By David Galland in Casey's Daily Dispatch:
... I am morally opposed to being treated like a milking cow by the “government of the people, by the people, for the people.” In my America, the government would not be the driving force of the economy or spend its time coming up with new and more meddlesome ways of interfering with my pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness.
Is it selfish to keep the lion’s share of the fruits of my labor? Is it too much to ask from the government to stay out of the way while I take on the extraordinary risk of starting a business with the full intent of ultimately employing 30, or 40, or 400 people? Or that I collect the majority of the profits, especially as I am willing to accept the entire loss should my efforts fail?
While that is enough, in my mind, to be outraged by what’s going on, that’s far from the extent of it.
By quietly acquiescing in the increasing transfer of wealth from the private to the public sector, we as a nation – and this applies to most citizens of most nations – are providing the fuel that the bloated bureaucracies need to continue their takeover.
Many segments of the population, especially those who literally pay no income tax, actively support the asset stripping of capitalists and entrepreneurs. And they are encouraged by politically motivated class warfare, despite the fact that in most cases the recipients of high incomes don’t come from some sort of entrenched entitlement but rather hard work. In the land of the capitalist, there is no class system – the sort that used to stifle England and still does so many countries. Today’s millionaire can have entirely humble roots, and they can return to whence they came as the result of a single misstep in their business or investment calculations.
That we have our current president only underscores that point.
Of course, it is easy to hold up the people at Goldman Sachs as paradigms of greed – but to do so is to deliberately call attention to the exception, not the norm. The norm is that the bulk of the income earners that the government is now applying the tax truncheons to are hard-working or retired small- and medium-sized business owners or valued employees who are doing their best to succeed and to look after their families.
And before leaving the topic of Goldman Sucks – I agree that their bonuses, estimated to be in the billions this year, are a bad joke. But only because the firm has relied so heavily on the kindness of its friends in government to earn those bonuses, at the direct expense of taxpayers. So, the hell with them, too.
Is there any answer to any of this? No, not really. And so the stage is set for a play that could safely be titled “The American Dream Becomes a Nightmare.” The play will be a long one, and there will be moments of hope and even levity along the way. But unless and until the masses wake up and remember the foundations of the American Dream, the play will move inexorably toward its dark climax.
Before we get to that point, expect exchange controls and special taxes on foreign-derived income – both in an attempt to keep the wealthier taxpayers who are now so popular with the tax authorities (but no one else) from voting with their feet or sending their money to a place where it is treated better.
And you can expect the government to find new and more urgent ways to rationalize its overreaching into all corners of the U.S. economy and society. War! Climate Change! Terrorism! Swine Flu!
Who knows, maybe even another stock market crash!? That would conveniently send a huge wave of money fleeing into U.S. Treasuries.
At the end of the day, unless the public rises up and decides that it’s time to starve the beast – which is to say, cut off anything other than truly essential funding and remove the power of the Fed to create money out of nothing – the beast is only going to grow. And that growth can only come by crowding out the free market.
Protect yourself. Of course, as we have said over and over for years now, gold is one of the better ways to do so.
Crux Note: Casey's Daily Dispatch comes free with a subscription to a Casey Research advisory service. You can learn more about their flagship service, The Casey Report here(highly recommended).
More from Casey Research:
Government OUTRAGE: 65% tax rates coming
Must-watch video on the global warming scam
The best thing on why America is screwed you'll read all month
... I am morally opposed to being treated like a milking cow by the “government of the people, by the people, for the people.” In my America, the government would not be the driving force of the economy or spend its time coming up with new and more meddlesome ways of interfering with my pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness.
Is it selfish to keep the lion’s share of the fruits of my labor? Is it too much to ask from the government to stay out of the way while I take on the extraordinary risk of starting a business with the full intent of ultimately employing 30, or 40, or 400 people? Or that I collect the majority of the profits, especially as I am willing to accept the entire loss should my efforts fail?
While that is enough, in my mind, to be outraged by what’s going on, that’s far from the extent of it.
By quietly acquiescing in the increasing transfer of wealth from the private to the public sector, we as a nation – and this applies to most citizens of most nations – are providing the fuel that the bloated bureaucracies need to continue their takeover.
Many segments of the population, especially those who literally pay no income tax, actively support the asset stripping of capitalists and entrepreneurs. And they are encouraged by politically motivated class warfare, despite the fact that in most cases the recipients of high incomes don’t come from some sort of entrenched entitlement but rather hard work. In the land of the capitalist, there is no class system – the sort that used to stifle England and still does so many countries. Today’s millionaire can have entirely humble roots, and they can return to whence they came as the result of a single misstep in their business or investment calculations.
That we have our current president only underscores that point.
Of course, it is easy to hold up the people at Goldman Sachs as paradigms of greed – but to do so is to deliberately call attention to the exception, not the norm. The norm is that the bulk of the income earners that the government is now applying the tax truncheons to are hard-working or retired small- and medium-sized business owners or valued employees who are doing their best to succeed and to look after their families.
And before leaving the topic of Goldman Sucks – I agree that their bonuses, estimated to be in the billions this year, are a bad joke. But only because the firm has relied so heavily on the kindness of its friends in government to earn those bonuses, at the direct expense of taxpayers. So, the hell with them, too.
Is there any answer to any of this? No, not really. And so the stage is set for a play that could safely be titled “The American Dream Becomes a Nightmare.” The play will be a long one, and there will be moments of hope and even levity along the way. But unless and until the masses wake up and remember the foundations of the American Dream, the play will move inexorably toward its dark climax.
Before we get to that point, expect exchange controls and special taxes on foreign-derived income – both in an attempt to keep the wealthier taxpayers who are now so popular with the tax authorities (but no one else) from voting with their feet or sending their money to a place where it is treated better.
And you can expect the government to find new and more urgent ways to rationalize its overreaching into all corners of the U.S. economy and society. War! Climate Change! Terrorism! Swine Flu!
Who knows, maybe even another stock market crash!? That would conveniently send a huge wave of money fleeing into U.S. Treasuries.
At the end of the day, unless the public rises up and decides that it’s time to starve the beast – which is to say, cut off anything other than truly essential funding and remove the power of the Fed to create money out of nothing – the beast is only going to grow. And that growth can only come by crowding out the free market.
Protect yourself. Of course, as we have said over and over for years now, gold is one of the better ways to do so.
Crux Note: Casey's Daily Dispatch comes free with a subscription to a Casey Research advisory service. You can learn more about their flagship service, The Casey Report here(highly recommended).
More from Casey Research:
Government OUTRAGE: 65% tax rates coming
Must-watch video on the global warming scam
The best thing on why America is screwed you'll read all month
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