Posts Tagged “big government”
By Larry Oscar
With the midterm elections just days ahead we have once again been bombarded with political ads and special interest groups touting their pleas for special favoritism.
Within the cloud of all this rhetoric you can count on some gems of stupidity surfacing. I guess it will never end. After all politicians are not very intelligent. Especially those that promise how big government can make our lives better.
Most politicians are not very good at simple math. This is a much bigger problem than most of us realize. The entire universe runs on mathematics, not emotion. For this reason most of the solutions to society’s problems cannot be solved by government handouts or “special programs.”
Although tempting government programs end up being a band aid to a problem that either has no solution or is a symptom of a problem and not the problem itself. Take poverty for example. In 1964 President Lyndon Johnson declared a “War on Poverty.” His new big government program was going to eliminate poverty in the United States. It would lift the bottom 15-17 percent of wage earners out of poverty. It was dubbed “The Great Society.”
The big problem is that we have a little math problem here. If you lift the bottom 15-17 percent of wage earners up they are now replaced by the former 18-34 percent who now are the new 15-17 percent in poverty. The GDP bell curve has just shifted to the right and the poverty level gets raised. You will always have a bottom 15-17 percent in poverty. It’s just simple math.
Johnson was not very good at simple math. And what’s amazing is how some of us never learn math. Today we have Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA), that figures, proposing a new government $6,000 per year give away to those in poverty.
“It will lift those in poverty into the middle class” she says. Once again we seem to have not learned a simple math lesson. How easy it is to think socialism is the answer to poverty and all of societies problems. These same clowns like Bernie Sanders just don’t get it. You don’t have to be a genius to understand that there are no quick solutions to most of society’s problems. Take over population for example.
Global over population is a real problem today. It is worse than “climate change’. And it is a simple fact that the greater the global human population the greater will be the stress on the global environment. It’s a simple math deduction. However, there is not a single politician that wants to even talk about over population. Why, because this problem does not have a good solution for the politicians can garnish votes. For that reason we avoid many real problems and instead treat the symptoms.
Over the past few weeks we have all seen the human tragedy of the people from Honduras trying to enter the United States. Honduras is a country with a constitution and elected government officials. However, it is a corrupt country with drug cartels and no real dedication to following their constitution. They take their constitution as a sort of suggestion on how things should run rather than the supreme law of the land. This is something the left in our country would like for us to do. In effect, they want us to be more like Honduras. Never mind the fact the people in Honduras consider living in poverty in the United States a real move upward from where they are now.
Living in poverty in the United States is very attractive to people who live in poverty in other countries. Maybe this is something to consider when these politicians want to make our country more like Europe.
If you really want to learn what other people in different parts of the world live like all you have to do is watch some of the house hunting shows on TV about those from the U.S. moving to other countries. It’s an eye opener.
There is no doubt that we can all improve in what we do and how we act toward others. Our government is paid for by those of us working in the private sector. Without a healthy private sector the public sector cannot survive. For this reason alone big government will never produce a higher quality of life that those on the left imagine. Just look at what is happening in Venezuela today.
It is my hope that we never stop questioning our government or holding politicians accountable for their actions, but it is also my hope we insist our politicians practice civility. It is through learning, civility, and reason we improve our society, and not through the left’s raw emotions.
(Larry Oscar is a graduate from the University of Tulsa and holds a degree in electrical engineering. He is retired and lives with his wife on a lake in Oklahoma where he brews his own beer, sails, and is a member of numerous clubs and organizations.)
By Larry Oscar
The New Year is here, and, being an election year, you can count on a lot of laughs as the political clowns running for office get cranked up.
Over the past eight years we have seen a rapid decline in the United States economy and the standard of living for Americans. The average income for US households has fallen from $57k per year to $53k per year, a 7% decline.
We are still the leading country in average income per household, but if this trend continues future generations of Americans can expect to see their hopes for a better life than their parents evaporate. Not many people thought our country would decline so rapidly. However, it was President Ronald Reagan who said, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. “
The poor leadership this country has suffered through for the past eight years has not only led to an economic decline, but our country is now in decline when it comes to worldwide leadership and influence with other nations. When our politicians started buying votes with promises of government handouts our fate was sealed. It was Thomas Jefferson who said “Democracy will cease to exist when people realize they can vote themselves more money“.
Tom was obviously right about that one. It is my belief that our politicians don’t realize the extent of the damage to our society that their behavior has caused. Our president is supposed to be the president of ALL Americans; not just the poor, or middle class, but all of us. That includes the poor, middle class, and yes even the rich.
Instead we have seen these politicians proclaim that they “ want to be for the middle class”, or “I am a champion of the poor and the downtrodden.” Then they proceed to make promises of big government handouts and entitlements in return for votes. It is illegal to offer money for votes, and it is immoral to offer government handouts for votes when they are funded with other people’s earnings.
These same politicians preach about immorality and fairness, and then the hypocrites turn around in the next breath and try to buy your vote with promises of monetary government handouts. Unfortunately, I don’t think Americans are smart enough to see through this and realize the damage it is doing to the fabric of this country.
The people who vote for these bozos are indeed selfish and unpatriotic. They are cutting off the opportunity for their children and grandchildren to have a prosperous and productive life. The future Star Trek movies will no longer have the Vulcan phrase “Live long and prosper”. It will be “Live long so you can pay for your grandfathers’ debt.”
Our founding fathers and ancestors would be appalled at what we have become.
Larry Oscar is a graduate from the University of Tulsa and holds a degree in electrical engineering. He is retired and lives with his wife on a lake in Oklahoma where he brews his own beer, sails, and is a member of numerous clubs and organizations.
Sometimes you just can’t help but marvel at the complete lack of common sense in our society. For many years it was believed by many that during the cold war the former Soviet Union had developed a new type of virus that would spread undetectable throughout a population. And the only effect it would have would be to progressively make the society dumber and dumber. I used to call it the “Russian Dumb-Ass Disease”. It just seems that we have more and more stupid people in our country that just can’t connect the dots.
If you want to enjoy your life and be happy it takes some extra thought. Life cannot be put into sound bites. You must be able to have some level of deductive reasoning in your thought process. My observation is that we have more and people who rely on their emotional feelings to make decisions in their life, and less and less people who set their emotions aside and actually think about rational solutions to their life’s problems. Maybe it’s a reflection of a society that lets the elected leaders do their thinking for them, or maybe it’s because they just don’t want to take the time to sit down and contemplate their problems. Perhaps it’s because it is easier to let the government feed you, cloth you, and tell you what to think.
After all, it’s much easier to be lazy than to be responsible. But for whatever reason, it’s taking a toll on our country and ultimately on the entire world. Your problems in life are mainly caused by you and not by others. When we allow our leaders and educators to teach our children to blame others for their problems, we are turning on a ticking time bomb in our society that may someday go off with tragic results. Our school shootings are carried out by students who are taught to blame their parents, teachers, and other students for their problems. And not themselves.
Failure of leadership in any society will result in untold human misery for that society. The list of the failed empires throughout history is very long indeed. And all have a large amount of death and destruction in the wake of their demise. The chapter of world history that includes the United States has yet to be completed, but I fear the final chapters are beginning to be written.
Our country was founded by people who had a pioneering spirit of self reliance and steadfast resolve to be responsible for themselves and their families. This country has definitely drifted away from that pioneer spirit. Today’s leaders tell us that “You didn’t do that, someone else made that happen.” After all, it’s not your fault you dropped out of school, got involved with gangs, drugs, and ran afoul of the law. It’s someone else’s fault. Sadly, there will never be any hope for those who believe this tripe. The reason is you cannot change other people’s behavior, only yours.
Hope and change cannot happen in your life until you understand that YOU are the only one who can make it happen. That’s right. Not big government, elected leaders, teachers, parents, or anybody else can change your life as easily as you can change it yourself. I overheard a conversation between two ladies recently and couldn’t help but make a note. One lady was telling the other that “Nobody likes me”. She never stopped to think about what she just said. Obviously the other lady liked her, or she would not be sitting there listening to this B.S. If you want people to like you the solution is simple. Be more likable.
People like likable people. Approach life with a smile, and others will smile back. Lets’ do a quick thought experiment. Say you are walking down the street and a dog crosses your path. If the dog is wagging it’s tail and happy to see you, you respond positively. On the other hand, if the dog is growling, not wagging it’s tail, and has hair raised on it’s back, you respond negatively. You respond to people the same way. It’s not the responsibility of others to like you. It’s your responsibility to be likeable. It’s not the color of your skin, the money in your pocket, the cloths you wear, or the car you drive that makes you “likable”. It’s your attitude about life and the smile you bring to others lives.
If people feel better when they are around you, then you will be liked by almost everybody. There will always be those who are jealous and envious, so choose your friends wisely.
And above all don’t take life too serious. The only real serious thing in life would be running out of beer or scotch. Now that would be serious! (I could be wrong about the money though….it always seems to attract women!)
According to the White House leadership you have to have the help of the “big government plantation owner.” The results of this failed policy and poor leadership will resonate throughout the world for years. It will produce an increased level of social dependency, sluggish economic growth, and low self confidence for all of our nation’s citizens.
Don’t expect a return to prosperity any time soon. It ain’t gonna happen folks.
We have now created a generation of citizens who think the world “owes” them a living and that everything bad that happens to them in life is someone else’s fault.
It will take new leadership in our country that can build individual character and accountability in the minds of the youth of our country. New leadership will have to teach all Americans that your personal decisions and actions determine your future. Your actions have consequences that you must face as an individual. You must stand on your own two feet and not be a burden on the country in which you live.
And before you can help others you must help yourself. We cannot have a strong global standing in the world if we are a nation of welfare handouts. We must face reality and understand that there is no “perfect” system where everyone is successful. That system does not exist.
Capitalism has brought more prosperity and created more wealth for more people than any other “ism” there is. There will be winners, and there will be losers in capitalism. We can minimize the losers by instilling in the people a belief in themselves, and that their hard work will pay off.
We are currently creating an ever increasing number of losers with our encouragement of social dependency. This must stop if we are to survive as a prosperous nation and halt the current slide down the hole of economic ruin and national decline we are currently in.
We recently celebrated Independence Day. We should ask ourselves if we are truly independent Americans with the pioneer spirit that founded this country, or are we now a nation of handout begging losers? The choice is ours.
It will take a lot of self discipline to turn down government handouts in favor of a good education and hard work, but the future prosperity of this country will depend on it.
Larry Oscar is a graduate from the University of Tulsa and holds a degree in electrical engineering. He is retired and lives with his wife on a lake in Oklahoma where he brews his own beer, sails, and is a member of numerous clubs and organizations.
By Larry Oscar
It’s been interesting to observe the reaction of some people to government 
failures. What seems so obvious to many seems to totally escaping the thought process of others. “Why is it that government agencies fail while private corporations succeed”, a liberal friend of mine recently asked? Sometimes all you can do to help these poor folks is just smile. The answer lies in the observations of a man by the name of Charles Darwin. Back in 1859 Darwin published his book On the Origin of Species and the rest is history.
Over 99.9 percent of all species that ever lived on this planet have fallen to extinction. We are a product of natural selection and if we fail to adapt to changes in climate and our environment, we will follow the same fate. Darwin’s observation of natural selection is not limited to nature alone. It is the reason that Socialism, Marxism, and big governments fail while Capitalism succeeds.
In order for a society to prosper the society must have a viable economy supported by trade and successful business. That has been true for all great civilizations, past and present. Capitalism supports the process of natural selection in an economy. Whereas, Socialism and Marxism do not. Under Capitalism businesses must adapt to an ever changing market or fail and become extinct. Under Socialism and Marxism the government props up what the government decides businesses should become, regardless of the market conditions. This leads to a costly and prolonged, but inevitable extinction of the business. Why, because the process of natural selection has not been allowed to occur.
The Capitalist free market is the crucible that weeds out the weak. There can be no greater example of Darwin’s natural selection process than the United States Post Office versus the United Parcel Service. If an outside observer were to pick a winner among these two the logical choice would have been the United States Post Office. After all, the Post Office can deliver both first class mail and parcels while UPS can only deliver parcels. And UPS was not allowed to deliver first class mail by law. A government interference in the market. The failure of the Post Office is a glaring example of why government intervention in the free market process will always inevitably end in failure.
Historically the failures of great civilizations can be traced to an ever increasing size of government and the government interference in the free market forces that result in the collapse of trade, business, and ultimately the economy. Capitalism is often described as “brutal” because there will be losers, winners, and failures. May I remind all that capitalism is no different than sports. When you compete in baseball, football, golf, or any other sport it would be ludicrous to compete and not have winners and losers. So why is the competition in a capitalist business environment any different? Do you think the early baseball teams of the early 1900’s would stand a chance against the teams of today? No way. Why? Because sports has evolved. We have much more skilled players and better training and equipment today. We no longer play golf with wooden handle clubs or leather covered golf balls. Our tennis rackets today are lightweight carbon fiber, not wood.
Like sports, market free competition in business is absolutely essential. And it is essential that government keep the interference in the market to an absolute minimum. We have pumped tens of billions of borrowed government money into GM. The GM story has yet to write it’s final chapter. GM has not been “saved” as many are claiming now. GM has only survived until now because of a government handout. GM will be back in trouble within a few years or decades at most when the government handout money is gone and once again they have to stand on their own two feet. The systemic problems at GM are still there, and those problems will bring GM to it’s knees sooner or later. A very good read on this subject is John Stossel’s new book entitled No They Can’t. It cites numerous examples of government failures in the free market place. You can pick it up on Amazon for about $17 at:
http://www.amazon.com/They-Cant-Government-Fails-But-Individuals
And be kind to your emotional friends. After all, they may have an issue! You also may want to read up on that subject as well…My Stroke of Insight by Jill Taylor, Ph.D. It’s a great story of a true scientist and what she discovered about the brains thought processes.