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Anything less and you are just kidding yourself.
Posted on 06/13/2013 6:15:14 AM PDT by Rockitz
It is easy to be upset about what is happening all around. The economy is being destroyed, deliberately, by insane economic policies. Incentives to work are being eliminated by punishing work. At the same time rewards are increasing for not working. Not surprisingly we get less of what we penalize (work) and more of what we subsidize (non-work).
As an economist I get sick over what I see happening to what was once a great engine of productivity, capital creation and improvements in standards of living.
After two centuries of progress that amazed the world, the conditions necessary for growth and productivity are steadily being removed. Their presence allowed the miracle of America. Their absence guarantees the decline. Carried to extreme, the US could become a second or third-world nation within a few decades. Virtually all changes in the last five to ten years point in this direction and these changes are accelerating.
As pained as the economic retrogression is, the loss of freedom is even more disturbing. It was free markets and free men that made America the dominant economic power and the beacon of freedom. Without freedom, no economic policy can succeed. Yet, just as economic policies seem designed to destroy rather than create, so too does the role of government as steadily destroys freedom with its expanded oppression and power. The absence of freedom is tyranny. The absence of freedom is also poverty.
Economic decline is difficult to convey, although data are useful. The decline of liberty, however, is not easily quantifiable and even more difficult to communicate. An email from Simon Black (I have no link to the text, the link included is to his website), expresses his concern regarding Leviathan government and its increasing oppression. It provides as good a qualitative measure of what is occurring to freedom in this country:
By now it should be clear to anyone paying attention that most of Western civilization is on a dangerous slide into tyranny.
They’re confiscating funds directly from people’s bank accounts. They’re seizing reporters’ personal records and phone logs. They’re digitally spying on everyone’s emails.
They’ve authorized military detention and drone assassination of their own citizens. They’re using tax offices to harass political opposition groups.
They tell us what we are allowed to eat and drink, what foods we are allowed to put in our own body.
Think about it. These are Soviet tactics, plain and simple.
What’s more, they don’t even care. They think we’re all idiots who are too stupid to even notice what they’re doing.
In fact, just a few days ago, Barack Obama staunchly defended his policies, saying “you can complain about Big Brother. . . but when you actually look at the details, then I think we’ve struck the right balance.” This is textbook sociopathic behavior: destructive, antisocial conduct and a complete lack of conscience.
Unfortunately this is just the beginning.
Imagine what it will look like in a few more years: trillions of dollars of more debt… more printed currency. More police state tactics. More invasions of privacy. More ridiculous regulations.
Unless government oppression is beaten back, there is no hope for the future. For those who focus on the foolish economic policies, they miss the root cause of all of our problems — oversized, overactive, interventionist, overcontrolling and oppressive government. Unless government can be reduced in size and power dramatically and then put back into its Constitutional box, nothing will improve in the economy. Ultimately the economy will collapse and freedom will be lost.
History shows no examples reversing these kinds of trends. Civilizations die as a result and then they rebuild from the ashes. But history never knew the flowering of such a vibrant civilization before our break from King George. It seems as though a similar miracle is required today.
I fear the majority of the American people are too dumbed down to understand what is happening to them and their country. They appear too content collecting whatever benefits the government buys them off with. These benefits will cease when the economy can no longer be pillaged. By then, it will likely be too late.
America will continue to exist and it will eventually be free and prosperous again. But there will be a long period, call it the modern-day Dark Ages, before freedom and prosperity return. A century or so seems a reasonable guess. Evil will eventually be overcome, but not before generations suffer as a result of our allowing and enabling the growth in government power.
Original posting at Monty’s site.
http://www.economicnoise.com/2013/06/12/why-things-will-get-worse-much-worse/
Yawn. What’s on TV tonight? /sarc
Know what I can do about this? Jack sh*t.
Know why? Because no one has the spine to do what needs to be done in sufficient numbers to fix what's wrong. I can go out and do my part, but I am only one man.
With that in mind, and because of that sentiment...
Voting isn't going to change this.
Op-eds aren't going to change this.
Third Parties aren't going to change this.
Law-suites aren't going to change this.
Only a thorough, and bloody, house cleaning will restore the Republic. That whole “tree of liberty” thingie the Founders prattled on about that no one actually believes in any more.
Well, other than throw-back knuckle-draggers like me.
Seems to know what he’s talking about, and it’s not very pleasant.
Very sobering indeed.
I can see his points across the broader spectrum, but what can we do other than vote, pray, lobby, and prepare for the worst to happen?
If somehow we could fund the start of a new free press that would be a good start but how can we do that.
You are so correct. Amen.
I would expect Obummer and Hillary’s goons to act this way, but what is really bothering me is that GOPers are not only rolling over but defending Obummers tyrranical misdeeds.
bump
“Know what I can do about this? Jack sh*t.
Know why? Because no one has the spine to do what needs to be done in sufficient numbers to fix what’s wrong. I can go out and do my part, but I am only one man.”
Can’t agree more. The dumbing down of Amerika has been going on too long. There are too many people that are brain dead to what is happening to our once great nation.
If you don’t see this as the communist take over, foriegn influence ruination it really is you are blind.
The most effective way to bring the US to it’s knees is to prop up the hard core lefties that have been empowered and given the reigns.
If I were the Saudis or any other enemy of US, I would do everything in my power to put people like Hellery and the zero in office.
Anything less and you are just kidding yourself.
Certainly there are no quick fixes for something that’s been decades in the making. The lefties have used incrementalism to get us to where we are now and that’s probably what it will take to get us back. Unfortunately, as the author suggests, the country may well have to go through a deep valley to get there.
This article is nothing but whining.
We all know he is right, we all know there is jack we can do about it.
That whole vote them out business is crap, we can vote one out and then by the time we a couple more in, the original ones have been corrupted.
Washington DC is a cesspool of greedy, selfish a-holes and that’s pretty much that.
I don’t want to be right. I’d much rather be wrong on this.
Because if I’m right, then I really am looking at being a “dead corpse” some time relatively soon.
I’m not afraid of that prospect, but I’d rather watch my kids grow up to have kids of their own and live in peace.
This decision is no longer mine to make... Balls in their court.
Freedom dies here, it might be another thousand years before the idea takes foot again.
This after everything else we've learned about this administration.
I agree, we need to prepare for the worst.
Don’t sweat it so much. God told us this would happen. And it’s not forever, and when it’s all over things will be better than they ever were. Unfortunately we’re all going to have to go through the fire first. It’s actually a very interesting time to live in... if you can keep your faith and perspective about it.
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