I.O.U.S.A.

I.O.U.S.A. is a very good documentary, but it is somewhat dated as it was done in 2007. So take all the horror and double it to understand where we are today. Remember that in just a few short years the horror will grow even worse.

There Is No We in US

Lulu was right to be skeptical about Willy's new found community. We humans are herd animals for the most part. If we cannot form an appropriate herd, we will invent one. Thus we invent government as an artificial community. 

When God brought His people to the Promised Land, no national government was established.  There were still institutions that we might recognize as government administrated by the Levites, but no king, no standing army, and no taxes! 

But Israel became afraid and wanted a king like everyone else. In Samuel 8 The Message tells us what God predicted would be the result of this desire. 

^10-18 So Samuel told them, delivered God’s warning to the people who were asking him to give them a king. He said, “This is the way the kind of king you’re talking about operates. He’ll take your sons and make soldiers of them—chariotry, cavalry, infantry, regimented in battalions and squadrons. He’ll put some to forced labor on his farms, plowing and harvesting, and others to making either weapons of war or chariots in which he can ride in luxury. He’ll put your daughters to work as beauticians and waitresses and cooks. He’ll conscript your best fields, vineyards, and orchards and hand them over to his special friends. He’ll tax your harvests and vintage to support his extensive bureaucracy. Your prize workers and best animals he’ll take for his own use. He’ll lay a tax on your flocks and you’ll end up no better than slaves. The day will come when you will cry in desperation because of this king you so much want for yourselves. But don’t expect God to answer.”

^19-20 But the people wouldn’t listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We will have a king to rule us! Then we’ll be just like all the other nations. Our king will rule us and lead us and fight our battles.”

Since humans feel safer in groups this was understandable. But in the analogy I am using it would be like all the sheep getting together and appointing the local wolves to protect them from foreign wolves. Yes, every April 15 every sheep gets sheared. Yes, sheep mysteriously disappear. But we are safe! 

So while there is no way to avoid the shearing this April 15, I suggest a low profile to avoid being a target otherwise. The purpose of "our" government is not the best interests of the people. It is the best interests of the wolves that matters. Hiring new wolves will not help. 

Remember there is no WE in US. 

Republicans Do Not Cut Spending

Republicans at the BeachThere is a lot of buzz in the blogosphere about the Republicans being tough and cutting spending. It is not for nothing that Republicans are called the stupid party. This is nothing less than allowing your opponents to set the rhetoric. The fact is that no prominent Republican not surnamed Paul has offered to cut any spending. The various Republican proposals are to grow spending a little more slowly than the Democrats. No cuts. They are allowing the Democrats to frame the issue as the “evil Republicans cutting spending on the poor.” The smart move instead would be for the Republicans to announce they were opposed to all cuts. Take the high road and announce that they want to help the poor just like was done in the previous year.

You Want Me to Cut What? The sneaky part about this is that it reduces spending more than the original proposal, but there are no cuts. Let the natural growth in the economy lead to a gradual reduction in the deficit. There are no booby-trapped stealth tax increases on the horizon. Submit the exact same budget as last year. When the Democrats complain just announce that the Republicans have already given Obama the tax increase he wanted. Announce that Republicans are opposed to spending cuts, then freeze the budget.

Will the Republicans do this? (Did they nominate a candidate who was extremely wealthy in a time of austerity? Did they nominate a candidate that was not particularly compatible religiously to a considerable part of their constituency?)

Will the Republicans do this?

No they are the stupid party.

Is This Worse Than the Great Depression?

The idea that the economic troubles we are experiencing are actually greater than those during the Great Depression is a popular meme right now. It is difficult to know how true this might be because of the games the government plays with statistics. If inflation was calculated the same way it was in the 70's it would be over 5 %.  I have seen calculations in the 7% range. Unemployment seems workable at under 8%—bad, but not horrible. But I have seen unemployment estimates that do not play the games of the government at 16%.

So are things as bad as the Great Depression?

Even with the contraction in GDP, (Gross Domestic Product) last quarter, no, not yet.

The main reason is the social safety net that has evolved over the decades. This masks the pain, and to a degree the US is wealthy enough to pay for it. But when the government borrows 40% of every dollar it spends, one has to wonder how long the perpetual unemployment checks and 20% of the population on food stamps can last. No one notices the modern equivalent of soup lines because it is hidden. 

Things will continue as they are until they don't. Yes, I know that is not helpful. But as Yogi Berra said, it is difficult to make predictions, especially about the future.

What will happen if/when no one will buy government bonds?

If  When that happens the US will be in a worse situation than the Great Depression.

What will happen then?

Who knows? It depends on the president at the time. It is also possible that point will never be reached. On this I am guardedly pessimistic. 

But if you ask yourself a question I think you can make a good guesstimate as to what would happen when investors stop buying bonds. The question is, "What will benefit the bankers?" The answer to that question is what I expect to happen. Thus my prediction of more of the same.

However, I feel that the risk that events will get even out of the bankers’ control is a lot higher than they realize.

In the meantime, I am trying as hard as I can to get ready. How is your plan going? 

Claudius, the God

I did not remember that Captain Picard was in I, Claudius. I have been writing this week about excerpts from Robert Graves’ historical novels which were the basis for the PBS series I, Claudius. Note that these quotes are from the books, not the series, and not the historical figures. I have been reading Mark Krikorian at National Review and he must be reading the books. Here is one quote he shared:

“Caesar, my advice is, be rough with them! Stamp on the worms and watch them wriggle.”

I said, stiffly, “My friend King Herod, you seem to forget that I am Roman and that the powers even of an Emperor depend constitutionally on the will of the Senate. If the Senate sends me a message which I am able to answer politely and submissively, I shall not fail to do so.”

“Have it your own way,” Herod answered with a shrug, “but they won’t treat you any better for it. Constitutionally, eh? I must bow of course to your superior authority as an antiquarian, but has the word ‘constitution’ any practical meaning today?” 

It seems that, to a degree, Obama is following the advice of Herod—his executive order creating amnesty illegal immigrants, for example. (Note that I am not saying that a program like his is not inevitable, or even desirable, I am saying it is illegal.) I doubt that the founding fathers had executive kill lists in mind either. I am sure I could do a credible rant on all the illegal acts of Obama. And yes, most of them were just continuations of previous presidential policies. 

But the question I have for today is, “Have we reached a tipping point?” Or to paraphrase Claire Wolfe, “Is it time to shoot the bastards?” Here is how she described our modern situation: 

America is at that awkward stage. It’s too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards.

Wolfe may be right, it may be too late to work within the system—all that will accomplish is to corrupt the participant. I am not convinced that a proper Christian response to tyranny is revolution. If I have been alive in the Revolutionary period, I might have been a Tory. I think that everyone would agree that such a time could come, and the risk is real that we might end up lining up for the trains to take us to the concentration camps like the Jews in Poland, for the most part, did. 

I think we are a lot closer to such a tippling point than is commonly understood. I am referring to both the tipping point for tyranny and the tipping point for revolution. 

I watched Alex Jones on Max Keiser this week. 

I think Jones is a kook who only cares about Alex Jones. His performance on constitution-hating Piers Morgan’s show on CNN was a disgrace. He set back second amendment rights, but promoted Alex Jones. I could not stomach the whole Max Keiser program, but Jones said little in the part I watched that I did not agree with. If Alex Jones sounds reasonable to me, that might mean my own personal tipping point is near. 

The government is not God, even though it thinks it is. Claudius knew he wasn’t God, but everyone treated him as one, as the human personification of the genius of the state. I think modern Christians have a real problem with idolatry and the state. At least Obama is showing many of them the futility of that, unlike Bush who, because he was of the right party and made noises about abortion… was without sin. 

What will you do when your own personal tipping point is reached? Has Voldemort already taken over the Ministry of Magic? 

(I do not really approve of either Jones or Keiser, but if you want to watch it, click here.)