JLP over at AllFinancialMatters.com posted this yesterday:
I’m not going to talk a lot about the election but I will say this:
I think America made a mistake last night.
If you’re wondering, he’s referring to the US election.
I haven’t back linked things in a long time, mainly because I’ve been so out of touch with blogs, but I just felt like ranting a bit. I’m not dissappointed at all, and I wanted to get a few things off my chest.
1. The whole liberal vs conservative division is very tiring. People who demonize and attack one side or another need to look at the pros of each. Just take a look at the definition of liberalism, can anyone disagree with every value important to a liberal? On the flip side, consider conservatism.
2. People who are naysayers on Obama are most likely also the Bush supporters - who maybe even voted for Bush twice! So what credibility do they have on really attacking Obama until he’s at least had a chance to serve as president.
3. Socialism is alive in America more than people realize. Welfare, Earned Income Credit, Food stamps…they are all forms of socialism. I didn’t hear people yelling and screaming about getting a “rebate check” from the government did I? Even our tax structure is designed to tax those who earn more, more.
Unlike JLP, I’m not going to be starting a political blog. Maybe if I had the time I would. This blog has been both my financial journal and my personal journal about anything. I want to keep it that way, and open to everything that happens in my life. But you should check out JLP’s political blog, AllPoliticalMatters.com. I don’t think it’s up yet.
Economy is in downcycle. Hard for party in power to retain power in that scenario. I don’t think it was people choosing Obama over McCain as it was as much people not happy about the economy and picking “the other guys.”
I’ve seen this cycle from Nixon/Ford to Carter, from Carter to Reagan, from Bush to Clinton, and Clinton to Bush.
It’ll flip back again in the years ahead. Guaranteed.
But I agree that the country is evolving to be more “socialist.” That’s the natural evolution of societies. Even republicans today are to the left of yesterday’s democrats. Now the republicans like Arnold and McCain have embraced the government solving “global warming.” Crazy.
People trade in freedom for security, until the economy/country collapses, and the cycle begins anew. Businesses are going to countries with less of a burden and that have more rapid growth. We have a high tax burden, and it’s going higher. We have high debt with our entitlements and military spending.
Read Empire of Debt. Great book.
Very well said. Point #3 of your comment I believe is the most important. Many do not realize that our democratic system of government borrows from many other ideologies.
“Socialism is alive in America more than people realize. Welfare, Earned Income Credit, Food stamps…they are all forms of socialism.”
Also, the government is now taking ownership stakes in the nation’s largest financial institutions — this makes us probably the most socialized nation that doesn’t declare ourselves communist.
“Even our tax structure is designed to tax those who earn more, more.”
This is completely incorrect. The American tax system disproportionately taxes income (which those who earn less derive the majority of their net worth) over capital gains (where the rich derive their net worth from).
Warren Buffet (the wealthiest man in the world) noted that he manages to pays less tax than his secretary. It’s sorta sad how few people actually understand this (extremely important) point.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/t.....996735.ece
Beth, Steve, Thanks for your comments. Steve, I never read or heard anything like what you just mentioned. I’ll look into it more.