What's a little roundabout among friends?

Whoa, a roundabout!

I wonder what's coming next. So much change and uprooting of norms. Like this morning, I see a news report on "roundabouts" and their fast growth in an Upper Midwest state. I caught the report at the Willie's Cafe. The sound was off so I read the sub-titles or closed-captioning or whatever it's called. 

First time I encountered a roundabout was between Glenwood and Alexandria, and I had momentary panic. Jerry Witt and I have joked about this. The long-time Tiger football coach is well-settled in Alex now. 

I have found since my initial experience that when all else fails with a roundabout, just watch for the yield signs and be sure to honor them! If you feel some panic or nervousness, you should know you're not alone. A "stealth camper" whose exploits I follow online spent a night in the middle of a roundabout, concealed of course. So he's "stealthy." He observed many motorists appearing to be disoriented, exiting off to the side etc. 

The party line is that roundabouts actually promote safety, but I often become questioning of the party line. It's like with "quantitative easing." The party line was that it was essential for keeping our economy stable. Someday the history books may be quoting people who question this. People should have gone to prison because of the 2008 "financial crisis." 

Well-heeled people typically have a force shield around them. It's not like you or I if we're driving around town and caught with no seat belt. We're toast. We're humiliated and that's almost worse. We get our "name in the paper." Forget about any recourse. 

But white collar crime? Don't you practically want to puke as you follow all the legal machinations of the heavy hitter politicians, the Lindsay Grahams et al.? Hell, they just appeal endlessly and they peel any legal action like it's a banana. White collar attorneys. But you and I? 

So the financial landscape now seems permanently altered. The Federal Reserve tried in 2018 to "normalize" interest rates. That would happen to be good for middle class savers who want some returns on a nice FDIC-insured account. 

Your money in a bank is still insured (up to $250,000) so isn't that comforting? Hell, despite the Fed starting a pattern of raising interest rates, seemingly by a substantial amount, the banks are offering almost nothing. For most of my life it has not been like this. 

Morris has a Bank of the West branch. I checked the Bank of the West website yesterday. The interest paid on a 60-month (5-year) certificate of deposit sits at .25 percent. Why would anyone even bother inquiring about a one-year CD? Or for that matter, the five-year CD? 

So it looks like yours truly will be headed toward making some radical decisions by my own standards. It's not by choice. And if the roof falls in? Well then, down the road it may be personal bankruptcy and seeking some government assistance. A truism: money never comes easy. 

The Federal Reserve feels such incredible pressure from "the markets" to suppress interest rates. Wall Street wants the media to report good news about the markets as much as possible. And what's wrong with that? Well, silly rabbit, we'll see continued inflation. Doesn't that concern you yet? Are you still just tapping your credit cards? 

The real danger is if hyper-inflation sets in. That's what set the stage for the bad stuff that happened in Germany in the mid-20th Century. I am trying to cite this as a potential "firebell in the night." Problem is, I see the dangerous stuff emerging already. Of course this is with the far right of American politics. 

When I was young, our old gatekeeper media would not have let this dangerous talk get into the mainstream. It would be marginalized. But not now. 

Anti-semitism appears to be rearing its ugly head, reinforced by that governor candidate in Arizona, the Trump-endorsed (opportunist) person. To my knowledge, I have never been wronged by a Jewish person. If that changes, I will let you know. I have respected Jews for their high standards with education and motivation.

The schools

I had intended to write primarily about schools today - the "roundabout" thing distracted me. So whither our public school system, now under fire primarily from the right politically (of course). 

Book-banning? The fear of having kids exposed to "divisive" concepts (like slavery)? For a while we heard from the political right that the term "slavery" should be replaced by "involuntary relocation." But those voices have appeared to simmer down. But if that's how sensitive the political right has become, it really is "Katy bar the door." 

One sage eye observing this has suggested that in the final analysis, parents might just be forced to homeschool their kids. That way, of course, parents can instill the kind of "values" they want. It might work for many families. Many others, not so. Right wingers are showing up at school board meetings and creating hell on Earth for the people charged with leading our schools. 

The bottom line? Maybe we have to recognize that our public school system in America has developed as a one-size-fits-all concept that is increasingly unworkable in the digital age. Today people everywhere can seek reinforcement online for their political views. So many people get attracted to the reactionary attitude. So full of grievance/resentment. 

I have a friend who'd say we need public schools because of their sports teams! I think he's at least half-serious with this comment. What would our winters be like out here in western Minnesota if we didn't have high school sports teams to follow? I'm reminded of the Sid Hartman line he so often invoked: "cold Omaha." 

We all knew there were some "biases" in public school education when I was growing up. If we didn't like it, we just let it be like water off a duck's back. People are so much more nervous today. Maybe cigarette smoking used to help? Cigarettes are, after all, a sedative. Would it help in coping with the "roundabouts?"

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com