Hic Sunt Dracones

"Do we really have to go through?" groaned the hobbit. "Yes, you do!" said the wizard, "if you want to get to the other side. You must either go through or give up your quest. And I am not going to allow you to back out now, Mr. Baggins. I am ashamed of you for thinking of it. You have got to look after all these dwarves for me," he laughed. "No! no!" said Bilbo. "I didn't mean that. I meant, is there no way round?" "There is if you care to go two hundred miles or so out of your way north, and twice that south. But you wouldn't get a safe path even then. There are no safe paths in this part of the world..." -- "The Hobbit", J.R.R. Tolkien

When last we blogged, it was January. The year was young, and my journey was only slightly behind schedule. But, as it is written, life is what happens to you as you plan.

I took a break from reading to study for a promotional test at work, and then found myself in a rut. It was easier to just surf the web, and put off writing and even reading. I have mucked and muddled my way through Economics for Helen by Hilaire Belloc. Mostly, I have been reading the news, and it is not good.

Never taking an interest in business or economics growing up or in school, only recently have I begun to ruminate over the financial world and our present predicament. If you haven't been keeping score at home, allow me to catch you up... FIRE! BRIMSTONE! DOOOOOM!

Times are tough, so I figured there was only one solution: Tolkien. So, in order to escape my rut of reading and blogging, and to seek some solace from the fiscal meltdown and accompanying political circus, I plan on reading The Hobbit and the Trilogy back-to-back-to-back-to-back.

I read The Hobbit today. The opening quote for this post reminded me of the financial landscape. The American public is much like Bilbo and Co, at the entrance to Mirkwood. Ahead is the unknown and danger. And pain. (Spiders!) But until we get on with the pain and tighten the belt, we will be sliding into a greater danger. The federal sovereign debt bubble is going to have to be mitigated, and soon.

As I read on, I found another quote:

"Dwarves are not heroes, but calculating folk with a great idea of the value of money; some are tricky and treacherous and pretty bad lots; some are not, but are decent enough people like Thorin and Company, if you don't expect much."

If you replace "dwarves" with "politicians", it works better. I yearn for politicians like The Bard of Dale. One that can speak plainly, shoot straight, and can slay dragons. It is a sad curiosity of the American political experiment that we need governors that do not want to govern. Yet we have some how found ourselves ruled by a ruling class. It is positively sickening.

I just filed my tax returns. I got a sizable refund from the federal government. Which is to say, the federal government just repaid my interest-free loan that they had cashed out over the last year. It is hard to get excited about a bully giving you your lunch money back.

It is in this mind that I open the great Christian season of penitence and fasting. My Lent is committed to reading more, watching and worrying less, and appreciating the blessings in my life. Like Tolkien.

Don't Tread on Me! And pass the books...