Lortab 7.5-500….

All because the Democrats wanted power.

From the convention floor.

Thats twice in a row I’m finding point of agreement, Doc. Has hell frozen over?

ernesto on February 6, 2010 at 10:28 AM

Maybe more like a “thawing reality” ernesto? I find it refreshing to see you, (if I may), understanding that perhaps the radical direction our current leadership is attempting to take us, might be a “little too aggressive”, with an emphasis on the reliance of our Federal government.

The people targeted most aggressively by desperate socialists can simply leave the system. They can stop investing, hoard their wealth, or move overseas.

If you have the resources, I would suggest just that.

But what of those left without much of anything thanks to a crumbling economy? Hard to do the “stock up on guns/food/etc.” bit when you’re almost broke.

Simply returning to the bloated budget of George Bush’s final year would require a historically unprecedented cut of over 15% in total government spending.

Even as someone who has no philosophical qualms with the idea of collectivist policy, I cannot ignore this fact.

The federal government simply does too much. I’d love to see an American society that could provide for those with no means and pursue all sorts of projects in the name of the public good…but doing so on the federal level, as you say at the beginning of your post, just will not work.

Decentralization, even for those with visions of a more equal, collective society, must be the priority for federal policy going forward.

Thats twice in a row I’m finding point of agreement, Doc. Has hell frozen over?

I love trolls who can’t contribute intelligently to a finely expressed opinion so they divert and deflect with their own brand of idiocy. Part of the reason we’re in the trouble we’re in.

Mr_Magoo on February 6, 2010 at 7:38 AM

They really can’t find the ability to rationally think for themselves Magoo. While I do place much of the blame on our current educational system, Doc’s point about a generation of entitlement mentality—which is systematically creating a binding government dependency—seems to also “feed the animal”. While many conservatives will win seats in November campaigning on reducing the size of government, I believe we need to revisit the liberal curriculum coming out of our public school systems, and the universities preaching this statist ideology. Instead of preparing a student for the harsh realities of a global 21st century where competition, ingenuity, and productivity will be the reward, we have a current educational system that values self-esteem over achievement with an emphasis on social engineering. Until this changes, it will remain a vicious cycle of government reliance versus individual responsibility.

This sentiment is something I’ve been thinking about lately, myself:

Liberal politicians assume the population will go on blindly producing the same extraordinary prosperity, no matter how much the government skims off the top.

Even getting away from entitlement spending, in the larger context of our society and our economy, many people in Washington, on both the right and the left, often exhibit this attitude. That there is something intrinsic about American prosperity and that no matter how much sand you throw into the gears, the system will continue to just hum along as it always have.

We aren’t the richest and freest people on Earth by some kind of historical accident; we were bequeathed a very specific and deliberate system that is being slowly eroded on multiple fronts by cheap politicians who pursue shot term electoral success in the present at the expense of both our heritage and our future prosperity.

Yep. But FDR wasn’t stupid. You could ‘collect’ when you were 65. Only, at that time, average life expectancy was 59. And over the years no one thought to change the date of when you could start collecting (other than to start EARLIER with reduced benefits at age 62).

GarandFan on February 5, 2010 at 8:59 PM

They did, with the ‘reform’ in the 80s, along with increases in the taxes. As a 41 year old, I can (theoretically anyway) draw from SS when I’m 67 and some months. They pushed Doomsday back a few years with this, due to the cash cow that was the Baby Boomers in their earning prime.

A comment on more and more people working for the Government, at all levels: Once we reach a certain number of people working for the State, then they’ll be ‘unable’ to cut government spending. We’ll be putting millions of people out of work, ya know.

80,000,000 x $12,000 per year = $960,000,000,000

Of course, this assumes that all Boomers survive, apply and collect approx. $1,000.00 per month. Obviously, it is much more complex than that – but it gives one an idea of what is at stake here. And it is only 17 years from now. The way Congress kicks the can down the road…

What do you mean if we fail?

We’re a little country what has a horrific percentage of peoples what can review the situation you lay out for us and say hey this looks like a job for Sarah Palin Hope & Change.

God help us.

We’re so screwed.

happyfeet on February 5, 2010 at 8:39 PM

FIFY.

I love trolls who can’t contribute intelligently to a finely expressed opinion so they divert and deflect with their own brand of idiocy. Part of the reason we’re in the trouble we’re in.

During my college days in the early Nineties…

I am, err… umm…, amazed to find you’re so young. You have the wisdom and polish of someone many years your elder. So I imagine you have a brilliant future ahead. Move over, Charles Krauthammer, Victor Davis Hanson, et al. Meanwhile, it’s great having you at HA.

All we have to do is remove the leftist cancer from our culture, news media and schools, restore the classic American work ethic to several generations of people raised on entitlement and victim mentalities, drill for every last drop of petroleum and whiff of natural gas wherever it can be found within our borders and immediately dissolve perhaps one third of all government administrations created over the past 50-70 years.

All sarcasm aside, this is a great and sobering essay. G-d help us.

I submit that by the time a politician makes such a public proclamation its already too late.

An “Atlas Shrugged” moment is in order if we could figure one out.

“Let’s Roll”

At that point we will have no option but to slash all Fed and State employee pay and benefits by 20%. This will keep them working but the cost will plummet. De-certify all public service unions! This is the driving force that is taking us all to the edge of bankruptcy.

If we’re supposed to trust the government, why can’t government employees trust the government? No union needed.

The upcoming underfunded pension blowout (state and municipal) may put an end to pensions, period.

Welcome to SS along with the rest of us schlubs.

In difficult times, the most insane ideas start up and grow in popularity.

We only have to look to the ‘trolls’ on this site to see them knee-jerk blame everything wrong in the world on conservatives, Republicans, Christians, Sarah Palin, or BOOOOOSSSHHHH. These ideas are gonna get uglier and more hate-filled as the years go on…..

Like beads? And the sort of societies that go hand in hand with them?

ericdijon on February 5, 2010 at 9:17 PM

You tell me. All I know is that if the government ever collapses to the point where the dollar becomes worthless, I’m hard-pressed to see how it will be valuable as a currency. Certainly for the time being a cash economy is a viable option — that’s been going on for years and probably even more so now — but it would be difficult, I would think, to amass any kind of meaningful wealth that way. I imagine it would be like trying to tunnel your way out of a jail cell with a dessert spoon.

Or maybe it’s not that hard, I don’t know. If it isn’t, I’m definitely in the wrong business.

It tickles my political clitoris.

Then let the States, on their own, harvest our oil, natural gas, shale, coal, wind, geothermal, and any other energy source to sell on a competitive market to each other and the world, freeing up our bread basket to harvest food instead of turning it into fuel and selling that to each State and the world,

… think of all of the jobs, wealth, technology, competition, innovation, revenues to government to pay for programs like Social Security, and export to the world inexpensive energy and food, making our enemies in the world bankrupt?

No, we can’t have THAT, now can we?

Seven Percent Solution on February 5, 2010 at 9:19 PM

This is the way out. Crank up the gears of industry and employ the American people in providing for our own energy needs through building and maintaining our own infrastructure and capitalizing upon on own vast resources.
Harvest the wealth that lies under our soil, under our oceans and start building nuclear energy systems in every state.

There are small scale nuclear reactors that are fully self contained and could be used for small cities and rural towns. Rebuild our rail transportation our highways and our electrical grids. All have fallin to disrepair and by harvesting our vast resources could be rebuilt.
We could produce our way out, but a change of attitude would need to take place. Environuts must be kicked to the curb and Americans producers must be unleashed.
Unleashed to produce, employ, and create wealth. Wealth that will support a scaled down SSI system.
Citizens must be made to take responsibility for their own circumstances. No more unlimited income for makin babies. Real welfare reform must be instituted.
It may take a crash of epic purportions to change the attitude such that these measures could be tried

Flat tax or similar ideas seem like pipe dreams to many of us…but ask yourself why it has to be so? Certainly the statists do not feel the same way about socialism? They are so close to the begining steps they can taste it that even the loss of their symbolic Kennedy seat has not stopped many of them from pushing forward like kamikazi pilots.

If we elect the right people, who share in our belief that the current ways are the death of the Nation as we know it, we can capture the momentum needed to swing this pendelum to prosperity. We can do this and this is actually one of the best oppourtunities we will have in a very long time.

Just as Obama came into power and with lightning speed began his country killing agenda…we can also do the same but in the opposite direction. We can do this and the proof is staring at you from the current administration. Jujutsu my friends, jujutsu.

CC

The two governments would be co mingled geographically, but in the modern world I think it could work—(which isn’t to say it’s a necessarily a good idea).

This way the city-states could sink or swim on their own without taking the rest of us down with them. But since they may sink, the only way we could have a common currency, I think, is if it’s secured with gold or some other commodity.

The networks need to be put into place to survive after ‘the crash’ without turning to the government. This will be much harder than ever since people rely on everyone for just about everything.

Okay, two questions. If the collapse is inevitable, how do individuals survive?

Skandia Recluse on February 4, 2010 at 6:48 PM

In that case; from the ground up. Your home > neighborhood > town > county > state > a new attempt at limited federal government (maybe).