On Sunday, September 14, 2008, Ron Oetting went on a rampage. He was in St. Kitts at the O.U.T.R.A.G.E. headquarters, swilling down iced glasses of Brinley's Gold Vanilla Rum, a favorite concoction manufactured on the island. Discussions with other O.U.T.R.A.G.E. volunteers had been ongoing since early morning, and as the conversations became more intense, Oetting became more disturbed. Fueled by the liquid courage of the demon rum, Oetting finally stood up, staggered to the television cameras, and asked to be put on the air.
Securely grasping his glass of rum, Oetting stared into the cameras and bellowed, "I'm sick an' tired of being sick and tired!"
Heated conversations all day long had stirred emotions in this gray-haired old man, to the point that everything he'd been holding in for so long finally had to come out. Like a volcano having reached its boiling point and erupting, Oetting began rambling about his view of the world, and pontificating on what was wrong with it.
"Contrary to what everyone says," he slurred, "size doesn't matter. In fact, the bigger any organization, corporation or government gets, the less manageable it becomes and the fewer people benefit from it!" Most of those who knew Oetting had heard this sermon before. He was anti-big government; anti-big business; and anti-big organization. It was one reason he'd become so hell-bent involved in O.U.T.R.A.G.E. - he believed the organization would contribute to the 'belittling' of America, allowing small government, small business, and small organizations reclaim their rightful positions as the backbone of the nation.
"Let's start with insurance companies," Oetting blurted out. "Perhaps I'm mistaken, but I thought the original intention of insurance was to form a pool of 'insureds' who would pay premiums. Those premium payments would be invested so that insurance companies could accumulate more money. That money would then be used to pay claims from members of the pool. If one member had no claims, his premiums would be used to help pay claims of those members who needed help. Oh, I'm sure there's been a lot of insurance fraud over the decades; and I'm sure a lot of people have cheated the insurance companies. But with all the millions and billions of dollars they took in, why aren't the insurance companies able to pay off legitimate claims without question? Instead, these days they seem to use vast amounts of members' money to pay multi-million-dollar salaries and bonuses to their chief executives, or build mammoth monuments to themselves in the form of monolithic glass-and-steel headquarters. Three years ago, when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, insurance companies fought tooth-and-nail to deny claims instead of trying to help those in trouble. Today, as we continue to clean up from the devastating hurricane and earthquake that trampled all over the U.S.A. last spring, the insurance companies are still reluctant to pay claims. Frankly, I think this sucks.
The whole country - in fact, the whole world - has become rich taking advantage of other people's miseries. Lawyers don't give a damn about their clients; all they care about is their retainer or contingency fees. Pharmacuetical companies have made billions off sick people instead of manufacturing drugs and making them affordable for everyone. Doctors get filthy rich off the backs of the sick and the injured - too few doctors today have any bedside manner.
Even the government will pester a 'common' citizen over a damn $10,000 tax bill, yet they often refuse to go after the guy who owes $10 million in back taxes! It's all a plot to minimize the power of the average, every-day citizen and maximize the power and wealth of the rich guy.
Athletes are too good to stay after a game and sign autographs for their fans. Celebrities enjoy the fans' groveling, but don't want to get 'too close' to those who helped make them famous and wealthy. They hide away in gated mansions or private islands. As long as they make the big bucks, they don't feel any sense of responsibility or accountability to those who are responsible for their good fortune. As Leona Helmsley once said before she went to jail for tax evasion, 'I don't pay taxes; only the little people pay taxes'. That's what's wrong with America: the 'little people' have been reduced to nobodies, when - in retrospect - it's the 'little people' that are the backbone of this country.
It's the small businesses that make a community feel like home. It's the single mother who finds time to read to children hospitalized with terminal illnesses that makes our country great. So, the hell with the WalMarts and the Madonnas and the New York Yankees and the American Red Cross and all those other 'big' organizations. 'Big' is not better....in fact, 'big' is what has ruined this country. 'Big' only creates a need for greed....if you have a million, you need another million. If you have ten million, you need another ten million.
Government bureacracies have grown so bloated that they can hardly function. When O.U.T.R.A.G.E. bombed 'em out of business, it created a need for small government entities to take over - and, as most of you can see, it's working just fine without FEMA, Homeland Security, the CIA, Congress, and all the other fat cats whose sloth and corruption only caused chaos and confusion.
So, folks, size doesn't matter. In fact, I'm here to tell you: the smaller an organization, a government, or a corporation is, the better it can be managed and more people will benefit from it. Let's return 'small' to America, and let's forget about being 'big'. Let's strive to be the best instead of the biggest."
As he gulped down the last swallow vanilla rum, Oetting took a deep breath, sat down on a folding chair and passed out cold.