All the King’s Men

Induced Depression

All the King’s Men

Governance vs. Neglect

By Stephen L. Wilmeth

            Certainly, there are equals, but blooming wisteria and the call of a recently returned redwing blackbird in the background within the calm of a spring evening is a wondrous thing.

            I know exactly where the latter was heard. It is buried in my Gila River youth in the field below the house then occupied by Dutch Resley. The recognized beauty of wisteria came much later. The suggestion of the first time seems to be that ancient, gnarled vine clinging to the casita at the Rawls place on the island west of Fabens. There certainly could have been a redwing there, too, but, of that, there is no memory.

            But the combination is real. It exists. It was witnessed just minutes ago.

            So, the best of both gifts will be today’s cornerstone. From it, a suggestion can be offered there are still good things in our midst.

            Induced Depression

            Is there reason to believe some people out there might know more about this COVID19 than is being admitted?

            The suggestion isn’t idle. To induce a full-blown Depression to combat this pandemic is serious business. To shut down this engine that has so many components and has such far reaching implications is unprecedented. The Great Depression wasn’t a product of planned action. This is. The Depression was a function of overvalued assets, retaliatory trade policies, federal stimulation of post war grain production and the subsequent stock market crash.

            Consumer spending followed the plunging market crash and, voile, uncontrolled and exploding depression occurred.

            To shut this country down by deliberate, mandated actions is something extraordinary. In one week, the foundation was laid for impacts none of us have ever witnessed. There is risk of huge proportions here. Patients this big may not recover.

Certainly, lives are important. Nobody is questioning that, but the metrics don’t suggest risking systemic ruin. Something else must be at hand.

            At times like this, the words of Brown Smith invariably return. They have been there off and on all week ringing in my ears.

            There are things worse than death.

            All the King’s Men

            We learned from around the horn that we were exempt from the governor’s order mandating what services were going to be shuttered for the duration of the great virus season. A call to the state police inquiring if we would be ticketed by being on the highway and going to the ranch was where the definitive answer was revealed.

            Ranchers and farmers are exempt.

            We weren’t alone, though. Essentially, anybody who runs the real likelihood of having blood, guts, grease, dirt, or cow shit on their hands is exempt. The proportion is something just under 18% of the population. There are many ways to describe us as it pertains to the newly coined and so-called essential services. Former Arizona representative, Gabby Giffords, described our kind at the Apache, Arizona Rob Krentz meeting one night as those almost mystical people with the rough hands. We certainly fit within the politically categorized deplorables. There is also every reason we would have felt at home 250 years ago, too, with a bunch of fellows who called themselves the Sons of Liberty.

            We are worried sick about our country.

            The senate rescue package is an indicator of such concern. On one hand, two trillion dollars of fiscal insanity is a clear indicator of genuine fear of complete economic collapse. On the other hand, we must realize only the times have changed not the reality of governance and its subversive and mordida laced sideshows.

            The line breeding clones of historic royal stock knew full well they had to keep family, friends, ministers, and scribes happy. If they didn’t, elimination was a real possibility. There was reason the ladies-in-waiting were numerous, booze was abundant, titles were expected, galas were festive, work was a four letter word, favors were constant, the concept of estate was limited and directed, and trades were considered only for the favored and well placed. The difference in the pages of fiscal decadence within the Washington aid package and the debauchery of the thronedoms of European glory days is the immensity of the takings.

As it turns out, the rule of King George and his six fingered relatives were only playing with pocket change as they maintained the status quo and permanence of blood line dominance. Washington has blown the lid off all preconceived notions of excess.

Governance vs. Neglect

The modern corollary only thickens.

Governance, in the form of an expanded federal presence, and human nature, in the form and propensity of selfish self-interest, are not serving the interests of America. Certainly, there is a pandemic and apparently it is real, but depressions have consequences. At a time when a growing segment of the citizenry is being forced to forego all income and face the real likelihood of economic ruin, it is inconceivable the privileged class is protected against any shortfall in income or benefits.

Where in the Constitution is the public servant elevated to such protection?

 Two months of this forced shutdown over here in the real world is going to change the landscape of normalcy beyond expectation. Thousands of businesses are simply not going to survive because it isn’t just current revenue shortfalls. What looms is that startup is not going to be automatic. There will be the inevitable partisan political cat fights regarding the time and assurance of safety in startup. The privileged class are going expound profusely on the need for safety for the people. Remember, their self-interest economic lives are protected and normal. They can afford to be waxing philosophically.

The businessman at risk, the real essential service provider, is going to be in an ever-weakening position. He and his employees’ self-interest economic status is at full risk of failure.

In the long run, Brown may be proven right … there are things worse than death.

Stephen L. Wilmeth is a rancher from southern New Mexico. “This is supremely dangerous.”