six paradoxes and a little candor

According to some pundits, the fabric of our society is about to be shred to pieces, even if there is no sign of any thread which can be woven to clothe us while we try to find a warm home henceforth.

Poverty and discontent are widespread, as is confusion. Let me cite some paradoxes:

1. The economy is improving while average family incomes are declining;
2. Average family incomes are declining even as more and more are going abroad to remit incomes to their families;
3. Remittances are increasing while real incomes are decreasing;
4. The people who go abroad are unhappy but continue to keep ties with the country;
5. They continue to keep ties with the country but their families remain unhappy;
6. They are unhappy but they continue to tolerate GMA.
   

More than ten years ago, a friend who spent more than six years in Moscow to study cinematography shared this joke with me:

The 6 paradoxes of socialism

1. there is no unemployment but nobody works;
2. nobody works but everybody gets paid;
3. everybody gets paid but the shops are empty;
4. the shops are empty but all get what they need;
5. they all get what they need but remain unhappy;
6. they remain unhappy but they all vote for the communist party.

The comparison might be a little stretched, but there are a few parallels. Let me be candid. I took part, as a communist then, in securing a scholarship for the friend above in Moscow. I have many unanswered questions about what may come next if we kick out Gloria. But I can't stand the lying that passes off as governance.