America Embraces John Maynard Keyens

Things run in cycles I suppose. The 19th and beginning of the 20th Centuries saw a move towards liberalism and for the most part embraced relatively free markets. The bulk of the 20th Century however saw an explosion of statism and big government. It was not untill the Berlin Wall fell near the end of the century that most of Europe began to liberalize. Now, nearing the end of the first decade of the 21st Century, it seems as though we are headed back to the times of central plannng that people such as Hitler and Stalin were such big fans of. What makes me believe this is so? Well simply look at the actions taken by the United States government and the majority of the people voting in a liberal radical like Barack Obama. I do not believe that America will take a similair path socially that Germany and the Soviet Union did, and I by no means beleive that Obama would engage in such actions. However, I do think that he will hinder, and do so severly, our economic freedom. And simply be proxy this will to some degree affect our social freedom as well.

America has a problem, a spending problem. For some reason the answer to our economic problems proposed by most economists, analyists, "experts" and government officials is to spend. We spent too much, our economy is in a hole so the answer is....more spending?? I've heard some analyists actually say things such as how Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke debacing our currency is "helping us." I've also heard some analysist say that they agree that spening more now will be a temporary fix but hey thats a problem to deal with later on. This is exactly the problem. Most politicians, such as presidents, can not see past their own term nor do they care what happens past their own term in office. They only care about rhetoric and being re-elected.

Simply look at the root causes of almost all of our problems. We spend too much over seas to maintain our empire, billions every month. We spent to much to gurantee home ownership now banks, financial institutions and lenders are bankrupt and people have been evicted. Our economy is a service heavy economy where we do not produce or make anything. The answer to our problems is not more spedning, it is producing and saving. Our parents and grand parents did not use credit to buy clothing, or auto mobiles. They saved and produced untill they could afford those items. Credit is not all bad, sometimes loans and credit are necessary. However saving and producing have to be the main factor or else the economy becomes unstable. This process of government spending to "stimulate" the economy comes directly from Keyens. It was an absurd idea in the 1930's and time has not sweetened it.

Peter Schiff made a great anaology in his book "Crashproof: How ot Profit From the Coming Economic Collapse." He said "Imagine there are 3 people stranded in an island. One is Japanese, one is Chinese and the last one is American. They decide to divide the work load in order to survive. The Japanese person hunts, fishes and forages for food. The Chinese person builds the shelter and provides other needs that come with housing, such as chairs, tables etc. The American is assigned the role of eating. The modern economists sees this and says, hey good thing the American is there. He makes everything go! Without him the two other men would have nothing to do with their food and shelter! This is absurd of course. The Chinese and Japanese men will soon realize that the American simply consumes and does not produce. Soon they will stop providing for him. This is how the American economy is structured."

Mr Schiff is absolutely right. We keep borrowing, spending and consuming like this and soon the countries that loan us money will stop doing it, they will realize we can not afford to pay them back and that they can make just as much money selling to their own citizens. China has over 1billion people, America has only around 300 million. Then we will have to tax our own citizens into the dirt and print more of our own money, which will destroy us even more. This tactic of government spending and big government policies is what is bankrupting America. 700 billion for Wall Street, 17 billion to the auto industry, billions over seas, billions in domestic spending, high corporate taxes, high income taxes, high property taxes etc etc etc. Now Obama promises a "Second New Deal." You know what deal I want and a lot of Americans want? The deal where we get to keep our money and are not punished for being successful. The deal where we tackle big government and get the government off our backs and out of our pockets! That deal is something that has not been tried in quite a long time, and I believe it is over due. This idea that politicans can simply give us things is insane. Simply because they pass legislature or pass a bill does not guarntee anything. This rhetoric about job creation, education and anything else in the grab bag of promises these politicans promise is nuts. Politicans and the government DO NOT create jobs, hell they do not create anything! Business owners create jobs. Risk takers who want to make money are the innovators and creators not politicans. They promise and declare to give us all these goodies and they can not do a damn thing about any of them. They are banking on the fact the we believe that by simply declaring or wishing something we can get it. The question should be "should the government do this, what can I do for myself?" Not "What can the government do for me?" Americans need to become more self reliant. However in light of the recent election I am not optimisitic that any real "change" is coming. Rock the vote indeed.

In Liberty,
Mr. Jefferson

"Hell hath no fury like a bureaucrat scorned."
-Milton Friedman