Sparkle of Hope

So I was working out on the treadmill the other morning listening to my computer-music-download-player-thingy when a Dire Straits tune called The Man’s Too Strong came on. I hadn’t heard it in a while, and some of the words caused me to stop and think.

The particular lyrics that caught my attention go like this: Father please hear my confession/I have legalized robbery/Called it a belief/I have run with the money/And hid like a thief/I have re-written history/With my armies and my crooks/Invented memories/I did burn all the books.
It hit me that anytime folks are upset about the government overstepping its bounds, lyrics like these are especially appropriate. With deficits out of control and taxes skyrocketing to fund health care reform and financial regulation reform, that part about legalizing robbery fits in pretty well with what’s happening today.

Speaking of reform, why is it that we have so much of it all of a sudden? Besides the two I just mentioned, there’s credit card reform, housing finance reform, immigration reform, education reform, energy reform, and environmental reform. And I’m sure there are plenty more.

When you look up reform in the dictionary, you’ll find definitions that include words like faulty, defective, abuse, corrupt, and depraved. Was our country really in that bad of shape before Obama became President? I didn’t know it, but every time I went to the doctor, put money in the bank, or drove my car, I was part of some giant evil plot.

And the plot is getting worse according to Bertha Lewis, CEO of ACORN. In her speech to a group called the Young Democratic Socialists, this is what she had to say, “…you guys know right now we are living in a time which is going to dwarf the McCarthy era. It is going to dwarf the internment during World War II. We are right now in a time that is going to dwarf the era of Jim Crow and segregation.”

She went on to say, “This is not rhetoric or hyperbole – this is real. The rise of this Tea Party so-called movement – bowel movement in my estimation – and this blatant uncovering and ripping off the mask of racism.”

Apparently, thinking that it’s wrong to give advice to pimps and prostitutes on how to get around federal tax laws is racism. And Ms. Lewis wonders why the government wants to stop funding her organization.

After I finished going nowhere for an hour on the treadmill, I went to find Joan to tell her about this strange string of thoughts that had wandered through my head. I found her at the computer, laughing hysterically.

She was reading an article on FoxNews.com about the latest fashion trend. It’s called Vajazzling.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“It’s a cross between bedazzling and vajayjay,” she said. “Is that self-explanatory enough, or do you want to hear the details?”

When I told her I had no idea what she was talking about, she described the process to me. A woman goes into a salon and gets a waxing. Then she picks out a design, like a tattoo but more like geometric shapes. Tiny crystals are glued to the freshly cleared area in the chosen pattern.

The design can be as complicated and as far down as a woman is willing to go with her deforestation. Some are simple star shapes that may peek up above a pair of low-rise jeans, or they may be like what Jennifer Love Hewitt recently described on several talk shows. She said hers made things down there look like a “pink disco ball.”

One salon in New York City called Completely Bare offers designs using Swarovski crystals in prices ranging from $115 to $750, including wax. As Joan put it, “It’s all the rage in the sophisticated, fashion-conscience, urban centers of the world.”

That got me to thinking.

Smart folks who write books talk about how when a society switches from net producer to net consumer, it can no longer sustain itself. From that point, its decline is inevitable.

When consumerism reaches a point where little fake gems to stick on your private parts become a sign of social status and one of the most prized items to purchase, the end can’t be far away.

Food, clothing, and shelter are considered the essential items necessary for survival. I don’t think Vajazzling qualifies as a top survival need. As a society moves further away from producing and consuming the basics, its purpose becomes less vital.

But there I go rambling again. I don’t really believe that Vajazzling will be the downfall of our culture. I reckon the point is that during these times of economic hardship, reform and racism, we could all use a tiny sparkle of hope in our lives. We’re going to need it.

I don’t know, I guess I think too hard about these things.

Copyright 2010