Our National Bankruptcy: Moral, Economic, And Political

[Ptarmigan]

Our National Bankruptcy: Moral, Economic, And Political
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/our-national-bankruptcy-moral-economic-and-political
Via
https://www.theepochtimes.com/opinion/our-national-bankruptcy-moral-economic-and-political-5536762

Last month I got a call from a friend who works in Congress. He was distressed by the absurd condition of the federal finances. How could the wealthiest country in the world be almost $34 trillion in debt while charging ahead into ever-deeper debt? It seems like a horror movie come to life.

Congress is gridlocked with the spigot of federal spending seemingly locked permanently into the wide-open position.

The conversation with my friend touched on three points: how did this untenable situation come about, how can we reverse course, and what model of government would protect us from endless debt?

How Did We Get Into This Untenable Predicament?
What has brought the federal government of the United States of America to the edge of a fiscal abyss? It boils down to two main factors: the perverse incentives of electoral democracy accompanied by a gradual moral decay.

The fundamental underlying cause of our catastrophic debt is a decay of morality. Over the decades, the traditional American respect for the sanctity of private property has eroded and diminished. Under the influence of progressive and socialist ideas and other sophistries, the American people came to believe that they were entitled to receive benefits that others would be made to pay for. This is the self-destructive nature of democracy. By popular demand as expressed at the ballot box, voluntary exchange and charity have been progressively replaced by compulsory government-mandated transfers of wealth (transfers of wealth that would be considered theft if done by non-government actors).

In a democracy, politicians seeking elective office always need more votes. They have found that they can buy votes, not with their own money, but with money from the federal treasury, by conferring ever-larger benefits on ever-more beneficiaries. The political incentive is for Congress and presidents to spend, spend, spend. And since voters hate taxes, another political incentive is to not antagonize voters by raising taxes. Running up the national debt is the inevitable outcome of these incentives.

America is financially and morally bankrupt.

[Old n Grumpy]

The only solution is to haul off the current batch of politicians in chains and start with a fresh batch that will work for us and not themselves.

[FlaGator]

The consequences of allowing DEI to drive national, state and local policy

[Old n Grumpy]

The consequences of allowing DEI to drive national, state and local policy

That’s the consequences of minority rules.