Sunday Sermon

I'll have more on this later, but I want to take a moment and savor the fact that Megan McArdle is supporting Goldman Sachs, (as she has supported the bankers) over people like herself. McArdle is one of the money-grubbing libertarians whose only concern is always her own personal satisfaction. It's the philosophy of selfishness, the religion of self-love, the I've-got-mine-Jack-screw-you attitude devoid of honor or compassion.

No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were. Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee. (John Donne)


Donne wrote that we all are part of the Body of Christ, and therefore we are each part of the same whole. Even though I don't believe in gods, I still feel a part of mankind because I choose to feel, to let their suffering or concerns pierce the daily comfort of the little island of Me. We are all connected, and what we do affects others we'll never meet. Our actions send out ripples of repercussions, for good or ill.

The time to take a stand is long past, when these crushing wheels were set into motion, and now we all have to suffer the consequences. But we certainly don't have to tolerate or encourage the poor damned fools among us who are still cheering on their destruction, in the hopes that when the pinata of our economy is broken, they will be able to grab as much candy as their hands and pockets will hold.