Aside from businesses failing or restructuring to better compete and provide a better product or service to the public, capitalism certainly is not the cause of cities, states, and nations failing that we are starting to see around the globe including here in the United States. This has been triggered by the destructive debt loads that Governments have burdened their citizens with in order to buy favor, create entitlement, and to control economic outcomes to serve their own purposes. Another way of stating this is Governments encumber their citizens with debt to facilitate their objective of controlling and subjugating them so that bureaucrats can determine the outcomes in society according to their preferences. This practice continues to the point of insolvency thus being unable to pay debt back or borrow more, and this is of no concern to politicians as long as their power and control are maintained in the process. The destruction of once prosperous nations is what we are beginning to witness throughout the world, and it makes one ponder these questions…

If capitalism is responsible for the hardships upon individuals and businesses in society since it is directly practiced by them, then what system is practiced by Governments that are destroying the various cities, states, and nations? What system allows Government to determine what is done in society and how it will be accomplished? What system has Government in direct control of decisions, planning, and the allocation of resources? It is this system that will unleash destruction to such an extent as to impoverish citizens or at least severely lower their living standards. Identifying this detriment should be our greatest concern, and obviously it has nothing to do with capitalism since Governmental entities do not practice such. If people honestly believe capitalism has failed them, then the failure resulting from a Government directed society may just change their views once it is realized that their future has been sold down the river by politicians, and it is being done by promising a false utopia using the system of their preference that begins with an “S” and ends with an “ism.”

The Government has ballooned in recent history simply to perpetuate and execute its objective of redistributing money between citizens while its function should be to provide for the common good of all by collecting from all and nothing more. Any policy that diverges from this sole purpose becomes divisive and creates an atmosphere of animosity and distrust from the ones being leaned on so heavily to pay the toll. Plus, there are always the unintended consequences of any Government action or intervention that usually plants the seeds for some future calamity that imposes its damage on society. Fortunately, the current course is not sustainable and it may not be too long before it all collapses back on itself as the payers become overwhelmed by the payees through the expansion of these redistribution efforts, thus becoming a burden for all once again. It will serve as yet another lesson to be ignored by a future ambitious politician vigorously buying votes of the many by promising the money of the few.

We have a unique opportunity to witness the outcome of irresponsible Government that promotes a sense of entitlement, and this harsh lesson will continue to unfold all over the globe in the coming months and years. All we have to do is heed this lesson and change course before we suffer the same hardship. We are not too big or too important to avoid the same consequences, however, such attributes may provide additional time for us to make the necessary adjustments to sidestep much of the adversity. The worst case scenario is for us to continue down this same path of thinking that the problems in Greece and Europe are isolated, and that it will never occur here. In fact, it is already emerging in California and a host of other states that are in untenable situations which are expected to only get worse. Our attitude seems reminiscent of the recent mortgage market calamity; we would be hard-pressed to find anybody that thought the destruction would be sitting squarely on the doorstep of the Treasury as it steadily mowed through every level of the financial industry. It seemed impossible, yet there it sits for all of us to enjoy the losses for years to come. This tragedy alone almost brought us to our knees, how many more of these created disasters can we withstand? Our irresponsibility will find its reckoning in one form or another, either we can take corrective actions now and suffer the effects that will be painful yet manageable, or we can continue whistling by the graveyard thinking everything will somehow work itself out without any sacrifice. It is a fantasy to expect that decades of living above our means should continue unabated because of entitlement. Greece has just reluctantly become the canary in the coal mine regarding irresponsible Government for all that will listen and heed such warning.

It is very difficult to comprehend how we will navigate our way out of the formidable circumstances we have brought upon ourselves. This is the challenge that each citizen should be concerned with at this time. People can incessantly argue their respective conservative or liberal positions while asserting blame about our predicament all they want, but the bottom line is that significant changes are being considered and implemented right now that will fundamentally affect the future direction of this nation, and we need to focus on these activities. We all need to wake up and pay attention because regardless of ideology, both conservatives and liberals will be going over the cliff by the devastation that is being laid before us. Like it or not, everyone will suffer as the nation declines, and this approaching reality is what should be of concern to each and every one of us at this time. The decline of our nation is being set into motion, and if all we are going to do is squabble about ideology, then we may as well go ahead and strike up the band?

It is hard to think of anything more cruel or self-defeating than to destroy the spirit and ambition within a population. Promising equal results to all will certainly result in a race to the bottom for everyone because all incentive will be eliminated thus ensuring failure. The ambitious crowd will cease to strive and take risk while the apathetic crowd will never be motivated to venture into realizing any aspiration. For as unkind as it seems that there are some in society that have attained a disproportionate amount of abundance, it is even more unkind to extinguish all hope that the others may ascend to the same level of accomplishment. Notions of social justice sound utopian, but as often true of Government promises; they seldom deliver and create massive destruction as a result of their implementation. Having different and unequal results in society should be viewed as a gift that facilitates a better life for all of us. Allowing a system that rewards effort and accomplishment will rightly keep America’s arrow pointed up in the future, anything to the contrary will guarantee an outcome not even worthy of a dismal participation trophy.

Our Government should foster an environment that protects and allows us to enjoy our rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to their fullest. Unfortunately, actions speak otherwise; they have instead chosen to become an institution that prefers to govern with a heavy hand. This is being facilitated by the slow, methodical confiscation of our freedoms and liberties which are then used to expand their dominion. Our politicians oppose acknowledging that natural rights exist because recognizing these inalienable rights serve to undermine their coveted agenda of control, instead they prefer to believe that such rights are enacted by legislation thus subject to rescission or modification at will. They would much rather structure a society resembling a metaphorical “zoo” so that our lives can be completely managed and regulated to conform to the will of Government. After all, our politicians believe themselves to be of superior intelligence versus the aggregate, thus undoubtedly concluding that our existence should be administered much like a chimpanzee in a zoo. The important question for our society to resolve is do we favor a dictated existence from our Government that promises the illusion of equal results to everyone, or do we strongly reject it knowing it can not be delivered despite the tremendous cost to our freedom and ultimately our society? The answer will certainly present itself going forward, but so far it appears that “Welcome to the Zoo” seems appropriate.

It is very interesting to see our own Government’s vicious opinion regarding supply-side economics and how it is nothing more than a ploy to make the rich even richer while taking advantage of common Americans in the process. It becomes all too easy to engage in the usual class warfare that is so typical of our politicians in their constant attempt to buy votes. However, we should examine their actions versus their words. Over the last year, we have witnessed our Government intervening in certain company negotiations such as the car companies, because they know that failure will impact too many jobs at both the company itself and every supplier that touches it, and in their opinion this prospect is too costly to withstand. That cost manifests itself in bloated unemployment claims followed by decreased tax revenues, which is an unacceptable outcome. Despite all the objections regarding supply-side economics brought forth from our elected officials, their actions speak quite loudly. If they did not believe in its merits, then job losses would not be a concern. In fact they are now beginning to float the idea that small businesses should get tax breaks and subsidies in order to create jobs, this should say it all regarding the reality of this debate.

The notion of Supply-side economics is really simple and straightforward regardless of how badly one would like to disagree. First of all, in order to for common Americans to be prosperous, they must be employed above all else. Secondly, in order to have paying jobs available, there must be viable companies in operation. Thirdly, companies can only exist if there are parties willing to take the risk and invest their money to provide the necessary capital for operations. Fourthly, if money is needed then it must be obtained from those that have it to invest. Last but not least, the most important point to consider is a simple truth, those in our society with investable funds can not be forced to invest, thus it remains their choice and they can only be enticed into action through incentives and favorable policies. A successful program of bringing widespread prosperity to the masses must come into agreement with these points, for there is no other way to accomplish this goal. Perhaps instead of critics having contempt for the wealthy for getting incentives to invest their money maybe they should focus instead on its resulting job creation. Unfortunately, that lesson will be a hard one to accept over the coming months and years in our nation as many people struggle to acknowledge it in light of declining prospects and living standards, yet our politicians will be more than happy to raise their objections in order to fuel more destructive class warfare.

As human beings we want to believe that health care is a right simply to demonstrate that we are creatures of compassion with a properly functioning moral compass. It would seem less than civilized to not consider health care to be an entitlement, but the truth is that such care must be provided by other citizens that also have rights and freedoms that must be respected. Simply transferring a right from one person to another is not doing anything for our society, nor will it ever. We humans have a great capacity to help others if it remains our choice to do so, but that becomes very limited once it is forced upon us. All of us have a right to pursue quality health care, but not at the expense of our fellow citizens. Adding this perspective to the dialogue paints a more comprehensive picture and accordingly it becomes obvious that health care can not be a right because it violates the rights of another; it should be viewed as a privilege to be “pursued” regardless of how uncaring or objectionable that may sound. It is an imperfect world that we live in and there is a cost to everything that must be paid, so it stands to reason that consumers should compensate providers for any goods or services they receive and not expect others to be obligated. Subscribing to this tried and true practice ensures that everyone’s rights remain intact thereby alleviating this whole debate.

It is interesting to note that the more the Government becomes involved, the more likely it will actually cause the downward pressure as private money flees the additional political risk, this results in even more bureaucratic intrusion that virtually ensures an “emergency” develops from the downward spiraling loop created. The stage has been set politically for this occurrence, and even though Americans are growing weary of public solutions to our economic problems, they will unlikely stand in opposition once a severe crisis appears that is perceived catastrophic and beyond the limits of any private solution. The truth is that it is never beyond the scope of private solutions that often call for strict measures to be administered in order to solve the difficulty, it remains to be seen if our public is willing to withstand that unpleasant reality. The choice will have to be made between suffering a severe private market solution that will conclude efficiently and with certainty or a prolonged ineffective effort from our Government at the enormous cost of our ongoing freedom. It is clear that socialism is looming and we are naively embracing it with our apathy believing that it will never really happen, or by turning to it after a sudden instigated emergency that initiates a panic, either way, we are being ushered to that eventual future that seems so coveted by the leaders we continue to elect. This will continue until the day we decide to reject this outcome by exercising our freedom to vote and remove those that covertly support socialism as an improvement. If not, then we should not be surprised at the result.