Skeet Surfing on the Kondratiev Waves

I wish I could say that things have changed since my last post almost two months ago. In fact, I wish I could say that things have changed since my posts last summer. Since nothing has really changed, I would like to talk about surfing instead. I've never been surfing, and it looks like something I would never have the desire or ability to do. I'm more interested in it from a physics perspective. Normal waves on a body of water are caused by wind. When offshore winds blow harder, the waves get larger. There's a lot of force in a wave. Each gallon of water weighs about 8.33 lbs. Think of how many pounds of water roll onto the shore in each wave. It may be liquid, but that's a lot of weight. And surfers grab their surfboards and shotguns to harness the force of the wave to go skeet surfing. Imagine a phalanx of 300 Spartan warriors charging into a wave trying to stop it. They raise their shields and dig their boots into the ground bracing to stop the flow of water. How effective would that be? I'm sure they could decrease the force of the water, but they would never stop the wave entirely. And that would be just in the one tiny little sector of the entire coastline. Then after that wave hits, another one comes just seconds later. So the greatest efforts of some of the mightiest people would only be able to mildly affect one tiny little wave. Now imagine that same phalanx standing on Maikhao beach in northern Phuket, Thailand on December 26, 2004. On that day, an earthquake occurred in the Indian Ocean, causing a massive tsunami that was one the worst natural disasters ever recorded. How would that mighty phalanx stand against waves that stood 100 feet high? How many lives could have been spared? Doesn't it seem absurd to think that the actions of a few hundred highly trained and mighty men could stop a 100 ft. wall of water with shields and capes? It would be even more absurd for the Spartan king drag men, women and children out of their homes on higher ground and handing them shields at the beach so they could all unite against the wave. You know, there are other kinds of waves too. Lately, I've been studying Kondratiev waves. They were first brought to international attention in 1925 by Nikolai Kondratiev. He wasn't a physicist. He wasn't a scientist. He wasn't even a surfer. No, he was a Soviet economist. The Kondratiev wave is a massive business cycle that naturally occurs approximately every fifty years. Economists commonly refer to the phases of the cycle by the four seasons. In spring there is improvement, in summer prosperity, in fall recession, and in winter depression. This process takes place over a period of forty to fifty years. We are in the middle of fall right now. And the ruling gentry of our country is trying like hell to stop this wave. They have gathered together some of the (allegedly) most brilliant experts and tax cheats to spend trillions of dollars trying to stop it. Ordinary business cycles are the small waves that normally hit the shore. But the Kondratiev wave is a 100 ft. tsunami. How have our ruling gentry reacted to this tsunami? They've started dragging down those evil wealthy people who where smart enough to build their houses on higher ground. Besides, it's about time those people on higher ground get some skin in the game. It's not right for just those unfortunates who live on the beach to suffer alone. I know I'm not much for offering answers, but maybe we could look to what actually happened on Maikhao beach during the tsunami as inspiration. You see, nobody died at that beach. There was no high-tech tsunami warning system. There was no government intervention. There was just one ten-year-old little girl named Tilly Smith, a British tourist. People had noticed that the ocean had receded significantly for no apparent reason. Most people around the region heard about this and went to the beaches to see what was happening. But little Tilly Smith remembered her lesson on tsunamis in her geography class back home and knew that the receding ocean was a sign of a tsunami. She told her parents and the beach was quickly evacuated to higher ground. I guess that makes me like a ten-year-old girl. I'm telling you that you need to get to higher ground. And you need to get there right now. That means leaving what you can't carry with you behind. Burn your credit cards. Get rid of that house you can't afford. Get rid of cell phones, cable/satellite TV, and any other monthly cash drain. Take colder, quicker showers, let your house be colder in the winter and hotter in the summer, dry your clothes on a line. Sell everything you can. That means TVs, cars, computers, blood plasma, heirlooms, tools, furniture, clothes, purses, firewood, everything. Eat beans and rice for every meal. Don't eat at resturaunts. Learn some thrift. Pay off your debts and live within your means. Learn the value of hard work and honesty. Live the principles and values that made America great before and it will be great again. You can choose to learn this lesson now, or you will learn it in the future at a much higher personal cost to you.

Rage

Do you know the sound of liberty dying? It is not the sound of stomping jackboots. It is not the sound of weeping. It is not the sound of your wrists being handcuffed. No, it is something far more familiar and disturbing. It is the sound of thunderous applause.

We are witness to the greatest tyranny over the minds of Americans. Since the election, the ruling gentry of our nation has been calling for unity and the end of opposition. We have been told that now is the time to put aside our differences and give the ruling gentry unchecked power. After all, their task is daunting and unjustifiable. They must take control of an economy that is in a mild cyclical recession. They must paint our energy industries green for the sake of a fabricated global crisis. They must rob from the rich to give to the poor. They must befriend our worst enemies. They must spend over $1,000,000,000,000 more than they actually have to execute their plans that will probably make our problems worse anyway. How could we expect them to succeed when opposition to their plans make so much sense?

Even those I considered to be strong conservatives are setting aside their principles to celebrate the coronation of a ruler that asks for nothing less than the end of conservatism. We are told to sit down and be quiet in order to respect the historic nature of our ruler's ascension. Since I judge a man by the content of his character and not the color of his skin, the only history made yesterday is the coronation of a President that despises much of what makes this country great.

We stand in the dying light of liberty. Darkness is descending on our nation. The ruling gentry frightens us, then tells us not to fear. They tell us how cold and harsh the world is and then offer us warmth and shelter. All we must do is put aside our differences swear allegiance to their king. We are faced with a choice. When the light fades and we face the cold night we could lay down our beliefs and cower at the feet of the ruling gentry. As for me, I will refuse their hospitality. I will curse, bless the world with fierce tears. I will not go quietly into that good night. I shall rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Practice Makes Perfect

Tomorrow, millions of people will cast a vote believing that their candidate will change the fabric of our society. To most participants in our republic, Election Day is the ultimate moment of truth. Consider the staggering cost of this election cycle. Congressional and Presidential candidates will have spent over $5,300,000,000 for this day. Cable and broadcast news agencies have logged countless hours of coverage and crazed bloggers from both sides crawled out of the woodwork, ranting and attacking at will. Pollsters have been conducting their own elections daily for months. Sean Hannity has quite literally been counting down the days until "Judgement Day" for 364 days. Obama was either pictured or mentioned on the cover of 12 magazines on the rack at Borders yesterday. Google "Obama" and you will get 216 million hits. Even "McCain" gets 152 million. Either one get more hits than Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, and Lindsay Lohan combined. What I'm trying to say is that this election has been hyped like none before. And this hype really makes me hostile. This election has been aready been overanalyzed and probed before it ever actually happened. All this analysis exists to tell we the people what we are going to do. Another result of all this hype is that everyone feels that the results of this election must be historic. The fabric of our society will be altered and the path of our nation will be changed. But let me ask you a simple question that I have yet to hear: Will tomorrow's election be a cause or an effect? Does an election reflect or create social change? The real essential question is whether electing Obama will fundamentally change our country, or does electing Obama reflect a fundamental change that has already taken place? Allow me to digress for a moment. I had a moment of inspiration while reading an article about the Dallas Cowboys in my most recent Sports Illustrated. Zach Thomas mentioned an old saying: "You don't win on Sunday. You win on Wednesday and Thursday." In other words, what you do in practice determines the result on game day. I remember football practice. It started each day with stretching and agility sprints. Then the team splits into position groups to learn and execute the fundamentals of their position. As a lineman, mostly I ran through the line cage and hit the sled. After that, we ran either laps, sprints, or relays. I never was very fond of all that exertion. But I recognized that performing those menial basic tasks in the proper manner would determine game performance. A slow lazy weakling at practice was a slow lazy weakling during the game. People who ran fast and hit hard during practice did so during the game. Now consider America as a football team. Tomorrow is game day. Do you think that our country is full of slow lazy weaklings or do we run fast and hit hard? How hard have you practiced the fundamentals of democracy, freedom, and independence in your everyday life? How about your teammates? How many people do you know who already live off the government? How many people you encounter on a daily basis are ignorant and apathetic about their freedoms that are already being stifled? Are you one of those who have succombed to the tyranny over the minds of men? If Obama wins tomorrow, it will not mean that capitalism will die and freedoms will be torn away from us. It will not mean that we will become a country that embraces the killing of unborn children. It will not mean that we will become dependent on the government to provide our needs and wants. It will not mean that we will give up on the war on terror and open our borders. It will not mean that we will become a nation that values style over substance and charisma over character. It will not mean that America will become a lesser nation. No, if Obama wins tomorrow, it will mean that all of this has already happened.