Reality Beckons

We had to get groceries recently. My bride and I hate going to the big box store. The problem is our town doesn't afford many alternatives. I don't send my wife by herself, because we live in an economically depressed State. This doesn't bother me, because I have apparently always lived in an economically depressed state. I didn't learn this until I was an adult, so to me this is just reality. You learn some things living in economically depressed states, one of them is that you don't send your women to the big box store by themselves. Another thing you learn is that the stores are busiest near the first of the month. That is when folks on the dole get paid.

The first thing I noticed

The parking lot for the big box store was much less full than would be reasonably expected this time of the month. Come to think of it, I haven't had to wait for a table in quite some time. We entered the behemoth on the "shit that isn't groceries" side. Aside from a jaunt through the hygiene section, hardly saw a soul.

We hates the big box store, so we don't remember the layout since its recent renovation. It would be fair to say that there was a fair amount of meandering involved. Electronics section, empty, housewares, empty, the story was much the same through our journey in the "shit that isn't groceries side".

The shit that is groceries side

Was packed. This is why I hate the big box store, although this trip allowed me to realize one thing. This store is absolute shit, no real choice, and its all garbage. The illusion of prosperity, it was sweet while it lasted. I digress.

The carts were much less full than usual. So much so that I was aware of how full my cart was. I take care to be inconspicuous in public,( this means more frequent trips to the store), this is a habit that I will have to be more thoughtful in from here on out. The carts aren't the real story though, the people are.

Tension

There is a tension in the air, you can see it on their faces. Respectable interactions, but this is a community under stress. I should say that this is a community under more stress than usual. Even being in the store made me quite irritable, I felt as though every act undertaken was a frustration. At least I can afford to fill my basket. I cannot imagine how people feel who sense what I do, and also have to see the look of hunger on their child's face.

Reality

When I was a kid, I noticed that my grandmother owned several freezers. She loved to feed people, and she was a great cook. One day I learned that the reason she had so many freezers is because she was a child during the Great Depression. Her family was so poor that the kids were sent out to scour the railroad tracks to find dropped coal. The kids were so hungry they would suck on the extra coal on the way back.

Our generation has never known deprivation, in the West. Even our poor in this country are quite well fed. Things are getting hard, and it doesn't seem like it is going to let up. We cant count on our governments to do anything. We have to help each other. No one is coming to save us. We don't know how bad things can get, but we do have history as a guide.

Solutions

Decentralization. We are building on an incredible technology. We need to educate the public, we need to build the things that will improve peoples lives, and we need to be charitable to our neighbors. There is so much potential here in this space. To me the real test of Bitcoin is to see how empowering people can truly change the world. That is real use case. I don't have anything else to say for now. Until next time. Jack