This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
Guest Post: How Big Government Kills The American Dream
Last week, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio published their prescription for reviving the American dream. They are right to focus on the dream. They are wrong in their understanding of American history and the role government can play in restoring and fostering the dream.
In an 872-word argument titled “How to revive the American dream,” the words “free” or “freedom” never appear. That’s a clue.
They open with a chilling refrain: Opportunity for success for most Americans is hopeless. All but the rich are falling behind because the “game is rigged.” Their diagnosis: You can’t improve your situation by your own talents or effort. Their prescription: Don’t leave freedom in the hands of citizens. Only a massively larger central government, run by people like them, can help you.
Respectfully, this has been the claim of every person in history who has ever sought to gain enormous power through government control over the daily lives of their fellow citizens.
They say the American dream is nearly dead because the game is rigged. If so, your talent, hard work and dedication can’t help you, and your freedom to choose your own path in life isn’t worth much, is it?
And if the situation is hopeless, the change has to be dramatic. “Bold” is their word. They aren’t trying to sell common-sense reforms. They are selling an entirely new American system that fundamentally changes the relationship between central government leaders and you. Thomas Jefferson wrote that the purpose of the government is to secure freedom. Warren and de Blasio’s government would take your freedom in order to protect you from freedom’s harmful effects.
Their misreading of American history is frightening. The American system of free people and free markets created more opportunity and prosperity for more citizens than any economic system in human history. Most countries have tried to copy our economic model.
Take China. Thirty years ago, the Chinese government abused and controlled every aspect of the lives of its impoverished people. The Chinese middle class did not exist. In the last two decades, the Chinese have moved from a totally government-controlled economy toward freer markets, and more than 300 million Chinese citizens now comfortably belong in the world’s middle class. Unfortunately, the Chinese government still allows egregious abuses of law and its people, but the old model was a complete disaster.
The Warren and de Blasio answer for strengthening the American middle class would move us toward the old Chinese economic model. They propose having the government dictate wages, overtime, vacation and leave policies, child-care requirements, and how much men and women are paid. They would dictate tuition levels for colleges. While decrying cronyism, they want a central government empowered to decide which companies are “fair,” and only those would receive funding for research and development. According to them, rather than allowing a business to succeed — or fail — on its own merits, government should pick the winners and bail them out with the public’s money when they fail.
They oppose free markets. Instead, they’d create “fair rules” in the marketplace. Let’s cut through the code words here. They don’t want you to be free to make economic decisions. Instead, they want the power to decide what is “fair” for you. Nowhere in their list of new government services and controls is any mention of a cost to us. We’re to believe only Bill Gates and a few of his friends would pay.
Except we know that isn’t true. The cost of their policies would be paid in more debt, taxes and fewer jobs. Have they learned nothing from watching Greece?
Warren and de Blasio aim their argument for a massive expansion of federal power at the goal of helping the middle class. The great American middle class was not created by government policies. Their prescription would crush working families and small business — the engine of the American dream.
The debate here isn’t between a more powerful central government versus no government and a dog-eat-dog world where the strong eat the weak. A fair read of American history shows that wise government policies nurture an environment where the dream can grow through actions, such as funding of public infrastructure, scientific and technological research, and public education. And government regulation plays a necessary role in keeping America safe.
To build their case that America today is in need of radical change, Warren and de Blasio make the incredible claim that America used to invest in our kids and in policies to build a strong middle class, but “we don’t anymore.” What are those government policies? Social Security, Medicare, free public education. We don’t invest in these policies anymore? Spending for these programs has risen from $195 billion in 1980 to just under $2 trillion today.
If Warren and de Blasio limited their argument to the need for government assistance to help the poorest and weakest in our society, there wouldn’t be a debate. I would agree with that. But that is not their claim. They claim that a massive expansion of federal power would help the families in the middle. Their prescription requires middle America to surrender freedom. In exchange, they say government control would improve our situation in life more than exercising our own freedom will.
Warren and de Blasio’s prescription is for killing the American dream rather than reviving it.
»
- 36511 reads
- Printer-friendly version
- Send to friend
- advertisements -
You are 100% dead on with your assessment of government, their drain on society, and their attitude towards it.
My business is 100% tied to helping companies navigate various government departments and regulations at both the federal and local level. Much of what I do involves zoning, permitting, etc. at the local level (cities, counties, and townships). The amount and complexity of the rules and regulations in these jurisdictions is staggering. What many don't realize is that they are not only paying for government via taxes, but they are also paying via higher prices for the goods and services they purchase. The companies that hire me directly pass through the cost of dealing with government to the end consumer. The industry I am in is used by 99% of the population so everyone is paying for it.
I am in the process of purchasing a property and I am having to work with SEVEN different government jurisdictions and agencies . Make it nine if you want to count the state tax collector and the IRS. Every government entity has a set of hoops that I have to jump through (fix this, do that, register this, evaluate that) and many have relativly large dollar signs attached to them. The cost of doing all of these things is quickly adding up to the cost of the actual property itself.
Government is starting to regulate this country out of business. Government officials see themselves as a line of defence against "evil capitalists," many of which are just small business people trying to make a living. They have no regard for the actual cost of what they require, and would just assume shut down a 100 person business for something as simple as peeling paint or the lack of a handrail on a set of stairs.
America is but a blip on the road map of history. Freedom is unusual. It is unique. It has left us. If you look back five or six thousand years mankind has been ruled by tyrants. War lords. Emperors. Feudal lords. Kings. Life was brutal and short. Life expectancies were short. Tribal wars. Ghengas Khan. Crusades. See America was a dream. A dream built on the proposition that all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator etc.
Without private property and the right of individuals to own said property there is no purpose in working and bettering yourself and your family and their future. All government money spent comes from someone elses pocket. The government at all levels, federal, state, county and city or township have growin into all consuming beasts. the rules and regulations and licensing requirments just for busineess have become untenable. I know whereof I speak. I often must aquire building permits as I am in the home remodeling business. Dont pay your property taxes and see how long you continue to own your property.
Case in point. Recently I was required to pay 600 dollars and undergo 2 inspections to install a 2200 patio door. About 5 years ago this particular suburb was hit by a wave of "Travelers" after a severe hail storm. They dissappeared with multiple thousands of dollars of homeowners deposits for roofing work that was never delivered or installed. The municipality reaction was to enact severe contractor requirements including bondiing, criminal background checks, vehicle make model and license plate numbers for company and all private vehicles that may be on the job site etc. I went back to the homeowner and told her if she wanted her patio door installed she could split the 6oo dollars with me.
We have become a nation of tax mules. Many companies refuse to do work now in this suburb for this very reason. That is all well and good but what catches on in one suburb eventually spreads to others. We had a revolution in this country once for taxaton without representation. I have had women in the permit deppartment of local suburbs sit at their desks eating their lunch from 1240 to 100 watching me wait to do 3 minutes of paperwork to have them print me a permit. Oh and that last minute freshen up their lipstick. See, with government employees time is not money. Their money comes from our time. I did ask one woman who upon finishing her lunch if she understood that her paycheck comes in part from my permit fees to do work in her suburb. She kind of cocked her head and looked at me funny like my Beagle Samson does when I talk to him at the end of a too long business day.
America is consuming itself like a snake eating its own tail. Sad. We hardly knew ya. If not us, who? If not now, when? Good day all.
Private property rights inhibit their ability to control.
Humans are motivated by fear. If they fear too greatly they will form a mob in self defense, and this mob can grow in such proportions and with such ferocity that it will trample everyone in its path. This is the base of all governments. They become a mindless mob, driven by certain "principles" that ultimately defy all logic. Their belief in the absolute necessity of their dominion overpowers all other considerations...they must lead...they must not show weakness or indecision...they MUST ACT!
The complete preposterousness of many of their actions disproves nothing to them.
Living on a large creek lined with massive trees, I was concerned about erosion causing these trees to fall into the creek. I wanted to build some small retaining walls at some of their bases to try and prevent this, but upon calling the Corp of Engineers, I was informed that I would require permitting and would not be allowed to turn a spade of earth in the creek. I would have to divert the creek (how, without releasing earth into the the water flow, I don't know) and hire a licensed contractor to do this. It would cost tens of thousands of dollars making it completely unfeasible. I explained to this official that if these trees did fall into the creek it would release tons of earth, not spades, into the water flow. He explained to me that this would be an act of God beyond his control, but I, on the other hand, was well within it.
We now have what is called Storm Water runoff, which through the EPA allows the city to "regulate" (actually tax and inspect our business property) to control the supposed content of any rainwater that might fall on our property and run into the storm sewer. We are taxed on our square footage of property and they come and inspect us to ensure that NOTHING can wash into the rainwater. I was was told that if an employee car leaked oil in the parking lot, I would be required to hire a hazmat crew to come in and clean it or I could be fined $5k. I suggested he visit a WalMart lot to see some "real" oil runoff and was told that they didn't apply as they were not "industrial". Further, any sawdust that might actually fall from the dumpster would be another potential fine. We are not talking piles of the stuff, we are talking in terms of ounces not pounds. Any one of these fools would absolutely freak out if they found themselves in my position, yet as it is their "job" and see it as important and necessary, will enforce it with vigor. They will say it is their job, but actually it is the power that motivates them. It is the problem that is perfectly encapsulated in our police. We can all understand the need for such people, but also understand the danger of putting that kind of power into mortal hands, and can also understand that the lure of potential power appeals to those types that are not just interested in "serving" us, but "ruling" us.
With the above as an understanding, what happened last Wednesday night/Thursday morning in the wee hours was terrifying. Globally the credit markets began to melt down! This was a global event and almost ALL credits were being sold.
http://beforeitsnews.com/economy/2015/05/the-economy-almost-crashed-last...
U r too easily, "terrified".
That's how they control U.
Actually, I would prefer Warren over Hillary. Hillary has no concept of playing by the rules, no concept of honesty, and no desire to do what is best for the country (only what is best for her and her cronies and her big contributors). At least Warren (so far) has shown honesty and a desire to help the little guy I stead of Wall Street. Unlike Obama and Hillary - both are 'my way or the highway' - I have hope that Warren would listen to reason, weigh both sides, and once in a while make the smarter choice. I also see Warren as someone who might resist (slightly) the rule and control of the 'one party'.
Best of all, Warren will likely make a mistake during the campaign and unlike Hillary, Warren would be less likely to 'Slick Willie' her way out if it. Basically meaning that by revealing her true intentions, Warren would make it easier for a Republican to get elected.
I can't wait for Warren to cash that big campaign contribution check from Zuckerburg after telling him the American Dream is dead!
they just want everyone to be equal-equaly miserable, just like the old soviet union.
they just want everyone to be equal-equaly miserable, just like the old soviet union.
Those who pretend to defend "freedom" are most often tainted with Machiavellian intentions.
It is alas the evolution of western history's time line since credence in apostolic faith got dented and "the end justifies the means" became the new rule of nation-state.
The Enlightenment that followed taught us to counter Machiavellian usage of "statist power" either through divine rights or through state rights; aka that Voltaire's scathing critique of looking behind the tinsel curtain of "belief systems" and Montesquieu's vision of separation of powers, were the best balancing acts to teach humanity the road to new progress in an imperfect world. Where humanity now having used to the bone the credence in monotheist religion, found faith in humanistic values based on philosophy, ethics and "progress" via science.
But State now became the seat of power, of science and of economic redistribution in name of social progress, of leveling the table that hereditary and fate gave to some and refused to others. State became the great propulsor, its statue of Liberty's the symbolic representation, which iconized a new beginning for the unwashed and unfavored.
But how to find balance between the neo-feudal Oligarchs representing the old tyrannic order of unequal rights based on "might is right" and the new servants of state and faceless redistribution of wealth, the great leveling fields, of social welfare ?
Seperation of powers, accountability and control, checks and balances...not a tyranny of power for and of the powerful...was the dream that launched the industrial revolution...and it spawned a new aristocracy !
We are once again there today as this process has concentrated power like never before in the nation that iconized a new beginning for Man. In that new land where it was thought that the unfair society that dominated the old lands had been banished by the open society of elected servants, an independent legal order and a bureaucracy that was accountable.
That reality does not exist in the real world post PAx Americana's dominance and subsequent morph into a war machine. It all started overtly on Aldous Huxley day in Dallas.
We know how these Rubicons are crossed but we don't know how far the rot will deepen. Except when we read History with discernement and not just as a tale of obscurantist or hyped legend.
Those who decry state today can only do so by acclaiming behind their vociferations the sinister STATUS QUO that first world dystopia has become currently. Choose neo-feudalism or choose some return to accountability and fairness in our collective names by those to try and right the ship of State, now OWNED by the rich and powerful !
Don't bandy "freedom" like a Machiavellian stooge with a true Pinocchio nose!
Reality is what guides the western world, fact not fiction. And today's reality is the domination of a private sector aristocracy that knows no LAW except might is right!
You're quiet a writer. I sort of forgot what I was going to say this morning reading some of the others below as well.
I wondered if we cancelled all our Free Trade Agreements if that would start World War III since it would cause a depression... plus USA would be hurting for goods of course. But the status quo is an Idiocracy.
Many Political writers seem unable to grasp that someone action on the left or the write can be hijacked by more powerful players. Seems ACA was written by Industry and passed before congress read the damn thing.
Likewise we can't be sure if big organizations and Foundations haven't either had ill designs from the beginning or have been hijacked.
- Persistence of Large Organizations and Large Budgets is always Ripe for both Plunder and "Capture" by Evil Actors
Maybe Hillary & Obama were young idealists at some point, but clearly both have given up, surrendered, to larger powers that want war, empire, superpower status, and super financial power status.
Not sure how experienced Elizabeth Warren or De Blassio are. The don't seem to talk about enforcement, implementation, proper staffing, monitoring systems and laws. For instance we have finance laws, a financial regulatory agency, the FTC to stop fraud, and Anti-Trust Law to break down to big to Fail.
We have even passed laws to build a wall at the border of Mexico which was 'Law', but was crushed by political power of some kind operating outside of the 'Law'.
Interesting all the Corruption of our Dystopia.
The Broken System doesn't seem to protect the US President from Military-Security, Banking-Finance, and Global-Anglophile Powers. Clearly we would have to reduce the 17 Intelligence Agencies and 17 Military Agencies to the Bare Bones at the same time we reduce the Banking Powers to small 'Banking Houses' on Wall Street.
If I'm reading the words of Ms. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R) correctly, the solution is to use your "freedumb" to become a banker, get accepted into the banking clique and voila, instant riches, done the Murican Way.
Compete against Nepotism with whatever degree you can afford, and compete against networks which would take you a decade to identify.
Sure, maybe Join ROTC or the Military and get a degree that way... but your resume is never going to look as good as the people at the top.
I doubt anyone can get rich the way Mayer Rothschild did... it sounds like he embezzled money from a Guy named William who was a Defense Contractor, selling services of Hessian Soldiers/Mercs to England. Then Mayer Rothschild was supposed to Invest the money, but set up Nathan in London as a Bank.
Lots of opportunities are gone, so what is the new Paradigm?
Since President Reagan Ieft office I've been watching the dimise of America and it's Freedoms. The above article is just another example of the last days of Freedom. Over the decades I can safely say, that it was ALWAYS worse than I thought it was at the time. Therefore, I can only imagine how bad it must truely be right now! Your children or grandchildren will NEVER KNOW WHAT FREEDOM IS OR WAS!
To change the direction of this country would take a massive effort by the American people and I just don't see it happening. There are a few standing up to the tyranny of the FEDs, but VERY FEW!
This statement is at the bottom of ever email I send. "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
Bye bye American Pie!
thanks for waking me up from the koolaid dream and reminding me that while I like Warren's distaste for Wall St. she remains a progressive/socialist when it comes to government's role in the lives of its citizens.
FOREIGN OWNERSHIP OF US DEBT RISES; CHINA RECLAIMS TOP SPOT...
Major Newspapers don't get it. You have to add Hong Kong to the China total.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_FOREIGN_HOLDINGS?SITE=AP&SECTI...
$1261.0 + $180.7 = $1441.7 China
$1226.9 = Japan, China already exceeded Japans total long ago.
http://www.treasury.gov/ticdata/Publish/mfh.txt
Rest of the world; Treasury securities; asset, Level
2014: 6,169,224 Millions of Dollars (Exponential Increase, Foreign Ownership of US Treasuries), Annual, Not Seasonally Adjusted, ROWTSEA027N, Updated: 2015-03-12
https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/ROWTSEA027N
Yes,,, Washington State she hails from. Such a bastian of freedom,
STEAL FROM THE RICH. Come on, let's give it a real try! I mean they have plenty of money and things, right? Best to steal from Fannie and Freddie is what I have heard...
NSA? Fuck you too....
Oh, man, as if what we say means anything.
"The debate here isn’t between a more powerful central government versus no government"
It should be.
Where is the Tyler story on the Friday after noon fold the Dems pulled on TPP?
Fast Track it is. I knew it was kabuki
American Dream =having a Jew-free nation
Dutchboy's dream is to be gang banged by 13 jews. Uncircumcised is much better ay Dutchess. You can try to hide your carnal cravings with mindless hate but we see right through it.
By the way Dutchess, hows the weather in Dearborn today?
It's much more complicated that this statement from the article:
Their misreading of American history is frightening. The American system of free people and free markets created more opportunity and prosperity for more citizens than any economic system in human history. Most countries have tried to copy our economic model.
First of all, there is no such thing as free markets. This term is hypnotic suggestion. There are three kinds of markets, which I've pointed out many times here at ZH.
So, anytime sombody opens their mouth as spouts platitudes about Free Markets, one should immediately be suspicious.
America grew rich behind tariff walls. This is indisputable. She tariffed up to keep out predatory English goods. This gave her time to develop her industry under protection.
America also used her own internal credit, not the credit of a foreign country to then develop her people and industry. Alexander Hamilton may have been two faced, but at least he gave America some good advice, and that was to use her own money to develop her own lands and people.
Public spending into public health, into clean water, into transportation, etc., all improved the commons, thus making America rich.
America now champions free markets in order to tear down walls. The IMF and World Bank then give cheap loans to foreign countries. This puts foreigners on a debt hood, and then later the country is bought up cheap using the reserve dollar.
In this way, the third world will remain as third world, with unbalanced economies and foreign denominated debt.
So, how did the free market nonsense work out for Russia? The Jewish Oligarchs tried to take over and then dismantle the country. The idea was to turn it into a resource source, like Africa. Russian labor would then be unable to add value to their natural resources, and hence their wealth means was short circuited. Along comes Putin who put a stop to this Oligarchy attempt.
So, America grew rich behind tariff walls, and now champions free markets. This is to spread American business and use foreign labor. The end result is an "international" money and international hodge podge of races. Countries and Sovereignty is usurped and subordinated to international credit money means and platitudes about "free markets."
www.sovereignmoney.eu
I agree IMF and World Bank loans would be a kind of Leakage of velocity or currency.
Either Economic Leakage, Monetary Leakage, or Velocity Leakage... Just like Greece today if I can be sloppy about the metaphor. Greece had a dracma & had debt, then lost it's currency, but kept the outside debt.
Interesting comments. Thanks for the reminders.
" To build their case that America today is in need of radical change, Warren and de Blasio make the incredible claim that America used to invest in our kids and in policies to build a strong middle class, but “we don’t anymore.” "
Radical chage was dismantling Glass Steagall. Massive financial fraud followed. It is a little too late to complain about radical changes.