Avoiding Disaster

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Remember when the Soviet Union broke up? I remember seeing scenes in Moscow of people standing in lines that were blocks long just to get in to the local grocery store where the shelves were more than half empty. There was sad and quiet stoicism on every face, hiding the desperation underneath. But they all took it without a whimper. Things got pretty bad, no food, no heat, but no one complained - until - they ran out of cigarettes!! Suddenly there was rioting in the streets of Moscow, and I mean some serious rioting, stores being broken into, cars turned over, fires set, not enough police or troops to stop them (hell, the cops and military were probably rioting too).

There is a simple lesson to be learned here - there are some things you just don’t mess with, some things the government just can’t let happen.

Congress averted another potential disaster this week, one that would have had rioting all across America - they postponed the mandatory change to Digital TV for 4 months. It’s said that millions across the country would have had their TV screens go black. Gods, it would have been awful! Just think of all those people out of work not even able to watch TV!

So our congress can make wise decisions when horrible disaster is on the line. Well, sometimes, anyway. The question is will they act to prevent the food riots we might have in the not too distant future?