Drew Downs

Make a New Normal

Economics

  • MR. MARKET’S MAGIC EMPORIUM Welcome to Mr. Market’s Magic Emporium! Come learn how unwatched capitalists always do the right thing and his invisible hands turn your selfishness into personal wealth! At Mr. Market’s Magic Emporium, life is good! If you can afford armed guards and fund patrolled private schools, never mind the self-appointed guards at…

  • If the debt doesn’t kill you… Proper 19A  | Matthew 18:21-35 Remember the stumbling blocks? It’s been Jesus’s main subject in the last several weeks of gospel readings. As they head north, Jesus warns of those things which get in our way, trip us up, and keep us from doing what needs to be done.…

  • There’s a difference between building a strategy because you have to and because you want to. We all get this at a certain level. We tell each other there’s a difference betweens needs and wants and we try to teach that difference to our kids. That isn’t the problem. The problem is we can’t always…

  • As a Christian, I hate talking about money. I remember walking into a Roman Catholic church years ago. My girlfriend at the time was Catholic. And lucky us, the priest preached about giving to the congregation. We came back two weeks later and heard another sermon about giving money to the church. Not just a little.…

  • We are shifting toward enlightenment. Not The Enlightenment, for we are leaving much of that behind. But a certain enlightened view of the world that is more than logic and rational, ideological and fearful, more than cynical and compassionate. We’re moving toward being real and being forgiving. I know this sounds pie in the sky…

  • If you stop doing it for other reasons. Our recycling center has stopped taking glass. A sign posted on the locked dumpster said: Due to a drop in demand, we will not be taking glass for the foreseeable future. Now the dumpsters are gone entirely. I understand that “free” recycling is paid for by the…