Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio?

We live in a culture, in a world our parents, well, maybe at least my parents, wouldn't recognize. Long gone are the romantic decades where one looks backward with reminiscent memories of bygone days. To be fair, no decade or generation is bereft of their own sins or misdeeds. What has changed drastically are three things: we now live in a 24/7 up to the minute information world, social media and the internet give everyone an opinion they can express immediately whether it is valid or not (including the author of this blog) and, we are truly governed by the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition.

Say what? Fictional rules of a fictional people?

Sure. Think about it.
   1.  Once you have their money, never give it back.
   4.  Sex and profit are the two things that never last long enough.
   5.  If you can't break a contract, bend it.
 13.  Anything worth doing is worth doing for money.
 26.  The vast majority of the rich in this galaxy did not inherit their wealth; they stole it.
 27.  The most beautiful thing about a tree is what you do with it after you cut it down.
 28.  Morality is always defined by those in power.
 51.   Never admit a mistake if there's someone else to blame.
 61.   Never buy what can be stolen.
 76.  Every once in a while, declare peace. It confuses the hell out of your enemies.
105.  Wise men don't lie, they just bend the truth
115.  Greed is eternal.
135.  The only value of a collectible is what you can get somebody else to pay for it.
144.  There's nothing wrong with charity ... as long as it winds up in your pocket.
154.  The difference between manure and Latinum is commerce.
166.  Never give away for free what can be sold
219.  A friend is not a friend if he asks for a discount

In told there are 286 Ferengi Rules of Acquisition. These are just a selected few. Tell me these don't whole-heartedly apply to the society we now live in. If you just listen to the world around you, politics, the entertainment industry and the business world in general, this is what we have wrought for ourselves. They cross all geographical and social divides. Though commerce has driven nearly every aspect of our civilization from the first cavemen trading a piece of meat for a stone knife, these are the undertones of our everyday life.

♫ How much is that doggy in the window? ♪   😏

Thanks to Treknologic.com for the complete list of the Rules of Acquisition.