It's more than just a little ironic that, during the Days of Donald, a brighter light than usual has been shining on the vocabulary deficiencies of the average Joe and Jane.
Part of that, of course, traces back to the root cause of a lot of the woes we face.
Lack of education.
Which is also known, in some instances, by the term tossed about by political pundits from mostly the disloyal opposition.
Being uninformed.
Somewhere along the way, the traditional life path of educational pursuit in America, from kindergarten to elementary, from middle school to high school, from college to post graduate, fell not only out of fashion, but even out of favor, as if, somehow, being educated was the intellectual equivalent of being rich.
As far as those who weren't were concerned, those who were were nothing more than snobby, spoiled pricks who thought they were better than everyone else.
Never mind that it's very much a false equivalency because while not everyone can achieve whatever is necessary to acquire great wealth, there is nothing stopping anyone from acquiring as much information, read: education, as that person desires and/or is willing to put the time and energy in to find.
Especially today, with the public library still open for business and ready to welcome one and all. Not to mention the library that houses a billion times more information and education than the finest brick and mortar collection of the printed word.
The Internet.
Now, this is where the inevitable "but, what about" brigade chokes up a hairball, something in the form of "what about people who can't afford computers? huh? what about that, Mr. Informed Educated Snobby Spoiled Prick Who Thinks He's Better Than Everyone Else?"
Yeah. About that. If you're reading this, then you already have a computer or you have access to one. Most likely in the form of that smartphone that you probably stood in line for two hours to be first to get.
And if not, then you can, at absolutely no charge, get access to a computer at least six days a week by stopping into your.....wait for it.....public library.
Meanwhile, vocabulary be deficient.
And here's a word you're going to hear a lot in the coming days, weeks, months that a lot of people actually don't fully understand.
Deficit.
Here's the easy to find (right there on that computer or smartphone I mentioned) dictionary definition.
Deficit.
noun
(in sports) the amount or score by which a team or individual is losing.
"came back from a 3–0 deficit"
But here's the application you'll more often hear about when the word is used in those coming days,weeks, months.....
an excess of expenditure or liabilities over income or assets in a given period.
"an annual operating deficit"
And even closer to home for you......
The amount by which something, especially a sum of money, is too small.
| synonyms: | shortfall, deficiency, shortage, arrears
negative amount, loss
"a large deficit in the federal budget"
|
Let's put this in living in a short burst, texting world fashion.
Deficit is just a fancy, educated snobby spoiled prick way of saying "debt".
As in what you owe.
As in, what you're in.
As in, how are we ever gonna get out of?
Here's another hilarious, obviously elitist edition of the def.
A deficit occurs when expenses exceed revenues, imports exceed exports or liabilities exceed assets.
Like I said, debt.
Too much out goin'. Not enough in comin'.
And debt is a lot like extra poundage. One of those things that just sort of creeps up on ya. I mean, come on, nobody goes to bed on Tuesday night and wakes up Wednesday morning to find they've put on a hundred pounds.
There's at least a couple of Thanksgivings, two or three Christmases, some long football seasons with too much beer and pizza and one whole hell of a lot of stress eating before you get to that moment when you start your morning by steppin' on the scales and blurt out "what the fuck?"
Of course, as with everything else they do, our governments, be they local, state and/or Federal, surpass us like we're standing still when it comes to the fat of the land.
Those dudes and dudettes can put us in a hole faster than a serial killer whose main get off is digging the graves and burying the bodes.
Here's something your more insightful financial gurus will tell you.
One factor that plays a large part in the accumulation of debt but doesn't always get the attention it both deserves and needs is hidden costs.
Again, the nerdy bookworm description reads: Unforeseen expenses added on to purchases.
Usually, those expenses refer to things like fees. Credit card fees, hotel and resort fees, the always intriguing, but less than amusing "handling" fee, as in "you just pay shipping and handling."
Unless there's some kind of orgasm involved at the end of the process, it seems a little arrogant of product merchants to be charging you for simply using their hands.
And, of course, during the great American adventure of buying a car, there's fees in places most people ain't even got places.
That's the thing about buying things.
Or, while we're at it, buying into things.
More often than not, there's a hidden cost.
Or costs.
The America offered for sale by Donald, during the Days of Donald, is filled with hidden costs.
Pretty much exclusively paid by those who continue paying for a ride on the once amusing, now more sad than amusing, Trump Train.
The rest of us....well, the rest of us don't buy it.
Which isn't to say we're not paying for it.
Here's some examples....and, for the sake of the examples, let's assume that you're still an enthusiastic participant in Trump transactions.
You're buying that the tax cut he and his posse carved out a few months ago, and the additional tax cut that's sure to come right after the midterms, assuming they remain the majority party, are going to ease your fears, lessen your burden and set you down the path to financial happy ever after.
The hidden cost? Every educated, qualified financial expert on the planet Earth, regardless of their politics, predicts that the massive debt already resulting from the loss of tax revenue will either trigger a recession, even depression, of a magnitude unseen in five generations...or...loss of revenue will have to be offset by going after the funds currently being paid out to me...and you....and your loved ones....in the form of Medicare....Medicaid.....Social Security......
You're buying the myth that he is a "successful businessman" and "not a politician" who can efficiently "run America like it's a business" bringing financial prosperity to me and you and...your loved ones.
The hidden cost? The list of bankruptcies, hotel and casino failures, meat product sales failures, private university failure, etc, reads longer than the list of failed relationships and marriages in the Kardashian family and could be an entire semester's worth of an economics class entitled "How NOT To Run A Business If You Want To Succeed.". And none....none of those failures is untrue or incorrect...or "fake news". None. Those failures and his method of "successfully running America like it was a business" pretty much has you putting your entire financial well being and the well being of everyone you care about, never mind any of the rest of your fellow Americans, on the number six on a roulette table, where the roulette wheel has only one number on it. And that number isn't six. Oh...and as far as "he's not a politician" is concerned? By handing over the reins of power to a failed businessman with no quote, unquote, political experience, no intention of listening to any voice but his own, no ability to learn from mistakes because he is pathologically convinced he has yet to make a mistake....ever....about...anything..... you have essentially hired a third rate carpenter....to perform life saving heart valve replacement surgery on the person you love most in the world...and millions of others in the world awaiting the same operation.
You're buying the idea that random arrests of undocumented people, with no particular game plan or end game strategy, badly organized and sloppily carried out, is making the streets of your town safer.
The hidden cost? Your family, friends, anyone and everyone you theoretically care about and/or concern yourself regarding their impression of you are seeing that you aren't at all bothered by children being taken away from their parents and placed in cages like the ones you see at your local mall pet shop. And when all of that madness is finally brought to an end, you will never....ever....be seen the same way you were before you allowed, even encouraged, that to happen. And your streets are no safer than they were before that first child was torn, screaming, from their mother's embrace.
You're buying and endorsing, by not condemning, his endorsement of, and not condemning, white supremacy, Nazi-ism, bigotry, prejudice, hatred, extremism,"body slamming" journalists, live dismemberment of journalists, mistreatment, even abuse of women.
The hidden cost? What possible explanation for that endorsement will give you any....any chance at all of redemption and/or forgiveness when your time comes? You truly needn't give a moment's care to what I think....or what those people in your circle think......or what anyone in this life...anyone....thinks of what you've allowed to go on.......it isn't this life you have to worry about........
You're buying that lies are acceptable, disrespect is a virtue and not a vice, any and all means justify any and all ends....bullying is bravery. Cowardice is to be congratulated.
The hidden cost? A forfeiture of whatever simple, basic human dignity and decency you possessed before you became...what you have become.
Whatever else you may, or may not, be perceiving in the days of this demagogue, as benefits,, any objective auditor, regardless of their politics, could look at your balance sheet and alert you that your investments of time, energy, money, spirit, even soul are costing you considerably more than whatever profit there might be.
The thing, though, about our value systems, our core belief systems,...our hearts, our minds...even our souls.....is that trying to describe gains or losses puts our already under-stocked vocabulary to the test.
If only there were a word that sums up the abandonment of better angels in favor of surrendering to fear, prejudice, hatred, ignorance....indecency.....as it applies to the human spirit.
Turns out there is a word.
Deficit.
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