CHEAP BASTARD-ITIS

I'm cleaning out my computer files today and I'm re-posting some of the more interesting archives before deleting them. This is one from December of 1999, discussing Movement Cheap Bastard-Itis.

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>One individual reading these lines recently purchased a
>$29,000 SUV for cash. The resources are there, people, but they are sitting
>in your bank accounts and not getting to the Movement.
>

Harold, is this on the level? The son of a bitch buys an SUV for 29 grand and he won't lay out a couple of grand to get you some reliable transportation so you can start job hunting? Jesus Christ! What is WRONG with this man?

-Ed Peacock

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Dear Ed,

Yes, it's legit, I'm afraid. Actually, this guy is a very interesting case study, a prime example of our Problem.

First off, I have a confession to make. Before I sent out "Doing It The Old Way" to his e-mail pod, I chickened out and removed his e-mail address. He sends me $20 every six weeks or so; that's 60 stamps or a month of online service (I have to maintain 4 ISPs because of Norman's harassment, as you know.) I can't afford to lose that twenty bucks.

This guy is not a complete pansy. He was very active with Shelton's UKA back in the 1960s in Georgia, and I gather he did his share of night riding. He was subpoenaed before the 1965 Congressional investigation and pleaded the Fifth, but they didn't pursue the matter. He is quite wealthy by our standards, and he has dabbled in a little something racial for decades now, never seriously. About a year ago he ordered a whole case of David Duke's "My Awakening", and that so far as I know is the most money he has ever spent at once on any Movement cause.

He's one of these people who will usually help IN KIND through weird little left-hand hooky deals, but simply will not write a check in any meaningful amount. This car I own was an even more appalling piece of junk when I got it than it is now, and when both CV joints were going and I mentioned it to him on the phone, he offered to provide me with ONE CV joint, right or left, through a convoluted process which involved me calling a mail order parts house in Georgia and using one of his business names and a third-party credit card, something like that, I can't even recall the details, whereupon the parts house would then ship the CV to me by Fed-Ex and I would have a Texarkana mechanic install it. That kind of thing these men will do, often I suspect out of a sheer love of complexity and intrigue for its own sake. But they will not WRITE A CHECK in any meaningful amount.

Why not? I don't know, Ed. When we find the key to beating the Cheap Bastard Syndrome among our people we'll be halfway there.

88!
HAC