Is America Finished?
With too many examples to jot down here, I have come to the conclusion that America is in serious decline. I am speaking in terms of economics, basic liberties, and safety. Do you think this can be turned around soon (assuming you agree)? Or, do you disagree? I just see so many things pointing out major intrusion into our private lives. And, the decline in earning potential of the middle-class, albeit stealthy, is undeniable between my parents' generation and mine.
Other than that - happy Friday!
Other than that - happy Friday!
A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.
The average age of the world's greatest civilisations from the beginning of history has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; From spiritual faith to great courage; From courage to liberty; From liberty to abundance; From abundance to selfishness; From selfishness to complacency; From complacency to apathy; From apathy to dependence; From dependence back into bondage.
My wife and I regularly talk of immigrating elsewhere. We are in the early, research stage of this. Really just gradual, early preparation. I do well here, but can feel the squeeze getting tighter. I know people who talk of staying and bucking the system. Not me. I'd rather go Galt...
Jan, panic now and beat the rush.
The 3 countries on my radar to possibly emigrate to are New Zealand, Australia, and Canada. They are all English speaking countries; so assimilation will be easier. They also score higher than the USA on the Heritage Foundation's 2015 Index of Economic Freedom. That's not to say that they are perfect, because they are not. The tax situation is not much different, for starters. The main differences are respect for private property rights, less business regulations, and much lower national debts and deficits.
Perhaps those countries may only be 20 years behind the USA in decline (I don't know...), but at least they are marginally better. Another consideration is that most of humanity lives in the northern hemisphere; so, the law of averages suggests less trouble if one relocates to the southern hemisphere... That would rule out Canada, which is also dang cold anyway. As you might expect, the immigration rules of New Zealand and Australia are not easy to navigate, as it is for most countries...
Food for thought...
Yes I saw that ranking. My quick thought was- if your country ranks lower than us, wow are you in trouble!
Seems to be a global disease, one step forward, two steps back.
In my state the gov. has promised to abolish the 'potato marketing board' next year. The only thing said in its defence is that it makes no difference. Among other incredible powers the Act gives police the power to stop and search vehicles if there is reason to believe it is carrying an unauthorized amount (about 220 lb I think) of potatoes, so far, police have decided they have more important thing to do.
Do you have any info or opinions on how things are in New Zealand relative to Australia and the USA?
Gun laws- In Oz and NZ would not be to the liking of most on the Gulch. Laws are very tight, those who get licenses such as for sport or for protecting livestock are such a kind of person who would not even overstay a parking limit. But shootings happen, then there is an outcry for tougher restrictions, of course those who did it invariably did not have a license.
Government debt- The government elected last year, the libs (=conservatives) are not as spendthrift as the labs (=liberal/lefties) and are still increasing debt but much slower. We are probably at the lower end by international standards, this is taken by the left that borrowing more is ok, others think that other nations have borrowed too much.
Now, sure, the size of US gov debt is alarming, but does it matter who owns that debt? If it is other branches of gov, or no one eg the reserve bank, then what? Can so much be borrowed that there are not enough zeroes to express it? I suspect the problem is not so much being vulnerable to China or Saudi as destroying the economy by inflation.
Socialized medicine- first I will say I am an extreme left winger as described by a fellow member of our Austrian group here. So, socialized medicine has some merits. One big problem is that it grows and grows. This can be controlled by rationing. So instead of patient/doctor (customer/provider) deciding, decisions are made by pen-pushers who, as they become more important their pay goes up, and there are more of them. Increasing costs are soaked up by this bureaucracy. They vote as a block, one way.
Immigration- It used to be that arriving by boat after weeks at sea got you in especially if claiming to be from Afghanistan, it is tighter now but Islamist preachers appear to have no difficulty with the proper sponsorship. The immigration rules are designed to bring in the healthy, then the skilled, then the professionals, then the entrepreneurs. All these in roughly age order. Yes there is the business entry scheme very popular with HongKongers, as always a good lawyer helps.
Jan
We spoke to one couple who had done that and they reminded me of the fairy tale of the fox who got his tail cut off. It was so wonderful - until we stopped in Bali. They had to pay something like $800 to be allowed back in because of their permanent residency status. (Everyone else only had to pay a $25 visa fee to Bali.) He also told me they had to buy private health insurance which was very expensive because they were too old to be allowed in the OZ system.
If I understood him correctly, they 'donated' half a million to OZ and then had to buy a house, car, etc. An alternative would have been to invest a million in a business they would run.
I understand a lot of us are a various stages of looking for alternatives. If anyone has contrary information it would be helpful to post it and if anyone has information on other possible relocation countries I'd love to see it.
if you take the time to research many of my comments since I joined the gulch you read over and over again that I have said what you are saying now. my saying it is only offering what Ayn Rand has said for years before her death.
By the way, I'm probably of your grandparent's generation. Any time you need a living testimony, just summon me up.
"..... but that should not deter from the attempt."
Fully agree.
As for your point of not taking other people's land - that is true, but American foreign policy since WW II has been dysfunctional at best. While perhaps having good intentions, we have screwed one country after another, while hurting ourselves. I think that the most accurate description, while looking at all the facts and weighting the results, would be an idiotic policy, or perhaps just idiocy without any policy. You say that we allowed an administration to be elected on lies - could you name an administration within our lifespan that was not elected on lies? Perhaps we should stop blaming Osama, Hillary, Bill and George - perhaps they are a reflection of us?
I say this without the slightest hint of Schadenfreude, as I was once immensely proud of America.
America was once the "sweet land of liberty" that Russian immigrant Ayn Rand dreamed and wrote about.
Now, alas, it is a modern day version of Rome under Caligula and Nero, a degenerate empire to foreigners, and oppressive police state to its domestic population.
I never thought I would live to see the day when America came to this sad state.
Abaco has the right of it as far as history is concerned, so we have to take into consideration that we are fighting against an innate human tendency as well as against the immediate situation. Nonetheless, we have extended human life span and I see no reason that we cannot extend the lifespan of the USA.
What steps do we take? One, which we have been discussing on other threads, is to lead with media: Aglialoro, the hallings, and others on this site are doing this personally. We need to cheer them on and support their attempts to promote Heroism, individuality, and Capitalism.
The next big step is for individual states to stand forth against the socialist trend - Texas and Alaska come to mind (Arizona was heading that way but seems to have foundered; New Hampshire maybe is in the game). These big states need to politely decline government funds on the basis of their own profitable economies and, within their boundaries, strike out for as much personal freedom as they can.
I think that if these things happen (and we are presently watching the attempts) we will have the foundation to elect a series of presidents and congressmen who can perform simple math, only take discrete bribes, and who can keep their dorks in their pants for a whole 8 years at a time.
This is not as spectacular as a red-running-in-the-street revolution, but it is a better path. We still have a chance to take it.
Jan
Jan
Besides which...I like Fairy Tales...
Jan
"Grannie, do all fairy tales begin with 'Once Upon a Time?"
"No darling. there is a whole series of fairy tales that begin with 'If Elected I Promise'."
Jan
a possible path, though it's a difficult one. . the
flyover States secede, join together, establish a
stronger constitution and hold out economically
until the rest of the States give in. . interesting
read. . I was just "executive editor" -- and co-author, kinda.
here 'tis::: http://www.amazon.com/Unsustainable-Tuck...
-- j, still optimistic
.
It is the progressive , Robin Hood, approach to redistribution and regulation that has stifled growth. It is the anti fossil fuel movement that has curtailed energy independence. It is the political quagmire that fights war to a draw (at best) rather than a victory.
Somehow, it has become politically popular to embrace "getting by" rather than excellence. If you live in excellence, you either don't deserve it because others have less than you, or you really didn't achieve that yourself because the gov't provides the infrastructure for you. (this is untrue, because gov't doesn't show up until after the business has achieved...check out the history of Scranton PA.)
If a leader and a serious band of rebellious representatives restored economic and political freedom, USA could recover fairly quickly. If we continue to have American leaders that look to gauge the World's opinion of themselves, then American interests will continue to take a back seat to political correctness and courting favor abroad.
I have notice in the last few months the media is more attentive to Obama's follies and they are also clamoring for optimistic motivation moving toward a growth footing on the economy.
It is akin to the theory in Beck's "the Overton Window". Through media, news and commercial, the parameters of expectation and acceptance are gradually changed.
Thoughtful people who think things through have always know Socialism is a dead end street. If the only way to prosperity is a declining population, sooner or later there are not enough productive people to pay the way, or as Thatcher once said, "...you run out of other people's money to spend.
Bottom line, the regime has to get it done in this administration or the national view will change enough to end this siege. As your claim that Germany found Hilter, a generation ago America found Reagan. I don't wish to resurrect Reagan because times are different. It is my thought that correct motivation, expectation of a positive outcome, proper metrics to measure progress, adjusting course as needed, and the realization among the mooches that they will get less and less over time; all of these factors will cause a sea change in our direction. For millennia man was ruled over by Kings, and these same factors created the USA. We may not be what the founder's envisioned, but I don't believe we will become any of the other available choices from Western European socialism to Iranian theocracy.
Robin Hood is a fairy tale because the wealthy would have traveled around Sherwood Forrest or purchased "Traveler's Cheques" from the Templars or Dominci family. Taking from the rich and giving to the poor only lasts so long.
The sad thing about owning fixed assets is that they can be taken away by government. Example, even though we do not have a mortgage on our house, we have to buy it back from our county every year in the form of paying property tax.
Without an honest government nothing is safe.
The ideals that led to the united States will continue while the values get taught to future generations.
I have some hope because the consequences are making themselves obvious and some pro-capitalist individuals are adapting the leftist tactic of getting into universities to challenge/inform young minds.
I like the sayings: 'the night is darkest just before the dawn'.
'I will not go quietly into the gentle night'.
I think Lucky is right about the 'global disease' - all these international bodies(UN, IMF, etc even the bildeberg meetings) where the self-styled elites coordinate themselves are vectors of infection when they delude themselves into thinking that anything great can be built by Men(plural, species specific not gender) who are easily ruled.
The larger, strategic issue is overcoming 45 years of indoctrination in public schools and universities that we are our brothers' keepers, that we are responsible to the state and our individual liberties are of little consequence.
I used to say TGIF or Happy Friday. Now I just say POETS or happy POETS day, which means P On Everything Tomorrow's Saturday.
Wouldn't it be worth it if the constitution were clarified, for example, removing welfare from the federal government's authority and relegating it solely to the states?
But, like Noah, I believe there is of course a future after the turds are all drowned. And I believe there are others out there building their own arks, some here in CONUS, others in various countries (and btw, if I was going to expat, a good place to do it would be Argentina). But I decided to Galt in Texas. More on why later.
I came to my personal realization that the course this country was on could not be corrected without a flood, revolution, zombie reincarnation, etc, shortly after 911. I saw a govt that had become too powerful because "we the people" as a majority had become by and large pussies that allowed themselves to become wards of the state. Entitled, lazy, and short sighted, they were easy pickins. And when Zero got elected, that was my signal. I put my company on the market, started doing what the Kalling's did and sold most of my unnecessary flotsom, and started looking at night time satellite pics. I settled on a part of Texas that had the fewest lights. And Texas because, if you stay away from Austin, are plumb eat up with folks made of the same "rugged individualism" that made the America of old great.
I bought as much land as I could afford next to these "rugged individuals", and then worked on making me and my family as self sufficient as possible. Energy in the way of solar and wind, cattle, 5 working wells on alternative energy, large gardens, dairy goats, chickens, guns and ammo as well as befriending possible trigger pullers in case we have to repel the gangbangers when their gravy train is gone, etc. And, I built my "headquarters' smack dab in the middle of my 700 acres with only one unimproved road in, cut through a heavily wooded area. And speaking of gangbangers, I realized I would also have to cope with those that did not prepare. Starving people are desperate people, and you have to realize that you cannot care for them all.
That is the toughest part. I am hoping to avoid most of that by making myself a much harder target than unprepared Joe Blow down the road. Kind of like being in bear filled woods with somebody you can outrun.
And I came up with a business model that I can do myself, without having to have employees. Not that I dislike employees, its the govt baggage that come attached to them I cannot stomach. The only USD for most part I keep in banks is the amount I will need to pay rent ransom every year to the govt in the way of property taxes. The rest of my USD went into farm equipment, barns, diesel storage tanks, etc. Hard assets, ie. The rest of my monetary assets I keep in either physical gold and silver, or Norwegian Kronas that I can convert if necessary.
The rest of my efforts goes to time spent keeping as low a govt profile as I possibly can. I intend to be around, or at least provide an ark after I am gone, to those who can rebuild this country, or planet for that matter, after this hideous tick the NWO implodes on itself.
One of my favorite mottos is: "Maybe the horse will learn to sing". While there is still life in the country and in the constitution, attempt the impossible.
There are two places that would make a major difference, both of which have growing movements in their favor:
1. Legalize drugs. Abolish the war on drugs. This effort has justified ever more police militarization and denial of liberty. No knock raids, asset forfeiture, laws on cash deposits, and many many more were all justified by the War on Drugs. Stop it. There is a growing movement to do this, it even has support among some liberals. Take this step.
2. Increase school vouchers. Having the government pay for school is less than ideal but breaking the virtual monopoly of the educational system in instructing each generation in the benefits of socialism is vital. With more private schools, some of them at least can introduce the concepts of capitalism.
These are both efforts that are underway and if increased would help increase liberty and decrease the indoctrination of each generation.
I, of course, have a whole lot of other things that should be done, but those two are the ones that seem most achievable.
Cameras everywhere, political correctness, people unashamed to take government handouts, lawsuits and government regulations strangle businesses, kids can't do math in their heads, parents don't question laws that usurp their authority, smart TVs that listen to conversations, GPS in cars that can also listen to you, creepy targeted advertising, creepy facebook, doctors who follow one size fits all medical algorithms and are now afraid of their own shadows....I could go on and on about the Alice in Wonderland qualities of the New America.
But I won't.
I just find it odd that so many of the people I know consider this to be "progress." But I guess that's part of the Lewis Carroll story-like charm.
most part, GODLESS, should be added to
your list of reasons for America's decline...
The above scenario would probably fit into a picture of people sitting around in a futuristic fantasy world with embedded electronic devices. Inflation will get out of control while higher and higher taxes are required to fund ever expanding entitlements. The decline will be exacerbated by poverty, cultural decay, loss of borders and language degeneration.
Magic Dog
I seem to remember reading of something like that happening in some novel from the 1950s... ;)
The Land will remain of course, but this GOVERNment will self-destruct. It's fiat money will become worthless, no more dole will be paid out, and no more payments can or will be paid to anyone, as there will be nobody employed even to write hot checks.
The Great Collapse will be Global. I say good riddance.
Only the responsible and the prepared might survive. May they never again opt to be Ruled!
I have made a start on describing what we'll be doing to make a restart, that at
http://no-ruler.net/ Our focus will be on "Going Voluntary..." and will be written in a series of new posts.
- Gov't will increasing use all the laws/regulations plus the spying ability of technology in corrupt ways.
- Automation is completely up-ending the labor market, and people will be tempted to try to "fix" this with bad policies.
- Reliance on gov't to manage personal matters increases, and this undermines liberty.
I can't predict the future, but my guess is one or more of these problems will cause the US to become more ordinary, similar to how the UK went from being a vast empire to what it is today. It's still a fine place, but it's not global titan that it once was.
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