I've thought long and hard about whether or not to put my personal political opinions in print here as my blog is 99% about running and "light" subjects. However, for once I feel that I cannot keep my mouth shut. Some of you who read my blog will mostly certainly disagree with me, but I hope we can agree to disagree and still respect one another.
To throw some numbers out there and put things into perspective, consider the following:
If you deposited $1 million into a pot every day since the birth of Jesus (whose birth is a fact, whether or not you believe he is the son of God and I do), you would still not have enough to pay for the stimulus package:
2,009 years x 365 days x $1 mill = $733.3 billion (give or take a hundred thou).
I'm guessing that when you get to a certain point, the word "trillion" is just that, a word, and not one that is too awfully important. At least not to those in the seats of power.
In less than 2 months, Mr. Obama and the Democratic Congress have managed to double the national debt. Where is the money coming from? How will be repaid? How can he justify his desire to take from those who have worked damn hard for what they have and give to those who haven't? Ever hear of a little thing called a Ponzi Scheme? Sounds suspiciously like what Mr. Obama is doing. For those of you who have children and grandchildren, the burden he has created will rest squarely on their heads, as well as their children's heads, and I am so very sorry for them.
A quote by the late Dr. Adrian Rogers, 1931–2005
"You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by
legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one
person receives without working for, another
person must work for without receiving.
The government cannot give to anybody anything
that the government does not first take from somebody else.
When half of the people get the idea that they
do not have to work because the other half is
going to take care of them, and when the other
half gets the idea that it does no good to work
because somebody else is going to get what they
work for, that my dear friend, is about the end
of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it."
Furthermore, a quote by Gerald Ford (14 July 1913 – 26 December 2006) , the 38th President of the United States, in his Presidential address to a joint session of Congress (12 August 1974) : "A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have."
Mr. Obama is fast moving our country toward a socialist society. One need only look at the history of Russia to understand, with extreme clarity, that socialism doesn't work.
I am truly afraid of the direction our country is headed and can only hope that the eyes of whose who have the power to make change are opened wide before it's too late.
7 comments:
While I understand (and toooootally respect) your concerns/opinions, could we not be in a state of flux that demands some kind of drastic change? Maybe capitalism needs to wither slightly, only to be stimulated by breaking of the "rules" that have already been preset?
In the parlance of running: You can't expect to do speedwork/long runs back-to-back for so long before you get inured and then crosstrain a bit, only to return to what once was.
Hey, downtime is frightening, but as we know: The bad patches only last for so long before they are addressed, altered, and then disappear.
Obama is a Marxist. One only has to look at his past to see this as fact. His close affiliation with William Ayers (a proud Marxist and unrepentant cop-killer) and his 20 year membership in the Trinity United Church of Christ who’s teachings (Black Theology Religion) is based on Marxism. These are just two of the most publicized examples, there are many others. He is brilliantly using the current economic crisis to push through his socialist agenda.
But as you noted, Socialism doesn’t work. The USSR nearly bankrupt itself as a result of it political and social system. Cuba, once a thriving country in the 50s, is now a mess after years of Castro’s leadership. Obama wants the US to become more like the European socialist model. Good luck. Those countries have high unemployment, low productivity and a standard of living 30% below that of the United States.
Socialism doesn’t work because there is never enough wealth in any country to spread around to everyone. It’s impossible to raise everyone’s standard of living by taking from those that have and giving it to those that don’t. It just makes everyone poor and dependant on government for their existence. And that is Obama’s ultimate goal.
Thanks for your comments, gentlemen. Wasn't sure what I'd get out of my post, but I very much enjoy gathering others' opinions.
Nothing is ever black and white, and obviously I have no solution to the current situation. But suffice to say, the direction we're currently going scares the hell out of me, especially for my father, whose meager savings has, in less than 2 months, dwindled down to almost nothing. And who, at the age of almost 68 and not in the greatest of health, will probably have to work the rest of his life 'cause he can't afford to retire anymore. It is patently unfair and infuriates me to no end.
Again - thanks for leaving your comments. They are greatly appreciated.
Leslie --
It is a fascinating and frightening subject: So many have lost so much, so very quickly, my family included. Lucky me, I have nothing to lose! Hurray for being part of the working poor!
Uh. Maybe not, but still, it's the silver lining.
Hey, Dan: We've seen Marxism and Socialism don't work. Communism too. Looks like Capitalism is following the course, eh?
So much for "isms".
I agree with your concept but I think your math is a bit wrong as I calculate
2009 * 365 * 1,000,000,000 to be 733,285,000,000,000 which is 733.285 Trillion
-TriKev
TriKev - I'll have to get back to my uncle on that. Parish the thought that he got his figures wrong! (My calculator doesn't have enough zero space . . .)
Rusty,
Capitalism isn't perfect. There will always be greedy and dishonest people taking advantage of the system when they can. But then again, you'll find that to be true in any 'ism' system. Over time it's still been proven to be the 'best' system for it's people. It would certainly work better with less government intervention.
Example: General Motors should never have received bail-out money, aka government intervention. It should have failed due to its own poor management and filed for bankruptcy, aka capitalism. It actually would have emerged a stronger company after bankruptcy and could have survived with its own capital. Instead, it remains a weak, vulnerable company that will never be capable of turning a profit under it's current corporate structure. It will continue to feed at the government trough, and Washington will continue to pour billions of taxpayer money into the deep abyss.
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