Thursday

How I'd really like to use this blog, for the rest of October, is for exciting myself about a Halloween season I'll mostly miss out on. There is some expat Halloween celebration here, I remember from last year, but all that's imported. Domestically, I'm on the wrong side of the planet for that sort of thing. Plus, we're tossing around ideas for a birthday trip at the end of the month, a trip somewhere else (Bangkok? Angkor Wat? Luang Prabang?), without even these tenuous probabilities. But back to the subject: while I'm able, I want to talk about those whimsically fearful things October inspires instead of the political subjects headlining this season. I suppose this is symptomatic of some existential apathy preventing a greater degree of intellectual engagement with complexity. The political state of the world is complicated--so demanding, such a drain on time and mind--that, when the need for understanding and action becomes really acute, my attention rebels. My excuse is flimsy and all too predictable: election years are an infringement on my holiday season. The economic crisis sweeping the globe has only intensified this. I mean, October is really much scarier this year. Today I noticed this quote in the New York Times:

"Supporting this [bailout] legislation is the only way to make the best of a crisis and return our country to a path of economic stability, prosperity and growth," said [Senator Harry Reid, Dem. NV, majority leader].

What? But isn't this 7x10¹¹ dollars of bail-out money, um, borrowed? Isn't that the problem? I know I'm thinking about this in the most ill-informed and simplistic way possible, but are our creditors about to buy our economy? And is this really a good investment for them? That doesn't feel like fearful whimsy at all. [Cavin]