Posted on 01/15/2014 8:03:49 AM PST by SeekAndFind
The wealth of nations has increased by astronomical amounts over the last 2 decades. Literally billions of people have been brought out of poverty thanks to economic freedom. It is as if once the Soviet Union died, once the scourge of international socialism was utterly and completely decimated both economically and intellectually, humanity couldnt help but lurch forward.
Actually that is what happened.
Sadly we have gone in the opposite direction over the last 2 decades. Instead of freeing our economy we have wrapped it ever more in welfare state red tape. We have regulations on top of regulations on top of regulations. We make it harder for businesses to start. We make it harder for businesses to hire. We promise completely unrealistic pensions to government workers which are paid for by workers and businesses and crush the finances of our great cities. We nationalize car companies. We bail out banks which should be dead. Our government picks winners and losers of all kinds in the economy (and is almost always wrong at great cost). In short, the United States which for so long was a beacon of liberty and economic freedom has dimmed dramatically. A system of crony capitalism has taken hold. The state (often the corporate state) is ubiquitous.
We must again embrace liberty and economic freedom. This is the way to an American Renaissance. We can again lead the world. We can again be a source of hope to the world.
You know, REAL hope.
(From The Wall Street Journal)
Its not hard to see why the U.S. is losing ground. Even marginal tax rates exceeding 43% cannot finance runaway government spending, which has caused the national debt to skyrocket. The Obama administration continues to shackle entire sectors of the economy with regulation, including health care, finance and energy. The intervention impedes both personal freedom and national prosperity.
But as the U.S. economy languishes, many countries are leaping ahead, thanks to policies that enhance economic freedomthe same ones that made the U.S. economy the most powerful in the world. Governments in 114 countries have taken steps in the past year to increase the economic freedom of their citizens. Forty-three countries, from every part of the world, have now reached their highest economic freedom ranking in the indexs history.
Democrat, someone willing to trade Faith & Freedom for free stuff
The rest of the globe has tried Socialism and seen it fail.
Since we experience extreme tunnel vision, our populace is largely oblivious to this, and hence seems inclined to give it a whirl.
I would never do it based on a couple of debriefings of emigrees from the former Soviet Bloc. But the great unwashed don’t have the energy for that apparently.
Churchill was right. We will always do the right thing, once we’ve exhausted all of the alternatives.
The same as the Great Depression. US was dead last in recovery. Hitler was a horrible person who traded ideas with the US progressives except o Economic issues where Germany was booming in the 1930’s. While the US was dipping into another recession.
People who promote socialism are guilty to varying degrees of crimes against humanity.
..fundamentally changed the US
A $17 trillion debt (soon to be $18T) pretty much ensures that runaway government spending will retard national economic growth for a long time to come. This unsustainable debt is going to wreck the country IMHO. Just a matter of time before it catches up with us.
On the bright side, this story suggests that many investing opportunities lie overseas.
Socialism depends on the growth of a large underclass and they are growing.
Public schools have become literal breeding grounds for the next generation of dependents.
Would giving away free contraception at these schools be okay if it meant that there would be fewer socialists in 20 years?
He only has to be wrong once.
One day, it will be Americans paying thousands of dollars to be smuggled into Russia or China for a chance to live in freedom.
Also, many of the foreign countries WELCOME Americans especially if you make a deposit in their countries banks.
This is becoming much more of a reality now more so than even ten years ago because of the internet. If it was up to me(not the Mrs) I would retire outside of this country. There are many places in the world where you can live a lot cheaper than the USA.
RE: Also, many of the foreign countries WELCOME Americans especially if you make a deposit in their countries banks.
Errr... NOT ANYMORE.
Ever since the Swiss capitulated to the USA and disclosed US citizen bank accounts ( formerly secret ), the world has changed.
International Banks doing business in the USA are REQUIRED to disclose the accounts of US citizens ANYWHERE in the world OR ELSE.... their US business gets audited.
This has made banks RELUCTANT to accept any deposits from US citizens because of the onerous paper work and risks involved.
See here for instance:
The better solution would be to obtain a foreign passport ( easier said than done ) and then open an overseas account with THAT passport instead. An American passport is practically lepers to many international banks ( especially those with US branches ).
I was thinking more like Ecuador, Belize, Chile, BVI, Nicaragua, Thailand, etc.
Costa Rica, Panama, have become too expensive.
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