Libertarianism or Fascism?
With the state of the U.S. Budget, U.S.$, and the coming U.S. oil import disaster... We have some political upheavals to look forward to. But which way will the wind blow?
FDR Liberalism is DEAD. There is a dead body walking around, but it is DEAD just the same.
GWB's version of Conservatism (His group, founded by Strauss, hijacked the moniker) is DEAD. The body has already begun to stink.
The minor movements of Feminism and Race Based Preferences are going to wink out of existence without anybody even noticing them. Sorry, Gloria Steinem, fish may not need bicycles, but women will need their families - desperately. Biology is destiny, and thankfully so because Social Security will cease to exist in the lifetime's of most reading this. The new "Social Security" will be the same one we have had for time immemorial - your children. This will be so irrespective of the political sensibilities of aging, childless feminists.
"We can evade reality, but we cannot evade the consequences of evading reality." Ayn Rand
In the permanent energy crisis, their will be no "Retirement" for the masses. The issue will more likely be what will you do when you are too old to care for your self? (Not that "Retirement", in the late 20th century/early 21st century American definition appears to be such a happy time. I live in South Florida, home to the mother of all retirement populations. I can only share with you my interpretation of of my personal observations... these retired folks do not look terribly happy to me. To my eyes, they appear miserable. Of course these individuals might have been miserable when they were young, so this is hardly empirical.)
So many people are looking to our GOVERNMENT for answers to the oil crisis, the budget crisis, the mortgage crisis, etc... "We should do this. They should do that." I wonder when it will occur to the very folks that think government is/has the answer.... Exactly WHO got us into this fine mess in the first place? And exactly what resources do they suggest the government use to get us out? The U.S. is in DEBT up to its eyeballs. Our citizens actually believe that they are ENTITLED, regardless of how poorly they have led their own lives, to a retirement, of at LEAST 20 years of nonproductive consumption, fully funded for their healthcare and their material needs.
Go ahead! Gain as much weight as you want! Diabetes? Bad back? Erectile dysfunction? Not to worry, the government (our new Lord) will provide. You don't have to wear a condom! Drink and drive, its fun! Smoke! We'll take care of your healthcare bills. Can't work (or just don't feel like it)? No problem, we will send you a disability check. Can't save money? Bad credit? Poor work history? No problem! We'll give you a mortgage with NO MONEY DOWN! And if you can't pay? NO PROBLEM! It wasn't your fault ANYWAY! It was those scum bag speculators... Congress will fund a NEW program to keep you in your home with money they don't have, borrowed from people they have no intention of paying back, and if those pesky lenders want the money back we will simply bomb them into the stone age or devalue the currency and STEAL it from them.
All to fund programs supported politically by people who claim they HATE war!!! Give peace a chance!!! But fund our social programs or "we will g-d damn bomb ya" (George Carlin), or steal the food right out of your mouth. To make ourselves FEEL better about all of this, we will send a couple of young people over to your neck of the woods in Peace Corps garb. (I received an email today from a reader with this quote:)
"Sometimes we are so caught up in
who's right and who's wrong
that we forget
what's right and wrong." - Unknown, but Thanks, Lane!
Folks, we are going to have to get over this, one way or another. Phil Graham is correct. We HAVE become a nation of WHINERS. Where the F$#@@! is John Wayne? The end of the Oil Age is the beginning of the Age of Personal Responsibility.
(Here comes the email railing me about "Corporate Welfare". Brother, I am going to cover the disgusting way that corporations have evolved in another post... but to accuse them of being the BENEFICIARY of the government's largess "is what is known as being STUNNINGLY full of shit" (again George Carlin. I seem to be channeling George today.) Government has steered corporations to what they are today precisely because they are just SO PERFECT a machine for extracting income taxes from the masses, which is then used to create these silly programs and "American Interests" that need to be defended in the first place. Corporations are the funding source for EVERYTHING good and bad in the system. Think about it, the money AIN'T coming from single mothers, hitchhiking hippies, college students, or the Rev. Al Sharpton.)
How is it that the NeoJerks stole the 'Conservative" mantle, and nobody noticed? How is it that the South was controlled by the Racist Democrats during the 1950's and '60s, but now they call themselves Conservative Republicans? How is it that the Northeast, you know, the political descendants of the Authors of the Bill of Rights, went from "Patrician Republican" to "Liberal Democrat"? Are the Republicans the Party of Lincoln or the party of G.W. Bush? Are the Democrats the party of Ralph Nader or George Wallace?
Folks, these are just labels, and the little meaning that they had just got SQUASHED by the new political realities of what is likely to be the Mother of All Recessions perpetrated against a people that have become dependent on government to guide them through their average day.
So what will it be?
San Francisco confiscatory liberalism is DEAD. Bush and Cheney's silly foray into outrageous spending has bankrupted the nation - whatever political movement they represented, call it what you will, is DEAD. Both movements lay bled out at the hands of the Oil Depression.
Will we devolve into a fascist state in which the masses gladly give up what civil rights they have left in order to make a run at the status quo? Or will we accept our responsibilities and keep our individual liberties and fight for the liberties we lost?
End of July 20, 2008 Post.
11 comments:
I have to say this is a fine piece of work. Too bad your not a political speach writer.
I guess you wouldn't last long in that profession.
I have been following your blog for several months. I am so glad you reran this post as I would otherwise have missed it. My husband took an early retirement with no pension and before he was eliglible for SS, relying on our savings, a paid for home and land and the ability to raise most of what we eat. I have a small income from writing (Just In Case: How To Be Self-sufficient When The Unexpected Happens. I can see the writing on the wall) We spent years listening to critisism about our frugal life style. Now that the chickens have come home to roost and our friends supposedly safe pensions have evaporated we are no longer seen as such oddballs But we do have to endure the whining. What exactly did folk expect? That mommy government was going to nurse them forever?
Right now it looks like the fascists are winning. And the left. They are not necessarily the same, but through the 20th century there has been a strong correlation.
What I fear most is that the populist/Marxist buttheads will continue to rail against and scapegoat anything that makes a profit, and tax it to death. All that while passing out next to worthless freebies and promises. Just because they can't pay for their programs won't stop them from creating them. They will doom us to perpetual poverty. Case in point is Argentina, a resource rich country that once enjoyed the 7th highest standard of living in the world, until the masses found their way into the public coffers. After 70 years they still have not recovered. I think they are around 50th today.
Based on foreign sales of US debt and the balance of trade deficit, it looks like our economy is operating at a net loss of $1.2 Trillion, more or less. Until that gets fixed, we are screwed. NOTHING I have seen so far from the Bush or Obama camps addresses this problem. The Bush administration hasn't had time to do anything beyond bail the banks, and Obama's plan subsidizes loser projects that are not profitable on their own. This can only make things worse in the long run. Creating $1.00 in value for every $1.50 in expended in labor and resources is just F*&^%^%NG stupid.
I am not hopeful. The trade deficit will be fixed because we will soon be to poor to buy anything. The US Gov't has no such limit. They will continue to issue debt until no one will buy it.
Maybe, if we're really lucky, we can be like Venezuela.
Regards,
Coal Guy
Will you stop with the apocalyptical nonsense, please, Jeffers? Can we stay on point: the oil supply situation, which at least is theoretically possible. And even that is questionable since a) the gas stations are fully stocked and pump prices are about to go down again very soon, and b) the EIA's charts of the gasoline/crude oil/distillate stock levels have been bouncing around the same numbers since 1990. I have my doubts about the oil supply, but for now, everything's gravy.
As to this paranoia that the U.S. government is going to fall into some kind of cyptofascist nightmare, you've been watching too many scary movies. Since the days of Clinton, most agencies (mine included) think of themselves as "little businesses", sort of a "bastard capitalism-communism", remarkably very concerned about where every penny goes. My govt. card purchases take 15 minutes into log into the goddamn computer, cause I have so many boxes to fill in. The real money in the Fed. government (80%)goes to: social security (a few changes would fix it), medicare & medicaid (could be big problem with so many old, poor people), defense (makes rich people richer), and interest on the national debt (also owned by rich people). If you all were so friggin' concerned about your country, you should have done something about it 30 years ago. But you waited too long, buried the kids in $20 trillion in Federal debt, and now you want to cry about it. We career Federal bureaucrats will do the best we can to deal with the biggest credit/asset/housing bubble in the history of the world, but if your warm dreams of total U.S. Mussolini-ism do come to pass (and they won't), you can blame yourselves completely.
>In the permanent energy crisis, their will be no "Retirement" for the masses. The issue will more likely be what will you do when you are too old to care for your self?<
Greg-this is a very interesting question.
My own feelings are that older folks will have to start sharing costs ie housing, food, transportation, nursing help, etc.
What will this look like? Maybe it will look like college accomodations of the 60s or 70s ie an old house where everybody has their own room, communal bathrooms & kitchen, group meals, maybe one auto for the household. Maybe a group garden. Prevention will be the biggest component of health care in the future. A lot of nurse practicioners and physician assistants will provide most of the GP type function. House members will be required to help when someone has medical problems.
This would closely resemble the lifestyle of asian immigrants to the US- or to the lifestyle of college students of the 60s & 70s.
Chris:
Actually, I WAS a contributing writer to several campaigns when I was young... I even ran for local public office and won (I will NEVER do that again).
But, your point is well made. We have a bipolar system controlled by the loonies at the each end.
Bureaucrat:
The point is we don't HAVE to become a fascist state. We cannot continue on the path of "don't worry, be happy" social policy. I GUARANTEE that won't work. My suggestion was a resurgent American Libertarian ethic.
I am VERY hopeful on this issue.
At some point I will write an article defining my vision of Libertarianism. It is hard to encompass such a large abstraction in a word.
>My suggestion was a resurgent American Libertarian ethic.<
Only a few problems with wishful thinking of becoming a libertarian paradise-
*the American people are ignoramuses who are not really interested in freedom. They are only interested in the hollywood version of freedom ie John Wayne with a cowboy hat stuff. They are definitely not interested in taking on the responsibilities of freedom. The American people are unable to see any contradictions in the vision of America being the good fairy of freedom and the reality of supporting heavy handed police states like Saudi Arabia. The ROW sees these contradictions.
*the Libertarian Party cannot even get focused enough to win an occasional election- ever.
*the coming of the REAL CRUNCH TIME in terms of oil shortages doing core damage to the US economy will make ideas like freedom take a backseat. The public will recognize that we are in a true Long Emergency and will demand that government take the lead in a desperate battle to save any last gasp of the American vitality ie keeping a basic transportation system working and staying fed.
Sorry- a little too harsh to call the American people ignoramuses however-
*while the rest of the western world has been hotly debating peak oil ie EU, Australia, NZ etc, the average US citizen has never even heard of the term. Ask a highly educated US citizen what they think of "peak oil" and they will ask you what the heck you are talking about. This is similar on a wide range of issues.
*we are suckered in by illusion and bad politicians in the USA. Just ask the average US citizen why we are in Iraq- they will say we are bringing freedom to the ignorant Iraqis. They will usually know nothing about 1,000,000 dead Iraqis since the invasion or about the 5 million or so displaced Iraqis who are in desperate shape. Or about why in the new "free Iraq" we have created, most of the middle-class people ie doctors, engineers, managers etc who are critical to any society have mostly been killed or left the country. Nor will they know anything at all about the history of Iraq. Or about the desperate reality of US oil dependence in which control of Iraq plays a major part. No no we are just bringing freedom to the poor ignorant Iraqis.
Sad. Very sad. Especially for a nation that has the best higher education system in the world.
Most nations over the years have transformed from one thing to another. Is it possibly we are seeing a democratic/capitalist country, (USA),doing the same? As a majority we maybe leaning towards this sort of change ( I am not ). A big government!And what ever that brings.
i.e.
Obama spoke of change, and more government. He is the president.
Ross perot, remember him? Spoke of change, and smaller government. He is never heard of again.
Point is majority rules ( for know ) and there is not a lot we at this blog can do, just check out the visit number for this blog. Hardly what would be considered a majority of a concerned nation. We will evolve and become something else, like it or not.
The oil depletion senario will grip us in the near future and never let go. The form of governemt at that time will set the long emergency stage. This is were it all changes. This event will be the ultimate power grab.
AND as long as the TV continues to operate we as a nation will hardly notice.
Robert
Who sail Libertarian "PARTY"? I said ethic. At one time in the not too distant past, the Republican party had a Libertarian wing... and that wing got squashed by the Christian "Conservative" Republicans from the South. Many retired, and their offspring became Democrats. This is the group that is in play, and that can shape election outcomes (in my humble opinion).
But parties come and go. The current 2 parties in power in America are the world's longest running dynasty since Rome. They won't last forever, either.
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