Value vs. Money

Again, this assumes that government can create jobs. Government cannot create jobs. It can create a climate conducive to job creation or it can do the opposite. The jobs government creates are not ‘real’ jobs. They are jobs dependent on political patronage.

Government can insert itself and re-distribute the wealth created by real jobs in the private sector, but it cannot create or re-distribute ‘value‘. The honest money poured into unproductive sectors is money wasted. The tipping point is reached when too much wastage starves the private sector (where value is created) out of existence.

With the rise of autocratic dictatorial regimes at the expense of democracies, it is inevitable that job creation suffers. This political trend has now also taken root in Washington.

America was well known throughout the world as a place where it was still possible to come and make something of oneself. The business climate was considered to be ‘friendly‘. This is changing. High taxes and regulations have virtually ground business in America to a halt. In order to stay in business these days you have to first ingratiate yourself to the party in power and then wait for them to give you your arbitrary allotment of wavers and handouts. It’s called crony capitalism and it never works well.

There’s no mystery as to how capitalism functions and how ‘real’ value is generated. A man goes to work for a firm and receives a salary. His salary is predicated on how much he can be expected to contribute to the firm’s bottom line. If his skills are independent of the firm’s structure, he can eventually go out and start his own business. He will then begin to hire people keeping the same principle in mind: he will pay them a percentage of what they can be expected to contribute to the new firm’s success.

An athlete is paid according to how many people his presence can bring into the stadium. An actor is paid according to how many people his talent can attract to movie theaters. It is their talent that is valuable. The money generated by any such transactions can go up in smoke in an instant. The value of individual talent, skill and perseverance remains. A good actor will always eat.

Not many of us are blessed with outstanding attributes such as John Batchelor’s golden-throated voice and keen wit; or even with the ability to think effectively on our feet. Yet, we too can be a part of the system. We have other, perhaps less spectacular, attributes to deal. And we too, if we apply ourselves, can earn a modest, but secure, living.

Enter big government that blocks all normal processes and throws the whole system into confusion. Now nobody can be secure. The rules change with the political winds. It’s difficult to plan and even harder to trust - and the whole thing breaks down to be replaced by … what?

At this point, it could be anything - a new currency, gold, indentured servitude, work camps. With capitalism discredited, one’s work can no longer save one. Things are apt to become a whole lot more arbitrary and complicated. For one thing, America may soon not have to worry about its immigration problem as opportunity continues to fade; and there won’t be much left to bother blowing up anymore.
-------------------------------------------------------------
A note about education: Education no longer teaches discipline and skills. Education has become so devalued in America (and elsewhere) that it represents little more than a (hall) pass for entrance into the entrenched elite classes‘ washrooms. Additionally, education nowadays consists primarily of learning to spout political propaganda points.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Gulliver's Travels

The Chinese, I'm sorry to say, are doing exactly what we should be doing. They’re doing it under their system in which everyone there is participating to the best of his or her ability. Grant it, it is not our system.

By the same token, I am loath to condemn the Iranians at this point. They too are doing what they think is right (under their system). It is not up to us to tell them anything. Both the Chinese and the Iranians are working hard to expand their spheres of influence. We, at present, have no alternative to offer them. We no longer project a credible example.

When they look at us they see a nation in decline. Our allies are running for the tall grass. We are no longer confident; optimism is draining daily. In fact, we seem to be actively fueling our own demise.

Both China and Iran are on the upswing. They are courting alliances on every continent; alliances from which we are excluded. They are building their military capabilities, with an eye to the future, to protect their strategic interests. We have abandoned strategy.

We no longer have anything to say to them. Our economy is running on fumes. Our educational system is beyond corrupt. Our media is blatantly rubberstamp. We are divided to the point of gridlock. Our best and brightest are hobbled by a mass of incomprehensible regulations - like Gulliver was by the Lilliputians.

We have voluntarily amputated our tongues. Even a whispered insult against us speaks louder than anything we might say in our own defense.

Our expectation that Republicans will restore us stems from the same root that elected Obama. We veer madly left, then right; and likely back again. Every day we hear the dollar’s death rattle. Our American tradition has been blighted by our political battles in which constructive compromise is routinely shunned. Yes, we need change alright, but it’s not left change, or right. We need to rediscover what it means to be American.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/