Fifty Eight: Not Enough, Too Little

Not enough farmers.
Not enough good teachers.
Not enough family reunions.
Not enough used book stores.
Not enough good deeds.
Not enough silence.
Not enough stay at home parents.
Not enough saving for retirement.

This list was much harder to write than the "Too Much" list. I think that's because the "too much" stuff gets in the way of seeing what's missing, or the "not enough" stuff. How can people understand there is not enough silence when they are so inundated with TV, internet, and ipod noise twenty four hours a day?

I submit that this concept of "too much" is really what our current economic situation is all about. We have too much of everything unimportant, more than we could ever digest, and the natural state of equilibrium is regurgitating the excess. The system has puked up Bear Stearns, Lehman, and Merrill Lynch. The Stimulus Bill enacted by congress yesterday is now trying to soak up the puke with freshly printed dollars, which may eventually neutralize the smell, but not the sickness.