I pass on this very interesting, scholarly, and thought-provoking essay,
click here to read it if you'd like and have 5 minutes.
I post this essay, knowing that most of you will not read it, but a few (or
two) may. Henry David Thoreau, wrote from Walden that "the mass of humanity lead
lives of quiet desperation. I have personally seen that most people just watch
the tides come in and go out and have an attitude that they'd just rather not
think about anything that seems out of reach or beyond their control. The masses
of humanity in this country . . . both rich and poor and in between . . . are
going through their daily lives in quiet desperation.
We are in the dawning of a new age in this country. Like it or not. This
past November decisions were made to give our country a direction to go in, and
whether you like it or not the ship is on a course.
Some people are delighted. Others are not. A few don't care. For some
it's an opportunity to be sailing with the wind at your back. Many others are
going to be sailing an economic course for many years that will be straight into a headwind.
Romney, the latest Prince-Charming-More-of-the-same-buffoon, to be paraded
before the electorate, made several grave errors in his campaign. The most
notable was the he failed to realize the 47% he referred to as those who pay no
income tax (and thus likely to vote for Obama) are in fact, a substantial
portion of the 51+% who do vote and win national elections.
Actually, they are the 25%. That's because 52% of American's during the
election chose "none of the above". 48% of the eligible voters turned out on
election day and of those, 25% voted to reelect President Obama and 23% voted to
elect Governor Non-Inspiring Romney. 1 out of 4 eligible voters chose the
future path for the other 3.
Alas, poor-puzzled-pondering Mick just didn't get it. He should have just
promised to give away twice as much money and programs as Obama, kill twice as
many people as Obama, hire twice as many people as Obama, and he would have
won.
I do get it though. And I also understand that if you are sailing a boat,
and happen to be sailing into the wind, you have to adjust your sails to the
wind. Or . . .turn around.
Entitlements and more liberal national government, increased national debt,
increased poverty and at the same time increased wealth in the hands of a few
are the present day "wind". The rich in this country are going to get richer.
The poor are going to get poorer. And the middle class is going to become lower-middle class.
Conservatives can bitch, moan, complain, and lambaste the re-elected
president, or they can sit down and resolve themselves to the plain and simple
fact that whatever battles they thought needed to be fought, have now been
fought and the battle was lost.
A majority of American's who now make up the bottom (and often times
poverty stricken) masses . . . .are now the majority of the voters who actually
get up and vote. And they are not alone. The retirees of the country are just
as guilty as anyone of demanding more and more and having a "don't give a damn"
attitude about the future generations providing they get "theirs".
Numerous writers have written about this for years but now the handwriting
on the wall has come true. Once the masses can see that they can vote
themselves ever-increasing benefits by simply electing politicians who increase
the government handouts and entitlements, the treasury is forever looted.
I have many, many, many quotes saved on my computer. They are inspiring,
and often times give me serious reason to reflect on lessons others have
learned. I have many favorite quotes. But my "most" favorite, can be
attributed to (I believe) Ben Franklin. Knowing as he did that the founding
fathers DID NOT establish a democracy with the Constitution, but rather a
Constitutional Republic, he, like many other framers of the Constitution, feared that if the people were not careful it
would be carried away into a democracy.
He said "democracy is like two wolves and one sheep voting on what to have
for lunch today?"
This month, I have reached retirement age for Social Security. And so I'm
putting my money where my mouth is. I'm saying that I would agree for the US
Government to take away my right to retire and raise the age limit three more
years if that was what it took to save the economy and Social Security for
future generations. I would also agree to a flat 30% across the board reduction
my benefits. I will agree to cuts in any form or fashion of "entitlements" if
it would save the future for my kids and grand-kids. What I will not agree to
is raising my taxes one more penny. I'm taxed to the max right now. Plus, I
spend 12 hours a month (without compensation) completing various taxing-program
paperwork for the government.
This year, beginning with the first of my payroll for the year, every
single one of my co-workers got a paycheck that was 7 to 17% less than their
last check in 2012. Myself included. The president's promise to not raise
taxes on anyone making less than 200,000 per year was a lie. But Romney would
have been no different.
It is time to trim the sales on a boat that is sailing into the wind. It's
a lost cause because we've got more wolves voting now and the sheep are getting
fewer in number. The path I am trying to navigate now is how to get whatever
wealth I have out of this country and out of the reach of Washington. They
will be relentless to seize whatever the "haves" have and give more to the "have
nots". I've had enough. I need to find a place with more sheep and fewer
wolves. I am at least going to get to a place where the sheep outnumber the wolves.
In his book "Dreams of My Father", our President quoted the man he admired
most in life . . his father . . .as saying that to equalize the past unfairness
between the poor and the rich, that in some cases it might be necessary to have
100% tax rates on the rich. I'm not going to lay down and
let the government take from me all that I have, or even half of it, to give to
others so we can all be equally poor.
We have a New American socialism being developed into our futures. Not
like previous examples of socialism. It's a wind I don't want to try and sail
into. I'm not going to be the one sheep letting the two wolves vote on what's for lunch.
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