In about the eighth grade I learned that the sun was 93,000,000 miles from earth. I am sure that was the biggest number I had ever heard and I am sure that I had no concept of what it meant. I soon heard a lot about millions usually related to germs or bacteria that I could not see.
From my perspective they were not real. For many years “millions” remained the basic unfathomable numbers I heard associated with the Federal budget. I recall Senate Minority Leader, Everett Dirkson, saying “a million here, a million there and soon you are talking about real money”. In his inimitable way, he was calling attention to the use of big numbers and the growth of the national budget.
In retrospect, realization of that is a good measure of my youth and naiveté. As years passed billions, tens of billions, hundreds of billions became more common in a gradual enough evolution that I and others took the elevated numbers in stride. Billions was big, but my fellow citizens and I had some concept of the magnitude of the American Gross National Product, as well as confidence that our national leaders would do the right thing. Senator Dirkson was dead and the less prosperous times had passed. Our nation was the wealthiest nation in history.
Recently “trillions” (1,000,000,000’s) bombard my ears and eyes. Apparently, it requires thirty-two years to count to a trillion. I cannot live long enough to find out, even if I decided to spend my time so foolishly. Likewise, I do not contemplate infinity or eternity. I take comfort in my belief that those who talk about such concepts do not know more about those subjects than I do.
But, one way or the other, I must grapple with trillion and its plurals. The enormity of this often casual parlance deals with the Federal budget instead of cerebral games for intellectuals and their quasi imitators. The numbers obligated no longer come close to matching the national government’s income. In fact, the obligations appear to remain with us for eternity. Or, at least forever.
We come by our casual acceptance of these enormous numbers naturally. Professional athletes and other entertainers regularly receive multi-million dollars annually. The day is long past when people were dismayed that an athlete earned more than the President because “he had a better year than the President”. In recent years corporate executives receive millions of dollars in compensation annually, even when their firms lose money. The gross extravagance became so widespread for so long that, like other abominations, it became accepted as normal.
The vast incomes are a way of keeping score, rather than a means of putting the money to use. The money ungodly earned was ungodly spent. Large incomes indicate victory. A wiser society can protect its economy and achieve high goals by awarding a limited number of ribbons, medals or other distinguished, symbolic awards. Apparently there is an infinite number of numbers and apparently we can print an infinite number of dollars. The more there are of both the less they are worth. Incompressible as these numbers are, they are still real.
Since infinite wisdom does not seem available, our best hope is the unlikely possibility that common sense might return.
In retrospect, realization of that is a good measure of my youth and naiveté. As years passed billions, tens of billions, hundreds of billions became more common in a gradual enough evolution that I and others took the elevated numbers in stride. Billions was big, but my fellow citizens and I had some concept of the magnitude of the American Gross National Product, as well as confidence that our national leaders would do the right thing. Senator Dirkson was dead and the less prosperous times had passed. Our nation was the wealthiest nation in history.
Recently “trillions” (1,000,000,000’s) bombard my ears and eyes. Apparently, it requires thirty-two years to count to a trillion. I cannot live long enough to find out, even if I decided to spend my time so foolishly. Likewise, I do not contemplate infinity or eternity. I take comfort in my belief that those who talk about such concepts do not know more about those subjects than I do.
But, one way or the other, I must grapple with trillion and its plurals. The enormity of this often casual parlance deals with the Federal budget instead of cerebral games for intellectuals and their quasi imitators. The numbers obligated no longer come close to matching the national government’s income. In fact, the obligations appear to remain with us for eternity. Or, at least forever.
We come by our casual acceptance of these enormous numbers naturally. Professional athletes and other entertainers regularly receive multi-million dollars annually. The day is long past when people were dismayed that an athlete earned more than the President because “he had a better year than the President”. In recent years corporate executives receive millions of dollars in compensation annually, even when their firms lose money. The gross extravagance became so widespread for so long that, like other abominations, it became accepted as normal.
The vast incomes are a way of keeping score, rather than a means of putting the money to use. The money ungodly earned was ungodly spent. Large incomes indicate victory. A wiser society can protect its economy and achieve high goals by awarding a limited number of ribbons, medals or other distinguished, symbolic awards. Apparently there is an infinite number of numbers and apparently we can print an infinite number of dollars. The more there are of both the less they are worth. Incompressible as these numbers are, they are still real.
Since infinite wisdom does not seem available, our best hope is the unlikely possibility that common sense might return.
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