Descent into Insanity

This is going to be another one of those posts that is going to come at you like a shotgun. I'm surprised at the number of people who actually read this cathartic process of mine. I've been hit with so many questions and topics to expand upon that I have to wonder sometimes if the hand of Saul Alinsky is not trying to collapse my ADHD riddled brain (just kidding about the mental illness thing). So here it goes:

What the hell are we doing? Have we all lost our minds and the ability to think rationally? As a culture, as a people, as a nation, and as a race (Humanity, folks, not just Americans) do we even think beyond the next month? Does anyone read a book anymore? Does anyone even try to learn from the mistakes of others? That is what a wise person does, by the way. Only a fool learns from their own mistakes (then again, I was wise and foolish in equal parts growing up...better then most of my friends growing up).

When did we stop holding our political representatives accountable for amoral, illegal, or questionable ethical behavior? When did we think it was ok to spend both more than we earn and what we are worth, net? When did we think it was ok to live like there is no tomorrow and hand the check down to two or three generations of our children? Why are we not rioting because of this? How can Obama spend what he does (actually, sign off on the spending proposed by Congress) and then claim the mantle of fiscal responsibility and not projectile vomit?

I guess it is because you have to have a sense of morals and principles. Guilt. I look at guilt as a mental expression or analogue to physical pain. It is an internal string that vibrates when you stray from the path of the moral and the virtuous. Our culture, our religion, our parents, our intellect and our friends modify that string while we are growing up. I also believe that we are born with that string pre-installed by the divine spark (go ahead and smirk, I don't mind). Unless you have a bona fide mental disorder or a physical disorder of the brain, we all have an innate sense of right and wrong. I also believe that all humans are born inherently "good". Like a nerve, though, over stimulation or inattentiveness to that pain will deaden that nerve. The stimulus is there, but there is no more electrical impulse, just as if the string vibrations are ignored for long enough, then you will no longer be hampered with that sense of guilt. God/Jesus, whomever you believe to be divine is incapable of turning away from you. We are their expressions in this world. It is always us that turns away from them. There are no exceptions.

So where is this insanity coming from? Humans evolved in groups and understood early on that we stand a better chance at survival if we band together into groups. Over time, those groups became extended families, then clans, then extended ethnic groups. Eventually, clumps of people came together to form political units of various complexities. The affect on the individual was that we came to rely on others' specialized training. We came to rely on other's in general. The vast majority of people are followers, not leaders. This means that leaders can get away with a lot before enough of the followers rebel. The rise of the modern Nations State, say with Louis XIV, set us on the path that we are on today. At the root of it all, how do billions of people live together in an increasingly complex economic and technological world?

Free market capitalism and Marxism are opposing views of how wealth and labor are distributed within a body of individuals. Federalism and Communism are opposing views of politics and how the individuals within that body are able to express themselves and determine how much control is given to the governing body.

The vast majority of people do not have the time, inclination, interest, or care to learn about that stuff in depth. They revert to their pre-industrial roots and assume several things: 1) the people in the suits know what they are doing, 2) they have my best interests as their intentions, 3) my life will go on as it always has without unwanted interference, 4) it will all work out for the better in the end.

The universe does not care what we think or assume. Wishing it to be so does not make it so.

The foulest evil has grown in the soil of great intentions since the beginning of our race. The individual will always try to make the best decisions for themselves. The individual that leads the family unit will always try to create the best future for their family. See where I'm going here? A clan will square off with another clan for space, resources, or privilege. Happens all the time. The further away from the individual that a decision is made, the less likely that decision will benefit the individual. The higher up the scale you go, the more those decisions are made for the group and not the individual.

The individual can look at what the Federal Government is going and call it crazy, but no one will listen to them. The suits all feel that they understand Economics and Finance better than the little guy. Of course they do. The Common Man who earns $50,000 per year knows that you can not borrow $50,000 the first year, and $30,000 every year after that for ten years and still be able to pay the interest on that debt. Never mind the original loan amount. How is this good for the Federal Treasury? Nations are different from people, and a certain amount of debt does spur growth, since a country does not EARN profits, but taxes the available surplus cash of their people, but that is another blog and distracts from the point I'm trying to make.

The entire world seems to have gone insane. Through pride and jealousy, the European Monetary Union worked for 60 years to create a common currency. In 1999 the framework was agreed upon and in 2002 the Euro came into existence. The Europeans were proud that their currency had a base value that appreciated greater than the US dollar. Forget for a moment that they have no unified military and a military infrastructure that has less firepower and manpower than our big city police departments. The traditionally western parts of Europe are Social Democracies, where the governments are nanny states and the people have very little power or electoral voice.

When the Euro was adopted, the French and German leaders each told their people that the lesser European nations will find stability in the Euro and be free from the gyrations of their 'inferior' currencies. The European Central Bank, and the policies coming out of Brussels will provide a stable platform for Europe to come together economically and politically. Sort like a Socialized Union of European States. The reality has been one where the Greeks, the Portuguese, the Italians and others used the enhanced value of the Euro to go on spending binges, doubling their national debts every four years or so, despite all the rules coming out of Brussels. Now the Euro is unravelling. The Greeks discovered that by adopting the Euro, they gave up the traditional benefits of an 'inferior' currency. In the 1980's, if the Greek economy faltered, then the value of its currency fell as well. This made Greece more attractive for foreign investment. This would then correct the larger economic picture for that country. Capital would flow, much like warm and cold air in a system. Without these self-correcting mechanisms, they simply become an impoverished sector in a larger European Nation, beholding to the benevolence and the whims of others outside the borders of Greece.

Our Federal policies place us increasingly under the thumb of China. If you owe money to someone, you are beholden to that person. Works the same for countries.

Does any of this cross the minds of our elected leaders? Obviously not. Are there differences between the Republican Party and the Democrat Party? Yes, but only one of degrees. The overall direction is opposite that of the intent of our Founders. The Tea Party movement is great, but as I knew would happen, they are being infiltrated and co-opted by the progressive elements of both parties, each trying to tap into its energy. The self-destruction of Ms. Medina in Texas is a good example of this. Vigilance will be required if the movement it to survive.

Things are going to get much, much worse before they get better. We will have to reset our government and our economy. Our debts will have to be discharged or ignored if we are to survive. This mean ruining our honor and our integrity as a nation and a people. At double-digit, cumulative GDP growth, it will take us 75 years of continuous growth to pay off the debt that Obama-Reid-Pelosi have racked up in this budget and the next several. Insanity.

There is not enough money in the world. The entire Planetary GDP can not pay off the debt we have racked up. Doesn't anyone see this? Does anyone care? The world will care when a future administration simply says, nope, we are writing off all this debt and obligations. Try suing us or invading us, we dare you.

It may have to come to that. Insanity indeed.

--Zavost