Bob Herbert's NYT column today lists depressing statistics about our economic outlook. There's doom and gloom for many Americans who are out of work, under worked, under paid and hurting. These are facts, and the truth. Bob's ideas of the 'why' we got this way and the 'how' to get out of our predicament I do not share. His, and his spiraling-ever-further-leftward party's ideas will never work. So I left this as a comment to him, to his commentariat, to all of our friends who are becoming these far-Left Democrats who have a similar mindset.
I read these comments wherein people express angry hatreds for the 'rich', a sentiment obviously shared by many of the new-Left Democrats. There's no disapproval expressed for these sentiments from Democrat 'leaders'; instead, they exploit these basest of human emotions, greed and envy, to advance their political agendas. Hatred, greed and envy are not sentiments that will drive an agenda that will turn this Republic around.
We were not, nor have we ever been, a Nation that embraces the political agenda now endorsed by the Left. We are (were) a nation of strong character that was influenced by ruthlessness when it was necessary. We scrabbled out way out in front and on top not by being soft and gentle at home, but by being hard and competitive. We've lost much of our edge, our 'American Spirit'.
Remember, we came out of the Great Depression only because we became embroiled in a world war, a war that put almost every American to work. We were all aligned politically behind a threat. There is no way that'll ever happen again.
At risk of howls of mirth from the 'enlightened' Democrats who are also mostly atheists, we've turned our back on God; we've become a strikingly secular nation that no longer needs help from some sky spirit who doesn't exist except in the fevered mind of Conservatives. He's never done anything for us, ever, obviously; why should we allow our thoughts to stray to such imaginary foolhardiness?
Why, indeed? Look around you. This Republic is going to fail, and will be reduced to smoldering rubble, maybe in our lifetimes.
We should never have turned away from the paths of strength and American Spirit and away from our belief in God, and embraced the weaknesses that will likely result in our downfall.
Either pray or laugh. Your choice. There's not much else to do at this juncture, really.
I read these comments wherein people express angry hatreds for the 'rich', a sentiment obviously shared by many of the new-Left Democrats. There's no disapproval expressed for these sentiments from Democrat 'leaders'; instead, they exploit these basest of human emotions, greed and envy, to advance their political agendas. Hatred, greed and envy are not sentiments that will drive an agenda that will turn this Republic around.
We were not, nor have we ever been, a Nation that embraces the political agenda now endorsed by the Left. We are (were) a nation of strong character that was influenced by ruthlessness when it was necessary. We scrabbled out way out in front and on top not by being soft and gentle at home, but by being hard and competitive. We've lost much of our edge, our 'American Spirit'.
Remember, we came out of the Great Depression only because we became embroiled in a world war, a war that put almost every American to work. We were all aligned politically behind a threat. There is no way that'll ever happen again.
At risk of howls of mirth from the 'enlightened' Democrats who are also mostly atheists, we've turned our back on God; we've become a strikingly secular nation that no longer needs help from some sky spirit who doesn't exist except in the fevered mind of Conservatives. He's never done anything for us, ever, obviously; why should we allow our thoughts to stray to such imaginary foolhardiness?
Why, indeed? Look around you. This Republic is going to fail, and will be reduced to smoldering rubble, maybe in our lifetimes.
We should never have turned away from the paths of strength and American Spirit and away from our belief in God, and embraced the weaknesses that will likely result in our downfall.
Either pray or laugh. Your choice. There's not much else to do at this juncture, really.
Ah, a nice simplistic view of reality. It must be relaxing and easy to think like that; i sometimes wish that i could.
ReplyDeleteThis conservative view that the economy is bad because of the social safety net and not enough sheep in the pews overlooks a lot of factors, you know?
America's fortunes were made in an era when people became rich by building steel mills and railroads that employed people, not shipping every available job overseas to trim costs, and then investing in a hedge fund.
Technological innovation has eliminated millions of jobs that used to exist. A steel mill that once employed thousands is now run by a few hundred at most. One computer can do the work of dozens of file clerks. Modern farming requires less than 5% of the populace to feed the entire nation. We're approaching a new paradigm in which there simply aren't enough jobs. It's unrealistic to tell an unemployed wage slave that he should just, you know, go open a business or invent the next Facebook. I don't know what the solution to this problem is, but i'm pretty sure it's not "let them starve, they're just lazy."
Our economy has been kept afloat for the last two decades through the tech boom and the housing bubble/consumer spending bubble. Now that we've cashed out all the equity, where to now?
Let's hear some better solutions other than "people just ain't got spirit no more." I don't buy this greatest generation crap, judging by the old people whom i've personally known.
Hell, you should see the old guy we have at my job. He's 64, looks 80, and is dying from COPD from a lifetime of smoking. He does as little work as possible, while complaining and bitching constantly. He's also a racist, sexist, technophobic, bitter, deceptive, weasely misanthrope. If other old people are like this, i'm glad i don't know any.
Nope, it's a simple as that. Spirit, and the movement of same.
ReplyDeleteOverseas markets are made more attractive when Unions and lawyers and endless rules and laws and onerous taxes deprive a business of capital and stifle innovation. Of course, from a lefty's view, these businesses exist only to serve the people around them, in their communities and their states; they have no need of profit or capital or ROI. They should just abide by the new rules and taxes and ignore the better opportunities overseas, right?
If all corporations were state-owned, then that would be just fine. Unfortunately for you, they aren't. You've a cushy government job, in an industry that's protected from competition (utilities are monopolies by default) so you don't know what it means to compete for your daily bread, or what it takes to fight and win. You can be as surly and demanding as you think you can get away with, drawing doodles on envelopes when you should be working. Out here in fields where 'real' work is done, that wouldn't last a quarter.
I can't blame corporations for packing up and moving overseas. We've demanded too much from them, and they've moved to accept a better ROI, which is what non-Fascist-controlled companies do.
Hope your job lasts, because if you had to come to me for work, I'd laugh in your face. No ex-government employee save Veterans works for me.