It Really Is This Way

After some weeks of noodling, The thought arose: It really is this way. 

Now just letting this sink in as the weekend unfolds after a busy, somewhat trying week at work.

So what's really sinking in, or rather, what really is this way? And why did this thought bubble up after all that noodling?

Well, it's a number of things that we've talked about seemingly endlessly. We can't cover them all today, But let's take a stab at a few. 

Here goes.

The stock market really is more overvalued than it has ever been. And it's been in this state for months now. Add to this that nothing that hits the news or typically undermines stock prices has made a dent in it.

These items include war, rising oil prices, inflation, rising yields, exponentially increasing federal government debt, federal budget deficits continuing to blow out of all proportion, a housing market that now seems to have given up the ghost. Just a few. And each one could have at least caused some serious concern and correction in the stock market. 

Add to these the growing awareness of a typically sleepy, bored, and these days uneducated and thoughtless populace that something is amiss. AI may not be the savior of the world, after all. The companies involved with AI that have been bid up in recent years may not ever see sufficient revenues to justify the massive borrowing they have taken on to build data centers needed to fuel the AI creature - or whatever we might want to call it.

Nothing matters. Stock remain strong. They even set an occasional new record high. And even those AI stocks that have taken some hits seem to have the nine lives of a cat after initial drawdowns.

And, yes, we all know this will likely not end well. But it's not ending. And it continues to defy all reason. Yes, it really is this way.

Houses really are unaffordable to a huge chunk of folks who in the past would be buying a first home, or moving into their next home. And those who would be typically be selling as they enter retirement years refuse to sell if it means dropping the price to make the house affordable to potential buyers. And yes, depending on your location, the prices of houses have dropped, some more than others. And yet, for the most part, the housing market just sits in a kind of deep freeze, refusing to face the realities of prices too high, buyers too few, and, oh, let's not forget property taxes rising for some beyond affordability.

Never mind commercial real estate - a whole subject that we'll just mention in passing, given the time constraints. 

So that "backbone" industry of our economy - real estate - has descending into what now looks like permanent dysfunction.

It really is this way.

And, what the heck, the severe deterioration of the education of our children - some of whom are now adults in the position of making adult decisions in a fragile world.

Our educational system has left those exiting it uneducated - at least as the word was understood for centuries. They don't know history - at all. They don't understand that there exists objective right and wrong, preferring instead whatever they decide is right or wrong. And their decision on this matter totally lacks any reasonable development, but rather almost exclusively rests on emotion - feelings. "I just feel this is right/wrong, good/bad", etc.

Just think about this. (And it's really true.) 

Yes, it really is this way.

Oh, and the U.S. government's war with Iran is not 10 months old. You know, the war that would be over in weeks, that we keep hearing will end in a few more weeks, that our fearless leader has actually said would end when he wants it to end.

And let's not ignore the spreading of the conflict now with Houthis engaged with the Saudis. 

Never mind the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the war that continues on and on with no end in sight - a war that, again our fearless leader said he could end "tomorrow" (or something like that) once elected for his second term.

Yes, it really is this way. 

One more: the economy that has created a purported "golden age" for our country. How's that working out for you? 

We could say that something has to give. Actually, we've been saying some form of this for what seems like eons. And yet all remains seemingly in place, with no where else to go. And at times it "feels" like it'll all just stay that way, what?, forever.

(Okay, so that feeling isn't rational. But it still does feel that way.)

So with these somewhat exasperating thoughts and feelings, we'll have to sign off for another week. This particular weekend will bring Halloween on Saturday and then, for us Catholics, the glorious feast of All Saints, which this year falls on a Sunday. 

By the way, despite the creepy culture that has taken over Halloween these days, the word comes from "All Hallows Eve" and designates the day as the day before All Saints Day. And to "hallow" means to honor as holy - as in the saints being all holy.

Just sayin'.

But, what the heck, we'll concede that most folks will be observing the secular Halloween thing, even those who don't indulge in the truly super-creepy stuff. After all, kids going trick or treating isn't all that bad. Indeed, I kind of miss taking our guys around the neighborhood all those years ago.

So in that spirit, a song from a less creepy time that captures something of the not-all-holy part of All Hallow's Eve.