CONSEQUENCES

Americans are the most benevolent, generous, unselfish people in the entire world. We are innovative, inventive, and prosperous. Of all the inventions in current use, be it movies, TV, automobiles, airplanes, radios, railroads, medicine, or computers; covered by millions of patents, which expand thought processes to their most distant vistas, America has usually been the inventor, developer, or manufacturer of them, leaving the rest of the world in the dust. Our successes have resulted from being blessed with freedom of the marketplace, religion, association, and travel. We vote in secret, and our legislative, judicial, and executive divisions are open and publicized daily by the media, to the great befuddlement of the still extant slave states of the world. We are a combination of all races in the world, and have assimilated them with relative ease. We allow foreigners to own property and even receive welfare, although I can not understand why. America has defended freedom around the world for over a hundred years, and usually with an affirmative vote of the Congress. We have bankrupted ourselves defending others, dispensing cash as limitless as the contents of a turn of the century Sears catalog, making us the one remaining "super power" in the world. The pickpockets in the former Soviet Union, Cuba, China, and North Korea are total frauds, stealing our secrets, ideas, and inventions; counterfeiting our currency, and getting away with the deceit. Even as this is being written, former Soviet satellites are still attempting to rid themselves of the Russian-communist infiltration and influence. The Berlin wall wasn’t put there to keep people from getting into East Berlin, but to keep those captives imprisoned. Our border patrols aren’t there to keep Americans from migrating into Mexico, but in 100% of the cases, to keep the hoards of insolvent, illegal Mexicans out. American voyagers abroad aren’t caught trying to sneak into China, Russia, North Korea, or Cuba; other than for the wonder of seeing just how destitute a totalitarian state can make its subjects.

Slavery still exists around the world, and has not been limited to the enslavement of African Negroes. America, a hundred and thirty years ago, was the first, and still among the few to outlaw slavery. Britain's King George, due to his stupidity, greed, and lack of the most basic common sense, caused us to revolt, and later his army burned our Capitol and White House with seeming mirth and abandon a few decades later, during the pointless War of 1812. Having sacked Washington D.C., they were about to destroy Baltimore. Fort McHenry held out for 25 grueling hours. King George's redcoats were raining down bombs, rockets, and all sorts of firepower on the beleaguered fort. Francis Scott Key was watching throughout the night, and penned the poem that became our National Anthem. Nice guy, King George! Forgiving Americans have gone to bat and given of ourselves time after time since then, to defend Britain, and they have a history of only attacking us. We have helped just about everyone; anytime they have asked, and unfortunately still do. Be it a tiny island in the Caribbean, a mid-east sheikdom, or an entire continent, America has usually helped to defend the weak. We are truly remarkable!

Every single action has a reaction or consequence. America has experienced many bad reactions or consequences from ill-considered actions, but far too many of late, especially in the last sixty-five years. These consequences have hit us right in the solar plexus, and hit us hard. We are in a bankrupt, declining state. Our cities, education, general morality and health, are in poor circumstance. While the rest of the world may not be much better, and in most cases is much worse, we have set the example for everyone else's degradation. We have been the pillars of freedom for two centuries. Our Constitution has been copied, as have our inventions and life style.

One of the strangest manifestations of the times, is that here at home, epic confusion and heinous problems having to do with virtually every segment of society are dimming the splendor once ascribed to us by foreign viewers. Our cities are ruined, our schools don't teach, gangs roam the streets, illegitimacy is 80% in one sector, and the rest are pretty bad. Today’s so called "music" is a dissonant, elaborate hoax, and its performers are disgusting. Taxes are outrageous, our government is out of control, and big brother takes more and more of our money and freedom each day. We are never far from a snooping bureaucrat who will tell us how much to grow, how much to charge, how much to pay, how we must design our buildings, furniture, clothes, and automobiles. Our manufacturing sector has gone south, east, west, and every other direction imaginable, leaving our cities with empty factories. As of 1998, General Motors alone had over 85,000 workers in Mexico. Many unemployed factory workers are on the dole or selling drugs, stunting and frying the brains of young and old alike. Governments at the state level rob the ignorant with their lotteries, which one has less chance of winning than being struck by lightning. Choked roads and erroneously dubbed "freeways," are parking lots, which have made our air death dealing and thick with poisonous chemicals. Food stamps are used by 30 million, and there are hundreds of various types of federal doles, not counting thousands of godawful "programs" and assorted federally invented and administered gimcracks, that suck the very life blood out of every one of us, transfusing it to various special interest groups such as manufacturers, farmers, retailers, and wholesalers, not to mention those who may consider themselves entitled to government largess because of a real or imagined physical deformation, extreme age, and of course we must not forget the ever present "homeless." There's plenty to be enraged about, in the main due to the perfidy of elected politicians, who look out for themselves by keeping their constituency feeding at the public trough as much as possible, calling it by various fallacious titles that sound just awesome...but are just the opposite. Currently, the federal government spends over 1.7 trillion dollars a year, and collects hundreds of billions less with the outrageous IRS "service," as they like to be called. The rest is borrowed from our kids and grandchildren, unless we officially declare bankruptcy first. In reality, we have been bankrupt for decades.

America's current condition has come about fairly gradually; at about the same speed as the human body ages. When you look in the mirror each morning, it is impossible to detect a change from the previous day. It is only by viewing old photographs, or coming upon a long lost friend after 35 years, that the enormous changes can be discerned. My children cannot possibly know America, as it was 40 years ago, because they are not yet 40 years of age. Being of a more advanced age, although not yet coming face to face with the grim reaper, I know what has happened, and do not take the conditions of the cities, schools, means of travel, economics, and other ills casually. Those born into slavery in Russia or China cannot possibly understand the comparative free beauty of America. Imagine the wonder of a Russian who could browse in an American super-market. I would love to take everyone under the age of 40 back to the date of their birth, so they could see how we have degenerated. They might then understand how America used to be, but no longer is.

I often wonder if the Romans, or even Germans knew they were crashing, even when everything seemed so glorious. In the 1930's, the Germans thought their meretricious world was so wonderful, that Hitler's "Third Reich" would last for a thousand years. To help celebrate Hitler's birthday on April 20, 1945, the Allies sent 1,000 bombers over Berlin, utterly destroying it. Before his suicide ten days later, and the absolute end, Hitler married his mistress Eva Braun, to make himself 'right with God' I suppose, and was still fondling the models of glorious buildings he had planned for his opium dream of opulence. Days before Berlin's ultimate destruction, Nazi planes dropped thousands of leaflets on the populace telling them German victory was at hand. All civilizations decayed without the knowledge of their citizens, till it was crashing about them. The relentless slow death from disease is often unrecognizable until it has reached an advanced and even fatal stage. We are sick, but most have not the slightest inkling of the seriousness of our illness.

I know the problems, what got us here, and although there is only a small chance of correcting them, perhaps a hundred years from now someone will dig up this screed, and as they sift through the remains of America, realize I had been prescient. A thousand years from now, when archaeologists unearth those absurd Washington D.C. government buildings built in the last fifty years, they will probably wonder what kind of gods those people worshipped. Are we going down without knowing it, as did previous civilizations?

It is an inescapable fact that every single nation or dynasty that ever existed...from the beginning of time...has actually committed suicide. Look at Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Greece, or Rome, right on down to the Twentieth Century. Britain never used to see the sun set on some part of its empire. It controlled two fifths of earth's land mass, and now has sold some of its railroads to an American company, the Wisconsin Central. All of these "suicides," if examined, will be seen to have been consequences of actions taken by that nation's government, and gradually forced upon its subjects without their consent or even knowledge, the decay happened so slowly. Hitler might rule the world today if he hadn't double crossed old "Uncle Joe" Stalin. Stalingrad and Moscow ruined the Third Reich, not just because Hitler lost a quarter of a million troops, but the consequences of his attempted conquering of Russia, in violation of an agreement, loosed an additional nation on him. Russia began producing tanks, planes and ammunition so speedily, and pushing the Germans back so swiftly, that Hitler was doomed. Russia lost 20 million in World War Two (WW II), fifty times more than did America. After Japan bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Emperor Hirihito thought winning the Pacific war was a done deal...until a short 6 months later, when the Japs lost the war for all practical purposes, thanks to the uncanny judgment of one American Admiral, who sank four of her aircraft carriers in one day at the Battle of Midway. They were irreplaceable, and Japan's Rising Sun had begun to set, although she didn’t know it at the time.

We didn’t arrive at our present state with bad intentions. "Liberals" and "conservatives" both do and vote for what they think to be right. Politics will be dealt with, but in the main, we got here because we are a wonderful, generous, quiescent people, who dissolve in tears when we see a needy person, a good cause, or the opportunity to correct a bad situation. During the Christmas season of 1995, a supposedly homeless 13-year-old boy called the Salt Lake City Human Services Department, and told a pitiful story. "He" was abandoned, his mother couldn't care for him, his father had died of AIDS, and could they help? It hit the wire services, and thousands of dollars rolled in automatically from a caring America. It was quickly discovered that the 13-year-old waif was indeed a 25-year-old woman, Birdie Hoaks, who had a rap sheet literally 6 feet long. She had pulled off that stunt at least five times previously. As usual, America gave of itself. In April 1996, the media showed the hidden face of a mother supposedly dying of cancer. She needed just enough money to buy a ticket for her seven-year-old child, so it could be with its father, since mom was dying with rapid dispatch. Instantly, over $100,000 came in, as if by magic. It was another fraud, but marvelous America came through...as usual. In 1998, President Bill Clinton was exposed as being morally corrupt, a sexual pervert, liar, cheat, and a few other things. In spite of the facts, tens of millions of Americans wanted him to stay in office, and not be punished. No nation ever went down the tubes with a clearer conscience than America’s. Our nation has gone on for two hundred and twenty four years, about a quarter century longer than the normal historic life span of most nations. Might we defeat the odds and continue for another two centuries?

Few people are evil. Millions are misguided, uninformed, and act foolishly, but neither liberals nor conservatives, Democrats or Republicans are evil. They merely do and act as they perceive to be proper, with a sprinkling of an ego trip at times, in keeping with their being a member of the most generous group of people that ever lived: Americans. I will elucidate on what is wrong and right, and how we got here...with the best of intentions of course, but first things first. Let's go back a couple of centuries and examine some of the non political changes and inventions and their consequences which have advanced civilization enormously, and most of which are American in origin, development, manufacture, and use. An American, John Deere, invented the steel plow in 1837, and it was so efficient it became known as the "Singing Plow." It revolutionized farming around the world.

The invention of gunpowder and its commercial exploitation by DuPont resulted in warfare killing far more, and being over much faster. Sam Colt's six shooting revolvers, Winchester's repeating rifles, Smith and Wesson's self contained bullets, and Sharpes #3 Buffalo Guns are said to have tamed the west and beaten the Indians. When rifles and sidearms were obtained by the Indians, all hell broke loose, with the Indians being the losers. It has been said by reliable medical historians that syphilis was given to the white man by the Indians and carried around the world, a fact that will undoubtedly be heartily disparaged by some, true or not. The gun, rifle, and other assorted firepower did change the world.

Horses are not native to America. Early Indians had no horses, regardless of what the movies may infer. They didn't chase the buffalo with horses, but drove them off cliffs to their death so as to eat their meat and use the hides for tipis. Horses were imported from Spain to Mexico in the 14^th century, quickly caught on, and proved to be a reliable form of transport. Horses brought towns closer together, helped to open the broad borders of America to hearty explorers and settlers, and even helped Paul Revere to spread the word that "The British are coming." Actually, Revere didn’t make that announcement, as the British had detained him for several hours. Since all were British anyway, that wasn't what was said. The actual announcement was, "The regulars are out!" Without horses, 620,000 men may not have died in the War Between The States, incorrectly called the Civil War, and farming would have been primitive, to say the least. Horses pulled carriages, guns, plows, and pre-electric streetcars. Horses made racing and betting practical, and were in large part responsible for the early development of America.

When Col. Drake struck oil in 1849, "petroleum" eliminated the need for whale oil to illuminate buildings, and greased the wheels of progress beyond most imaginings of the time. Kerosene, an easy by-product of crude, was quickly adopted by millions to cook, light, and fuel all sorts of newly invented appliances. Heat from oil eliminated the need to cut trees for heat, and quickly displaced candles as the main source of illumination. The consequences of Col. Drakes' oil, and subsequent explorations in America, immediately created an entire new industry, and millionaires by the dozen. Six years later, oil was discovered in Argentina, but no wealth was created, because the contents of underground resources was, and 155 years later, still is owned by the state, whereas in America the owners of land generally own what is underneath it. Argentina still has never experienced prosperity, thanks to governmental, rather than citizen ownership of wealth. As the various inventions dealing with oil came on line, the consequences were wondrous, and even death dealing, right down to today's 40,000 deaths a year in America from the automobile alone, not to mention polluted air above our cities. Oil lubricates, cools, powers, and gives other side blessings such as plastics.

Drilling for oil brought a new fuel: natural gas. Natural gas has largely replaced oil for home heating, with only 12% of American homes still heating with oil. Natural gas creates no smog, burns cleanly, and gas furnaces do not have to be cleaned every year. Compressed natural gas now powers thousands of automobiles and trucks. This technology is now coming on line with vehemence, and will eventually replace oil to a great degree. Natural gas has replaced coal and oil in power plants as well, eliminating much pollution.

When the first primitive railroads were run in the 1820's, no one imagined what was to come of them. After all, at 15 miles per hour with sparks occasionally igniting the passengers, they didn't seem to have much of a future. It was the accidental discovery of steam hundreds of years before that made railroads possible. Water, when boiled, converts into steam, expanding to 1600 times its original space, a spectacular force still used in power plants to this day. Steamboats were limited to operating on rivers, canals, lakes, and eventually oceans, but railroads eventually traversed entire continents at breathtaking speeds of over one hundred miles an hour. Railroads spelled the end of horse powered long distance travel, canal usefulness, and made the shipping of goods incredibly cheap. Railroads allowed farmers to ship their produce to markets economically, reduced the prices of just about everything, and greatly raised living standards. Railroads allowed foods, passengers, manufactured goods, and raw materials to travel thousands of miles at microscopic cost, compared to previous canal and horse travel.

When lightening struck old Ben Franklin's kite, the world was off to one of the greatest discoveries ever. Electricity eliminated kerosene lamps, powered railroads, elevators, appliances, motors of all sizes, and made life ever so much cleaner and more comfortable. Edison's invention of the incandescent light bulb in 1879, after hundreds of failed experiments, illuminated the world. Among his hundreds of patents were the motion picture and phonograph. Can you possibly imagine life without Edison's inventive genius?

Cameras recorded early history with now priceless images. George Eastman, inventor and founder of Kodak, (the word has no meaning) committed suicide after making millions, his suicide note saying, "I have done my job." Movies, still photos, Polaroids, and related photographic inventions allowed the recordation of events, decided winners of races, and gives hundreds of millions entertainment on TV and movie screens around the world. Without Alexander Graham Bell's remarkable invention, communication would be virtually impossible, and we may not have the National Geographic Society. The telephone and related wires allows voice and visual communications to exist around the world, connects computers with the "internet," and has been of inestimable value to civilized man. Newly developed "Internet phones" will undoubtedly give the phone companies an extremely difficult time in the not too distant future. The field of electronics encompasses radio, TV, satellites, computers, health care, X-ray, radar, sonar, and myriad’s of fields, without which our life span would be about two thirds of what it is now.

As variations of the above inventions were brought on line, previously used machines became less valuable for other than specialized or preservation uses. Railroads and tractors replaced horses; TV replaced radio and movies to a large extent. Light bulbs replaced kerosene lamps, electric motors replaced steam engines in the majority of uses, airplanes cut into railroad travel, guns replaced bows and arrows, steam boats replaced sailing vessels, and automation replaced manual tasks, ranging from operating elevators to assembly line functions. Computer E-Mail will reduce the mailman's job severely in the future, and inventions, discoveries, and progress in general, have consequences that are for the most part beneficial, making our lives longer, healthier, and more comfortable than would have been dreamed possible a short hundred years ago. Notice that all of the above-mentioned consequences of progress, invention, and development, occurred without government sponsorship, subsidy, or assistance.

Government built interstate highways have had the consequences of ruining the railroad freight and passenger trade, driving thousands of innocents out of business because of being bypassed by the super roads, as well as dividing cities when the interstates ran through them rather than to them, as was the original plan. Interstate highways have lured freight off the tracks and on to the highways, causing untold deaths when huge trucks crash into small passenger vehicles, run out of control down mountain grades, and in general get in the way. It has been reliably estimated that one 85,000-pound tractor-trailer going down a highway does as much damage as 80,000 automobiles, yet these hundreds of thousands of huge trucks pay for but a small fraction of the costs to repair the damage they cause. There are many unintended consequences of inventions and developments. The replacement of a thousand miles of electric railway in the Los Angeles area with "freeways" has not been good, as far as I can discover, visiting there a couple of times a year as I do. Similar unintended consequences abound around the world.

Television closed thousands of theatres and caused a vast cessation of conversation. People now seem to 'watch' rather than read, discuss, or visit, certainly an unintended consequence. Millions of jobs have been lost in America by the automating of radio stations, theatre projection booths, and elevators. Radio killed vaudeville, and TV killed radio; a chain of events spurred by American inventiveness. Yes, I said American, because of all the above inventions and discoveries, 90% occurred in America and were invented or discovered by free American minds; not government; an extraordinary heritage.

Inventions and discoveries, which had nothing to do with government, have been beneficial, giving us great pleasure, gratification, long life, and comfort. In 1997, the average life span for a male in Russia was 20 years less than for an American male. Conversely, the consequences of political and governmental actions have a threateningly dark side in almost 100% of the cases. While an initial glance at a government action, program, or regulation may seem to be wonderful and beneficial, such is not usually the case, as we will see. They become addictions and albatrosses around our collective necks. Inventions and discoveries have usually yielded profits for both inventors and stockholders, plus increased convenience for the users of the product or service. Government programs and actions are supremely expensive to those of us who have to pay dearly for, or suffer from, such extravagant whoopdedos. This book has, as its main purpose, examining the consequences of political and governmental actions most think are so wonderful. To quote a famous Cole Porter song, "It Ain’t Necessarily So."

CHAPTER 1