Ferris Wheels

The one in London, for example. Or the one in Seattle. Or the one that's sitting behind the main street buildings of the small-town/suburb of my city here, at the far edge of the Rocky mountains. Sitting still and looking up at them like a relic in a junkyard. I guess the machine actually runs for local events. I just ran into it by accident. No idea if it's for sale, for keeps or if it runs.

I was running, in fact. Or at least maybe. Have done. By there.

Do they have one in New Zealand? Christchurch? Where they do have a tower. Like the towers in Toronto. Las Vegas. Vancouver, BC. The heights.

Ferris wheels always look like all heights. Impressive from the ground but precarious up on the platform. It was breathtaking from above, looking out over the town at night. But it was also right off the edge of, to me, a rickety structure brought into town, where there’s no option but to wait and see if we reached bare and walkable ground again.

It did. Gradually.

And then it goes swoop right by the motors and the operator and the people waiting their turn for what did they know what waited for them. And up, hoisted on the inevitable curve.

Way high again. Take a look.

Yeah. It's great.

I don't know. Maybe four times around. Long time ago. Haven't gone up in one since.

Or the one on the Santa Monica pier. They didn't have that one before either. Basically a bare pier. The wheel’s still new, like Seattle's. Let's look it up. Santa Monica’s:

The Pacific Wheel.

Hey, that's kind of awesome, actually. Because it's true. Everything out there is the Pacific, including the sea creatures and the islands, Catalina Island.

The Pacific Wheel. The London Eye. And the Seattle Great Wheel. Absolutely. I remember a blurb about the Great Wheel going up. And it did so in pretty quick order, too. Seen it. Lights over the nighttime waters, just like the pier in Santa Monica.

No, the city with the tower is Auckland. Sky Tower. Got it. Sorry, those who know. I’m sure I must know now.

Where the country that’s named one of the easiest economies in which to do business because of attractive corporate tax rates with a government and efficient legal system that prioritize stability, balance of power, dispute resolution, property ownership and relations with international concerns. Thank you, Sir Francis Drake. Hence, corruption and risks in failed business ventures stay low.

Good. Doing well on a number of levels, lately, down there in Zee, so we hear. In the greeny island hills.

No. Auckland does not have a wheel. But it does seem to understand the very real and present consequences of a genetic helix. Stuff that will bite large populations.

Ever wonder what’s the persistent situation in Argentina? “¿Este país no da para más?” I have. What’s the deal, already? Started out great. Plenty of workers, spaces for agriculture and manufacturing, natural reserves. Beef. What?

Stability. In question.

Dependence on foreign investment, which dried-up due to war in Europe.

Handing over its single and already-concentrated primary national industry, meat, to another country for much-needed investment. Dividends promptly skimmed by corrupt leaders.

Consequent decades of unrest and coups and changing governments.

No framework for international trade, a la East India Company. Nor framework for property rights.

A series of quick fixes and overcorrections, bouncing from one extreme, open capitalism, to another, dictated economics, that also took back assets from foreign investors, who didn’t like that. Lifted them. Nobody wanted or has wanted to do business.

Result: no stable and steady growth.

And its national currency seems to be going over to a more stable US dollar. Consequently, no domestic medium to work with. Limited administrative agility. Stuck.

Yes. YouTube. You can look it up.

I didn’t used to know this. No. So, tell me. What’s it like down there, anyway? Pampas grass everywhere? Well. A lot of Germans also. What? Wait, Germans in Argentina? Yeah, dude.

And that ubiquitous English language.

Melbourne does have a wheel, though. The Melbourne Star Observation Wheel.

So, do I have a point to all this?

Heck, no.

It’s about Ferris wheels.

It’s a rant.

I’m writing on Vocal.

I’m cashing in.

Or it’s one of those things you do during a pandemic.

So, there you go.

Tune in next time when I turn on the bullhorn, won’t you?