If I were banking on the end of the world as we know it in the USA, I would have to have had a much longer world view than would be meaningful to me, even now.
I still live in a house that I love, that still has substantial equity, and have refinanced down to a 4% interest rate, and a very favorable tax deduction on said interest rate, so that it's almost like free money.
Looking out my window in the front of my house that I look out when I am at my computer I see in bloom forsythia, crocus, Japanese magnolia, violet, and soon cherry, apple, pear, crabapple, holly, tulip, peony, azalea, rhododendron, clematis, rose, iris, lavender, lily, buddleia, crepe myrtle, mondarda, baptisia austraulis, coneflower, aster, and dozens more.
The little bees will be out there, pollinating, soon, and then the butterflies.
In the dense woods behind my house, which I can see from my back windows, the deer, the foxes, the squirrels, the woodpeckers, the doves, the cardinals, the bluejays, the robins, all have their homes, among the maples and oaks and hollies and black gum trees.
These are mine. They belong to me, just as your gold belongs to you. I would rather own a maple tree than a bar of gold. My life is short, but a woodpecker pecking on a maple tree, looking for breakfast, no matter how short, is eternal. A cherry blossom, an apple blossom, no matter how short lived, is as beautiful as eternity. I see these things every day.
They would be just as precious if they did not belong to me, but because they belong to me, I protect them.
I do not think I would be better off if I had taken your advice. We can revisit this as many times as you wish. If the time ever comes that I wish I had taken your advice, I will tell you . |
