Big Toes, Paul Newman, and the Economic Mess
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I have a couple things on my mind as I cross my abnormal
feet here in Idaho Falls and I’m not sure how to tie them together before I pass out in five minutes, so here it goes.
When I was shorter making my way through grade school U.S. History classes, one of the impressions that I formed was that a bunch of geniuses created our government and the structure of our society with checks and balances in a way that that even morons could run it. I’ve held out for a long time but now I’m officially disillusioned. Unlike 9-11 this is a crisis that would be very difficult to blame on anyone but ourselves as a country. There is blame to go around, from the individual level and the excessive use of credit to the purchasing things that one can’t afford , to our government playing the role of a mirror and borrowing huge sums from the Chinese Communist government to purchase things we can’t afford, to banking institutions that exploited the system and the trust of their customers simply because they could. And while I can’t put my finger on it, I just know Wal-Mart must be behind this somehow too.
Anyway, amidst all this uncertainty about the future and turmoil we’re facing now, our country lost Paul Newman – one example of a one-of-a-kind that makes this country great. Even though I’m not a movie expert, I’d like to at least bring up Paul Newman.
Paul Newman
Newman was married for over 40 years, had to bury a son, gave over 170 million to children’s charities, made some great salad dressing and other food with his “Newman’s Own” line. I loved many of Newman’s movies and it seems silly to list all the ones that come to mind. You could tell from many of his movies that he loved the underdog. The first one that comes to my mind is no surprise - “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”. I remember at the end of the movie, Butch (Paul Newman) and Sundance (Robert Redford) exchange a few light-hearted words before bursting outside through the door…the frame freezes though the bursts of gunfire continue. We don’t seem them die – sometimes that is best; for it is fortunate that we didn’t see the actor who played Butch die either.
So we laid a true movie star to rest – I am honestly trying, but I can’t think of anyone of my generation that even comes close to being in the same category. I know they exist though – they’re just probably in another profession.
I’ve traveled overseas several times and will be doing so again for two weeks in January (that reminds me, I need to tell my boss about that) to visit some relatives. Every time I return, I am further reminded there is no country I’d rather live than the U.S. - the only country that could produce someone like Paul Newman. As a nation we are largely spoiled and take more for granted than we’re conscious of. More recent generations have never had to experience the level of adversity and sacrifice that previous generations did – many of us have had hard lives and have had to struggle much more for far fewer opportunities than others around us. That said, when we look at things globally, we really are left with fewer excuses/reasons to not to be able to get into a position where we can do some good in this world. This world is a new one and my great grandparents wouldn’t recognize it. We’re not the only influential guy on the block anymore - . The acceleration of the changes are difficult to keep up with sometimes. Be that as it may, we still have the superior idea this country was founded on that will produce people like Paul Newman and YOU and I, to get us through the tough years ahead and come out stronger. If there’s one thing we can learn from this is that we’re all in this together in more ways that can be listed here - what affects Main Street affects Wall Street and vice versa. It’s not just “their problem”.
So before I ramble on to another tangent that’s interrupted by a snore, what’s your favorite Paul Newman movie? For me, he’s one of those people, like a relative or friend you’ve known all your life, where it didn’t occur to me that he wouldn’t be around someday. As for the economic aspect, you might want to comment in this post by Bundy instead, but otherwise, be my guest.
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Comments
Vote:
0 
0 OK, so there’s eleven….
Vote:
1 0 “the Verdict”….no question. . . . .
great post!
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whew, slow day, time to all start commenting again!
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Vote:
The IMDb lists these ten as his top performances but don’t limit yourself:
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
The Color of Money
Cool Hand Luke
Hud
The Hudsucker Proxy
The Hustler
Nobody’s Fool
Road to Perdition
Slap Shot
The Sting