So, haven't updated the blog in a while, because to be honest, I'm not really a blogger, I'm more of a conversational talker, I can get really witty and interesting during a conversation, when I have people to bounce ideas and what if's and thoughts with, and tend to think much better that way.
In a blog, it's more of a monologue, and as such, I find it harder to come up with something to talk about.
But the last few weeks I've had these thoughts running thru my head, and let me first say that NO, i'm not a paranoid one world order type, nor am I a conspiracy theorist.
Okay, I love conspiracy theories, but in general, I don't hold the government to be smart enough to really have a master plan at all, to much self serving bullshit for that to be effective, and frankly aliens aren't my thing...
I have been watching the stuff going on in the world, with the economic crisis (of our own making, I might add, why the hell would anyone think a fiat economy was a long term good idea in the first place...), the european union seeming on the verge of collapse with riots and budget issues...
Seriously, if government was so damn smart that why does every single one think it can borrow it's way out of debt?
Aside; Governments universal problem is that they are inherently self serving, even those that are supposed to be "of the people" be they republic, democracy, etc...
The reality is that governments grow, they want to grow, because growth equals power, and power means that if your a dictator, you have more control, if your wanting to improve the lives of your population your always trying to fix things such as health care, jobs, etc.
Sometimes you'll find (if you really look) that if there's nothing apparent that needs fixing, most governments will find a problem that needs fixing.
The fix is usually ineffective at best, and becomes a bigger problem at worst.
Take welfare, each population has those who are less fortunate, so we started with philanthopy, which is where those who have more, take on projects, charities to help those less fortunate, or built trusts and grants to provide funding for shelters, or to feed the hungry, etc.
So we had a system, not perfect, that tried to feed the hungry, and still there were homeless and hungry, and when a depression happened, the government came in, and programs were created, wealth was taken (only a little from each person, so little that they could afford to loose it, and not barely notice, but collectively it created a huge amount) and we supplemented their bills with money until they could get back on their feet.
Of course, these programs began to grow, expand into food stamps, housing, after all, we couldn't just put a roof over their heads and food on the table.
Some folks would never be able to truly work, a woman looses her husband by him leaving, or an accidental death, but had no skills, and had children to raise....
The children... more kids, more money.
Combine that with a public education, noble idea, but when done by government, you find less involvement by parents, after all they didn't have to stroke a check for the kid to go to school, the price was share by all.
Think for a minute, as a society, we are all for giving money to this or that cause, and the taxes are set up to automatically come out of our pay, a little each paycheck...
Now, if we had to stroke a check once a year, we'd probably pay a lot more attention to where it went, but we don't, because we don't have to actually pay it in one lump sum.
So it's like it's free, right? Schools are free, it's the governments money...
Where was I? Oh yeah, so you have a system of welfare, and it begins to grow. Politicians find themselves with a group of voters, a voting bloc, so to get elected, they raise the allowances, the extras, and before you know it, several generations have lived in the system.
Is it wrong? To who, the politicians can't get elected without the promises, so they're not stupid, and compromise is the soul of politics anyway, those accustomed to getting housing and food and spending allowances, they don't want it to stop either, human nature.
Are those on welfare to blame? Why, they didn't invent it?
A hand out to those in need becomes a program, which becomes an entitlement, and now is damn near considered (is considered in most ways) a right.
Take health care.
We had a damn good system of healthcare years ago, not as good as some, but better than most...
So, there were some folks that didn't have health care, either because they were young and healthy and figured they wouldn't get sick (when your young, you never do, right?) but some simply couldn't afford it, so people in government took it into their head that everyone deserved healthcare...
In fact everyone deserved inexpensive healthcare, and the healthcare providers were making too money off of people.
Suddenly there are debates, and people began to push ideas around (remarkably few people who actually worked in the field of medicine... Go figure...) and came up with the idea of group plans that could be worked in instead of individual insurance.
Welcome to the world of HMOs, but HMOs needed some help competing, so the government subsidized them heavily to the point where the insurance providers couldn't compete very well.
Yay, we have cheap health care, and with a few more laws, any business bigger than a family run small business had to help pay the cost...
But with such a little amount of "cost", benefits were starting to drop off, and private insurers had to cut benefits, and raise their rates.
Flash forward and now you have primarily HMOs in the industry, and private companies are mostly gone, except for those catering to those wealthy enough to afford them.
But now that the HMOs have cornered the market, the rates have to go up a little bit here, a little bit there, and without much competition, you have... the same problems, but with higher cost.
Of course now people want a universal health care system... we started out with choice, and competing private companies, each trying to out do the other, and today we have people clamoring for government run health care...
With no choice, how much of a benefit do you think you will have, when the budgets are more important than the health of the patient...
Want a better health care plan? From who? All those greedy insurance providers are run out of town, so your stuck with whatever you get.
Want a good doctor? If you don't pay them a huge chunk of dough, what's the purpose of them getting a medical license in the first place.
If a doctor isn't gonna make six figures, how the hell is he going to pay for his degrees...
Oh yeah, college. 30 years ago, you could graduate college with a degree and a good shot at a career that is better than most, today you graduate with a debt that will take you years, if not decades to pay off.
What changed? Read the above paragraph and think about how many times in the last few decades have you heard the mantra that "everyone deserves a college education" You can make up to a million dollars over a career more with a college education...
Sure.
Here's the problem... A college education at one point was a rare thing in the work force, a degree meant that you were the top of your class in school, hell you couldn't get into a good college without stellar grades, they simply wouldn't "accept you"...
Today, they will accept any form of major payment... 2.0 grades? no problem, some remedial courses to ramp you up to speed. No money? Well, get a federal loan of course, you can pay it later...
Add to that that the average college degree is needed in what, 20 percent of the jobs out there? So the idea that everyone deserves to go to college is fine, and a college education is nothing to be glib about, higher education can harm nothing, but recognize that if everyone gets one, then 80 percent of the who graduate are getting knowledge, (of course) a degree (which you add to 20 bucks and you have a nice plaque to hang on the wall), and decades of debt.
Decades of debt.
Debt is what started this blog today, and here's my thing...
We live in a credit society, if you have never been in debt, you have no credit...
Start doing some research into fiat economics and it will be a vast eye opener, but suffice to say, that debt is money.
The only value that money has is in payment of debt.
Our economy is based on how many IOUs are in the bank. These of course provide the basis for loaning money which creates more debt... We are a nation that loans money based on the value of the piece of paper that another person signed to get their loan and so on.
Money is actually pretty finite, and once you tack in interest, then you run into a situation where roughly the same amount of people as the rate of interest will default.
Once again, do some research, come to your own conclusions...
But as a nation, hell just about every nation, we borrow more than we earn.
Hell, the US borrows about twice of our GDP every year, so think about this...
If you make 20 grand a year, and your run up the credit cards roughly 40 grand a year, but make it work by paying the minimum charges, how long until the credit cards are maxed and the interest rates make the end of the bills impossible.
You could use the government standard of borrowing your way out of debt, but this is based on the assumption that you'll make more money next year...
The problem is that (like inflation, which is pretty much flat, ie; no extra money) if you do the same next year, the debt will increase, and you'll have to find a job paying 60 grand to pay it down...
But our government model means that if you did suddenly make 60 grand... You'd charge 120 on the cards...
But the congress cut 2.2 trillion dollars right?
Yep, gonna call bullshit on that too.
Heres the analogy that works for me;
Your family (ie; the example I used above) is a government. Standard nuclear family, husband, wife, two and a half kids, a dog, and a cat.
You spend far more than you make. And the creditors want some kind of guarantee that you can pay back the money.
In other words, you need good credit.
So mom and dad work hard, and make, say 100 grand a year. But they have to keep up with the Joneses so they move into a half million dollar home and buy new cars every two years...
But they are getting in debt, so how do they get another credit card? They have to show more income.
So they do what the government does; they pay the kids an allowance and count that money as income.
True, the kids are getting money from mom and dad, so no actual real income is coming into the household but when you add it together, hey, there's more income...
Before you say that's stupid, remember that every teacher, every firefighter, every construction worker, every military contractor, every last person that works and receives a paycheck from "uncle sam" is actually getting recycled money that was taken out of taxes... Government doesn't make money after all, it collects it.
But on the books it looks like it's making a lot more than it is.
Currently about half of the US's jobs are tied to taxpayer money, which does very little to grow the economy, because wealth isn't distributed, it's created by product and service...
For example, if the kids went out and got jobs mowing lawns and washing cars, it would be adding income, but when they do that on their own vehicles and home, and are paid an allowance, it's not.
So in the end, we have a family that is deep in debt...
What's this got to do with cutting 2.2 trillion in debt?
This; it's cuts to projected increases in spending....
Read the line above one more time...
Using our family analogy, it's like they are getting into debt, and one parent comes home all smiles and says, I've decided that next year instead of spending another 40 thousand on a new mercedes, we will only spend 20 thousand on a honda accord....
See? I've just saved us 20 thousand dollars... Lets go shopping!
This is how governments, hell, the world, works....
So I've been watching the world, and i've started thinking how lazy, how entitled the world has gotten, how mankind is a spoiled lazy fat kid sitting in front of the computer, and wondering what's gonna happen if the power goes out.
How many people do you know that can't make anything to eat that doesn't go into a microwave?
How many people don't know how to change a flat tire or jump start a battery?
If walmart's shelves are empty for a week, how many people do you know that will go hungry, because they shop day to day?
What's the saying? Mankind is only three meals away from savagery?
I dunno, where pretty fat, I'd say we could make it six or eight meals before we start eating each other.
The occupy wall street groups are running around blaming bankers and making demands, when there is no money left, we are too far in debt to pay for it, overseas you have riots, and sovereign countries so deep in debt that they are hat in hand to anyone willing to help?
And just how the hell can you call yourself a sovereign nation, when your system of economics is based on how much debt you owe to others?
I think we are due for another dark age of mankind...
At one time or another in our history, we've had empires, vast tracts of civilization with the most advanced societies of the time, The Roman empire being the most well known.
Now we have a global world, connected by fiberoptic cables and satellites and treaties that mean the sugar you make ice tea with is from another country, and the 2X4 that you buy to build your deck probably came from the other side of the atlantic.
We are a nation of consumers, a nation of addicts, born and raised on instant gratification, and grown so very complacent.
I mean, we've put people on the moon, and have the vast information networks available in the time it takes to move a mouse and go click...
How could we fail?
Not only do I think we can fail...
I think we are past due...
If anyone reads this, go out, don't take my word for it, but promise me one thing, and one thing only...
Learn for yourself the cause of these things, don't rely on talking heads and sound bites, don't rely on politicians, don't rely on me, don't rely on anyone to tell you what's going on in the world, look for yourself...
Then learn to rely on yourself.
If the lights go out, do you have the skills to cook, to make light? and when the batteries run dry?
If the shelves at the grocery store are empty, do you have a garden? Do you have enough food to last, 2 or 3 weeks? Longer?
If the banks close tomorrow, and don't reopen... Do you have money? Can you barter, do you even know how?
If you do, and your neighbor doesn't, what do you do when he comes over to your house and asks for food, and you stare at his children, who have played with yours, and know that whatever you give him will mean that your family will have less?
If you say no and he comes back with a weapon?
The world is growing very dangerous, very quickly...
But don't take my word for it, and don't take anyones word...
Take the stupid Ipod buds out of your ears, look up from the text, and take a look around you, really take a good long look.
What do you see?
