Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川 広重
No. 37: Miyanokoshi,
from the series “Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaido
(Kisokaido rokujukyu tsugi no uchi)”
(c. 1835/38)

"History might always ultimately get even withsomething resembling Impunity."

Impunity must be an enemy of Prosperity, for it implies getting away with something, and getting away with something suggests something requiring distancing from one’s actions. The nefarious depend upon Impunity to protect them from well-deserved retribution. They rely upon insider knowledge and special connections to protect them from discovery and punishment. They leave a devastation behind them from which they wish to escape association. They desire nothing better or worse than the freedom that can only come from irresponsible action, where costs get borne by others while they, Impunity, enjoy the ill-gained returns. Impunity can stand to live with itself when it wins by depriving others. It seems to enjoy breaking others’ toys. It believes itself above the law.

I overstate my case for a purpose: to project a brighter and sharper boundary between the Prosperities and their avowed enemy, Impunity. Prosperity does not depend upon degrading others. It does not engage in zero-sum games. It practices win-wins, and finds no reason, good or otherwise, to engage in death matches. Prosperity plays a more infinite game, seeking not so much to keep score or end play but to continue playing, ad infinitum. Prosperity might well work toward, but it does not fool itself into believing that succeeding necessarily requires anyone else to lose. Prosperity seems capable of sharing. It might be predicated upon the notion that resources are fungible, depending upon what they’re expecting. Prosperity does not insist upon its own way or the highway, for it believes dichotomy might be another avowed enemy of Prosperity, unsustainable across any decent distance. Both/and might well serve as the many Prosperities’ underlying identity.

The sneaky shit who presently soils his diapers while pretending he doesn’t, serves as a perfect model for post-modern Presidential. Once the electorate chose to deny decency their presidency, Impunity found the opportunity for which it had been so impatiently waiting. Once through the door, whatever sheep’s clothing had been required to disguise intentions was quickly abandoned, and the wolves were no longer merely slavering outside our door. They were inside and no longer needed to bother themselves with huffing or puffing or threatening to blow anybody’s Prosperity down. They suddenly seemed to own the joint that only we, The People, could ever possess. I guess possession did turn out to be ninety percent of lawlessness, since this lupine incumbent felt moved, with Impunity’s assistance, to blow down our East Wing, if only for spite. Whatever he might have done was clearly his predecessor’s fault. Well, his and Impunity’s.

For those who wondered if the libertarian dream might have something good or decent behind it, now you can see what you apparently couldn’t imagine before. Absolute freedom has never existed without heavy, ruinous doses of Impunity supporting its initiatives. No amount of absolute anything can ever once sum to decency or any of even the most modest of the Prosperities. We need boundaries to contain our humanity, which, in turn, spawns our Prosperity. Prosperity falters whenever absolutism enters. The ‘do whatever you choose’ freedoms ain’t worth the paper they were never written on, for even the most radical interpretations utterly relied on someone defending some boundary, even when or if that someone turned out to be Impunity itself.

Contrary to popular opinion, there actually are many things that even a dedicated libertarian or MAGA person won’t do. They generally draw a big fat line just South of decency, and steadfastly refuse to cross that boundary for any reason. Once they cross that one, they lose their excuses. Absolutes are nothing without their excuses.

Prosperity owes nobody any apology, for it merely seeks what decency suggests. It doesn’t want to corner any market. It never seeks a monopolist’s position. Nor does it dream of reveling in presiding over any punishing inquisition. It doesn’t require Impunity because it doesn’t cut corners. It might simply strive to stay on some economic straight and narrow. It doesn’t buy credit default swaps hoping to swindle anybody out of their property. It does not worship property rights, but human values. It prefers thrift over speculation, and spectator sports that fall well short of gladiator battles. It does not sue for five billion dollars, with less than a second’s notice, anyone who impugns their actual reputation, only to withdraw the suit when a judge approves discovery that Impunity dare not disclose. This world does not demand decency, nor does it necessarily guarantee anyone the Prosperity they deserve. It does maintain a certain gravity, however, that no amount of Impunity ever manages to counter. Impunity seems a decidedly short-term defense against poor judgment. Poor judgment ultimately has no defense in the court of either public opinion or Prosperity. Those who lose to nefarious means never forget. History might always ultimately get even with something resembling Impunity.

©2026 by David A. Schmaltz - all rights reserved

Tags: #Prosperity, #PureSchmaltz