Switzerland: The Tyranny of the Majority

Since the installment of Barrack Obama as our Commander in Chief, I know many, myself included, who are frustrated with his constant utterance of the word “democracy” to refer to the United States.  Yes, it’s true – America is a democracy.  But first and foremost, America is a REPUBLIC with a CONSTITUTION in place to safeguard certain inalienable rights, which cannot be overturned no matter how large the majority against them is.  For instance, in America, even if 99.99% of the population is against private gun ownership, the right to bear arms cannot be overturned.  It’s one of our inalienable rights established by the Bill of Rights (the first 10 amendments), and thus permanently out of the reach of any collection of citizens against it.

The essential difference between a Republic and a Democracy is the driving force that separates the American identity and value system from the rest of the world.  The essential aspect of a Democracy is the belief that ALL of our rights come from government, i.e. other elected human beings.  The essential aspect of a Republic is the belief that ALL of our rights come from God, or, for atheists, are possessed innately.  The humans we elect to government are simply meant to protect those rights from infringement by other humans.  Bearing this info in mind, I can only shake my head over the many who align themselves as strict Constitutionalists and/or “Republicans” (whatever that means) who are also rejoicing over the Swiss referendum to ban the construction of minarets.

REFRESHER ALERT: According to Wikipedia, “Minarets are distinctive architectural features of Islamic mosques. Minarets are generally tall spires with onion-shaped or conical crowns, usually either free standing or taller than any associated support structure.”  Essentially, the Muslim version of a Church steeple.  See the picture below?  They’re the tall, pointy things.  And on Monday, 57.5% of Switzerland’s voting population voted to ban them.  Well, future construction of them.

Mosque with minarets

Unfortunately for real Constitutionalists, the right to private property and freedom of religion are two of those inalienable, God-given rights, and we don’t have the authority to inhibit the rights of anyone who isn’t interfering in anyone else’s life just because we happen to disagree with them.  Sucks, I know.

The flaw in a Democracy is that it leads to a problem referred to as the tyranny of the majority, whereby the God-given rights of 49.9% of people can be overturned by 50.1%  The beauty in a Republic is that our God-given rights are protected at all times from all levels of resistance.  As long as you’re not interfering in others’ lives, you’re right to own property and do with it as you please cannot be inhibited.  As long as you’re not harming anyone else, you’re right to practice your religion cannot be infringed upon.

This little aspect of Republicanism comes especially in handy during periods of heated emotionalism when we tend to make irrational decisions that we would not normally make.  We are in one of those periods.  Currently, Americans harbor great animosity toward the Muslim community, and although many don’t understand why (see my article “Endless Wars, Policy Breakdowns and Getting Screwed”), the Muslim community harbors great animosity toward Americans.  But we cannot let anger and fear guide us into shortsighted decisions.  How quickly we forget the lessons of Nazi Germany.  And let’s not lose grasp of the percentage of Muslims who can actually be classified as radical.

Furthermore, the Ghost is indignant over the level of inconsistency of some people.  The same people who champion this illicit oppression of peaceful Muslims are terrified of government health care (and rightfully so) because it will open the door for government to usurp all sorts of rights.   While the Ghost agrees with this assessment, he must point out that the same pitfall is inherent in the consequences of the Swiss referendum.  Once the government can ban the construction of minarets, where does this power end? I’m certain that the self-important new bureaucrats created to oversee this sort of referendum will be eager to expand their own liberties while sacking ours.

In Switzerland, their decision to ban minaret construction, while not justifiable, is understandable.  Considering their form of government, Europeans have much to be fearful about.  A large influx of Muslims combined with white liberalism could cause many of their God-given rights to be overturned, and especially fearful should be women.  Such is the downfall of Democracy.

In America, however, we must allow strength to guide our decision-making.  FEAR is the mark of Democracy, but STRENGTH is the character of Republicanism.  As long as the acid of Democracy is not allowed to dissolve the idea of the Republic, God will provide the strength needed to overcome our challenges.

Sunset on an American Week (c. 2009)

I’m considering cutting my ears off.

I’ve recently returned from a trip across America (my latest blog tour), and I’m less happy than I was when I left.  That sounds opposite, I know, but you have to understand the emotional roller coaster to which I was subject on a daily basis.

Each day, without exception, my spirits peaked only to be beaten back down again by sunset.  In the mornings, we would gear up for another 350-450 mile drive to our next destination, making casual, small-town stops for food, fuel and flushers along the way, and with every new glimpse of America that I absorbed, no matter how remote or involved, my heart became filled with love, my soul with amazement and my mind with stimulation.  Who has been here?  Who built this?  Look at all this greatness!  What has gone on at this spot across the centuries? How has this city evolved?  My God, look at all this freedom! No number of eyes could have satisfied my gluttony for the visions.

Yet, by nightfall, I was always in a very different state of mind – more disturbed and ambivalent.  In the evenings, when I would listen to the news, I could only hang my head despairingly over what I heard.  Visions of mountaintops, freight trains and rickety general stores yielded to and vanished behind sounds of police abuse, despotism and control.  Sure, I should be desensitized to these stories by now, but they seemed to take on a whole new weight after leaving my Southeast Pennsylvania shell and experiencing America as a whole.  Each day, I tried my best to believe in the steadfastness of Americanism – that our core could never be contaminated.  Each day, the country that I saw confirmed that we are not like any other country, that our greatness is unparalleled and that we’re kind, hardworking and freethinking people and no thing or no one can EVER take that away from us.    But each night, the country that I heard about was very different.  In the ensuing week of travel, I experienced two facets of America: the visual and the audible.  Here is the tale of two countries.

MONDAY

They say if you could iron out West Virginia, it would be the size of Texas.  This finally made sense to me when I stopped there for a concert, and the sight of thousands of people enjoying uninhibited freedom against the mountainous backdrop greeted my eyes.

Later, my mood was ironed out when I heard the latest ObamaCare report: Congress plans to enforce the individual mandate that all Americans MUST own health insurance as a condition of citizenship by wrapping it in the cloak of taxation.  Failure to pay this tax (a.k.a. buy health insurance) can result in up to a year in prison.  That’s not the America I saw.

TUESDAY

As I crossed from Illinois into Missouri, the vision of the St. Louis skyline engulfed my eyes, and I thought, what other country can claim so many major cities, each displaying such magnificent wealth and achievement? The answer, of course, is none.  Countries with more than twice our population and/or landmass aren’t even in our ballpark.  What do you think is the reason?  If you have an idea, feel free to post them below.

In the evening, my ears were devastated by the sounds of people trying to dismantle our engines of wealth and achievement.  In an interview, Nancy Pelosi talked about the possibility of a Value Added Tax (VAT) to manufactured goods as a means of addressing our nation’s fiscal problems.  Of course, Ms. Pelosi doesn’t understand that the same principles that drive high-income individuals out of areas where taxes are too high will also drive consumers out of various areas of commerce where taxes are too high, costing us millions of jobs and our standard of living.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7R9wYLmzKI&feature=related

WEDNESDAY

As I passed through the heartland, I stopped in rural Fanning, MO for a glimpse of the world’s largest rocking chair.  Not expecting much at first, I was amazed when I actually saw it.  Just look how it dwarfs the house next to it!  It was another example of American determination and ingenuity.  Sure, it doesn’t serve much of a purpose, but that’s kind of the point: in America, we don’t do things because someone else wants us to or because we have to; we do them because they fulfill us in some personal way.  That’s what makes this ridiculous rocking chair essential Americana.

Ingenuity and determination be damned – gimmie what I want for FREE!  That night, I heard reports of over 50,000 Detroit residents lining up at a government center for $3,000 stimulus checks.  Fights broke out as the people clamored to make it to the front of the line.  How will they ever find a job and become self-sufficient if they’re spending all their time waiting in line and filling out applications for government handouts?  They won’t; they’ve been enslaved by the welfare state.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfGLB8LO1aM

THURSDAY

This is a view from I was able to capture from a New Mexican mountaintop.  There is no good way to convey the feeling I had up there, observing the vastness of the rest of the landscape.  I’ll just say that as I stood on the land that many others had no doubt stood on before me, I felt a powerful aura of freedom and untamed humanity.  Many countries have breathtaking sights, but few can instill the same emotion.

Visions of freedom and untamed humanity faded with the sunlight that night as the airwaves contained the sounds of dependency and subservience to overseas masters.  A new climate treaty to be executed in Copenhagen in a matter of weeks will cede America’s sovereignty and prosperity to a cadre of unelected world officials.  The treaty will enact a fledgling world government charged with enforcing the payment of “climate debts” to third world countries, which have had their climates affected by our carbon emissions.  Up to 2% of our GDP could be subject to these payments.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMe5dOgbu40&feature=player_embedded

FRIDAY

As the sights of Grand Canyon and Sedona, AZ at dusk flooded my vision, thoughts of American exceptionalism carried me away.  Forget the Constitution, forget wealth and warfare –America as a land mass is the finest in the world.  Nowhere else possesses such diverse terrain and prehistoric landscape.  Just being here evokes a sense of greatness.  No other venue on Earth is fit to do what America has done.

By night, sights of diversity took a backseat to noises about diversity.  In the same vain as the Fairness Doctrine, I was hearing that the proposed Net Neutrality regulations were seeking to censor ideas and speech on the Internet behind the veil of fairness and diversity.  To them, diversity is everyone looking different, but thinking the same – robots made of different metals, but running on the same software – the antithesis (and ultimate downfall) of Americanism.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uULNBso0BU (Not from the night I heard the story, but a good analysis)

SATURDAY

As I moved through the golden California hills, the sight of a freight train rolling along struck me as a classic testament to American innovation.  When we invented the railroad, we revolutionized industry.  We created a high-speed, low-cost means of transporting goods that attracted enormous levels of overseas investment, created jobs, reduced the cost of goods for everyone and solidified America’s middle class as the strongest in the world.  Behold, the power of free enterprise.

But as darkness once again overtook the light, so did the sounds overtake the sights.  Lawmakers hell-bent on destroying the enterprise system and spirit of innovation you see above (Rep. Charlie Rangel and company) and calling for a second stimulus package filled the airwaves as my mood sank.  The package would add to the already unsustainable deficit of $1.4 trillion.  ONE POINT FOUR TRILLION.  The number was dizzying and it rang inside my head like the last toll of the liberty bell.  Of course I knew the size of the deficit before, but it seemed to take on added weight, and even right now, the thought makes me lightheaded.  I feel trapped inside of a mansion on fire – a long wait and no escape.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gI3K5Y_0gDc

SUNDAY

As the sun fell on Manhattan Beach, CA and the other far western reaches of the continental United States, and drew the American week to a close, the metaphor seemed fitting.  Once again, the great sights illuminated in the daylight would disappear and give way to the unsettling sounds of the night.  At sunset, during the time when our two country’s overlap, it’s a good time to reflect on which will ultimately prevail, and to choose your side and plan your execution.  America isn’t about the noise people make about what they believe America should be; it’s about what we can see that America actually is!  And we on the side of the American vision will have to prepare for a long and arduous battle with those on the side of the audible.  While they may have the edge of media and money, we stand on the side of God and conviction.  A quick look at history shows which side seems to prevail.  Remember, where the sunsets, it must also rise.

I’ll spare you the Sunday news story.

Who needs ears anyway?

Policy Breakdowns, Endless Wars and Getting Screwed

Before diving into content, I feel that I must forewarn my readership that the ensuing article contains opinions and observations that may offend and spurn resistance toward their acceptance.  Many of us have strong feelings about the Middle East and the wars, perhaps due to some personal sacrifice that we have made or someone close to us has made, and to accept an opposing opinion may make us feel like we’re trivializing that sacrifice or making it appear in vain.  Perhaps the opinion has formed out of a lack of understanding of the facts and history that have brought us to this point.  Regardless of the source, my intent is not to offend; merely to inform.  With great gifts come great responsibilities, and as the vessel through which the Truth has chosen to speak, I must convey the information intact.  At times, I find myself having to set aside my own preconceptions and misguided opinions, and submit to the will of the Truth.  It’s not always so easy, but it is for the sake of my countrymen’s freedom that I must transcribe such words.  For it’s the Truth who is the author; I am only the pen.

Prediction time: General Stanley A. McChrystal will go down as the least popular and most ineffective American battle commander in history.  In case you’re behind on your schoolwork, Gen. McChrystal was handed the reins of command in Afghanistan back in June, and is already chomping at the bit to overhaul the strategy.  And judging by the Commander’s Summary he submitted to Defense Secretary Robert Gates last week, he’s going to transform a really long and really unpopular war into a super long and super unpopular one.  If he has his way, McChrystal will take an already ambiguous strategy tied to an obscure objective, square it and then amplify it to the tune of 30-40 thousand more troops.  After I read the synopsis, I found myself utterly bewildered not only as to how we can possibly win this war, but also as to the reason we’re even there in the first place.  I thought I knew.

The most startling aspect of McChrystal’s strategy involves reassigning the role of our troops and changing the reason why we’re there.  He endorses “the adoption of a strategy in which troops emphasize protecting Afghans rather than killing insurgents or controlling territory.”  Not only does this effectively turn our soldiers into police officers, but also it presumes we’re there to protect Afghans rather than Americans!  We’re not even going to be FIGHTING the enemy anymore!  Instead of proactively eliminating the Taliban, which would simultaneously accomplish the false objective of protecting the Afghans and the real objective of protecting Americans, we’re simply going to act as police, watching over the citizens while the enemy continues to thrive.  And if the enemy is never eliminated, then the war can never end.  If we’re lucky, maybe in another 8 years, McChrystal will deem it all a big waste of time and bring everyone home.  This gaping hole in McChrystal’s logic can only be described as hideous incompetence, or a devious calculation meant to sustain the war and continue flooding the military industrial complex with billions of dollars.  You be the judge.  Either way, it will be an error financed with our money and our blood.

But, lo! a trace of logic doth belie the General’s incompetence/deviousness!  Evidently, our current wacky strategy of fighting the enemy has created a “crisis of confidence among the Afghans,” and our failure to “be seen as guests of the Afghan people and their government, not an occupying army” has made them “reluctant to align with us against the insurgents.”  How sad.  The resulting alienation has turned the Afghan population into fertile ground for the seeds of Taliban propaganda, producing fresh crops of new recruits.

 According to McChrystal, the best way to curtail this process is for our troops to immerse themselves in the culture – to become virtual Afghans.  Under the new plan, “key personnel…must receive training in local languages.”  Additionally, our troops should be out and about amongst the people, regardless of how exposed they may be to the dangers of insurgent bombers and sneak attacks.  In the report, McChrystal states that we’ve been too “preoccupied with protection of our own forces,” and we must change this by spending “as little time as possible in armored vehicles or behind the walls of forward operating bases.”  And by McChrystal’s own tongue: “It is realistic to expect that…coalition casualties will increase.”  If San Francisco had an army, Gen. McChrystal would be its commander.

 McChrystal also repeatedly expresses displeasure with the current Afghan government, and enumerates goals of Afghan military and police force expansion to 240,000 and 160,000 respectively.  Hmmm, this kind of smells like the beginnings of a U.S.-installed, military-enforced government.  Boy, if the Afghans don’t like us now, they’ll definitely LOVE us after that.  That McChrystal, such a charmer.

 In light of the aforementioned, we need to begin asking ourselves what’s really going on here.  Is this really a “war” in the true sense of the word, or are we trying to build a nation, which will enrich American contractors but destroy American families?  Is this for freedom or finances?  America needs to accept the only effective strategy for us in the Middle East: get out and never go back.

 Let’s examine conventional wisdom surrounding why America is so hated in the Middle East.  For years and years, our elected officials have told us it’s because of our freedom and prosperity.  Let’s think about that.  Germany is free and prosperous.  France is free and prosperous.  Canada, Japan and Switzerland are all free and prosperous.  Yet none of these countries ever seem to be the objects of Mid Eastern ire.  Furthermore, why is it just the Middle East that hates us for being free and prosperous?  Why don’t Mexican extremists ever attack us?  Why not Mongolians, Zambians or Guatemalans?  The more you really stare at that reason, the more ridiculous it starts to appear.  Only America and the UK seem to take the brunt of this freedom and prosperity beef.

 Now, dig a little deeper and look at the history of U.S.-Middle Eastern relations since the intra-World War period, and a pattern of meddlesome American behavior emerges.  It began with the CIA-orchestrated overthrow of Mohammed Mossadegh, a regime supported by the citizenry in Iran, in favor of the oppressive and corrupt, but America-friendly, regime of the shah.  Since then, we’ve acted unilaterally in several situations from the breakup of Palestine to the propping up of U.S.-friendly governments via military force.  To relate, we’d have to think of how we’d feel towards China if they came into our country and began calling the shots.  Already, Americans are up in arms over a celebration for the Chinese held at the White House in September – imagine if they took it over.

 The wounds left by these Middle Eastern improprieties have continually been reopened and left to fester over the last 70 odd years.  And even though they are not the fault of the American people, we are the ones suffering the consequences.  Those who died on 9/11 are the ones who paid the price of our government’s failed Middle Eastern policies.  The middle class, who will be hardest hit by the deficit this war has helped to create, are the ones who will pay the price of our government’s failed Middle Eastern policies.  The soldiers dying every day to protect financial interests are the ones who have paid and will continue to pay the price of our government’s failed Middle Eastern policies.  No, this is not meant as a justification of the horrific actions taken against America by Middle Easterners; it’s meant to illustrate how to prevent future horrific actions and to shed light on another government clusterf— at our expense.  Old beliefs, as habits, die hard.  It’s time for us to accept the reality of this situation, and stop allowing those in power to manipulate us for their own ends.

Watch this inspirational speech related to the above topic delivered on the House floor by a true statesman cut from the same construction paper as the founders: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fHfdSi-GDo

Expand your brain – read this analysis of U.S.-Mid East relations from the CATO Institute: http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=1019&full=1

Plaxico v. the New York Gun Monsters

Tonight on SportsCenter, I watched New York Giants wide receiver and Super Bowl XLII hero Plaxico Burress carted off to rough-and-tumble Rikers Island State Prison in NYC, mulling the absurdity of the situation.  And when the network aired a shot of him carrying his 3-year-old son in a tiny tailored suit into the courthouse, I couldn’t help but chuckle ironically to myself at the thought of the percentage of inmates who have children that they don’t even know exist.

As deeply as it hurts me, as a die hard Eagles fan, to defend a Giant, some matters just have to take priority.  The sad truth is that Plaxico Burress’ only “crime” was exercising his innate, God-given Constitutional rights, a pattern which, much to the dismay of freedom-loving Americans, seems to be compounding by the day.  For carrying an unregistered firearm in NYC, Burress will now lose 2 years of his life, miss the birth of his daughter and involuntarily forfeit tens of millions of dollars in salary and endorsements.  What really kills me is hearing the flapping heads on TV, including Plax’s own lawyer, insulting Burress’ judgment and intelligence and saying things like, “What does he need a gun for?”  Quite frankly, Mr. ex-mediocre NFL quarterback, it’s none of your business why he needs a gun; as long as his record is clean and he’s not interfering in your enjoyment of your life, don’t worry about what he does.  And therein lies the beauty of America – or the idea of what America is supposed to be.

In fact, Burress’ judgment couldn’t be more spot on.  If I were a wealthy, high-profile professional athlete, and making the rounds on the Manhattan night club circuit, you’re damn right I’m carrying some steel.  Everyday, regular people get robbed and shot for way less than what Plaxico packs.  There are no burglaries in the ghetto for the same reason there are no Rolex shops: people looking for money, no matter how they go about getting it, go where the money is.  And Plax is where the money is.

Fascistic types may make the unconstitutional and just flat out moronic argument, “But Ghost, he has the right to carry a gun, he just has to pay to get it registered.”  In America, as in the case of all true republics, we define a right as an irrevocable, God-given entitlement not to be infringed on by any other human being.  And now, the earth shattering revelation that you read my blog for: government officials are human beings.  Don’t rub your eyes, you read right.  Flesh, blood, excrement and perverted thoughts, just like you and me.  And by making us purchase permission to exercise our rights, they effectively cease to be rights.  No one would argue that they have a right to a pair of pants for sale in Wal-Mart.  By slapping a price tag on them, our rights have been transformed into privileges subject to permission and revocation at the whim of some other human being playing God.  And that’s just not right.  That’s just not American.

The same fascistic types may also argue, “But Mr. Truth, he’s rich and can afford bodyguards.  He doesn’t need to carry a gun himself.”  Of course in arguing this point, not only would they sound more slovenly and more moronic than my considerable writing skill gives them credit for, but they’d be neglecting the fact that regardless of how much money a person has, HIS RIGHT TO OWN, CARRY AND USE A FIREARM IN THIS REPUBLIC IS UNDENIABLE BY ANY BEING OTHER THAN GOD HIMSELF.  For our atheist brethren, we say that the right is undeniable by any force other than nature itself.

Additionally, this system tips the scales in favor of the true criminal.  Suppose Plax does fall in line, goes down to the government office, pays and fills out his paperwork like a good little citizen.  Now he has to wait a few days for approval.  But he could still get jumped walking back to his car.  He could be shot and killed. Who’s fault was it then that he couldn’t defend himself?  Would the bureaucrats responsible for writing and enforcing these laws be carted off to Rikers for illegitimately stealing Burress’ rights?  If we’re going to give the scum of society a head start, believe that they’re going to take advantage of it.

Now, suppose Plax is just a regular, middle class guy who can’t afford the cost of his rights.  Now he’ll never have the ability to protect himself and his family.  Since the criminal will always game the system, the only net to society is the loss of the ability of the innocent citizens and families to defend themselves.  We have to wonder whose side the system is on.

On one final note, because our government illegitimately swiped the rights of the citizens, this multi-multi-millionaire will now spend the next two years living on the taxpayers’ dime.  He’s not dangerous and he has ample means to care for himself.  Just slap an ankle bracelet on the guy and put him on house arrest.  But I guess in the land of the topsy-turvy, that’s just not absurd enough.  At least Giant fans are unhappy.

Manufacturing a Crisis, Consuming the Consequences

This week, Top Federal Reserve Tenderfoot Ben Bernanke announced that the worst recession since the 1930s (I know, I hate myself for using it too) “is very likely over” and he’s “pretty optimistic” about regulatory overhauls for the financial system.  If those flamethrowers don’t ignite confidence bolts in your veins, get checked for a pulse.  Of course the chairman for the body that actually officiates when recessions start and end has said uhhhh, I’ll get back to you in a year or so.  He must be dead.

Only people in power (i.e. responsible for this mess) and those who don’t know any better would dare say this crisis is over.  Once again, Big Ben points to the beginning stages of a jobless recovery.  According to Ben, the economy will expand at a 2.3% clip next year, but unemployment will remain above 9%.  This begs the question: what the F is a jobless recovery?  Recessions are marked by rampant job loss, so shouldn’t the recovery be marked by job creation?  Quite simply the answer is, not in America.

In the good old days, the stalwart characteristic of economic growth was increased output, a.k.a. making stuff.  The true measure of a nation’s wealth is the amount of valuable stuff it possesses, not the number of paper dollars pumped through its system.  The more valuable stuff a nation has, the more able it becomes to acquire resources needed to increase output.  This is known as capital investment.  And with capital investment comes increased demand for labor i.e. jobs.  When the demand for labor increases, employers must fight harder to win scarce employees, and they win them by competing with greater and greater wages.  As a nation’s wages grow, the citizens are able to acquire more and more valuable stuff, and ergo the nation becomes wealthier.  As the consumption of the citizens rises, so must output rise with it, which means even more capital investment, even more jobs and even higher wages.  At this point, I won’t blame you if you’re confused by the notion of a “jobless recovery.”  In light of the aforementioned, how could we have legitimate economic growth without job creation?  The pop quiz won’t be until after we’ve covered…

…the American system of economics!  The sad truth is that in America, we produce nothing.  Minimum wage legislation and the expansion of labor unions rendered most of our outstanding middle class base, our quintessentially American salt-of-the-earth factory workers and craftspeople, too expensive.  Once markets like China opened up, these jobs vanished overnight.

With the hemorrhage of value-creating middle class jobs, it seems anomalous that we would still be able to keep pace with our record setting consumption binge.  Yes, we have been able to maintain our status as the world’s wealthiest nation despite these mistakes for one reason alone: we enjoy the status of world reserve currency, a status quickly being eroded at China’s demand.  As the world reserve currency, we’re considered the gold standard of currencies; other nations will only accept payment in their own currency and ours.  To try and put it into perspective, world reserve status would be like you or I getting our hands on Warren Buffet’s American Express Black card; there’s seemingly no limit to the amount we could spend.  We’d have to go pretty damn hog wild to ever hit our limit – and, baby, did we ever go HOG FREAKIN’ WILD!

Entitlements, corporate welfare, foreign aid, endless wars, research grants to study the effects of monsoon season on Thai prostitutes – these are just some of the goodies we loaded into our global shopping cart.  When that wasn’t enough, we guaranteed student and home loans for nearly anyone in the nation who wanted one.  We borrowed and re-borrowed and printed the interest payments; every dime we paid to China and Saudi Arabia for interest and imports was loaned back to us or pumped into our bloated stock market, the Fed at the helm, fueling our fantastic free-for-all with low interest rates and easy money policies.  We bought more and more, and erected retail outlets at a dizzying pace.  In a matter of two decades, we had morphed from a producer nation to a consumer nation.  And though we’re in the throes of its dying gasps, we still are.  More than 70% of our GDP is based on consumption.  Our once great productive middle class now jockeys cashiers and stocks shelves in retail outlets, not acquiring any tangible skills nor producing anything of real value.  And when we can no longer maintain this debt-fueled binge, when we’ve inflated ourselves to the point everyone else wants out, when we can no longer import because we’ve lost our world reserve status, what happens then?  America doesn’t maintain reserves of foreign currencies to pay other nations with.  The empty shelves will force the retail outlets to shut down, and with no in-house manufacturing there will be no jobs for the jobless.  Where will our recovery come from then, Mr. Bernanke?

Until the United States rebuilds its manufacturing and wealth creating capacity, there will be no real recovery.  Unless some grand global collusion exists of which we common folk are unaware, the rest of the world will hit their tipping point with us –  and that time will be much sooner than later.  The cracks have already begun to show.  Foreigners will grow impatient with our dangerous policies, and dump us like we got caught in bed with their mother – real hard and real ugly.  But it may just be the eye-opening moment of clarity that we need as a nation to get us back on the proper path to prosperity.

Health Care: A Lesson in Economics (Amongst Other Things)

          Let’s start with something we can both agree on: the health care system in America is broken. Prices are skyrocketing and absorbing more and more of our disposable income, forcing us into lower standards of living.  Both sides of the Congressional aisle have proposed solutions, but both sides have danced around the truth of the problem like natives around a fire, hopping from foot to foot, landing precariously on their toes and skillfully balancing mere inches from the flames, careful not to get too close, lest they get burned.  Well, in this debate, the politicians are the natives, the grandstanding over conflicting solutions is the dance and the truth – the root of the problem – is the fire.  Congress dances for the cameras, presenting its cases for reform, careful never to get too close to the truth – lest they get burned.

          The truth is government interference in the free market is the taxi we hopped into that has driven us to this point.  Of course, Congress will never acknowledge this truth because the public would not only realize how utterly unnecessary most of their government is, but that they are in fact an obstacle in their life to be overcome.

          To illustrate,  I attended a health care town hall meeting the other night in my beautiful Bucks County, PA home.  The event consisted of a panel of speakers, each with some different health care experience to contribute.  One panelist was an older gentleman, on Medicare, who shared an experience with us.  A procedure he underwent cost $32,000, of which he covered $560 and Medicare $3,250.  The remaining 88% went unfunded.  And now, a lesson.

          ABC Company makes synthetic dogs.  To manufacture each dog, ABC must spend $5.  To cover costs and earn a profit, ABC sells each dog for $7.  Now, ABC’s owner is a very religious man, and one of his best customers is God.  God offers to pay only $.84 per dog, leaving 88% unfunded, and the owner complies under the duress of otherworldly penalties.  At the end of the year, ABC’s owner has sold 100 dogs, 35 of them to God.  Ordinarily, ABC’s revenue would be $700 on costs of $500 leaving ABC with a healthy $200 profit.  Instead, ABC has earned $484.40 on costs of $500, leaving ABC with a net loss of $15.60.  Continuing to sell dogs for $7 is clearly unsustainable, and ABC is left with 2 options: go out of business or raise prices.  ABC decides to raise prices to $8.  Now ABC brings in more profit per dog, but has priced 10 customers out of the market.  God pays $.96 per dog this year, and in his infinte compassion, picks up the tab for the 10 customers priced out of the market.  Now, ABC earns $483.20 on $500 of costs, leaving ABC with a net loss of $16.80.  Now what?  Raise prices again!  Now they’re $9.00, maybe even $9.50.  It’s easy to understand how viciously out of control this cycle can become.  You can only imagine what happens when prices of raw materials to create the dogs goes up.  Ugh.

          In business, lost customers are the cost of increased prices.  This can work, as in the case of luxury brands, but when an all-powerful body compels businesses to serve outpriced customers at prices significantly below even what they paid before, losses will continue to run deeper into the red.  Eliminating Medicare and Medicaid would force the outpriced customers out of the health care industry.  No longer compelled to serve these customers at tremendous losses and now able to operate profitably, health care organizations would begin to compete for customers by lowering prices.  A price war would erupt, and costs would drop like a boulder through a wet paper towel.

          Bring this up to your Congressman at the next town hall meeting.  He’ll likely smirk and tell the crowd, “We can’t end Medicare and Medicaid.”  In reality, HE can’t end Medicare and Medicaid, and the rest of us must suffer so his career can thrive.  For him, the truth is political suicide, so he must dance around it – lest he get burned.