Dear Friends,
It seems to me, no matter how frugal you or I may be, the government’s profligacy puts us in debt anyway. While temperance was a fundamental American ethos, at the founding, the elite have made it passe. Leading by example, the elite’s opulent and hedonistic lifestyle, has oozed down to the whole of society. Where their spendthrift really comes out is when they’re spending other people’s money. Then, the cause must be funded, no matter how counterproductive. It’s the thought that counts. So the elite have made it impossible to live by Ben Franklin’s advice… to be thrifty. Because no matter how individually frugal a person may be, government has spent him and her into bankruptcy. We could, spend like a drunken sailor, try to disengage or step up and do something about it.
The elite only see an income problem, their spending is never the issue. The need is unlimited so the funds should be unlimited too. No matter how limited the well. If the government, billionaire or benevolent aliens, made everyone rich tomorrow, by next week there would be poor again. In a year the ratio would be 20% owning 80% of the wealth again. Once again the distribution of wealth would be by Pareto. No matter how many times the experiment was tried. The trick then isn’t to make everyone equal, that’s impossible, the trick is to make the bottom have a decent standard of living. Pragmatically, the only way to do it is by free markets. Nevertheless, government benefits from redistribution far more then those redistributed to. So government profligacy isn’t going away.
The elite appear to be ignorant of how they lead by example. They seem to think they live in a bubble. Their actions don’t appear have consequences. But they do. People look up to those in power. Many follow their example. Because, if you want to get ahead, you follow the example of those who are ahead… not those who are behind. As a result, the ambitious follow the elite into corruption. Divorce was never a thing in the US… until Hollywood gave us exhilarating examples of it. The stars all had multiple failed marriages. Glamorizing divorce. Now, we’ve followed, and most of us have multiple failed marriages. Isn’t that progress? More to the point, the lack of temperance of our elite lead many of us to lack temperance. Lowering not only our lot but the lot of mankind.
America was built on hard work, thrift and Christianity. The elite have worked diligently to eliminate all these societal myths. Bestowing upon us the country we have now. Crime ridden, hopeless, drug addicted, low family creation, low life satisfaction, dropping standard of living, normalized pedophilia, democracy free elections, censorship, and the courts openly defying the plain wording of our Constitution. Hard work has been replaced by the welfare state. Thrift has been replaced by opulence. Meanwhile, our once openly Christian nation has established materialist atheism as the State religion. Making Christianity unwelcome anywhere but in people’s hearts, and that’s being expunged with thought laws. Suggesting the goal all along… was to tear down America.
We could follow our leaders like many have… and say what the hell. Carpe Diem. Live for the day. And borrow until the bank won’t lend us more. Then live in the bar ditch. Others might try to disengage. Use only cash, have no bills and be as independent of the system as possible. Like the Amish. But recent history shows, disengagement won’t work. They’re coming after all of us. Cut spending, leading to cuts in taxes and the deficit. How to cut? Lay off 99% of the bureaucracy. Including and especially the national security apparatus. Because they don’t protect us, they’ve become a mortal danger to us. Government intemperance is one of our biggest threats and therefore among our biggest problems. If we tackle it, it could be dealt with, if we give up, it’ll strangle us. Like Kudzu does to a hornbeam.
Sincerely,
John Pepin
