Growth Industries: Stories of America Along US 60 (pb, 316pp), Marc Ogle
Marc Ogle is retired in Arizona. He says he took up writing instead of investing in IBM at $50.00 per share. You'll be glad he did. Here is what he had to say on a variety of subjects.
CONSERVATIVE BOOKSTORE: Your work has been characterized as fictionalized political science...what is it that you are trying to achieve with your US 60 stories?
MARC OGLE: I wish to achieve zillions of dollars and everlasting fame for my humble insights! That done, I wish to use the art of "story telling" as a means to make the folks in this great country stop and think about real solutions. The truth is out there; but it is only a sanitized, market ready, advertiser-friendly truth! US 60 Crosses the country (unlike the overplayed route 66), and so I used this roadway as a story line to show how close we can be to each other nowadays. I would like to create a new genre and call it "nearly fiction" for I grew up reading authors like Vonnegut, Heller, Clancy, Irving, and I liked the way they told a story. I wish to moralize "on the sly" as they have done so well.
CONSERVATIVE BOOKSTORE: "Abend" and "Growth Industries" were both inspired by a "thankless CPA from Glendale." Dare we ask for further details?
MARC OGLE: 'Abend' has Glendale as a plot line. I was one of many successful folks in the early 90's who fell desperately in love with a budding professional. After I burned all bridges by moving to Glendale for her I fell on hard times. She bailed out with out so much as a "Thanks for nothing." CPA's are part of my unscientific philosophy. CPA's are part of my "Big Mom" ideas. "Big Mom" is our government instead of "Big Brother" from the book, "1984". We are all being watched, cataloged, monitored, controlled, and loved to death by the government, not our mother! The CPA's, not the lawyers, are the true downfall of our country as handmaidens of the IRS.
CONSERVATIVE BOOKSTORE: You talk about getting people to "stop and think about solutions." What do you see as the solution to the intrusive state, "Big Mother"?
MARC OGLE: The "Big Mom" has no solution; we all have mothers. We are not being overwhelmed by a proper "BIG MOTHER", not a "BIG MA" (too poor), but a well thought out "BIG MOM" which is a loving, correct, safe, sanitized term. Who could argue with the concept of motherhood. I am guilty of being in the "Big Mom" net as are millions of Americans, whether it be in driving, safety, Social Security, retirements, property taxes, non-profit organizations, defense contracts, school contracts, etc. etc. There is no solution; for the damage, in 1997, has been done. It is up to the next generation to remove: RIGHTS, FEELINGS, EMPATHY, VICTIMS, and such from the vernacular of the leaders and replace it with: purpose, belief, motivation, thought. My unscientific "Big Mom" idea is not a bad idea, per se, just the unspoken truth in all of the media lambastings.
CONSERVATIVE BOOKSTORE: CPA's have generally been thought of as harmless fuzzballs. Many undoubtedly revel in the financial benefits of a complex tax code, however don't you think you are being a little hard on them? Aren't you afraid the ACLU or some such will come after you for treading on the civil rights of Certified Public Accountants in general?
MARC OGLE: Fuzzballs, that is good. CPA's are the leaders for the insane tax code that will bring down the economic glow that we are now in; just as the Roman's taxation of the Jews brought Rome down so long ago, (60 -70 %) A CPA should never be needed in a good business. Any bookkeeper, an accountant, and a computer are all that are needed for counting beans. CPA's themselves know that the yearly change in tax code is what keeps them employed and if we had a Flat Tax or some such idea they would be on the streets. I have already been trampled on by a gutless CPA from Glendale so I relish a confrontation with the Civil Rights People and the ACLU; at least they believe in what they are doing!
CONSERVATIVE BOOKSTORE: It is true that high taxes were a major factor in bringing down the Roman Empire. Are you saying that you think this country is headed down the same road and that accountants are at the heart of it?
MARC OGLE: Yes; as the tax methods are more subtle than the old days it will take longer or we will somehow adjust. That is the predicament. In the old days we had tax collectors and taxes are a necessary evil; but now everyone is a tax collector, especially the Law enforcement agencies that are the biggest Growth Industry in America. Let me be, and if I don't pay taxes....find me and arrest me. We need to hire a CPA and a legal whiz just to open our doors to make an honest living. The sale of drugs, guns, and sex are what the protagonists in this story resort to doing just to take care of the kids. The not-so-hidden message is that these products are not taxed by the users. The use of these misused products are paid for by honest folks who must work until May of each year to pay taxes; which then get fed into a misguided DEA, BAFT, Vice, Tent cities, and stupid drug education systems. None of these products are good when misused so let the users learn that. We do not need to pay for "Big Mom" to tell us. You probably have violated some law today as I have but if no one was injured then so what! But CPA's/IRS are the passive watchdogs and since they work on 'billable' hours they can wait. But in writing my novels I tried to be as subtle as possible; maybe too much so.
CONSERVATIVE BOOKSTORE: Most novels have some elements of autobiography in them. What of yourself did you put into "Abend"?
MARC OGLE: My novels are 100% about myself. But I never read these 'autobiography by...' as I feel they are just pretentious selling of some product; be it widgets, Congress, how to buy my product, or I am a poor boy done well! So I tried to create a story with myself as a lesbian with......! I was hurt, she was hurt; I recovered, she recovered; etc. etc. She is in her high, corporate, safe office, shuffling papers. The story is a slice of life with a missing slice and that should make a good night's reading in this reading poor country.
CONSERVATIVE BOOKSTORE: Do you see more US 60 stories in the future?
MARC OGLE: One more, the final chapter and then to a history of Birling.
CONSERVATIVE BOOKSTORE: Birling?
MARC OGLE: Birling is Log Rolling; a lumberjack sport that my family has been involved in for generations. I was the world champ in a contest of 3 when I was ten. My dad, grandfather, and my brother were all tied up with making a little extra money by putting on shows. In the days before logging trucks the logs were cut during the winter and floated downstream with the spring floods and it was imperative to stay on top of the log or get crushed by thousands of pieces of fresh cut wood for emerging America. The history of the American common man, sort of!
CONSERVATIVE BOOKSTORE: Thank you for granting us this interview. Your insights into society are definitely eye-opening. Are there any thoughts that you would like to leave us with?
MARC OGLE: Sure, buy low and sell high. No, actually I just wish that my jaded view of the wrongs of this great country do not become popular but they do make folks think. Let us return to common sense, individuality and self-motivation as reasons for change.
To Order Marc Ogle's books click on the Titles below:
Growth Industries: Stories of America Along US 60 (pb, 316pp), Marc Ogle
Abend (pb, 217pp), by Marc Ogle
Sep 1997
