Let me propose something to you Chuck. Spender ideology has been alive and rampant for the past 50+ years - the problem is its growth has been in astronomical exponential figures of "Is my purse/car/home/shoes/clothes better than The Jones?" All is well and fine - as you are right - the spending feeds the market, which in turns spins the market around for the better good. All is well.
The problem with the spending ideology is that it has reached past the point of actually having money. The obvious clue here - is debt. But we have been past the debt issue for quite some time now too - this is no secret. The market however MUST continue to hold its gains or else it will fall flat. So while people such as yourself and I are putting money away for retirement (as well as realizing SS probably wont be there so we account for extra) and saving for when disasters occur, the rest are spending. However, the life has already been squeezed the living shit out of. All that is left are the people who know how to budget. The difference is that they won't budge. They know the best ways to survive. So whom gets squeezed? The spenders. They continue to spend spend spend so the government says "Toss more wood on the fire!". The end result? A circle-jerk of a never-ending recession as we build more lower class, few upper class - and demolish the middle class.
Look, I
used to worry about stuff like that, about socially indoctrinating generations of people to keep the consumption game going so Politicians wouldn't have to start making hard choices, and thus, demographics would stop rewarding them in lock step with their votes because they finally started to feel the pain. I really did! Trust me on this, I
was where you are at. But it finally occurred to me, that really, I was simply swimming against the current not to win the race, or for the benefit of my team (my team being America), but rather, simply for my own pride. Now I'm not saying not to have pride...pride is a good thing to have for certain. It's what keeps neighborhoods from having grass 2' high in their yards, and trees growing out of the gutters.
But pride can also F you if you're not careful. And the simple fact is, we have reached, and exceeded, the tipping point in the What can Gov give me/us voter level - and that level is just ever increasing, never decreasing; there are super smart guys who do their absolute best to ensure that it's ever increasing, they
need it to increase/remain high. The long and short of it is, Gov is going to continue blowing money it doesn't have in fantastical sums. In the highly -
highly - unlikely scenario that it finally hits parity with income, Gov spending will simply be so high as to never be cut. It's the saying, When I say jump!, you ask, How high?! The Gov version of this is, When I say how much can you spend?!, Gov says How high can you count?! Gov is limitless. It is controlled by Politicians who simply do not consider the reality of money. Those Politicians decide what to spend on, and how much. And those Politicians are elected by...that's right, those demographics that at ever increasing rates want that Gov interaction in their/our lives.
So what are you
really fighting against I ask? What you're fighting against is pride my friend. Certainly you can't think by you standing fast against the ever absurd amounts of spending (and, what Gov actually spends money on) that you'll win?
There is no winning this battle. My advice to you, rather than paying for and missing out all these great Gov "free" services, is to advocate for getting something for yourself! Without question that's what the poor think they're doing when they vote Dem...they understand which group at least says, and even sometimes minimally delivers some scraps to them, their sellout payment for their vote. I'm merely telling you to get yours while there is even a remote chance for the getting to be had.
Look, we can bill it as 'Saving our childrens economic future', or some other such BS moniker. What could be better than every net taxpayer stimulating the economy at literally every level with "free" money? Just think of the social ramifications of that! Every local shop will be booming with business. No more layoffs or closings. Heck, they'll have to hire people, and, those people will now have jobs and they can buy things. This will go on for
30 months!. This is a long term jobs program for not just Wall St., not just Union St., but for Main St.! (it helps if you say that in Obama common man voice inflection mode)
Come on over to the Spender side, the watahs fine!
