I certainly hope that the conclusion to this article is way off base - but IMO there is little doubt that for decades government, as a whole, has been woefully inefficient.
Unfortunately, as others have suggested on this BB, the seeds for social unrest are becoming more apparent - I guess that we hope for the best and prepare for the worst.
December 9, 2011
Government of The Elites, By The Elites and For The Elites
By Monty Pelerin
American Thinker
Read more:
http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/...#ixzz1g4mhCJbp
Excerpts:
In the short span of a century and a half, the US went from a government famously described by Abraham Lincoln as "of the people, by the people, for the people" to one "of the Elites, by the Elites, for the Elites."
Albert J. Nock referenced Lincoln's phrase as "probably the most effective single stroke of propaganda ever made in behalf of republican State prestige." Perhaps, but when Lincoln said it our country had at least some resemblance to Lincoln's description.
This country, founded on personal liberty, freedom and limited government, has morphed into a massive Social Welfare State rivaling the paragons of Socialism in Europe. The concept of government serving the people no longer applies. The people now serve their government and its cronies.
Attacks on the Rule of Law and the Constitution, coupled with the general decline in ethical norms, enabled the inmates to take control of the asylum. Now we face a situation described rather bluntly by D. Sherman Okst:
“Plutocracy allows them to do what you and I would be jailed for doing. Being a legislator today is a get out of jail and get rich card. Congress isn't a place to serve the public, it isn't where you go to honor your country - it is where you go to earn wealth 150% faster than the American that serves you while you screw them.”
There is no viable political solution. Choosing between Corruption Faster (Democrats) and Corruption Slower (Republicans) does not change the destination, merely the rate at which the public is plundered. Government is too large and too powerful to allow itself to be dismantled via the ballot box. Yet it is also too large, too inefficient and too insolvent to survive.
A mercy killing, administered by an economic collapse, will provide a meaningful opportunity to address the political problem and return to limited government. Such an event, unfortunately, also opens the possibility of a totalitarian state.
Great pain lies ahead. The only issue is whether it will be short-term (say ten years) or long-term as in the old Soviet Union. Be aware of what lies ahead and prepare as best you can.
Read more:
http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/...#ixzz1g4mJLzrO