Brushfire of Freedom
Ram Rants
All around the world we’re seeing the meltdown of the liberal-socialist “utopia”. You would think that the complete collapse of the Soviet Union would have cleared the way for common sense on the left, but liberals appear more determined than ever to prove everyone wrong. I say that only because I hesitate to call that many people “stupid”, though I admit it is getting harder each day.
Greece, once the bastion of common sense, logic, and democracy, has slipped down the grimy slope of Socialism. After joining the European Union under a cloud of controversy (they technically did not qualify), they have become the poster-child for the failing nanny-state. So many people are receiving government entitlements that the existing workforce can not generate enough revenue to keep the ledger “in the black”. Now the government is forcing “austerity” onto an unwilling population, and the government is near the brink of EU departure.
Many believe that Greece is just one domino in a collapsing EU chain. Italy is struggling, Ireland has had problems. Poland and Spain are slipping into dangerous territory, and even Germany, the country holding up the whole thing, is showing signs of strain. The idea that the many can live off the labors of the few has been the core of the Socialist idea, and the reason for its continued failure. The end result is what we see now. The entitled masses, upset that their benefits are being restricted or cut, have done everything they can to disrupt the production of those who are still working. Riots, protests, marches, and other general disorder are the manifestation of their frustration.
Looking closer to home we can see similar outcomes in similar socialist situations. Detroit, once an industrial juggernaut in the US, has rotted from within. Unions, the private industry version of Socialism, have bankrupt companies with their excessive and perpetual benefits. The same unions now infest the public sector, and are bankrupting cities like Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. California, Illinois, and Ohio are also struggling to keep the union benefits flowing while their revenue stream dries up. It seems workers in those states are incredibly selfish and are moving to other states where the tax burden is substantially reduced. This shrinks the workforce, and collapses the tax revenue needed by the entitled unions.
On a larger scale you can expect similar results in this country if Obama and his cronies continue to expand spending and push the US toward Socialism. Obamacare is just one entitlement that will require an ever-expanding revenue stream. Obama wants to raise taxes, but that will drive out workers, reducing revenue. Companies have already begun the exodus due to the US corporate tax rate, now one of the highest in the world. Why stay here and work or run your business when you can move to Canada and keep more of the money you earn? That is the question that Socialism fails to answer, and one of the primary reasons it continues to collapse.
East Germany and the USSR answered that question by setting up walls and preventing people from leaving the country. It’s hard to picture a “Berlin Wall” around Cleveland, but that is the one method of maintaining the workforce in country that has worked, at least temporarily, for other Socialist nations. Another has been to drag all private industry into the government, like automotive, healthcare, and financial. Hugo Chavez went with media and petroleum, but Obama already owns the press. In any case, the result is the same. The profits of the captured industry become the gravy train for the entitled minions.
The entitled minions are not left unscathed by the formation or collapse of the socialist government. They become slaves to the ruling class, much as they did in the Soviet Union. They are forced to accept changes in laws and polices because failure to do so could negatively impact their lives. If government controls the purse strings, they control everything attached, including all those who must feed at the government trough. Over time more and more industry becomes part of the government, and more and more people leave the country or become part of the entitled class. The weight of the entitlements outweighs the revenue from industry, and, well, you know the rest. Riots, protests, and general meltdown mayhem.
This process has played out over the centuries with the same results virtually every time. That anyone with an IQ higher than a rusted nail could think it would be any different in Harrisburg, Detroit, or California is evidence of insanity, or a stubbornness born of blind faith. Either way, all those in the path of the Socialist meltdown will feel the impact of the collapse. It should be no comfort to any of us that Obama has set the process in motion right here in our back yard.
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