Towards the end of the Roman Empire, an entitlement program was introduced that we refer to as "Bread and Circuses." The basics of the program was food was given out and entertainment was provided to the lower class in the Roman cities in order to keep the peasants happy. As the misery increased, the amount of food and entertainment that was required to keep them happy had to be increased. This eventually led to the fall of the Roman Empire because people left the countryside to partake in the "free" goodies which resulted in food shortages.
Fast forward to our present day here in the United States of America and we have "bread and circuses" on a grander scale. What is our modern "bread and circuses" you ask?
The "bread" is welfare, WIC, foodstamps, medicare, medicaid, free school lunches/breakfasts, reduced school lunches/breakfasts, public housing, section 8 housing, low income housing, etc. Any program that takes from one person and "gives" to another who didn't earn it in order to provide food, shelter, or medical services falls into the "bread" category. Notice how the "assistance" that is provided is just enough to keep those receiving it from starving but not enough to help them become self reliant (those who want to be self reliant are outweighed by those who will not work to better their station in life). The result is increased taxation of the productive which leads to less employment and more people requiring "assistance" and the cycle continues.
Now for the "circuses." The "circuses" aren't always government funded in their entirety or at all. In our modern age, people no longer have to travel to great coliseums in order to be entertained. You don't even have to leave your house to be entertained for the most part. Because of wealth transfers in the form of welfare, unemployment, or social security disability (even if the person is capable of working) people who don't work can still go to movies, sporting events, and many other events in order to entertain themselves thanks to the productive. If they don't want to leave their "home" they can; and many do; buy a T.V. and DVD player to entertain themselves at the taxpayer's expense. The fun doesn't stop there though, because of government theft (see my previous posting on plunder), they also have the money to pay for cable or satellite service to keep them entertained. Of course what "circus" would be complete without a touch of reality? Hence the introduction of reality TV. We're not content with watching movies or TV shows like they used to be. Now we can watch "normal" everyday people on TV thanks to shows like Survivor, Big Brother, American Idol, The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, The Amazing Race, etc.
I am reminded of the Brad Paisley song "Celebrity"
Someday, I'm gonna be famous,
Do I have talent? Well, no.
These days you don't really need it,
Thanks to reality shows.
Those lyrics sum up the reality TV craze. Thanks to people like Woodrow Wilson and FDR, we got the "bread." With the popularity of reality TV, we have the "circuses" in full force. With the invasion of 20+ million illegal aliens, we have the barbarians. The fall of the modern day Roman Empire is taking place right now despite the few that are trying to stop it from happening. The problem is that in order to stop the impending doom, everybody will have to deal with a little pain to get back to the road of liberty. This will not happen because, as a society, we are weak and lazy. But people like Mike Church, Kevin Gutzman, Ron Paul, Tom Woods, and others will continue to fight for freedom and liberty even when we are called names and insulted.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Plunder
In reading Frederic Bastiat's "The Law" There is a section about "plunder" or as we would call it, theft. There are two kinds of "plunder;" legal and illegal.
Illegal plunder is just what it sounds like; the use of force or threat of force by a private person or group to take what is yours, whether money or property.
Legal plunder is a little more tricky. Legal plunder is when the government uses force or the threat of force to take money from you to give to someone else. The tricky part comes in what the money is used for. Before I read what "legal plunder" entailed, I only thought of welfare, food stamps, WIC, and any other entitlement program which gives money to those who did not earn it. While those are types of legal plunder, they are only the tip of the iceberg. Subsidies, public schools, progressive taxation (this means that if there must be a tax, everyone should pay the same percentage no matter how much they make), protective tariffs, minimum wages, etc. In addition to those examples that Bastiat gave we can include Pell Grant's, subsidized student loans, guaranteed home loans (Fannie and Freddie), medicaid, paying farmers not to grow anything on their farms, etc.
Why am I bringing this subject up at this time?
Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI-1) has recently introduced his budget plan which has been called, "The Path to Prosperity: Restoring America's Promise." In his plan, Ryan has budget projections all the way to 2051 which eventually will balance the federal budget and start paying down the national debt. While I applaud what his apparent goals are; cut federal spending and paying down the debt, it is unrealistic and cements into law legal plunder in the "social safety net." When the health care bill was introduced with its budget projections of 10 years out, many who opposed it called BS when the cost projections were released because the government can't reliably predict budgets or spending on government entitlement programs unless they restrict services by rationing. So when Rep. Ryan introduces a budget plan that plans out 40 years, why should we all of a sudden think that this is reliable. Not only can the government not guarantee revenue into its coffers, but one Congress cannot dictate the actions of another. Therefore, Rep. Ryan's budget plan can be passed by the House and Senate and then signed by the President, and a future Congress can shoot the mainline and double the spending if they want.
This means that the only thing that Rep. Ryan's budget would do is admit to the parasites that the establishment GOP has given up on getting rid of any of the entitlement programs that are in place. If this is the best that the GOP can do, we are doomed.
Illegal plunder is just what it sounds like; the use of force or threat of force by a private person or group to take what is yours, whether money or property.
Legal plunder is a little more tricky. Legal plunder is when the government uses force or the threat of force to take money from you to give to someone else. The tricky part comes in what the money is used for. Before I read what "legal plunder" entailed, I only thought of welfare, food stamps, WIC, and any other entitlement program which gives money to those who did not earn it. While those are types of legal plunder, they are only the tip of the iceberg. Subsidies, public schools, progressive taxation (this means that if there must be a tax, everyone should pay the same percentage no matter how much they make), protective tariffs, minimum wages, etc. In addition to those examples that Bastiat gave we can include Pell Grant's, subsidized student loans, guaranteed home loans (Fannie and Freddie), medicaid, paying farmers not to grow anything on their farms, etc.
Why am I bringing this subject up at this time?
Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI-1) has recently introduced his budget plan which has been called, "The Path to Prosperity: Restoring America's Promise." In his plan, Ryan has budget projections all the way to 2051 which eventually will balance the federal budget and start paying down the national debt. While I applaud what his apparent goals are; cut federal spending and paying down the debt, it is unrealistic and cements into law legal plunder in the "social safety net." When the health care bill was introduced with its budget projections of 10 years out, many who opposed it called BS when the cost projections were released because the government can't reliably predict budgets or spending on government entitlement programs unless they restrict services by rationing. So when Rep. Ryan introduces a budget plan that plans out 40 years, why should we all of a sudden think that this is reliable. Not only can the government not guarantee revenue into its coffers, but one Congress cannot dictate the actions of another. Therefore, Rep. Ryan's budget plan can be passed by the House and Senate and then signed by the President, and a future Congress can shoot the mainline and double the spending if they want.
This means that the only thing that Rep. Ryan's budget would do is admit to the parasites that the establishment GOP has given up on getting rid of any of the entitlement programs that are in place. If this is the best that the GOP can do, we are doomed.
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