England is being trashed. London is being trashed -again. As the great Sheriff Buford T. Justice said, “What we’re dealing with here, is a complete lack of respect for the law”. The world is stewing in a juice of its own making. Of course, the talking heads on TV will try to look for someone to blame. Nameless, faceless “big business” bad guys, untrustworthy police officials, government ministers or “Call Me Dave” Cameron. However, the truth is that it is “we the people” (as Americans would say) who are ultimately to blame and yet it is “the people” who never are. It was, after all, “We the people” who voted politicians into office promising that it was, indeed, possible to get something for nothing. They said that the government could take care of everyone, nurse you when you sick, care for you when you are old, pay for your education and even pay you to sit on your tush and not work. Best of all, this could all be accomplished without the great majority paying exorbitant taxes. They wouldn’t tax you, they wouldn’t tax me, they’d just tax the guy behind the tree. They told us our grandmothers were wrong, that there IS such a thing as a free lunch and, despite every evidence of common sense and human history, “we” believed them.
Of course, governments that are inherently materialistic and, in the socialist way, view every problem as a problem of rich versus poor, think everything can always be solved by spending more money, taking more from those who have and giving to those who have not -without ever even considering WHY some have and others have not. They do this until the money runs out and then they borrow and then borrow and borrow some more. This has been going on for quite some time and both sides of the political mainstream do it to one extent or another. In the United States it has been President Obama who has set the record for spending more money than all of his predecessors combined. More taxes and more spending is the way of the Obama administration. Yet, President Bush before him, while he did cut taxes (which grew the economy and increased revenue to the government in the end) refused to cut spending as well and when there was no more to be spent he borrowed just the same as all the others to keep things momentarily afloat. Now the bank accounts are empty, the cupboards are bare and the collection agency is banging on the door.
Anyone with any sense at all can see what must be done. Yet, the governments go on singing their same old tune. In America certainly the party in power says we don’t have a spending problem, we have a “revenue problem”. The government is just not taking in enough money. If you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you. Last year the government took in over four trillion dollars in tax revenue, and yet, they claim that $4.2 trillion is just not enough to get by on. They need more. In fact, they need quite a bit more since they keep repeating the absurd statement that we need to spend even more money to get out of this debt crisis. The US is fourteen trillion dollars in debt and they are telling us we need to spend more to get out of debt. The only thing I find more frightening than that is the fact that so many people seem to believe them. However, not everyone really does but they fear the consequences of telling the truth and doing what is necessary. So do the Republicans as can be seen whenever you ask any of them to get specific about what government programs need to be cut to save money. Talking about spending cuts is popular with some of the people now, but actually taking away the “free stuff” of the public is a sure way to lose your political office.
Then, there is also the threat of violence in the streets such as England is enduring right now. The circumstances for such an outbreak could not be better. It is summer, the weather is warm, the police are barely armed and held in widespread contempt. The UK has also become a very dependent society -and this has happened in conjunction with the loss of power of the Crown and the hereditary peers- in which individuals depend on a government bureaucracy for everything, including protection which the government has shown it is incapable of doing. That is one reason why I will go out on a limb and say that violence like this has never and will never be seen in my home state of Texas. Why? Because people here are more independent (though we are far from perfect) which is seen in such things as our lack of a state income tax, our unfriendly attitude toward labor unions and the fact that nearly everyone in Texas owns a gun -and everyone knows it. Looters break into a store down here and they’ll get a bullet between their eyes. Hence it does not happen.
I have recently stated a number of times that everything that is happening today makes me think that the governments now in power are not serious about solving our problems. Sadly, I think things will have to get much worse before they can get better. People, it seems, have not learned that nothing in life is “free” and they will have to experience real misery before they understand that you cannot get something for nothing. I only hope our civilization can survive that learning experience. I hope the UK can get its priorities in order, the rising power of the mob has never boded well for any society, certainly never for a monarchy. I will say God Save the Queen and that I remain …
The Mad Monarchist.
Over at the Telegraph website, the blogs have done a pretty good job analyzing what the reasons are behind the madness: immorality, greed, permissiveness, the welfare state, and politicians.
ReplyDeleteSolutions range from mowing down the rioters in the streets, to doing things in a less violent way.
I'm telling you, even a hundred years ago, we'd be running this rabble through with dragoons.
And of course you're right about the media and the leftists: they blame the cuts. The politicians seem completely dispassionate with the whole ordeal. And we have yet to hear from the Queen or the Archbishop of Canterbury. Think they're waiting for something?
I wouldn't expect the Queen to want to get near something like this and as for the ABC, God only knows what he would say about it. I can imagine the handful of devout Anglicans still left to cringe every time he opens his mouth.
ReplyDeleteAFAIK, they need to stop blaming the victims, stop making excuses for the rioters and send the message that this behavior will NOT be tolerated. Not so long ago they would have paratroopers out in Northern Ireland over peaceful protests -so why not now for something far more damaging? Because "we" don't do things like that anymore. All any government today knows how to do is throw money at any problem. Even when they have no money.
Well, I would think the Queen would announce displeasure at rioting or something like that.
ReplyDeleteAgreed, like I said, what else is the mounted police for? States have lost their backbone and the Police are too afraid of getting criticized. Because you know if they kill someone in the mess, there will be complaints about the Police and they'll get cuts again.
The fact is that so many of the rioters were not even unemployed, many were in respectable jobs, one even a private schoolgirl whose father is a millionaire company director, some people even employed in the education system.
ReplyDeleteRace, class, wealth, education, etc make no difference to one's civility or lack of it, in a valueless society like what exists in much of the West today. People's tolerance of this has definitely been broken by the violence. The liberal virus that has taken hold since the 1960s that undermined traditional values and the foundations of society, and created the moral and cultural bankruptcy of today. The nihilism and narcissism on display has created a less civilised society.
I look at Japan, Singapore and South Korea and believe those countries have got it right, in achieving an advanced economy without abandoning the moral and cultural foundations. I look at Bhutan, and see a country which values happiness over material gain.
Now look at China. The irony is that the barbaric brutality of the Cultural Revolution paved the way for the new capitalism, the worst kind possible, where the CCP clearly values making money over human life. Same deal there.
Mr. Votoupal,
ReplyDeleteAs far as Capitalism goes, the Old Capitalism works for me, the kind that existed before people formulated ideas on what capitalism was exactly and how it worked. You are right of course.
Mad Monarchist,
A question for you, off-topic though it is. Are you familiar with a man named Charles Coulombe? I've been reading a bit about him, and he seems quite the smart man.
Yes, I know him. Though I should probably say I "used to" know him, but that's a long, boring story. He is quite a smart man, a very good monarchist and he manages something so many "monarchists" seem incapable of -sticking to what he thinks is right without being unrealistic.
ReplyDelete