America... What Went Wrong? The Answer.
81 There have been many books over the years on the subject -- too many to list here, but look for Amazon book links on this hub.
Basically, two general areas are discussed in those books:
1) Our declining standard of living - we're not living as well as we once did, and we're not living as well as our grandparents or parents (depending on our age) did back in the 1950s and 1960s.
2) Our declining freedom - we're taxed more and controlled more.
The various books point out the problems, but most don't get to the root of the problems -- the cause of the problems. Without knowing and addressing the root cause, no solutions are possible.
First, if you are a Republican and think it's the Democrats' fault, you're right. Second, if you are a Democrat and think it's the Republicans' fault, you're right. But, it goes deeper.
The root cause is YOU and your stupidity, ignorance, envy, and greed that keeps you voting for Democrats and Republicans. Every year the Demopublicans sucker you in. They tell you exactly what you want to hear; then you vote them in; then they cash in at your expense. And then you are always so surprised and shocked that they are screwing you over. Grow up!
"I'm going to vote for the lesser of two evils." "I don't want to waste my vote." These and similar are copouts that you use. The power elite are laughing up their sleeves at your stupidity. It doesn't make any difference to them as to who are their lap dogs, their puppets. Whether it's Bush, Clinton, Perot, Gore, McCain, Obama -- it doesn't matter to the power elite as to who runs their errands and reads off a teleprompter.
The elite, their mouthpieces (Clinton, Bush, Obama...), and their lackeys (congressmen and women, such as Kennedy, Boxer, Pelosi...) will still get their limos, trips, medical care, lavish retirement, underground nuclear and bioweapon shelters, and other perks at your expense. It doesn't make any difference to them if you own a car or you have to ride a bicycle, or if you own a 3-bedroom home or have to crowd into a one room tin shack.
You keep on looking to big daddy government to make it all right, to fix everything for you -- to solve your problems. The people in government don't want to solve your problems; if they did, they'd be out of their plush jobs. They want to create BIGGER problems. Do you ever wonder why it is that the bigger government gets -- more taxes, laws, controls -- the bigger the problems? (Probably not, but in case you did, it's not an accident.) The politicians and bureaucrats know that as they create bigger problems, that you will buy into their sloganeering that you need them to fix the problems. They know that you want to hear them say that they'll dry your tears and wipe your behind for you. To "lead" you.
Books for the intelligent wanting to be informed
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America: What Went Wrong?
by Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele. "Worried that you are falling behind, not living as well as you once did?..."
Price: $2.89
List Price: $14.95 |
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Secrets of the Temple: How the Federal Reserve Runs the Country
by William Greider. Thomas Jefferson warned against the establishment of a central bank (i.e., an entity such as the Federal Reserve). Google Jefferson's warning to see why, and how his prediction of the consequences has come to pass.
Price: $11.38
List Price: $21.00 |
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The Creature from Jekyll Island: A Second Look at the Federal Reserve
by G. Edward Griffin. Thomas Jefferson warned against the establishment of a central bank (i.e., an entity such as the Federal Reserve). Google Jefferson's warning to see why, and how his prediction of the consequences has come to pass.
Price: $18.95
List Price: $24.50 |
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What Has Government Done to Our Money? and The Case for a 100 Percent Gold Dollar
by Murray Rothbard. Our paper (fiat) money enables the power elite to steal the wealth of their "lessers" (us).
Price: $17.00
List Price: $17.00 |
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The Great Income Tax Hoax: Why You Can Immediately Stop Paying This Illegally Enforced Tax
by Irwin Schiff. The income tax laws are unconstitutional. However, that doesn't stop the IRS from enforcing them and throwing guys like Schiff into jail for letting us know about that.
Price: $17.92
List Price: $28.00 |
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Atlas Shrugged (Centennial Ed. HC)
by Ayn Rand.
"Who is John Galt?" The man who stopped the motor of the world.
Price: $19.93
List Price: $39.95 |
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The Late Great U.S.A.: The Coming Merger With Mexico and Canada
by Jerome R. Corsi.
Price: $7.05
List Price: $25.95 |
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Crossing the Rubicon: The Decline of the American Empire at the End of the Age of Oil
by Michael C. Ruppert (Author), Catherine Austin Fitts (Forward).
Price: $10.95
List Price: $22.95 |
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The Collapsing Bubble: Growth And Fossil Energy
by Lindsey Grant.
Price: $5.08
List Price: $9.95 |
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The Law
by Frederic Bastiat.
"The law perverted! And the police powers of the state perverted along with it! The law, I say, not only turned from its proper purpose but made to follow an entirely contrary purpose! The law become the weapon of every kind of greed! Instead of checking crime, the law itself guilty of the evils it is supposed to punish!"
Price: $8.89
List Price: $9.99 |
Mexico: The Future of the U.S.
Your living standards are going down the tubes; look at Mexico if you
want to see what your lifestyle is going to be like in five or so
years. Your freedom is going down the tubes; look at China if you want
to see what your lifestyle is going to be like in ten or so years. You
have an undeserved superiority complex. You were relatively lucky to be
born in the U.S., that's it. Your big accomplishment is luck. The fact
is, you have demonstrated that you are just as stupid and ignorant as
Mexicans and Chinese -- or Arabs. You had relative freedom and
prosperity -- and YOU BLEW IT by voting for Republicrat and
Demopublican politicians. You have been offered superb alternatives in
the past, but you have ignored them.
It's wake up time! Are you
going to keep voting for the slime that have screwed you in the past,
so they can screw you over even more?
If you are a Republican, you are utterly stupid if you think that it
will be all better with whichever Republican is running for President
when you read this, and if only we could get a Republican Congress.
If
you are a Democrat, you are utterly stupid if you think getting
Clinton, Obama or whichever Democrat is running for President when you
read this, in will get the country "moving" again. (Well, maybe moving
as in bowel.)
Historical note: For you Perot fans, that's a guy that made his billions off the taxpayer's backs -- big computer contracts for big government -- to supposedly help fix the problems of the 1970s and 1980s. He was establishment through and through. Did he really say anything much different than did Bush and Clinton?
If
you keep voting for slime like Bush, Clinton, Perot, Bush, Clinton,
Obama, McCain, you're going to keep getting slime like Bush, Clinton,
Perot, Bush, Clinton, Obama, McCain to vote for.
You can keep voting the Demopublican ticket or you can wise up and stand up.
There
is only one political party dedicated to chopping government down to
size and to restoring freedom and prosperity. That party is the
Libertarian Party. Every other one wants to control your morals and/or
your paycheck.
If you vote, vote LIBERTARIAN. Vote for
Libertarians running for local, state, and national office. If you
don't vote Libertarian, and you just vote for what you consider the
"lesser of two evils", you are just throwing your vote away.
OTH,
if you are intelligent and informed, I can't fault you for not voting
at all. If you do bother to vote, your vote will be swamped by millions
of mouth breathers, so why bother? A democracy or a democratic republic
depends on an intelligent and informed electorate. There haven't been
any of those for years, if ever. Frankly, I marvel that we've lasted as
long as we have, squandering as you have the gift that the founders
gave us. But never fear, we are reverting to type -- a society of lords
and serfs.
Note: I know I have not provided a book's worth of
examples and details; this is a Hub. I may, from time to time, post
more Hubs related to this. In the meantime, look up the Amazon book
links.
Sheep, and Shepherd du Jour
Chaos is coming to the city -- Protect Yourself
- Urban Survival Techniques
Added 2009-05-25: Unfortunately I see no solutions. Can't fix stupidity. So, it's quite possible that as the meltdown continues, you may need some urban survival techniques. Check out Golden Trumpet's insights. - Encouraging Overpopulation - A Major Cause of the Failure of American Institutions
Overpopulation is the major problem confronting the human race today. Ecological problems and resource shortages are simply a side effect. American institutions have failed because YOU support rewarding irresponsibility, including breeding children w
Hegelian Dialectic (Problem, "Solution", Bigger Problem...)
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Comments
I do not agree so much with the delivery, but the message has merit. It is a shame that the Libertarian, Green, and (gasp!) the Communist, and Socialist parties are not allowed to play on an even field with the Dems, and Rubs. I say let the people decide, and take away the big money. How to do that though...there's the tricky part.
I have been saying forever we need a third party . I am so sick of a ballot with no choices on It .
Like Trooper said there, that wasn't exactly a silky smooth message—more like a kick in the nads. But there is merit in what you say. I thought it was a Ron Paul ad til I got to the end. I think Libertarians are on to something; but how are they ever going to get 50% of the country to agree with them?
Anyway, I say . . . Thumbs Up!
Hey James:
No way the libertarians or similar CLASSICAL (as opposed to modern) liberals are going to get 50%. That's why the situation is hopeless. Democracies and democratic republics depend on an intelligent and informed electorate. I haven't seen many of those - EVER! The U.S. is a historical anomaly. It was founded in a "new world" by a "league of extraordinary gentlemen". Even then, the revolution was touch and go; success depended on the European nations' preoccupation with each other. And, it was a REVOLUTION which only about 1/3, at most, supported. It was achieved by WARFARE, not the ballot box. It was foisted on the populace by the founders. No so-called leaders of this country since the early 1800s have been of that caliber.
Now, few of us have the "nads" for revolution and further, the "kings'" troops nowadays have much more firepower and training than us serfs. And the serfs pay for it. This country, and all others, are reverting to historical type - basically feudalism.
A league of extraordinary gentlemen indeed.
hi dabeaner, I would like to see a successful Libertarian as well, but as James points out, you are years away from getting a libertarian close to a majority vote. Not voting is not an option, that just allows the trout mouths to decide who gets in, and although the differences between the parties may be thin, the fact is there are still differences. Anytime we have had a Republican President, or in my state a Republican Gov, we have been hurt less. My state had a 12 year run of Rep. Governors and not only did we have no increase in income or sales taxes, but actually saw decreases. We are now into our third year of a Dem Gov. and we just got a hike in our Income tax from 5.25% to 6.25%, in addition our sales tax went from 5.25 to 6.25, out meals tax went up 3% and our tobacco tax 29% and the alcohol tax 7%!!! And look at the spending mess Obama is giving us and the eventual tax hikes this has to lead to. I seriously doubt that if McCain had won that we would have a
1 trillion dollar deficit, that GM would be govt owned and that we'd be looking at govt run health care.
The Shark---not voting is defeat
Hello Shark. There are frequently exceptions to every "rule", such as "not voting is defeat". Sometimes we are doomed to defeat no matter what we do. The commie-liberal-fascist-corporatists have won. A democracy or a republic depends on an intelligent and informed electorate. The U.S. electorate is neither. We are fast falling to the level of the rest of the world. We started higher, but the result will be the same. Splat!
I agree with the "intellegence" of the electorate, my comment about trout mouths can sum that up.
We definitely lost control to the lefties when they got control of the govt schools and the media. When I grew up the women teachers we had were all very conservative women that were products of the depression, and took their job of teaching seriously. The male teachers were all WWII vets, need I say say more.
By the time I graduated we were getting the guys that went to college to dodge the draft, so you know where their leanings were. Today you go into a govt school and it's all extreme left wing agenda being pushed. They are more interested in socializing the kids then educating them.
And forget dress codes for the kids, most of the teachers look as thought they are in a competition with the kids to see who can look more streety. One female class vice pricipal has earned the nick name from the kids: Bitney Spears---great!
Most of the teachers look like they never drive by the donut shop without stopping in. Did I say stopping in, no that would take effort, I mean driving through.
The Shark
I' know to little about the Libertarian political agenda to decide if they would do a better job than the current political establishment. But I believe, you've mist the point. You are certainly correct to point out, that we the people are responsible for the mess we're in. It's not the quality of the Democratic or Republican Party. Our inability, indifference, ignorance to get involved in the political process and our shameful voting record (under 50% nationally) has allowed generations of incompetent, corrupt and narrow-minded people to get re-elected to their well-paid jobs in government. Our inability or unwillingness to vote ineffective incumbents out of office has allowed an unholy alliance to bloom for decades, between these parasites and special interest. It is hard to see how this will change if the American people don't wake up and start exercising their constitutional right to vote on all levels of government and to use their vote as real leverage.
Beecreative, I didn't miss anything, the problem is when people say we don't mfg anything in this country they are completely wrong. We have a mfg. base unlike that of any country in the world. It is state of the art, exists in every city and town in America and turns out millions of products every year. That would be the Union run Govt schools that are noting but mfg centers turning out perfect little carbon based liberal units. These liberal units then go like well trained robots and vote the way they were taught to, Democrat. All this destruction to our system by the very school system we pay for with our hard earned dollars.
The libs control the education system and the media, people are trained from a young age to be good liberals.
The Shark---saying vouchers are our only hope
Great points. Love this hub. I wanna add a few things here. I agree with you on we don't live as well as our parents and grandparents did. One reason why we are in a deep hole is that we have been occupied too much by entertainment. Hannah Montana? Disney Channel? Reality TV shows. VH1 and MTV. Wow. No one wants to read a book anymore. This is why I love HubPages, people are learning from each other. We are being productive for we are sharing our opinion. To tell you the truth, majority of this country has lost touch with reality. No one cares anymore. And we blame politics and whoever. We must first take care of ourselves and set our priorities straight. I say life is not short, we're just too busy with all the nonsense to notice how long life really is. But anyway, Great Hub and great points! I have no comment in all the political things for now. Haha
The two-party system will pat us back and forth like a ping-pong ball until we acknowledge the fact that they aren't any different, in that they are slowly leading us to a totalitarian state where "they" have all the power and we have none. And Shark, yeah, the republicans move more slowly but they're going in the same direction - Dems- socialism at 100 mph; Repubs - socialism at 95 mph. The only defense is an educated populace that truly understands what personal sovereignty really means. But more than that, really wants it.
It's to late now to change or turn the economy around.
It will collaspe and it doesn't matter who is running the country.
Fisrt off I work in the housing industry and have for over 30 years in one way or another.
What the government has done to the housing market from pure greed and stupidity is unrepairable.
We have to many people out of work and losing their homes.
Homes are being lost faster then they are being bought.
We have atleast 5 years and more of foreclosures flooding the market.
Now the banks are only putting a certain amount of home in the market to be sold. This is to control the supply. This will only prolong the inventory of homes being sold. Extending the length of the housing industry to recover.
How do I know this, I work on these homes and for the realtors who sell REO, (bank owned homes)
Which now the government owns. Think about this, when the government owns the homes and you have to rent from the government what kind of system is this?
This is very serious problem.
Thank you,
Bruce
Well Dabeaner I believe you are correct and I kind of liked the delivery. I am not voting Republican anymore unless thats the only choice on the ballot, I will back libertarian candidates from this point forward.
Thought provoking hub and I agree that both parties are to blame although the government trying to take over ownership of what used to be private has accelerated at break neck speed with the current administration and powers that control Congress. Where will it end?
Too many people want "Big Daddy Government" to take care of all their needs from infancy to the grave and shuck personal responsibility. If I own and mismanage a company, maybe "Big Daddy" will throw some money my way to keep me afloat forcing the rest of the populace to pay for my mistakes? Why not?
See how this is going and perpetrating failure?
Well done on this Hub D!
I am not really qualified to raise an opinion since I am not American, but what you describe rings true for just about every developed nation's problems. An entertaining, if somewhat disdurbing view my friend.
I was pleased and not surprised to see the book Inside the Federal Reserve by Greider on your sidebar. It's on my list of books to read; I had the unnerving experience of reading another of his books - Who Will Tell the People - last fall. It was disorienting to read about the savings and loan collapse in 1989-90 while watching the very same story unfold on the nightly news 2 decades later. And everyone seemed so surprised! Truly alarming, some of the big players in Who Will Tell the People were still showing up in the "recession" of 2008! Great book and I'm sure his others are as well.
Very, very well done. Very intelligent work. Keep on hubbing!
I know that this sounds a bit anarcharistic (is that a word?) but we seem to have too much uninformed, media driven concern for voting for "whoever will do the best job", when in fact we should be focused on just removing the idiots in office... we shouldn't even be discussing the potential for rewarding our incompetent incumbents with reelection. The only way they will get the message is if we vote out the incumbents until the new guys get it right... no matter what PARTY they belong to.
Term limits. No lawyers. No professional politicians. Limited sessions. Limited staff. LIMITED NUMBER OF CHARACTER COUNT (not just number of words or number of lines or number of bills) of all laws on the books. They want to pass a law, they have to get rid of an old one of equal character count. THEN, a 10% reduction in total count every year.
Spay and neuter all legislators and bureaucrats. They seem to be a malign genetic mutation.
Ya, you got it. You're right in what you say but take it easy with the insults. Yes, most people are donkeys, uneducated and uninformed, they trot along day by day like zombies. They either wake up or we all go down the drain. They have to be woken up smoothly though (in my opinion). I have faith in people, they will change ... it is happening awfully slow I know but what can we expect when the mass media is so tightly controlled and it is and has been brainwashing people so successfully. Perhaps people have not reached "the bottom" yet ... they will for sure wake up then.
Hi Mr. H:
Maybe I should get another account -- "Mr. Curmudgeon". :)
We evidently differ in our faith in people. I used to have some -- the "only if they knew" bit. Feh! Now I have NONE.
The problem is not that people are ignorant, it is that they are WILLFULLY ignorant.
And, the main problem is the basic genetics of the human race. Give people two choices and they will take the bad, for them, choice that happens to be a good choice for their "leaders".
I know that my essays and comments are not going to "win the minds and hearts" of the booboisie whether or not I am polite. So I get a little curmudgeonly satisfaction with the insults. And occasionally a few AdSense clicks.
My friend, you are not ignorant, neither am I ... I do not believe we are the only ones in this situation. Faith in people remains with me ... otherwise I'd slit my wrists in the bathtub. I feel like a 1960s communist but I have to say it: "We must unite!"
I have been to many demonstrations (you might have seen some of my photos in a blog I put up) and so I have heard many slogans and chants but the one that always made the hair rise on my arms was: "The people united will never be defeated." There is no unity yet though ... I shall write a blog on that soon.
The System will change ... I am not exactly sure how. Latin America is changing fast (in a good sense). Venezuela, Bolivia, Brasil ... all moving to a socialist mind set. Cuba has survived the "fight", crippled and severely injured but it has survived. Obama's fake "change" is here maybe the real change is right behind.
I have faith for another reason too. Globally we are more united whether it is through email, blogs, cheaper telephone services, etc. Information cannot be controlled as well as it has been in the past. There is information out there and yes some people are willfully ignorant but those are also the people that will follow when they see others in the street not caring necessarily why ... cannon-fodder. It is hard to get people off of their "comfy" comfortable couch and away from their idiotic soap-operas, I know ... I am constantly trying to think of a solution for that. Cheers!
Candie V says:
6 months ago
It may seem like a 'loose/loose' or a 'break-even' but I kinda like having (or believing I can) a vote.. It won't change the tide, it won't make the birds sing sweeter, but it's my voice, whichever way it goes! It does come down, as all things should, to personal responsibility, and I thank you for writing your heart into this!