I’m not going rehash what has happened since the late 1960’s to the present. It’s pretty obvious. Everyone in America started to monetize everything. Nothing was off limits, and now today, you have to pay for everything. Everything in America comes with a price and nothing is free any longer. It happened in America and the other Western “democracies” followed America’s lead. The UK, Canada, Australia all became enraptured towards money… money… money. All with zero thought going towards how the society would change in the process.

Here, I am just going to remind everyone about some things about everyday life before Americans were turned into “cash cows” for others to profit from.

Introduction

I am minding my own business when I came across this comment…

It wasn't all that long ago that you could come out of High School, get a job, start a family, and the two of you could raise the kids with one staying home to do so while the other went off to work. It might not be glamorous but you could make it work in a decent little 3br, 1ba house. Four people, three bedrooms, a couple sharing one and one for each kid. Television was free over the air, not $100 a month for a "package" from DISH or a cable company. I grew up in one of those houses; there was no A/C, the phone was on a desk with a cord going into the wall and long-distance calls were $2/minute -- and that was when $2 would buy you a pound of high-quality steak!

Well, I have been musing about this for some time.

I have mentioned this to others, and they just laugh at me.

• My conservative friends tell me that it’s simply because of inflation. But that is a good thing because look at all the cool things we have today. Like ATM’s, computers, cell phones, and the Internet. Inflation is a sign of progress.

• My liberal friends tell that this is a sign of change. Change is good. We don’t want women to be oppressed and toiling alone in the kitchen all day, being barefoot and pregnant. We need things to be higher cost to make the world a better place.

Um.

I think that are both rationalizing everything.

But it did get me to thinking. And I started to think about my boyhood days growing up in Western Pennsylvania. Ah. It’s certainly a beautiful place. let me tell you.

Here’s some of the many things that we pay for without even thinking about it…

Water was free!

When I was young, water was free. No shit! It came out of the tap in these mechanisms known as “drinking fountains”. You would be able to walk up to one and press the lever and a nice stream of ice-cold, refrigerated, water would come out for you to have.

When I was young, these drinking fountains were everywhere, and contrary to the contemporaneous narrative about “racism”, I never saw a “white” only drinking fountain. That was something reserved for the Southern States like Mississippi, Arkansas and Alabama. I grew up in the mid-West. Our water fountains were either white ceramic or sheet metal affairs.

There weren’t any signs about color.

It was very common to grab a quick drink from one of these contraptions. It wasn’t until I was in High School that the school district allowed vending machines to be installed in the school. The Senior Class would be able to make money from these vending machines to collect money for various school activities. This would be supplemented by such things as school dances, parades, bake sales, and candy bar drives.

When growing up, we would drink from the water hose. It was always very warm from the sun, and tasted like plastic. It had a bronze contraption at the end like a miniature fireman’s hose. You could twist the mechanism by turning it. It would change the water from a spray into a tight laser-beam that you could use to water distant parts of the yard with (and clean away tough debris).

When I was in sixth grade or so, my father hooked up this micro mini water fountain to the water faucet at the side of the house. It was identical to that of drinking water from the lawn hose. Except that it didn’t taste like like plastic. It was just room temperature water that came straight from the tap. It was nearly identical to that of drinking from the kitchen sink.

It was identical to this…

Boyhood adventures

When we were out hiking or riding our bikes, we would drink from our canteens, or from a hand-pump well. These hand pumps were large metal contraptions that were placed all over the rural covered wells. This happened sometime around the 1940’s I guess. As children and folk had a tendency to fall down the sides of these wells. Not a good thing, don’t you know.

Most of the time the hand-pump would be a cast steel mechanism that sat on top of a cement platform. We would, as kids, pump the handle furiously, and after about five to eight pumps water would start gushing out. One person would pump the water while the other person would try to drink from the fountain. We would either use cupped hands or put our open mouth under the spigot. We would also use this fountain to fill up our army surplus canteens, or boy scout canteens.

Now, along side the rural roads of Western Pennsylvania were all sorts of natural mountain springs. Here, you really didn’t need a pump at all. You would just dip your hands into the cool water and take a drink, or a gulp of ice cool refreshing water. The water came from a multitude of artesian wells. Some of which had access in the back yards of many a home and farm, but many were also right there along side the roads.

In almost every case, these wells came from a rusty pipe that was shoved into the side of a hill. It would pour out a continuous flow of water and would empty into an old galvanized tub or other such arrangement. Sometimes it would be an old massive kitchen sink, while other times it would be something else. At all times the tub would be murky with moss and other plants associated with it. It would also be mostly overgrown with the typical shrubbery of back road Pennsylvania, such as blackberry bushes, and elderberry vines.

Many rural folk, who lived far away from the towns would make weekly trips to these springs and fill up as many buckets and bottles that they could fit in their truck. They claimed that the water tasted much better than the purified tap water. I would tend to agree with them. The minerals in the water certainly made the water taste nice.

The only problem of course, was thirty years later when I ended up with kidney stones from drinking all that hard water. But, as you can guess, that’s another story for another time. And no, it’s not directly traced back to the Pennsylvania springs.

Coke-Cola

Oh, and yes…

There were coke machines. A bottle of coke ran you ten cents, but you needed to drink it right there, and put the bottle back in the wooden box besides the machine. But, I’ll tell you that the glass bottle was really thick and heavy. It felt good in your hand. It fit it well.

Also, it was cold. Ohhh man! So very cold. No, I’m not talking about a refrigerator temperature, I am talking about frosty cold, like borderline freezer temperatures. These were fine memories when you would be able to drink a frosty ice-cold coke for a dime, and relax a spell.

When I got my first job, we had a soda dispensing machine. In it were cans of soda. But none of them had pull up tabs until the mid 1970’s. Instead you needed to use this pointed can opener that hung by the side to punch a triangular hole in the top of the can to drink from.

It would hang on the side of the soda machine by a dirty white string. No one ever took it, or stole it or anything like that. No one even thought about doing so. It was a different time, and people thought differently.

The opener had a sharp pointy side for opening cans, and a blunt rounded end for opening bottles and popping the tops off…

This was used for sodas and just about everything else. This was true with beer as well. When those pull up tabs were introduced, it revolutionized everything! Let me tell you!

A special Event

But really, and quite seriously, drinking soda (or pop) was really a “special” occurrence. For the most part we drank water, milk or Kool-Aide. This was a powder that our mothers would mix with water and put in the refrigerator for us to drink. It came in different flavors like cherry, strawberry and orange. You heat up some water, add the powder, and then add a ton load of white sugar. Stir. Place in the refrigerator.

Easy peasy. Lemon squeezy.

At Supper, we would have a big glass of milk or water. Both would be very cold. Winter or Summer. Cold beverages was considered a good thing. In fact, if we had water at the table, you can guarantee that it was served with ice cubes. Frosty. Oh, so very frosty.

But the soda, well that was for visits to our grandparents.

Prior to every visit, our grandparents would go to the “State Store” and buy some cases of beer and soda for us kids. These cases would sit in the cool basement, and while we were visiting, we would be able to drink all the soda that we were capable of.

Now, in Pennsylvania the only place your could buy alcohol is though a “State Store”. These are government stores that enable you to buy booze. They had the distinction of being open during government hours, and tended to be inconvenient. So what we all would do is make a “beer run” prior to the weekend to stock up on the libations for the weekend.

Now of course, things are different.

You can buy beer in convenience stores, and other places that are so authorized. But in those days the government had a complete monopoly on the distribution of alcohol. Why? Well, it was for the children, don’t you know.

Today…

I would say that most people who drink soda would probably get it as part of a fast food meal. My guess is that this would be the greatest revenue generation source. Aside from that they would purchase these huge… HUGE… bottles of mega-cola from Walmart or some other retailer.

Judging from the appearance of most Americans, I would guess that they drink a lot of sugary drinks.

They also might like to buy a bottled water from a 7-11 or some other convenience store. They come in all sizes and shapes. They are pretty cheap.

But…

But…

Not as cheap as in “free”. Don’t you know.

Which is where I will make this important point. Most expensive bottled water is nothing more than plain tap water put in a nice bottle and assigned a heavy price. Just like this picture so clearly indicates…

And we know that most bottled water is simply repackaged tap water. Because we have tested the water and that is exactly what it is…

• Tap Water versus Bottled Water: A Pilot Study
• Bottled Water vs. Tap Water | US News
• Tap Water vs Bottled Water – Which Is Healthier?
• Tap Water vs Bottled Water: Is There A Difference?

So… when?

So why am I ranting on so? What is the point that I am trying to make? Why does this matter? And what is the point of all of this?

• When did we reach this point where we all thought it was fine to start paying for things that were free? When did we start tearing out the water fountains, and buying plastic bottles of water?

Not only that…

• When did we stop getting free packs of stick matches at the restaurant counters everywhere, to buying disposable lighters? At what point in time did we think that paying for a disposable lighter was a more attractive option than a free package of matches?

Or…

• When did the transformation from a blue plate meal in a unique family restaurant be replaced with a fast food pre-packaged burger in a styrofoam package? What ever happened to the heavy white plates? The thick (bang on the counter) mug of coffee, and the sprig of parsley at the side of the plate?

Or…

• At what point in time were washable linen tablecloths replaced with plastic tabletops, cloth napkins with paper tissue, and silverware replaced with disposable plastic cutlery? Why did everyone switch from reusable linens, to disposable plastic? Why are only the establishments that cater to the wealthy retaining the old ways?

Or even worse…

• When did buying a tea, or a decaffeinated coffee at a fast food restaurant equate a hot paper cup of water and a package of mix? What’s the point?

Ah. But no one asks these questions. No one does.

But they should. You should.

• Why do we line up to the “self service” pump to pump our own gas? Why not have the Gas Station Attendant take care of it for us? Is it really about saving money like we have been led to believe…?
• Why do Americans still pay using paper checks instead of QR code?
• If cigarettes, cigars, beer, and alcohol can be banned from the workplace “for the children”, then why not unhealthy food, candy, and coffee? And why the workplace, I thought that children couldn’t work until they were of age?

Which makes you wonder…

At what point in time did we allow someone to place the dividing line between what is allowable and what is illegal and give up our own personal decision making process? Since when are there others who can decide what is best for us? Who assigned them to be better than us…

Who?

• In 1913, a group of oligarchs decided that everyone must pay taxes and report all their financial transactions to the federal government.

Well, it is 2020. How did it all work out?

• In the 1970’s glass fibers were banned from use. This resulted in most buildings (above the first floor) in the small cities and towns of America being empty and uninhabitable. This in turn, contributed to people moving outside and away from these community centers. Thus creating sprawling suburbs and a decay of down-town community life.

Who was the genius that thought this all up?

Everything is interconnected

Everything is interconnected. You change one thing, and other things will change. Often the smallest change might result in a great deal of massive changes. Changes that might alter the fabric of society.

You make a law that trash can only be collect on Thursday, and the trash from the weekends will pile up in big heaps on the sidewalks.

Thus making children walk on the streets to avoid the refuse.

Thus creating a dangerous situation for the children and the drivers of the cars.

Eventually, someone will get hit.

All because someone made a law by proclamation.

Now, it’s very difficult to pin-point singular changes.

There were other contributing factors.

In the case of the banning of asbestos glass fibers, there were studies that pointed to dangers. And yes, there were other changes going on at the same time. Such as changes in the work-place, and others all within society. And yes, all of these contributed to the end results. And, to be honest, no one could actually predict what the long term consequences would be of their decision making.

But no one cared. All they cared about was the short term impacts. Or, as we like to say in the USA, “the bottom line for the fiscal quarter”.

The United States might officially pretend to work in one way. However, the United States functionally operates pretty much like this;

• Someone wants a change.
• Money exchanges hands.
• One person gets very rich.
• The public accepts the changes.

Time passes…

• Consequences of these changes are felt.
• More money exchanges between different hands.
• New laws and rules are made.
• The public accepts the new changes on top of the old changes.

After over two centuries of this, America is [1] a nation of rules, and laws, on top of [2] rules and laws, on top of [3] rules and laws, on top of [4] rules and laws…

It’s a mess.

And the people are upset. And they are starting to lash out.

This is not how to run anything. Not a business. Not a sports team. Not a game. Not a town. Not a factory. Not a school. Not a train. Not an airplane. You cannot run ANYTHING in this way. Things cannot operate in a sustainable manner if you conduct business this way.

Just imagine operating a business like this. Just imagine. 

You run a restaurant. A customer comes in give you $1000 to stop serving bacon. You stop serving bacon. Half of the customers stop coming in.

Another gives you $500 to play advertisements at rock-concert levels.

Another gives you $750 to house livestock in the kitchen.

Two years of this, and the restaurant would be a complete and total wreck.

You just cannot.

Which is why the United States is in such a mess right now.

China used to be like this

Yup. China used to be like this.

The Beijing leadership would act like autocratic king, and make proclamations. Much like is being done in America today. This is America today…

• You MUST have permission to fish.
• Tiktok is banned. No American is permitted to own, use or have it on their phones.
• WeChat is banned. Don’t even think about having anything to do with it.
• Chinese students are banned from Attending American universities.
• You are forbidden to eat sunny-side-up eggs.
• You are forbidden to drink jumbo-sized cokes and soft drinks.

China was like this too.

Then, after a great deal of turmoil, China changed. This received scant reports in the American media, but it was earth-shattering in China. It was called “The Cultural Revolution”, and it forced the government to come up with new ways of doing things. Maybe you heard about it, eh?

Here, a proposal is made…

• A trial run is conducted.
• Results are weighed in pros and cons.
• A pilot run is conducted with the improvements.
• Results are again weighed in pros and cons.
• Implementation phase on a local / state level.
• Again results are monitored over set period of time.
• A go / no go decision is reached. To either scrap the process, or improve it, or leave as is.

Since this has been implemented in just about every level within China, the implementation of changes has become rapid and successful. Bad ideas are quickly discarded, while good ones are retained.

Of course, no one in the West knows any of this. To them, China is a “regime” run by the evil communist party who makes rules and laws and squashes the helpless citizenry yearning for “freedom” and “democracy”. Ah. All so that America can gin up support for world war III.

Nonsense.

America needs to step up to the plate and up it’s game.

It’s probably too late to do so in any meaningful way.

But…

It’s better late than never.

Oh where was I…

Oh, yeah.

Water.

Water is your most essential consumable. If you do not have fresh potable water, you will die. We have become accustomed to getting water at will. Whether it is from a water fountain, or from a bottle that you pay for in a store, it is something that we take for granted.

Were I to be an evil person, I would secure access to water. So that only those whom I wanted could drink and use it. The rest of the water would be of questionable quality. For all it takes is to drink some bad water and you get a bacterial or viral infection. And if you don’t have antibiotics…

…you will die.

Water is something that we take for granted. We see shelves and shelves of bottled water. We assume that they are good and potable. We see water run out of the tap and take long luxurious showers in it. We never stop to think what it would be like were we to be forced to collect water from a nearby muddy stream or from catch basins.

Conclusion

Water is good, and a valuable part of life. We, in our comfort, have taken it’s availability for granted. We really shouldn’t. back one hundred years ago baths were once a month activity. Water, potable water was a treasure, and all farms and communities husbanded their water supplies.

While I greatly lament the monetization of nearly everything in the United States, we must realize that that this is an artificial reality. Water, like air, and shelter are necessary to life. Those that try to profit from these basics are those that do not care about your life, your family or your well being.

And any government that allows this, should be replaced with one that does.

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