Once upon a time when I was younger, I used to ask why. Why doesn't the world around me make any sense? Why are situations that are fundamentally insane allowed to exist and to persist?
It never did any good. All it did was make me angry or full of complaints. Then other people would get sick of the complaints and blame the complainer, not the situation.
I am happy to be done with most of that. There is no better test than to be facing a serious mechanical problem at an automobile dealership. The good news is that it was a General Motors product, so the engine dissolved like toilet paper in a septic tank with only 25,000 miles on the odometer, so the powertrain warranty will cover it.
The American automobile industry -- or what is left of it -- is still relatively important. It is tempting to ask why American manufacturers didn't shrink down to marketing and finance, and outsource all design and manufacturing to East Asia, years ago.
It has been a few years since I read any of the ancient Stoics. I believe that the beginning of Marcus Aurelius's "Meditations" is quite useful in my present situation. The whole orientation of the Stoics is quite sane: to see an individual as responsible for what is happening in their own head, but as far as the external world is concerned, they recommend expecting corruption, stupidity, and disasters outside your control.
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