Everyone has those moments when a totally irrelevant thought jumps into consciousness for no reason and just as quickly disappears. However that thought leaves a minor unresolved puzzle for a few lingering moments. Mariner has collected a few of his moments to share with the reader.
֎ In the 1860s Republicans dominated the Federal scene and proposed things like the transatlantic railroad, an expansion of government power into the westward expansion, developed the state university system, wrote civil rights laws that the democrats opposed and established a national currency. The democrats, on the other hand, were the conservatives and rejected the expansion of government. By the 1930s with the election of FDR, the parties clearly had swapped their philosophies.
The thought that popped into mariner’s mind from nowhere: Is this the beginning of another swap? No answer to that of course, but the mind lingers for a moment.
֎ The nature of cryptocoin investment is very similar to transactions in the stock market except everyone can own the same object or situation. Money is not the only vehicle that earns profit; art, inventions, international liaisons all are things or events that will bring profit or loss to ‘owners’ of that object. Thousands of crypto investors own various emoji and caricatures. Crypto profit grows when the demand for owning something grows. If mariner owned a potato along with ten thousand others, there would be profit in the fact that more and more people wanted to own a potato – especially if potatoes become rare.
Yes, crypto remains an odd marketplace but BIG money is entering the crypto market. For some reason, the thought occurred to mariner that this wasn’t capitalism but communism – where everyone owns a piece of the economy. This isn’t true; of course it will take a huge effort to even nudge capitalism in the United States. Still, what if this were another big switch in economic theory? No answer to that, of course, but the mind lingers for a moment.
֎ The conflict between church and state always has interested mariner. The poor Christian movement has suffered abuses from the get go as fodder for lions, denial of reality in defense of doctrine, a socialist movement in England and a reason to rape and rob two new continents. Today the Christian doctrine isn’t practiced much. Instead the pews are filled with political activists and spiritual escapists. The strength of the Beatitudes and two Great Commandments remain but have little influence in actual practice.
Today, as attendance dwindles, as the need for Christ’s creed is lost in the noise, what if the next generation suddenly found the church to be a vehicle for healing, stabilizing and restoring an ethical foundation for the nation. The thought occurred to mariner that salvation of a nation in the absence of functional government would be a theocracy and would profoundly change the abrasiveness of contemporary capitalism, populism, plutocracy and oligarchy. No answer to that, of course, but the mind lingers for a moment.
֎ There has been no discussion yet about the physical world. What will happen to society when the Earth switches polarity? It has happened before and will happen again.
Ancient Mariner