Alert reader, screen name hayesml47, had this to say today regarding my latest column:
"To borrow from Walt Kelly (Pogo), 'I have met the enemy and he is us!'. One of the reasons we suffer from the problems you have pointed out is simple overpopulation. In other words we have too many enemies.
Our education system informs us but does not really educate. Our financial system sees us as only being sheep to be fleeced, kind of like a lot of churches. We have become basically pawns in a game that is won by having the most pawns. All of our planning is very short term at best.
Everything from our government to our health is to do just enough to get by till next week. Most will contribute just enough to society to be able to make their own fortune and then it's "screw you guys, I'm going home" (apologies to Eric Cartman).
The idea of making everything better for everyone has become outmoded. Standardization of parts, one of the ideas that made this country the best in the world has been tossed in favor of individualizing each product to insure both brand loyalty and obsolescence.
Our generation (Baby Boomers) was going to change the world to better mankind. What happened? Did we become so demoralized since we could not make things better that we decided to make them worse?
Overpopulation is probably one of the deadliest enemies we have. The pressure it brings to all of our systems is immense and unyielding. Any attempt to control it causes emotional outbursts and genocidal conflicts. If we do not control it we are swept up (or down) in a whirlpool of epic proportion. Anyway you look at it, we have an immense debt to pay, both fiscal and human. It ain't gonna to be pretty and with the dimwits running the government it is bound to be done in the worst way possible. Ya'all have a nice day now, ya hear!"
D. [End quote]
So how did we get to this point to begin with? I've written previously that 1980 was somehow a huge year in history. I keep bumping into it at every turn in my research. The downturn actually began in 1971 when the gold standard was dropped, but 1980 saw the real beginnings of the imminent failure of unchecked capitalism in a growth oriented society.
Since 1980, the national debt has risen 1000% and the U.S. has gone from the largest creditor nation to the largest debtor nation on earth. Were the Democrats or the Republicans the bad guys? Who is to blame? My belief is that every administration that the U.S. has had since the industrial revolution began in earnest should bear some blame. A growth based economy set on an exponential (ever expanding) platform in a finite world, is mathematically impossible. And the outcome of practicing such a basis is totally predictable.
We are now playing out the final hands in a game of bluff to see who blinks first and has to tell the truth. The stage was set, the plot was written, and the players were nearly irrelevant as to the ending.
Only a new plot could have changed the outcome and I think the playwright is dead.
Can we turn things around? Sure, but we probably won't, as it would require new leadership. I continue to promote Ron Paul for president. The reason is simple; what we are currently doing won't work regardless of which party steers the boat. It's a mathematical impossibility.
We can change leadership and the direction that we are traveling, or simply wait until we pitch over the falls. Your choice.
Wake up Middle America, that roaring sound is not the crowds cheering.
