Join the Tea Party. Kick the bums out! Really? Let's get rid of the corrupt legislators and install new ones who won't spend away the country. Sure.. whatever.
Too late. It's been too late for decades. Our society is "capitalistic", but we don't have "free" markets internally or externally. We have a controlled/planned economy. We are "regulated". And it is (as consequence?) designed to make the rich richer and ease the middle class (aka The Masses) into a mass of lower class. hmmmm... sounds like State socialism without an acknowledged political class as rulers or power brokers. Could this be us? Let's see.. the rich richer... the middle class being squeezed out. Yep, that's us. Think this could be wrong?... check out the link showing the distribution of wealth in the US... http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110223/ts_yblog_thelookout/separate-but-unequal-charts-show-growing-rich-poor-gap the US is more top heavy than many "Socialists" countries might aspire to be. What happened to our conservatives? Did they sell us out?
Let the conservatives stand up and be counted. What kind of conservatives would that be?.. Fiscal conservatives? Social conservatives? How about Constitutional conservatives? If you are not all three just how liberal are you? And if you are one and not the other, then it is difficult to be one at all, now isn't it. Kinda like being a little bit pregnant. ...just a little bit liberal.
I love the members of the new Tea Party. But are they now the new bleeding heart liberals? ..meaning their hearts are in the right place (maybe), however their minds are not engaged... What?! How could that be? Are they not a group of Americans fed up with all of that runaway spending? That is smart thinking, right? Except for the fact that the gov't spending has enabled them to become who they are, it is. See any impoverished Tea Partiers on the congressional ticket... or just a bunch of well off folks. hmmmmm They still want to spend on their own pet causes... the same hypocrisy, the same control of wealth, just a different mask on the bandit.
Every American who is upper middle class and better is there partly because of the social programs of the past seventy years. Those who were most adept at working the system profited the most. Those who at young age entered a school subsidized by tax dollars, those who ate well, because of foods created in a subsidized industry, or those who farmed, or those who were immersed in a career with clients who had loans to buy their goods, who made their way by grants/subsidised loans... Don't forget those who were afforded land grants early on, or those who landed government contracts for programs that were maybe "good" and those that were pure pork. Our markets have been manipulated by a heavy hand for years. United States monetary policy, tax policy, fiscal policy, prohibitions, incentives and social programs have lined the pockets of those who's pockets are lined with green or gold. At least half of the nation's wealth is controlled by 20% or less of the population (and that is being generous). The trend is getting worse. There are less and less "consumers" in the marketplace. Even in a growing population when there are less people who can afford goods and services then our own companies are forced to look outside of the US for consumers. Rich people still only consume a small amount of goods as percentage of their income. For instance, a person making $50,000 per year may have and drive 1 or 2 autos, but a person making 500 times that will not own and drive 500 times the autos. Therefore the hoarding of capital pulls resources from the economy and halts the multiplier effect of money circulating in the economy. The rich get richer.
From the beginning, and even with minimum wage enactment, taxing and other meddling our government policies began cracking open Pandora's Box and it cannot be closed again. A revolution at the ballot box will not set us back to square one. Putting new faces in office to be welcomed into the brotherhood is not going to erase the entrenched social engineering that is pervasive in government and society. Our government funded projects for roads, R&D, space, health care, communications, agriculture, finance, federal departments, agencies etc. helped pave the way for businesses to become voraciously dependant upon governmental expenditures and policies. Our federal, state and local tax policies have granted privileges to those who participated in specific types of "sanctioned" practices.. and of course the most to those who lobbied best. Business (and friends of friends) become rewarded by not having to be taxed when the right arguments can be waged or when strings are pulled for the "noble" cause. Our tariffs have enriched US businesses by artificially inflating the prices of domestic goods in the name of "protection" and fairness and the masses pay extra while a few select make more. Businesses have lobbied for grants, tax breaks, no-cost loans, subsidized loans, start-up capital, and on and on and on... But NOW that they are rich they want to halt all of that frivolous spending on things like the poor and health care.. and community action programs.. unless of course they are a manufacturer who makes the next best heart valve... then health care spending is still really good... at least for heart valves. Heck, the government makes insurance legal, even though "risk management" is just a form of gambling. If you are an insurance company or agent then you owe your living to a government sanction. Insurance companies have made Billions and Billions off of the American people and yet bookies get no respect... what are the odds of that? Get it? "What are the odds of dying at age 38 of a heart attack if you smoke" and "What are the odds of Black Thunder winning in the eighth race" are both gambling, and both predictable. One may just be more structured because of an abundance of data. So the government might like one type and not another... oh but by the grace of government.
NO industry is immune. How about high tech.. communications for instance. Even the lowest level salesmen who have been enriched selling simple cell phones have done so partly because the government stimulated different facets of their industry.... even down to tax breaks for machinery purchases to artificially accelerate investment. And how about those new-fangled parking meters that take credit cards? They are a cool new investment by governments on every level. Somebody manufactures those new meters. Somebody sells them. Somebody assembles them. Somebody lobbied to get them installed; and the Tax Payer is going to pay for them. Our massive government is such a huge consumer of items from toilet paper to pens, to food, to copy machines, to artwork and office furniture to massive limestone buildings gilded with marble and fancy paint. Every industry in the US who has prospered because they had an abundance of clients to buy their goods was artificially enriched WAY beyond what a free market may have brought.... but that is what our government does. And it is not necessarily bad. But let's not kid ourselves and say it is not a planned economy driven by government expenditures, government investment and government policy. We are socialist! We have been Socialist for years... The government has their claws in every aspect of the economy via its right to Regulate, TAX and invest and even just spend like there is no tomorrow. We are taxed on our income and the purchases we make and the fines we pay and the fees we pay... There are hidden taxes, tariffs, and fees in most every product and process even down to local regulation and unseen fees paid which just become part of the sticker price of the goods and services we buy. Heck, our governments are afraid to legalize drugs because it would cause unemployment in the jails, law enforcement and the judicial system. Those are big entrenched systems that must remain employed even though enforcement and incarceration cost way, way more than education and prevention. If we legalized drugs and gave the drug consumers the rights to sue the un-prescribed drug manufacturers for product liability then we would see an entirely new economic reality develop where people would grow their own pot, and the drug lords would be stripped of their power and held accountable in civil court. Gangs would be defunded and nearly vanish. We could stop paying through the nose for law enforcement and incarceration and put that money into education (where it actually works). BUT that is not what the lobbyists want our elected leaders to do because there is WAY too much money to be made just the way it is. (wink wink)
It is too late. We are socialists... in a capitalist clothing. That is the inconvenient truth. But the denial of this allows the shell game to continue because "it isn't so". If we admitted to the vast, entrenched socialist aspect of our economy then the population would have different expectations... and that would be dangerous to the rich. Now, people only associate socialism with those icky, dastardly "social programs" and not with the more covert social redirection of capital which is controlled by the few at every level of government..
So is eliminating the "social programs" the answer? Yes .... but we will still be socialists; and No....Only if the government pulls completely out of the Tax and Spend business and truly deregulates the economy and returns our economy to a true free market can we have a true "fair" free market economy where the markets have a prayer of performing true market correction. But then we have the sticky fair trade issues with other countries and exports and...what regulations can we not do without and on and on... Funny... not even Conservatives are that Conservative... nor are the phony "Tea Partiests" ... but the Libertarians are maybe at least close. (which is still too far from correcting our economic problems). Of course government giving up that kind of a monopoly is not likely to happen (he he he); and we still have military budgets, government itself, etc. to tax and spend for... So, a hands off economy is not likely to happen any time soon... Ok, ever. ..........toooooo late.
Soooo... What to do, what to do. Can't get rid of all of that government meddling so how does a middle class save itself from being taxed (to extinction) and suppressed into poverty (in the richest nation on the planet). They say if you can't beat them join them. Joining them means accepting our socialism and empowering the people. Time to open our eyes, look behind the curtain... Time to change our expectations based upon our REAL environment. Time to revolt.
Here's some ideas...
1 Revolt? How.. at the ballot box? Maybe.... maybe that could do some good. Maybe if we could get the FED to finally say "screw big oil" and "screw the big banks" ...allow inflation to rise with oil prices ... flood the economy with money at the lowest levels (not for rich folk) ... watch real estate prices rise as the loan amounts stay at "pre-inflation prices" (sorry Mr. Banker) property owners get new found equity, consumers get to afford gasoline again.... heck that is not going to happen. Could you image the FED neutering itself or its friends even temporarily? HA!
2 Turn the spending upside down and invest in the lower classes. Bail out the American people. THIS WILL stimulate the economy. Put the money in the hands of citizens to spend on specific items that can build and save wealth for individuals, energy efficiency, and some discretionary non-specific items that will boost standard expenditures for American made items. As result the entire economy will flourish again. Inflation will creep up and as result Americans will realize wealth that offsets the UNCHECKED inflation in gas and oil. Real estate values will creep up beyond existing loan amounts (oooooh). That's it. Pretty simple. Invest (financially, and morally) in the people and the people will invest in America. Heck, flood the lower classes with money and cut the tax rate for small business. .. just watch investment grow and unemployment go to zilch.
3 Ok, ok... that is just a pipe dream. Government is never going to relinquish power to the people. MAYBE what we need is... a new private currency (looking over my shoulder) to compete with the dollar. Gold.. nope not gold.. Gold standard is not resurrectable, besides gold is hoarded by the affluent. Another commodity? Maybe. How about shares of something... Like a co-op for the exchange of goods. Or how about a new standard like the calorie.. it can be equated to energy and cost of goods, cost of services... but it would be hard to establish. I don't know; but I would bet that even if Bill Gates developed a new currency and method of accounting for it's exchange by the people he would be dealt with in a stern fashion... so a new currency is probably out.
4. Free us by creating a new infrastructure. Let's build one million new 4 megawatt windmills and scatter them across the great plains. (that's about 4 trillion watts.. you can run a big bunch of hair dryers on that.) Lets complete them by 2025. Let's create new industry by providing huge incentives to buy electric vehicles. Let's invest by building a new high speed electric rail system linking the east coast to the Midwest to the southwest. And we can even invest in electric commuter rails in the large and mid-sized cities. Holy cow... putting people to work and greatly reducing our oil dependence...providing a source of power that is clean... one that will make a high tech industry flourish and pay good wages OK.. that is a crappy idea. Critics would say "How are you going to pay for all of this?" Dude.. (whisper) the money is worthless anyway... the pea ain't under the shell.
So, what is our fix? YES, the dollar is still king (perception is reality), but king of a wasteland of serfs is not much of a kingdom. Do we wake up and pay witness to our phony free markets? Do we finally see how investing in people with better education and flow of capital to the lower class is investing in America? Or do we just keep investing in fat-cats like usual and .. well... we know what they will do... enslave the masses.... b'cause that trickle down effect just isn't happening.
I actually believe a free market, libertarian envisioned hands-off economy and hands-off government is best for ALL classes. However that is cold and it throws many people to the wolves to sink or swim.. even those who cannot fend for themselves. ..so because we are compassionate we do need to support some social programs... But because our markets are not "free" and the government has polluted capitalism, then I think the only way to save the middle class is via either Marxism to empower the people, or via total deregulation and stripping the government of its powers to tax and spend. We should pick one extreme or another, because empowering the elite to play the middle has fleeced the American people.
There it is. The first rant in the Special Interest News. Only fitting to put the American People in as the special interest group we are, or have become.
