Sep
6
Love Your Country Hate Your Government
September 6, 2010 | 5 Comments
It’s Labor Day, a holiday set up for the working folks in the economy. It’s also a hallmark for the labor unions from which much of the past century’s good and bad can be sourced.
This writer can count among family and friends those who have benefited from love of country, and those who have sacrificed to keep the country safe, free and filled with hope, choice and the prospect of happiness. For the purpose here country is your own turf, the community in close proximity and the rest of us spread far and wide to each border. The love is for the people, the scenery, the resources, and the blessings of each place and its occupants. The country is all of us and the environment around us, a situation uniquely seen from every eye, but in every positive view a joy to behold well worth its defense, protection and considered use.
Americans, so far at least, are still free to hate the government. It’s a tradition well earned and earning more emotional regard with each passed law. The past months have seen more law, regulations, compulsory programs and other bits forced on the citizenry with near elitist élan never before seen in American history. It’s also a show of contempt on the productive, self-sustaining and self-reliant people who occupy this country. Government knows better than you what’s good for you, and you have to pass the law to find out what’s in it. Somehow the government world got turned upside down, or more likely ripped apart such that keeping track of what its up to is beyond any citizen.
Labor built this country, digging foundations, setting bricks, pounding nails, wiring in the electricity, and doing all the things from a concept to a finished structure and the lives and production that takes place within. It goes to responsible conduct, taking risks, working hard and smart and gathering the consequences both good and bad. America is blessed as the consequences are in the main much more good for everyone than the bad for a few.
Along the way the 20th century saw more and more of the fruits of taking responsibility and the risks and rewards siphoned off with taxes and errors in judgment of a few answered with regulations for all. Not all of that is bad, but there comes a turning point – which seems to be upon us – and gathering force as a nasty storm.
The eerie thing is the situation was foretold, in a plan set forth by two professors, Richard Cloward and Frances Fox Piven, both sociologists and political activists at the Columbia University School of Social Work and educators of one Barack Obama. Make of that what you will.
The plan simply put is to gain control of American society and its economy by overwhelming the system with government spending and entitlement demands. It’s a crude but brilliant Machiavellian plan to turn the United States into centrally controlled state with a permanent majority that desperately needs government for economic survival that can be counted on to always vote for bigger government.
The evidence is vivid, from the health plans 16,000 new IRS agents to join the already unionized Internal Revenue Service, from the stimulus plan a staggering $125 billion went to teachers protecting their union affiliation, billions more to save or create jobs of government employees across the country. The stimulus plans also saved GM and Chrysler so that their employees could keep their unions intact outside of a bankruptcy.
Meanwhile the public employee is said to enjoy a 30% higher income than the private sector employee. That puts the public servant in a better economic situation than the citizen. And the number of public employees continues to grow – most as union members.
There was a time just decades ago that irresponsible management bled laboring people who alone had no bargaining power. A union of people brought some equality to the bargaining of what labor’s share of the production pie was paid for the work to get goods made. It was an effort worth doing and made the nation richer and stronger as well as building a nation of consumers for a much-expanded economy with vastly larger opportunities.
But as with all good things union efforts went too far and handed manufacturing to people in other countries with labor costs soaking up capital investment that could have keep manufacturing jobs and made them better paying.
Union growth has nearly abandoned the private sector as opportunities have evaporated. Instead the union leadership focused on government personnel, an exploitation too easy to miss with votes and money measured in millions to buy their way. Labor leadership has never been so fat, so happy and so rich in opportunity, influence and power.
It can’t last. This summer saw government employees riot to protect their privileged jobs in Greece. When the private sector cash flow shrinks the bloated government has to borrow or suck out even more cash from the economy. Greece failed and the EU and the U.S. poured in money to keep the rioters off the streets.
One can justifiably hate a government that loses its way. Sides have been set, those who produce wealth for an economy to function and those who live off the wealth. Certainly some and likely many government jobs are worth getting done – but not at a 30% premium. But backing up the situation looks to be a serious and dangerous effort.
This writer doesn’t spend time on the emotion, the hate – better to plot a means to survive, preserve one’s assets, and help the family and friends likely to get caught up in the adjustment. One can learn a lot from the Greeks again. As the Romans learned to their destruction, democracy is fine until people learn to vote good things for themselves.
Does anyone believe America can vote itself out of this mess? This writer certainly hopes so.
Have a happy holiday.
Comments
5 Comments so far
Will I really say to you that there is no alternative to markets? Please think about it, OK?
After the GOP takes the house in November – the state bailouts will end. California, Michigan and New York will be hit hard.
California will request that the Federal Govt guarantee their debt. But, the Congress will not and the President cannot.
So, next Spring, the state of California will have a government that implodes.
There will be bloody riots in the streets by govt unions.
Next Spring. Early Summer by the latest.
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