Dying by degrees, is a far more painful episode than dying quickly. My Dad died fairly quickly, which was very fortunate. He started smoking when he was 15 and could never quit. He died at 63 from lung cancer, and went so quickly, that he thought he had bronchitis. America has been dying for many decades,,, and it is very painful to me and to those who are intelligent enough to know what’s happening. Most of America, hasn’t the slightest idea of our slow death. Those public school educated, sit com watching, mouth breathing, football lovers, think all is well under Obama and his stooges. They actually believe that Democrats are wonderful, debts mean nothing, and government can give out money and benefits, with no consequences. Doesn’t the media, other than Fox, say so?
It can be argued that our decline actually began with the income tax and Federal Reserve, back in 1913. They are certainly bad enough, and should be removed from our lexicon and law books immediately, but I will concentrate on what has happened in the last 80 years, since the Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR), which is when our decline really took hold. When a nation declines, the reasons can be numerous, but in general, I think that two main reasons can me held responsible. (1) Economics, and (2) Decline in intelligence of the population. Let’s take point one today.
Before FDR, there was no inflation in America. A nickel Hershey bar was the same size and price since their innovation. Gold had been $20.67 for so long, that no one could remember it being any different. All consumer prices had remained the same, unless of course, there were improvements in them, which resulted in increases in prices. There was no inflation, because the dollar was backed by gold, and the coinage was 90% silver. The presses of dollar bills, ran only to replace those worn out by handling. Think about it. No prices increasing, and dollars holding their value. It was safe to save in dollars. FDR and his Democrat Congress, were trying to figure out how to keep their majority and stay in office. What better way was there, than to bribe the voters? We were in the midst of a depression, which had been caused by the Federal Reserve. People were out of jobs, and the economy was in the doldrums. Like Obama, FDR wanted government to grow, because like Obama, he thought that government could solve all problems and bring prosperity. Government bureaucracy costs dollars, and produces no wealth. No government can do anything, no matter what, as cheaply, innovatively and efficiently, as can private enterprise. The larger government grows, and the more dollars it requires, in direct proportion, siphons the same amount of dollars, plus handling and administrative costs, from the private, for profit sector.
FDR’s first move, was to spend, but he had no dollars to spend, because tax collections were low, due to the depression. He couldn’t print, because the buck was backed by gold. He needed gold to print dollars, to increase government size, which he thought, would get us out of the depression. By executive order, he ordered everyone to turn in their gold and receive paper dollars in exchange. The order was never enforced, and while some turned in their gold, most probably didn’t, and that’s why coin shops and numismatic salesmen still have them to sell. A few months later, FDR raised the price of gold from $20.67, where he had redeemed it, to $35, which robbed Americans of hundreds of millions of dollars. He then had extra dollars to spend, and spend he did, just like Obama and his Democrats have done, and with the same results. Virtually nothing. Years passed, and America was still held in a chokehold with the great depression. FDR’s Secretary of the Treasury, Henry Morgenthau Jr. said, on May 9, 1939, “We’re spending more than ever, and it doesn’t work.” Nothing worked, and as numerous volumes so eloquently point out, FDR got us into WW II, which got us out of the depression. (A couple of books you might like to read on the subject are, “The Roosevelt Myth,” “At Dawn We Slept,” or “Day of Deceit,” to name three in my library.).
By shady legal means and Congressional corruption, World War Two was fought, in the main, with printing press money. The Congress merely removed a lot of required gold backing of the dollar. There were thousands of “buy bonds” rallies, and millions of kids bought “U.S. Savings Stamps,” to help finance the war, but it was not nearly enough. The presses printed, and consumer prices exactly doubled in the 3 1/2 years of World War Two, not counting the deaths of 362,000 Americans, and injuring of millions more. After the war, the uncontrolled spending continued, with the Marshal Plan rebuilding our former enemies, a folly which had never in history been done, so stupid it was. Japan had brand new steel mills, and ours were worn out, thanks to fighting the Japs. Unbelievable, but true.
FDR got the Social Security system through his Democrat Congress, which has always been actuarially impossible, and is even more so now. Then there were farm subsidies, union subsidies, school subsidies, public buildings, airports and highways being built with printing press money, made available by the same means used to fight the big war, lowering the gold backing of the dollar. Time passes and each succeeding Congress and President, Republican or Democrat, has continued spending and spending and spending, till our current budget deficit is close to $17 trillion, and long term commitments are close to $200 trillion, either amount impossible to pay, other than with continued Monopoly type, worthless scrip, known as dollars. Finally, in 1971, President Richard Nixon removed what gold backing remained on the dollar, which wasn’t much. The four wars foolishly fought since, (Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan) have cost over $2 trillion so far, and this goes to show how powerful the military-industrial complex is, which Eisenhower warned us about over 50 years ago.
All the while, in order to pay the bills, The Treasury borrows from the privately held Federal Reserve at interest, which creates the dollars to loan, out of thin air. The U.S. government is in hock to a privately held bank, The Federal Reserve, which is not federal, and has no reserves, but which can miraculously create dollars to loan, out of thin air. As each year and decade has passed, the debt has grown like Topsy, and the reason is ever so simple. People will always vote for the party which promises and delivers the most largess from the public treasury. Throughout history, the same story repeats. Government grows with endless promises of freebies, and then collapses from lack of economic sanity. The dollar, believe it or not, is no where near collapse, in my opinion. Why? Because there are far worse economies than ours; and the worst happens to be the Japanese. The Jap airport is sinking into the sea, the Fukishima nuclear disaster haunts them, their government debt makes ours look microscopic, and they have been spending like drunken sailors for 65 years. Half the euro nations are bankrupt, and repeated injections of printing press euros haven’t solved their problem. The yen and euro will go first, in my opinion. The dollar is still the world’s ’reserve currency,’ even though it galls the Muslim nations. The dollar will continue to go down in value and buy less. Obama and the Democrats’ increasing the debt by $5 trillion in 5 short years, hasn’t helped a bit, and it isn’t the death of the buck, but it certainly has given it a fever.
Remember, the title of this is “Death by Degrees,” and this is what we’re experiencing. A slow, sure death, and one that cannot be stopped. It cannot be stopped or even slowed, because politicians need to keep spending to get votes. Not only that, but as part two next week will show, if they stopped, the nation might disintegrate through riots and pillage of the major cities.
P.S. “Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just…” (Fourth Verse, National Anthem). While the Tea party cause is very just and logical, the opposition has the Presidency and Senate. What is happening, is that by standing firm, Republicans are killing their chances of winning in 2014, which is far more important. Will Rogers once said that he didn’t have to write jokes. All he had to do was tell about what the Congress did in Washington.