Governments never learn, only people learn.
- Milton Friedman

Under Woodrow Wilson the Federal Reserve came into existence under the pretext of providing a stabilizing force to control the economic cycles.  12 years after it’s creation the longest economic crisis in American history happened.

Under Roosevelt The New Deal gave unprecedented power to the federal government.  These new powers allowed government to jump into each new disaster without worrying as much about the troublesome restrictions the Constitution placed on federal powers.  From this point forward, when situations arose, people turned to government, and government acted.  When the problems did not go away, government gained more power, more money and kept trying.  30 to 40 years with the War on Poverty and War on Drugs, government still requests money and power to fix the problems.  Do we ever learn?

Johnson turned to the disenfranchised and appealed to the American sense of decency to give welfare to the poor.  “Welfare” was an interesting name for a program.  Since the word is used in our founding documents, it must be constitutional right?  Not only did this advance the causes of redistribution and socialism, but it has also lead to the general accepted use of misdirection in legislation names.  If a ‘privacy’ bill is passed, your privacy is probably gone.  If a ‘child protection’ act becomes law, parents are probably no longer the protector of their children.

Under Clinton nothing huge seemed to happen.  It looked like we would have government health care forced upon us, but that did not pass.  One small thing slipped by, the quasi-government mortgage backers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were pressured to release funds to under qualified applicants.  No one, not democrats, not republicans, and very few libertarians would see this for the looming disaster it has turned into.

Under Bush we made some huge strides into fascism.  The rights of the individual became secondary to the will of the government.  Additionally, Bush gave us an unjustified war by mistake which has had crippling costs.  Finally, let’s not forget the end of the Bush years with multiple stimulus packages, each more costly than the last.

So who got us into this mess?  All of the above, plus WE let them.  It could also be said that It’s human nature.

Societies without much government interference grow and prosper.  Then they misguidedly look after the lower classes with government welfare.  Government grows, causes problems, and then grows again when everyone habitually turns to government to fix the next crisis, which comes sooner and sooner.

All the great societies of the world have fallen before us.  Now it’s our turn.  I would say it is inevitable, but we have something working in our favor that never existed before:  exponential growth of technology.

If the rapid growth of computers, the internet, and digital storage hadn’t introduced an entirely new industry to America over the last 15 years, our economy would have likely collapsed years ago.

A new industry now could prolong our way of life.  Advances in alternative energy could have a breakthrough allowing cheap and clean energy.  Medical/biological advances could add years to our lives and possible allow the skilled senior citizens to remain economically valuable in their later years.  Robotics could improve overall productivity.  Nanotechnology could build anything and everything for pennies, which we might be able to afford in the decades to come.

So what should we be doing now?  Hell if I know.  Be very wary of government that has a plan.  It’s likely that if you think our current problems are bad, just wait until you see the solutions.

The unions might be good for the people who are in the unions but it doesn’t do a thing for the people who are unemployed. Because the union keeps down the number of jobs, it doesn’t do a thing for them. -Milton Friedman

One of the beautiful aspects of a free market system is choice.  In a free market economy you can choose which grocery store to buy from, which movies to see, and what car to buy.  Not only can you choose which companies to do business with, you can choose which to avoid.

Let’s not debate the merits of Unions.  I’m comfortable with agreeing to disagree that Unions are destroying the spirit of innovation that helped make America great.  This has never been a problem in the past because freedom-loving individualists have had the ability to choose a Union-made automobile or a non-Union alternative.  That choice is now gone.  We may not be forced to buy Union cars (yet), but we are forced to support the Unions with our tax dollars.  Now, even if you buy a small foreign car with great gas mileage, you can take comfort in the fact that you are also paying for a vehicle you purposely chose to avoid.

You may not agree with my positions, but do you really believe it is fair to force every American to support Unions?  This is the path we are now walking.  All Americans will be forced to support causes whether they agree or disagree. Our tax dollars are now contributing to disastrous corporate strategies.  Are you happy about paying for CEO golden parachutes?  Nobody cares what you think, you are now supporting the cause of keeping failed CEO’s in the lifestyle they are accustomed to.  Are you a proponent of Detroit’s strategy of an SUV in every driveway?  Your representatives no longer care about your opinion, your tax dollars will be paying for that failed business mistake for years to come.

Whether your cause of choice is corrupt politicians funneling money to Unions, wooden arrows, Wallstreet, ACORN, or CEO compensation packages – congratulations, you and every other American are now contributors to the cause.  Were you smart enough to realize Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, AIG, Ford, GM, Chrysler, and countless banks were terrible investments?  Tough, you now own a piece or are financing all of them.  Plus, you have the added benefit of typical government incompetence in managing your hard earned tax dollars, they have already lost track of $300 billion of your money.  $300 billion here, $300 billion there, pretty soon this is going to get expensive. The loss of choice just one sad consequence of allowing government to grow in power, size, and intrusiveness.  There once was a time when you could pick and choose the products you buy, the causes you support, the companies you invest in, and the charities you wish to donate to.  You are now being robbed of that ability to choose.  Now, you will be forced to give until it hurts to any cause or company politicians have deemed beneficial to their own self-interest. Welcome to the new America:  less choice, more government. Tags: bailouts, big government, capitalism, unions
]]> http://www.sheeplepeople.com/the-end-of-choice/feed/ 7 http://www.sheeplepeople.com/ron-paul-speech-on-bailout/ http://www.sheeplepeople.com/ron-paul-speech-on-bailout/#comments Mon, 29 Sep 2008 23:12:52 +0000 admin http://www.sheeplepeople.com/ron-paul-speech-on-bailout/ “The most serious mistake that could be made here today is to blaim free market capitalism for this problem.  This has nothing to do with free market capitalism.”

“If you destroy the dollar you’re going to destroy a worldwide economy.”

Go get ‘um Ron Paul! Here is the complete Ron Paul Speech:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The bailout failed, but I am sure Ron Paul will get another chance to speak when the house pushes another ill conceived package.

Is your Rep fighting for you or against you?  See exactly who voted Yea or Nay for the Bailout.

Yea House Representative Votes

Nay House Representative Votes

Click here to view the embedded video.

Did your House of Representatives delegate vote the right way? House of Representatives Bailout Vote

Republicans are blaiming the Pelosi Speech for the bailout failing.  For a sound argument against the bailout you can’t beat Ron Paul: Ron Paul speech before the bailout vote.

The vote is still open until the chair “President of the House” closes it. It will take 13 more members to move over to the Yea side for the Bailout bill to pass.

While writing this one vote has now changed, 227 Nay and 205 Yeah votes. Someone has gotten the strong arm beat down.

Holy Sheep! The vote has changed again! Now it’s 226 Nay and the DOW is down 392.

How many more votes will change I don’t know, but you can bet your Trillion of dollars shady stuff is going on at the voting floor.

UPDATE 3:03pm EST: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi Speech declares “Martial Law”?

Click here to view the embedded video.