*mostly off topic*
Partytime, I realize that you were addressing JLA, but I would like to respond with an analogy.
Imagine yourself as a bodybuilder. You start off eating healthy foods and exercising regularly and you are starting to get cut. But you just can't get to the next level. A guy at the gym says that he has something that can help you get to the next level. So you start to take some steroids and it you actually start to see some real results, you are getting bigger and stronger. But you are still not able to hang out with the big boys yet, so you need to add an hour to your daily workout. And you get even bigger and your muscles are even better defined. And your confidence begins to build and people begin to notice and you get a promotion at work. But with the extra hours that you are working out and with the extra responsibilities at work, you are finding that you are falling asleep at the office, so you pick up some crosstops to keep you awake at work. After taking those for awhile, you notice that you are having problems with your teeth, they keep on breaking. So you get your teeth capped. Your smile is beautiful again, you are strong and confident and the chicks are really starting to dig you. But between the speed and the steroids, you start to have erectile dysfunction. No problem, that's why they have viagra. Everything is wonderful again...you can benchpress 400lbs, your legs are like tree trunks, you have a great job, making great money, the chicks dig you. With the extra money you make, you buy a nice house and fill it with all the coolest entertainment equipment.
And then it happens. You go to the doctor because you aren't feeling well. He encourages you to take some tests. They come back saying that your kidneys are failing. He says that you have to stop taking steroids, you have to stop taking speed. Your workout routine is screwed up because of all the time you are spending at the doctor or at home in bed feeling like shit. Your muscles start to atrophy, you are missing a lot of time at work, your cute girlfriend doesn't seem to want to hang around a guy that isn't cut and who has health problems. You find that you also have testicular cancer. You go on sick leave. After 6 months, your position at the office is eliminated. You are laid off. You are going to lose your house, your teeth are rotting underneath the crowns, your muscles are gone and no amount of viagra will ever help you get it up again. And dammit! you are pissed at that doctor. He forced you to take the test that exposed the kidney problems. He then forced you to stop taking the steroids and your muscles then atrophied.
I consider what happened to our economy during the late 90s to be the steroids, speed and viagra of the above story. Some of it like the speed and steroids did real damage while making it seem like there was a benefit. Others, like the viagra just masked some of the other symptoms that there was something wrong.
So, just because something is bigger, stronger and better looking, doesn't mean it is healthier. And just because somebody gives you the drugs that make you bigger and stronger, doesn't mean that he is doing you a favor. And just because somebody is left cleaning up the mess that you got into by taking drugs to make yourself bigger and stronger, doesn't make him the bad guy. |
