The government was already growing at an alarming rate long before the election of Barack Obama, but he's unquestionably thrown the growth of government into high gear. From massive Keynesian economic policies to straight-up socialist programs, America is travelling at ludicrous speed, as we advance down the road to serfdom.
There's a silver-lining in it all though, which is that "we the people" have been waking-up and re-discovering the truth, that there can be no civil society, without sound economic policy and maximizing freedom. Big Government and Keynesian schemes are the exact opposite of the sound economics and freedom we need. They crush our natural rights and human spirit as well, breeding social and economic degeneration.
This has been known for hundreds of years too, but for whatever reasons, people forget. After all, Big Government schemes can sound wonderful indeed, especially when preached by charismatic politicians. They promise to keep you safe, fed, warm, and to create utopian equality and justice. All they need from you is just a little more of your paycheck, and to restrict a few more of your "non-essential" rights.
It's all been tried before, with a record of dismal failure. The ideals of Big Government in the last century alone, lead to stagflation, depression, and ultimately to, the death of more than 100 million people. Sure, it's doubtless anyone actually intends such atrocities, perhaps their intentions are pure. But intentions don't matter because we know from history, where the road to serfdom leads.
Please take the time to visit my Robot friend, and read about the perils of Big Government. Take this topic very seriously too ... You don't be a Mind-Numbed Robot!
- ObamaCare – Son of Social Security
- Conservative or Libertarian, We Stand Against Statism
- Your 401k Are Belong to Us
- Reclaiming the American Spirit
- Aristocracy and Oligarchy - How We Got Here
- Apathy, Willful Ignorance and Corruption
- Federal vs State Governance
- Get Government Out of Health Care
- History of Constitutional Decline
- Your Government Wants To Eat You
Hey in addition to War is a Racket, I found this book by Charles A Lindburgh, Sr. entitled “Why is Your Country at War” skimming it through, it looks to be pretty relevent. http://tiny.cc/e0ci3
Maybe someone with more time and fewer kids can read it through.
I’ve been peaking into who’s who on the board of these defense companies. Check out this link:
http://mapper.nndb.com/maps/264/000010234/
to see the map I did for Raytheon. You may see a connection I don’t. I expanded the board members and VIPs of Raytheon then expanded each individual to see what corporations and government positions they held. It’s more incestuous than the Darwin family! I’ve noticed that in a lot of these defense companies they have people on the board who used to be in government policy-making positions. Was Gen. Butler right, War is a Racket?
http://www.lookingglassnews.org/viewcommentary.php?storyid=29
“– Excerpt from a speech delivered in 1933, by Major General Smedley Butler, USMC.
War is just a racket. A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of people. Only a small inside group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few at the expense of the masses.”
More so than anyone wishes to admit.
Top officers in our military take positions with defense contractors after they retire. They often work as lobbyists in Washington. Sometimes they work for companies that made the equipment they may have tested while on active duty. It is not a healthy relationship for the service members or the tax paying public.
republicanmother, nice work on the map. I like the shout out to Gen. S. Butler as well. War is a racket, that pays some very handsomely, but costs our nation dearly!
Thanks for the mighty linkage CL! And I’ll try to curb my mind um, numb-ed-ness in the future.
Point well made! We DO spend too much for our federal government. However in the litany of expensive government programs enumerated by most pundits, I rarely see any mention to the worst offender of federal waste. As a paratrooper in the 82nd Abn. Division, I saw first hand the waste foisted upon us by the like of Raytheon. It was decided that we needed to have a “modern” tank killing capacity, so the M47 Dragon was produced (at more than $50,000/unit) instead of the old M67 recoilless rifle at a cost of about 1/10 of the dragon. We all hated the dragon as it exposed the crew to fire while tracking the projectile, unlike the M67. The Army neither wanted, nor needed the M47, but congress at Raytheon’s urging made us use this expensive piece of crap.
Today we have 11 aircraft carriers. All the navies of the world combined do not have 11 aircraft carries, and most of these navies are our ALLIES! How much could we save by cutting out just 1 aircraft carrier? Each one is reported to cost $9-14 BILLION! The cost of equipping and manning these vessels is even more. Furthermore, the budget we now have still includes other items the Pentagon neither wants, nor needs, yet congress (both parties are guilty) keeps appropriating money for such items as C-17′s.
Keep fighting to control waste in our federal government. But please include the largest hog at the trough.