Ten Things To Be Grateful For

Submitted by Charles Hugh-Smith of OfTwoMinds blog,
Being grateful boosts your happiness. Ten wonderful things I'm grateful
for.
Since every volume on the nearly endless shelf of pop  psychology self-help
books recommends working up some gratitude as the  key to happiness, I've
conjured up a list of what I'm grateful for. (Please turn your irony
setting on.)

1. I'm grateful that our choice of president has been reduced to two
equally detestable dynasties or their proxies. This greatly simplifies the
process of selecting a warmongering figurehead for the Empire and its
bankers.
 
2. I'm grateful that I can watch a full spectrum of entertainment, ranging
from depraved to dreadfully unfunny on any device at anytime. This white
noise helps block out any troubling clarity of thought or urge to ask what
I might feel if I wasn't constantly distracted.
 
3. I'm grateful that there are so many opportunities to borrow money,
because if I couldn't borrow more, I might miss an astounding opportunity
to consume more of something I don't really need.
 
4. I'm grateful that every food item in the store now contains sugar in one
form or another,  or a sugar substitute. This simplifies the process of
maintaining my  addiction to sugar, as all I need to do is eat anything
produced by  Corporate America's food sector.
 
5. I'm grateful I live in a country where the government can  trample on
the rights of its citizens behind a thin veil of legitimacy. After  all,
what terrible thing might happen if the government couldn't arrest  those
horrible people tearing up their front yard lawn to plant a  vegetable
garden?
 
6. I'm grateful for our national obsession with fostering  phony
self-esteem that has no basis in accomplishment, dedication or  sacrifice
for others, as the self-absorbed, entitled populace will  still feel good
about themselves as the bloated, dysfunctional status  quo implodes.
 
7. I'm grateful that we have institutionalized moral hazard as the unspoken
law of the land,  so financiers can gamble billions of dollars without
worrying about the  potential losses, as they know the taxpayers will foot
the bill while  they get to keep any gains.
 
8. I'm grateful our financial markets are now dominated by  Federal Reserve
manipulation, high frequency trading and dark pool  shadow banking. This
guarantees that all we commoners need to do to make a lot of money playing
the stock market is to buy the dips.
 
9. I'm grateful that money can buy political influence so transparently, as this informal auction is open to anyone with tens of millions of dollars who wants to protect and expand their wealth and power.
 
10. I'm grateful that our mainstream media is owned by a handful of
corporations,  as the homogenized message they broadcast is reassuringly
uniform. If  every outlet is repeating that unemployment and inflation are
low and  the rising stock market is making us all wealthier, it must be
true.

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