REFER TO GREY: Contemplations by Robert Greigos © 2007-2024

This summer in the temperate U.S. is proving to be one of the hottest on record. But plant life and crops have so far not suffered. Forests and farms are lush and bountiful. The reason has been no shortage of cooling, cleansing, replenishing rain. That's a contrast to previous summers wherein, though not quite as hot as this, rain was far less plentiful. The state of Georgia, for instance, including the bustling city of Atlanta, had to invoke water rationing as reservoirs dropped far below normal. At the same time, Texas, Arizona, Utah, and California battled fire after fire after fire as brush and parched wooded areas seemed to ignite almost without cause. In all of those states, courts were extremely busy ironing out disputed water rights. Even states bounding the Great Lakes signed new agreements in an effort to head off envious plans by more parched states to claim water from those tantalizing reservoirs.

It's interesting to note that contentions over water rights have largely been set aside during the current season. It's a case of more equatable distribution. Rains have been both more abundant and more evenly distributed. When people have what they need, they don't need to compete or fight with each other over things. That's a lesson I think we'd all like to see more widely distributed.

Along those lines, a curious statistic came to light this week during a closing note on NPR's Market Place. A recent survey found 57% of Americans polled still believed in capitalism, wherein people compete for scarce resources. But that means 43% didn't, or no longer, believe competing with each other is the way to go, a sizeable hunk of the population.

Rather interesting, don't you think?