Excess

While pondering life late on a Sunday evening, across the country from each other, the writers of this blog came upon a resounding theme for American Society today. When thinking about the troubles human beings get themselves into, it maybe be possible that problems are all in some way tied to an "overuse" of whatever feels/looks/sounds/tastes good at that given time while at the same time neglecting to be aware of the repercussions of what excess will bring.
The lack of a "psychological lever" that allows an individual to continue eating a Big Mac, large fries and large Diet Coke (or whatever derivation of American fast food you prefer) is the same thing that permitted an individual who went to a bank and obtained (and accepted) a loan for 800k when they knew they could only afford a loan of 200k.

What is "too much?" It's such a funny concept drilled into a person from an early age, most likely by some type of parental influence. One of our father's is a dentist...I got it from him early on. I used to watch ghostbusters cartoons. There was something that they did with the word "ecto", "ecto" this and "ecto" that. There was a commerical for this "ecto cooler"; just a normal, sugary drink but to me it appeared as this divine ambrosia and I couldn't rest until the sweet elixir found its way down my throat. But, it simply was not to be, as the drink contained "too much" sugar. That was my earliest formative experience with the term too much. I guess, knock on wood, I haven't had any cavities, so it worked. "Too much" stemmed from an idea of prevention...prevention of cavities. Does "too much" always stem from a stance of prevention? Is there always a repercussion, or can there be too much of a good thing?

It's interesting to ask the question today, in the face of a 1 trillion dollar stimulus. Can an economy have too much money circulating through it? Where does one draw the line between beneficial forces of something like "inflation" and when it starts becoming detrimental? I have a feeling that we will find out, and maybe sooner than we might like to. Right now it appears that the goal is the prevention of "too much" deflation, but that tide might soon dissipate on a dime. That 10 cents may not be worth quite as much tomorrow.

The truth is, it feels good. Action. Spending. Speaking out. Getting angry. Reprimanding. But, I implore you to step back and think for one second here. Maybe sometimes there is a time for inaction. Maybe there is a time to step back and think. Maybe one must admit a lack of understanding and recognize that sometimes letting things play out of their own volition is better than risking too much action that is useless.