Posted on 06/08/2012 9:22:17 AM PDT by Kartographer
Policies create incentives and disincentives. Some are intended, some fall into the category of unintended consequences. Regardless of their intention, policies that create windfalls ("easy money") or open spigots of "free money" (or what is perceived as free money by the recipient) quickly gather the allegiance of everyone reaping the windfall or collecting the free money. This allegiance is soon tempered into political steel by self-justification: humans excel at rationalizing their self-interest. Thus my share of the swag is soon "absolutely essential."
Humans don't need much incentive to pursue windfalls or free money--seeking windfalls in the here and now is our default setting. Taking the pulpit to denounce humanity's innate greed, avarice and selfishness doesn't change this, as seeking short-term windfalls has offered enormous selective advantages for hundreds of thousands of years.
That which is painful to those collecting free money will be avoided, and that which is easy will be pursued until it's painful. Borrowing $1.5 trillion a year from toddlers and the unborn taxpayers of the future is easy and painless, as toddlers have no political power. So we will borrow from the powerless to fund our free money spigots until it becomes painful.
It won't become painful to borrow from our grandkids for quite some time, and it will probably not become progressively painful, either, because we will suppress the pain with superlow interest rates and other trickery. The pain will more likely be of the sudden, unexpected, "this can't be happening to me" heart-attack sort: the free-money machine will unexpectedly grind to a halt in some sort of easily predictable but always-in-the-future crisis.
(Excerpt) Read more at oftwominds.com ...
PING!
Nothing will change until the money runs out.................
Fiat currency never runs out. What happens is value goes to zero. Think Weirmar.
A 'Black Swan'?
There is no peaceful/painless way back from here.
We've been 'kicking the can' way to long.
Which many have pointed out for some time.
It is not possible intellectually to not see this. To blind one’s self requires an act of will, or stupidity.
Europe definitely, and the whole world possibly will be at war within five years.
Those who have been explaining what was coming and the economic inevitability of collapse coupled with the political realities making war the certain response to the collapse are going to ridicule the idiots who denied that this was coming. Just as we ridicule the idiots who said there was no housing over supply and no real estate bubble which was going to burst. Same people making up the opposing factions of thought in each case.
There is no peaceful/painless way back from here.
Redistribution of collected taxes to citizens (and non-citizens)account for over 2/3’s of our government spending.
Problem is we need to cut 2/3 or more of total government spending to even begin digging ourselves out of the hole.
We started with a flat tax in the early 20th century and we ended up where we are now. It’s time to give the Fair tax a chance to allow entrepreneurs and investors a chance at growing our way out of this mess. It might be too late. But it is the only feasible path forward that I see.
Some things have to break before they can be fixed.
Lets try to lessen and control spending first.... LOL
There are legitimate voices on both sides of the fence, but those sounds get drowned out by the greedy screams. And then we over-correct.
The only way back to lawful money is thru the pain from the collapse of this immoral Reserve system.
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