State of the Union
Politics is a bucket of manure. Some of the content, and MUCH of the reaction to, the State of the Union address compels me to state this (obvious) observation.
You may be familiar with this quote by the Scotsman Alexander Fraser Tytler:
"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largess from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy followed by a dictatorship."
How far along this path are we? Tytler proposed that most "great civilizations" collapse in about 200 years.
I make no apology for stating that I am a conservative, politically. There are aspects of provision for those who need help that I believe government should provide, but I believe that such provision (except in cases of genuine disability) should be TEMPORARY. I believe that we, as a society, have abdicated a LOT of personal responsibility. Nearly everything is someone else's fault. Pathetic. And the two biggest drains on the federal budget point to this - of course, I'm talking about Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid. Again - there are situations where assistance should be provided, even long-term. But NOT because someone was too stinkin' lazy to plan for the future. And certainly not the pyramid scheme that is Social Security. As a governmental policy - what a load of garbage! Not to mention that SS is just a bunch of IOUs from the stupid congress that cannot seem to find the integrity to leave that money alone! Please!
And for that matter - 401k plans and IRAs have simply deferred the crisis, and maybe even made it worse later on. Think about it. When the Baby Boom generation starts retiring en masse in just a few years, they will be FORCED to withdraw from their mutual funds (which is what those two "investments" really are) whether they actually need the money (or the amount of money) or not. Over 10-18 years, as more and more of the boomers are FORCED to do this, what do you think will happen to the stock market? It will go DOWN, DOWN, DOWN!!! Unless the laws change, I believe that a deep depression (not a recession) is headed our way. Prepare now, and be ready (and able) to get your money OUT (cash IS a position, just like stocks are).
You have been warned...
You may be familiar with this quote by the Scotsman Alexander Fraser Tytler:
"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largess from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy followed by a dictatorship."
How far along this path are we? Tytler proposed that most "great civilizations" collapse in about 200 years.
I make no apology for stating that I am a conservative, politically. There are aspects of provision for those who need help that I believe government should provide, but I believe that such provision (except in cases of genuine disability) should be TEMPORARY. I believe that we, as a society, have abdicated a LOT of personal responsibility. Nearly everything is someone else's fault. Pathetic. And the two biggest drains on the federal budget point to this - of course, I'm talking about Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid. Again - there are situations where assistance should be provided, even long-term. But NOT because someone was too stinkin' lazy to plan for the future. And certainly not the pyramid scheme that is Social Security. As a governmental policy - what a load of garbage! Not to mention that SS is just a bunch of IOUs from the stupid congress that cannot seem to find the integrity to leave that money alone! Please!
And for that matter - 401k plans and IRAs have simply deferred the crisis, and maybe even made it worse later on. Think about it. When the Baby Boom generation starts retiring en masse in just a few years, they will be FORCED to withdraw from their mutual funds (which is what those two "investments" really are) whether they actually need the money (or the amount of money) or not. Over 10-18 years, as more and more of the boomers are FORCED to do this, what do you think will happen to the stock market? It will go DOWN, DOWN, DOWN!!! Unless the laws change, I believe that a deep depression (not a recession) is headed our way. Prepare now, and be ready (and able) to get your money OUT (cash IS a position, just like stocks are).
You have been warned...
posted by MichaelPolutta at 1:42 PM
3 Comments:
Just let us know when it (stock market) is just about to start coming up and we'll all buy a bunch of cheap stocks and get rich when they are suddenly worth a whole lot more. (Buy low, sell high, right?)
It never fails to amaze me that people who reach the position of the top-100 (or 535) most powerful people on the planet (US Senators and Congressmen, and for that matter, the president, too) cannot seem to grasp basic laws of economics or principles of history that a 13-year-old can understand. My favorite from this week was Senator Webb's response to the SOTU in which he said, basically, that somebody should solve Bush's Iraq problem just like Ike solved Truman's Korea problem. Now remember--this guy went to West Point! So I guess he knows that Ike threatened all-out nuclear attack to force a cease-fire (still in effect; technically the Korean War is still going on) that left the north a humanitarian nightmare and requires a 36,000 man US presence almsot 60 years later. As for the econ stuff, man, I have no answers. Doing everything that makes sense by the current rules is at the most responsible thing to do, but I don't doubt for a minute that the politicans will monkey with the rules anytime they feel like it. Change taxes? Benefits? Tax our "tax-free" Roth IRAs? Penalize the grasshoppers to feed the ants? You betcha. Luckily, our treasure is laid up in heaven.
well said larry.
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