AMERICAN FOLLY

It is “leaked video week” in America as the coming fall season begins to fill the air with a coolness hinting that winter is on the way. This time, it is Obama’s turn in the barrel with his 1998 speech citing his belief in redistribution of wealth. From all indications, Obama had to soften that stance in 2008 and call it something else to get by the electorate. There is good reason for that need. You see, here in America, we don’t believe in a system that takes the assets of others and gives them away in the name of everyone getting an equal slice of the pie via the government. Americans have a name for that philosophy commonly known as “communism”. Obviously, that concept by name would have not passed muster for Obama in 2008 so he had to rename the concept to make it more palatable.

Karl Marx believed in redistribution. He also believed that people, once enslaved to the concept, would seek work as a life goal. That work would result in a higher level of productivity thus creating more goods and services for all to consume. This was the real fly in Karl’s sauce. Historically socialist and communist-based societies become less productive as opposed to the theoretical put forth by Marx. The accumulated wealth tends to stagnate and each time it is shared, the portion gets smaller as the producers population shrinks in the system. It is a system divided into “givers” and “takers” and the givers do not last too long.

As part of his testimony on believing in “redistribution”, Obama made the observation that “good things happen when the wealth is spread around”. In some light, there might be a bit of truth to that statement in the sense that any economy can be stimulated when more money is in circulation. But, if one is not allowed to keep the money they attract, the effort to attract it stops rather quickly ending the cycle of “high production”. Certainly we can all benefit by gaining a greater share of the potential wealth within the economy but that gain is not achieved through the mechanical redistribution by a government entity. The reasoning for that predictable outcome is rather obvious but in the interest of political theater, let us review the reasoning to be sure.

In order to get a socialist process off the ground in a society, there must be a mechanism in place which “enslaves” the people to the particular focus. Obviously that concept cannot center on a goal such as “hey everybody, work real hard and give us your money and we’ll all be rich”….people are not so stupid…at least not initially. No, those early steps have to deal with concepts like “hope” and “change”. They have to address the fact that so many have been “victimized” and the approach has to pinpoint a cause usually rooted in a class envy scenario. “Look, you have nothing because Joe is getting all the money. How does that make you feel? What you need is a strong central government which will force Joe to share his wealth with you, then both of you will be better off.” The thought process points the individual in a utopian direction with the underlying premise that a big, intrusive government will intervene on his/her behalf. This approach normally takes root at the lower levels of society where hope and change already exists. At that level, it is easy for a snake-oil salesman to convince the people that all that all the hopes for change are on the way.

As the concept gains momentum, it begins to support itself. For example, if the reasoning outlined above takes root, changes can come about even in a majority-oriented society such as our own here in America. Those sold on the concept flood the polls and elect the likes of a “Barack Obama” leading that dream toward hope and change and moving toward the idea that big government can gain them the wealth they have been deprived of in their “victimization” by the ruling classes. With one election, a socialist sits at the helm in the White House in a nation that deplores socialism and communism. Unfortunately, far too many who make up the population of the country have no idea what either concepts looks like in action.

With control in hand, the next level becomes the “enslavement”. Those in control must get as much of the population as possible into a dependency mode that looks toward the government for their survival. Flooding the welfare rolls, stagnating the economy and keeping unemployment high tends to squeeze out the desired results especially at the lower and untrained levels of society. More and more taxpayer dollars go into entitlement projects ranging from pocket money to housing. At every turn, people look in the mailbox for a government check as the answer to their needs. Money flows out at a much greater rate than it comes in under the existing tax structure. The so-called “leaders” point fingers of blame and say that is because those with money refuse to pay their fair share ignoring the fact that those without money are paying nothing at all. Class-envy begins to grow into class warfare and hatred spews forth as one sect and the other are divided by a broad expanse of disagreement and no one on the government dole wants to listen to any logic in terms of the productivity of the society. Those leading the effort in cahoots with those in the press continue to hammer the producers to provide more tax dollars to the government at each turn to fund entitlements. In turn, the government issues forth more and more regulations making sure that the economic situations does not improve thus keeping the majority enslaved within the spider’s lair.

At the upper end of the society, the accumulated wealth tends to insulate those holding it from the effects and they are able to sustain hanging on to the majority of their wealth. Coming down the ladder, the burden of demand to support the ever-growing entitlement within the society falls squarely on the shoulders of those who “must work to sustain their livelihood”. They have no choice and realize they will fall to the bottom if they do not work. The government then pushes for more and more taxes and the burden grows on the middle-class until finally the government is getting more of their weekly paycheck than their household is getting. Many let go and fall to the bottom of the system only to get into the entitlement line and become a great part of the voices screaming for more to be taken from that smaller and smaller group which is left there in the middle. Along the way, freedoms and liberties erode in the process of keeping the producers on task. At some point, a man or woman can no longer elect to quit their job because they no longer have that right. The government decides. By this point, the “enslavement” is complete as most of the population is looking to the government as the provider and the government is in total control of the people. The government no longer works for the people; the people work for the government.

The irony of it all is that Obama’s observation that good things happen when the wealth gets spread around is simply a lie. Those who are given things without investment or sweat equity do little or nothing to hang on to those things or grow them. They consume them rapidly. Money turns into purchases and consumption sending the wealth right back to the wealthy or to the government. People continue to subsist at best. The motivation to better one’s self is lost on the masses as the dependence on government overshadows any individual motivation. There is no margin in the betterment of one’s self except to see that which he or she has earned to be taken from them and given to others who have done nothing to earn it. In Obama and his mentor’s minds, this is the basis for equality and fairness and this is the “fundamental transformation” which is intended to be brought to America.

If one went out on the streets of America today and took a survey as to how soon people desired socialism or communism to arrive in this country, there is little doubt that political orientation would have much influence on the outcome. Those directions are not the intent of the people in America yet far too many of those same people do not recognize the concepts when they see them first hand. In truth, we are living in the early stages of it right now under this administration. The divides are being created; the entitlements and those desiring them grow on a daily basis, and it is all done on the basis of an arrival at a “promised utopia” which remains without description but is insinuated to eliminate or neutralize all the ills of mankind and leave us all in a state of equality.

Common sense is a wonderful thing because it brings with it the ability to reason and think things through. One thing becomes clear very quickly when one considers our present direction. Equality cannot be legislated nor can it be decreed. Equality is a bi-product of other actions and processes such as those set forth by our founding fathers in the Bill of Rights and the Constitution. Equality is not simply declared for each of us; it is earned. Yes, we have the right to seek it under our present Constitution and Bill of Rights. We have the right to liberty and the pursuit of happiness but bear in mind that a large intrusive government which does not observe any restrictions imposed on it by the people can take all of that away with the wave of a hand.

If we look to our history, we see the wisdom of those who created this country before us. Through their own life experiences, they had learned that dictators do not bring equality and fairness and a government which rules the people and is not controlled by the people is simply tyranny. No doubt, the vast majority of people in America would love to achieve wealth. At present, we have that opportunity before each of us if we have to discipline and the focus to apply ourselves and achieve it. The cure and feeding of a large, intrusive federal government will not improve on that outcome but it will diminish the possibility by creating nothing more than a large welfare state which is clothed in the promise of fairness and equality and uses the redistribution of wealth as the promise to enslave its people. It is a flawed proposition in reality offering nothing but empty promises tied to individual desires for hope and change.

The United States of America is a nation built on the will and determination of people who came to this country to achieve hope and change with a past chained in tyranny. They had a vision and they made that vision come true for the vast majority who were willing to sustain the focus and do the hard work necessary to reach another rung on the ladder. Now, this great country, is under the leadership of a man who will tell you that the next rung up on the ladder is owed to you by society and that the government’s job is to provide it to you all in exchange for a loyal blind following into a land devoid of hope and change…a societal prison where the “haves” always hold power and control over the “have-nots”.

Listen to what is said. Observe the actions and steps taken. Look at the results. There is nothing there to lend itself to anything utopian except the sheer dependency on government for survival and even that will erode as the society falls into abject failure over time. Redistribution, plain and simple, is a communist veil over the enslavement of the masses.

©Copyright WBrown2012. All Rights Reserved.

19 September 2012