The variable that stimulates my explorative tendencies (such as variety seeking, risk taking, and curiosity-motivated behaviors) is boredom. That’s a fancy way of saying I get in trouble if I don’t stay busy. The old saw about keeping your eye on the ball and your shoulder to the grindstone is painfully true.
So now three trillion “stimulation” dollars have been spent to keep the world’s economic system from collapsing. The peace dividend earned after the end of the Cold War is gone, mismanaged by fanatics leaders who couldn’t keep their hands busy with honest labor. And boredom has been replaced by worry.
Maybe a government takeover of Starbucks would have been cheaper than bailing out Citigroup. Yeah, I could go for a free cup of coffee. Are you stimulated yet?
Did my widow flit about
From Mackinac to Los Angeles,
Resting and bathing and sitting an hour
Or more at the table over soup and meats
And delicate sweets and coffee?
I was cut down in my prime
From overwork and anxiety.
But I thought all along, whatever happens
I’ve kept my insurance up,
And there’s something in the bank,
And a section of land in Manitoba.
But just as I slipped I had a vision
In a last delirium:
I saw myself lying nailed in a box
With a white lawn tie and a boutonnière,
And my wife was sitting by a window
Some place afar overlooking the sea;
She seemed so rested, ruddy and fat,
Although her hair was white.
And she smiled and said to a colored waiter:
“Another slice of roast beef, George.
Here’s a nickel for your trouble.”
Poem by Edgar Lee Masters, Batterton Dobyns
