But, oops, I forgot, we have a financial crisis on our heads. Hmm.

So maybe we will have to do something after all, sell the horse for instance, fire the nanny, drop Friday lunch golf, reduce the endless hours of organized entertainment for the kids. Maybe Dubai will have to wait this year...could that be??? Naaah!

Truly, I wonder whether reality will ever hit or whether we have possibly lost the understanding that not everything is possible, that maybe we have to cut back, that more is not better and that the preposterous egomaniacs who build ten star hotels into the ocean should maybe be looked at for what they really are: neurotic nincompoops.

I wonder whether after all this time we will be able to face the day when many of the creature comforts we have accumulated around us, this world of constant distractions and externalized stress, is gone. Infotainment and heated bathtowels, catered everything, and last minute escapes...Layer upon layer of stuff and services to shield us against our deep rooted fear of failure and death. We, the fortunate few, who have brought this world to where it is now.

This is the kind of stuff that’s churning around in my head as I stir my admittedly unsurpassed parmesan risotto. The kids are kicking a ball back and forth in the kitchen, Leroy is sitting in front of the window contemplating the really big questions, and life is, generally speaking, perfect. It truly is, my life that is, my little square of it. Zoë next to me giggles. “You are too much, Mom.” Don’t read what I write, kiddo, or you’ll go nuts. She hugs me. “There is only room for one nut case in this house, Mom, and you have clearly taken that place. Carry on, you’re doing great!” This is good. And maybe just maybe, that’s all that can matter.

Luxury Items

If you think about how expensive it is to raise children, it is quite a pity we don’t get to enjoy them more! From the day they are born they require enormous investments of time, money and energy. In a way, they can be considered luxury items.

By the arrival of the second or third child, most couples have invested in a bigger house, a safer car and a college fund or two. They are spending a sizable amount of their annual budget on clothing, toys, car seats, bassoon lessons, orthodontics, birthday parties and family-friendly vacation involving ponies, zip lines and boogie boards.

While any parent can pride themselves on how well they are managing this demanding choreography, it is rather obvious that management is the operative word.

We are managing our children, shuttling them through childhood and investing in them as if we were hoping to boost their (and our) rate of return.

Yet, it could be so easy, especially today in the age of dish washers, Skype and disposable diapers. After all, the best thing about having children is growing up with them.

And, yes, of course it is nice if they also play the bassoon and win first prize in a floor routine.

The Elephant's Ass

At some point during the long haul towards a degree in economics, it should become clear that it’s all a bit of a hoax and that predicting human behavior -- after all that is what economics boils down to -- is tricky, especially when one is determined to ignore the elephant in the room.

Which elephant, you are wondering? The one that’s currently sitting on all of us!

This time around it’s called the ‘financial crisis’ brought on us by greedy lenders and borrowers and thereby putting an end to the effectiveness of the much lauded control tool of the eighties and nineties, the interest rate.

Before this, the Keynesian demand-driven theory held true for a number of years but led to over-spending and finally came to a crashing halt in the 1970s ‘oil crisis.’ Ensuing efforts to unleash the market beast for all that it’s worth with a supply-based theory and much neo-liberal blurb has gotten us into the mess we are in now.

Why oh why?

Because no matter which theory is applied, it will not work long term, because it’s only a matter of time for that elephant to reappear to place its sizable behind on whatever crafty mechanism we have invented in order to steer us clear of any possible crisis scenario.

The name of that elephant is Personal Greed, and it is a formidable Mama of a pachyderm, because it is not only huge, it’s also clever. Given time, it will outsmart any system, bend any theory, and call every reform a lie by having it serve it’s own interests. Believe me, this creature will virtually survive anything - it is a true biological winner.

Thomas Jefferson apparently had a closer look at the beast, since at some point he proclaimed that societies and the systems they adopt need to go through periodic reforms.

That, however, in itself may be a theory which, if upheld unchallenged may fall victim to the afore said monster as well.

Fat floats, and that is that.

Perfect Match

Here is a thing or two about dogs, which tend to divide the world of pet owners into dog people and those who are not.

In the social world of pets, dogs are the jovial, genius slobs. The ones who never change their sheets and eat soup out of the can. Dogs generally don’t care. All they want is to have a good time, and they will try to make you join in. They can be a bit pushy at times, but that’s just because they are so utterly devoted to you and they will make sure that you are aware of that every second of the day.

See, I am a dog person. I get them. But since there is enough devotion in my life already, I am quite happy with the choice of my pet, Leroy, who cares only about himself - and does that quite devotedly 24/7. What makes our union so perfect is also that he, like all cats, is a complete obsessive compulsive freak. I mean, the guy cleans up his own butt and sweeps up around his litter box!!

I can’t get my biological kids to do that!

Gone Sledging

Once every twenty years…no wonder London closed down after 5 inches of feathery snow enveloped this busy metropolis in a winter snooze. Snow ploughs are an unknown entity here – and that's a good thing. Every one went sledding…or is it seldging?