Sunday, November 4, 2018

Did You Buy a Monkey's Paw

A story by W W Jacobs called the Monkey's Paw tells the story of a couple who are in need of money and come into possession of a monkey's paw, brought to England from India.  Told there is a curse on the paw though it will grant three wishes. After thinking about the curse and fretting over what might happen they wish for money to pay off his mortgage.  That afternoon their son is killed in a horrible accident and to compensate the family they are given the exact amount they wished for earlier.  Later, the boys mother wishes their son to return and as there is a knock at the door, but before the door could be opened, the father, knowing that destruction the body had suffered and the decay the week since his death would have on body makes a final wish and when the door is opened there is no one there.  Another version of the story known as Button Button  has a couple who are in difficult financial straits visited by a stranger who gives them a box with a button on top and says "If you push the button you will receive enough wealth to live comfortably but someone you don't know will die"  After a similar discussion of the morality they push the button.  The stranger returns the next day to get the box and gives them a briefcase of money that will solve all their problems.  When he is asked by the couple what will happen to the box, he assures them he will now give it to someone that they don't know. 

For many I feel like they were handed a monkey's paw or the button box in 2016 and they gleefully pushed the button for President Trump.  A President who has given then a very conservative Federal judiciary, deregulation of industry, tax cuts that seem to be helping many in the upper middle class and of course has kept the economy growing, evidenced by recent jobs and wage numbers.  But in the end the consequences:  giving voice to white nationalism, openly racist activity including from elected officials, the collapse of the United States as the moral standard bearer worldwide, and the most incompetent and corrupt cabinet of my lifetime.  Future consequences on the horizon seems to be the destruction of health care and financial safety nets for many of Trump voters (so much so Republicans are lying about their history on health care) and a ballooning national debt. 

The old adage that all politics is local has seen people voting for their own personal interests but what the last election cycle showed some of that personal interest was purely emotional.  We see it in the midterms as ads are not about accomplishments of the last two years but trying to gin up fear of immigrants.  When you go to the polls in this election cycle remember that you have been given a box to push a button.  Think about the consequences of what you may get short term.  Educate yourself as to what you want this country to be, for yourself, for your neighbors and for all Americans.  Ignore the ads and look to the reality that is out there.  Because someone else has a box and they don't know you. 

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