Dear Friends,
It seems to me, elections have consequences, more than you may realize, look at a few recent votes and the results of those elections on the economy, standard of living, crime rates and general sense of well being, and it will become obvious. People it would seem are forgetful and easy to fool. We forget about the results of past elections and in our ignorant self interest are easily manipulated into voting against our self interests. That is why human history is circular, we make a mistake and trust in the wrong people, we suffer tremendously for that bad decision, then after a few years, or decades, we make the same mistake again, which leads to terrible suffering, again. Once we come to our senses and get a government that stays withing bounds for awhile, our leaders become more and more corrupt, since there are never consequences for our leaders when they become corrupt, and so by that means we are led to ruin by our leaders. You would think however, since there are books written, history talked about and unlimited access to information today, we would be able to break the cycle, sadly it would seem we are not.
After New York City went through the trials, crime and economic absurdity of the 1970’s the people of New York turned to Giuliani to change course. He cleaned up the streets, lowered crime and got the economy of New York going again. After forgetting why they voted for Giuliani, the people of New York changed course and elected Deblasio, an avowed Marxists, who traveled to Nicaragua to fight on the side of the Marxists. The result, an exploding crime rate, diminished economic expectations, the streets are filthy once again and the government is overstepping it’s bounds, again.
Spain had an economy that was humming along. The government of Aznar had reigned in the Spanish government. Spain was a rising star in the Euro zone, which led to a rising standard of living driven by higher wages. The Madrid train bombings just before the election drove the people to vote in the socialist Zapatero. He immediately set himself to changing Spain’s economy from the path of a functional market system to a command and control economy. He threw Spain headlong into making solar panels and green energy. The economists of the world, being in love with the planned economy, cheered him and his policies as progressive and smart. The results have been a catastrophe for the Spanish people. Spain is now one of the nations that are derisively called PIGS, (Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain). The failed economies of Europe. Zapatero took Spain from being a rising star to a failed economy with all the hardship that goes along with it.
Israel had unilaterally pulled out of Gaza and had forcibly removed the Israeli settlers. The people of Gaza had been given their freedom by the Jews, how did they respond? By voting in Hamas. That election resulted in bloodshed when Hamas murdered their political opposition the PLO. The bloodshed went on for weeks as Hamas slaughtered anyone who opposed them. Once Hamas had secured Gaza they started building rockets to launch against Israel. The result of that policy has been a failed economy, perpetual violence and a standard of living that is on a everlasting escalator down. The people if Gaza are now no more than human shields for their rulers and there has not been an election since.
Venezuela had money rushing in from it’s oil reserves. The standard of living was rising and crime was diminishing. In their hubris and ignorance the people of Venezuela voted in the Marxist Hugo Chavez, you know, to distribute the wealth. Chavez immediately nationalized the oil industry and used the profits to secure political support. As the oil infrastructure corroded, he nationalized more and more to keep the facade looking good, even as the economy crumbled. Any opposition was crushed violently. Hugo died as his socialist utopia was ablaze and was replaced by another socialist. Today, despite their huge oil reserves, Venezuela is in hyper inflation, toilet paper is nearly impossible to find, the government has become totalitarian and the standard of living in Venezuela is among the lowest in the world.
The people of the US were tired of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan and so elected the unknown Barack Obama. The reality of who he was/is was available but the media that calls itself unbiased didn’t bother to look. Obama’s Marxist upbringing was ignored and his obvious anti American leanings were glossed over, the reality of Obama was replaced with, “hope and change.” The economy went into recession and instead of lowering regulations and taxes Obama raised them. The result has been a nonexistent recovery. Oh, the stock market has gone up driven by ZIRP, (zero interest rate policy) and unprecedented money printing, including monetizing the debt, but those provisions have not filtered down to the people. QE2 could have made 85 thousand people millionaires per month if the money had been given to the people but instead it was given to the banks. Today in the US the labor participation rate is at an all time low while people on food stamps is at an all time high. The soup lines are hidden by the welfare checks the government is having a harder and harder time delivering. Now the US is on the brink of economic Armageddon and still many remain ignorant of the coming catastrophe.
Each election had consequences, each took a nation that had a bright future and replaced that bright future with one that is bleak. Spain’s economy is not far behind Greece’s, Gaza is a failed state, Venezuela is collapsing and the US is about to experience economic hardships like it has never experienced before, even during the great depression. In each case the people, in our ignorance and hubris, elected people who said the government would make us wealthy, and we went along despite every historical example that proves it impossible, and the results are as predictable as night after day. We have access to information about history, world events and economics that would have been unthinkable even a decade ago, yet we refuse to use it. As people are crying aloud, “How could this have happened?” You will know. We brought it upon ourselves, through our ignorance of history, economics and our hubris.
Sincerely,
John Pepin
