Skin-deep Civilization

Another quick post. Yesterday there was a blackout in my neighborhood. Nice day out, a little brisk. Sunny, pleasant. The local utility got the lights back on in under a couple of hours.

Bush has more to worry about than the angst in Iraq, or whether stuffing the Supreme Court with "his kind of people" is a good thing. See, I live in an okay neighborhood. No high density housing, definitely low-crime. The county doesn't truck with hoodlums (an ominous phrase), and there's a sense of "law and order" about the place.

So the good neighbors eschewed the outside air and descended to the local grocery store. You know the type: big box, no windows, one about every mile? The staff was average for a Sunday, and it took several minutes before the staff realized that (a) they were getting massively ripped off, and (b) they were outnumbered.

When the lights came on everyone carried on as if nothing happened. Police weren't called because there were too many of them, and there was no proof that those that had slipped outside hadn't purchased their goods. No power means no cameras. No power means the gloves are off.

This is a sentinel for the economic rebounding Bush trumpets. Give the rich their cake, and let the poor steal bread.