I titled my blog “On the Udder Hand” to reflect – through the obvious pun – the fact that I work in the dairy business. However, I also like that title because this blog, just like life, contains occasional reminders of the contradictions and paradoxes of life.
What am I talking about? Here are some great examples, pulled from current headlines, that were posted in another blog on personal finance. I thought these were all apt illustrations of how life so often presents us with a “one hand, but on the other” paradox that borders on absurdity:
Mortgages are too easy to get (evil lenders loaning to those who can’t afford)
BUT
Mortgages are too hard to get (credit is too tight, especially for deserving populations who may be redlined out of the housing market)
Homes have risen in value too much (we need more affordable housing but the middle class is priced out of many metro areas)
BUT
Homes have dropped in value too much (foreclosures are wiping out people’s nest eggs)
Subprime lenders charging extremely high rates (people with poor credit shouldn’t have to pay more to borrow)
BUT
Subprime lenders charging too low a rate (people were given teaser rates that were unrealistically low)
Gas prices are too low (we consume too much, import too much, and it pollutes the environment)
BUT
Gas prices are too high (the price is crushing folks in this country even as we send billions to OPEC’s members)
And this paradox that AgWeb readers know all too well:
Corn prices are too low (we need higher prices to reinvigorate rural
BUT
Corn prices are too high (it’s killing the livestock sector and spurring inflation)
I’m sure there are plenty more illustrations of this phenomenon, but I thought these were right on target.
