Let's go Amish

Well y'know Dave? John Maynard Keynes wasn't just a disgusting libertine who could probably manage to get banned from a San Francisco gay pride parade for lewd conduct (no small feat). He was also a brilliant man, and the most influential economist of the 20th century.

In these times, which constantly, annoyingly, ignorantly get compared to the Great Depression, our country grasps for solutions, the tide is running Keynes.

People are scared. What would you do Dave? You got 15 minutes of live air on all the major networks. What would you tell your fellow Americans?

We should act more Amish. Last month, a woman was found dead in the rural South, only after her house was sold for unpaid taxes. She'd been dead for eighteen months. One thing we know immediately about this woman, is she wasn't Amish. We "English" as those folk call us? We got satellite TV, internet, cellphones, and fax machines implanted in our colons, (probably next year on that). We can talk to anybody in the world. But can we drive a mile and check on a neighbor? Nope, we can't do that.

When torandoes cut a swath across west TN, back around 2004, hitting nearly exclusively Mennonite greenhouses? Did anybody sit on their roof and holler for FEMA? Nope. Straw hats and sun bonnets seemed to materialize over night, from far away as Pennsylvania and Kansas. They threw in with vengeance, and clear understanding of a responsibility to care for their own.

Two of the most interesting questions in the Bible are, "Am I my brother's keeper?" and "Lord, who is my brother?" The Amish/Mennonites seem to get it right, within their narrow focus.

We can be better than what we've become America, that's all I'm saying. I know there was a time when neighbors looked out for each other. Will you think about it America, for God's sake? We don't need endless government programs, if we'll only shoulder a responsibility that is far less than the weight of the cross Christ carried.

Whenever you can, buy vegetables from roadside stands. Gives you the chance to interact with your neighbors. They grew that food, not some conglomerate with facilities in China. As your budget allows, buy some extra, knock on your neighbor's door. It won't kill you, you'll get used to it. Who don't like free food??? That's just the start. Put your minds to it. The best and worst thing about humans, is we have really fertile imaginations.

For all you atheists out there, your faith (and yeah, it is a kind of faith) seems a daunting thing to me, I can't imagine how you manage it really. Just do it cause it will reduce your carbon footprint, I guess, I suppose. Probably save an iceberg in Antarctica, if you'll do what I say and care for your neighbors. Is that true? Naw! But you've already demonstrated by your atheism a willingness to swallow anything, so go with me here?

I see my 15 minutes are up, and ABC has a wonderful show debuting tonight, where one may win free cosmetic surgery, if they're willing to eat more earthworms than the other contestants, and I know you're as excited about that as I am!