The Great Bailout Stall, Part II: U.S. Debt
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By :
Robert Ringer
Submitted
2008-11-22 04:31:19 |
Someone asked me yesterday why I believe in capital punishment. I immediately gave them four good reasons: Nancy Pelosi, Barney Frank, Harry Reid, and Chris Dodd. But, in all fairness to these fine people who have devoted their lives to "public service" -- even more so than community organizers -- there are several hundred other reasons I could list if it were not for space limitations.
I've experienced a lot of nausea lately as a result of "official" responses to the problem of U.S. Debt. When I heard Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson tell Chris Wallace how much he "hates the idea of a bailout," but it has to be done "for the American sucker ... er, taxpayer," it made me physically ill.
When I watched J. McBama and George Bush look into the camera, with straight faces, and explain that getting Americans $700 billion more in debt will be good for them because it will (here we go again) "get the economy moving," it made me physically ill.
When I saw Chris Dodd, Mitch McConnell (a supposed hard-line conservative!), and their Demopublican cronies congratulating each other on what a great job they had done working together to once again screw their fellow Americans, it made me physically ill.
As I observed everyone from Bill O'Reilly to Newt Gingrich to the strangest "conservative" on earth, Ben Stein, getting on board with the latest shaft, it made me physically ill.
Well, I'm here to tell you that everything you've been hearing is a lie. The truth is that the Demopublican "rescue package" is nothing more than sugarcoated blackmail, to wit: "If you don't give us more of your money, you're going to be out of a job, your house will drop further in value, and you will lose your 401(k)s and pensions. So, as much as we all hate [what we've already done to you by bringing about this financial debacle in the first place], we're doing it for you -- the people on 'Main Street.'" Sure.
The truth: In one fashion or another, the U.S. debt must eventually be repaid! Even if the government defaulted and found a way to appease China, et al., the invisible depression would eventually become visible. At some point in time, the truth will out. It always does.
In Part I of this article, I mentioned that it's always fascinated me how restaurants like Outback Steakhouse, California Kitchen Pizza, The Cheesecake Factory, and P.F. Chang's get people to meekly wait in line for one to two hours just to be seated -- seven days a week. But that is just one small example of how the average American thinks and lives today. As in Aldus Huxley's Brave New World, give the people their "somas" and they will be happy.
Junk TV, hysteria over college and professional sports, gambling resorts to accommodate everyone, a meteoric rise in unwed mothers, pretending that rap is music and paint splashed on a canvas is "modern art," creating advertising that appeals to society's lowest common denominator ... the list of today's somas is endless -- signs of an anything-goes mentality that revels at every opportunity to turn Western culture on its head.
Collectively, these seemingly disparate phenomena have helped to poison the minds of Americans and laid the groundwork for a collective entitlement mindset. Today, there are no certitudes. There is no such thing as right and wrong. There is only fun ... fun that everyone is entitled to ... nonstop fun.
And none of this is by accident. Professional politicians know that anything that will keep the minds of the masses occupied and away from any kind of serious thinking will shield them from the truth. Keep them laughing, keep them excited, keep them thinking fun at all times ... sitcoms geared toward a third grade intellectual level, sensationalism, twenty-four-hour sports on TV ... it's the stuff that works.
And, of course, the media is always on board, because they are motivated by the same objective as politicians: They are out to win "votes." If people like what a newscaster has to say, they cast their votes by watching him/her every evening, which helps to increase a network's profits. On the other hand, if too many people do not like a newscaster, they, in effect, vote him/her out of a job by merely switching channels.
Obviously, then, it pays media people to say things that are popular. And what has been most popular throughout every age and throughout every area of the world is to tell people that they deserve more of everything ... that they have a right to more of everything ... that it is the government's duty to see to it that they have more of everything. To hell with the long term ... say what sells!
This is why not one conservative politician or commentator (with the possible exception of Glenn Beck, who comes fairly close) has the guts to clearly state that all "entitlements" are illegal and, even more important, immoral. Entitlements are also a colossal lie, because they lead people to believe they are much better off financially than they would be if they were paid only for the value they created for others in the marketplace.
It doesn't matter what other "solutions" the Criminal Class comes up with, entitlements guarantee that America is headed for a deflationary depression or runaway inflation. And both are odds-on bets to lead to a dictatorship. Is anyone listening to this? Has anyone given any thought to how this fits into the impending economic collapse? Obviously not. Ron Paul touched the edges of it, and the Establishment and the media simply brushed him aside.
Politicians love for taxpayers to think that it's compassion that drives them. Really? Question: What in the world is compassionate about a professional politician taking your money and giving it to someone of his choice. To paraphrase the late Milton Friedman, everyone has a right to help those he deems to be in need to whatever extent he desires -- with his own money.
In truth, political compassion is about nothing more than seizing and maintaining power by buying off voters. That's what prompted H. L. Mencken to describe an election as "an advanced auction of stolen goods." And, sadly, most people believe they will get the better of the swindle and that their neighbors will be the ones to end up on the short end of the stick. |
Author Resource:-
Robert Ringer has helped more people transform their aspirations and goals into reality than perhaps any other author in history.
Ringer is the author of three #1 bestsellers, two of which have been listed by The New York Times among the 15 best-selling motivational books of all time. In addition, he has been the subject of feature articles in such major publications as Time, People, and The Wall Street Journal. Subscribe to free newsletter
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