Santiago, Chile
Just about every day now, a ‘crisis’ unfolds somewhere in the world as if carefully adapted from the pages of Atlas Shrugged.
It’s such a massive aberration and departure from the free market… yet amazingly enough, this elitist system of sociopathic narcissism passes as democracy– “rule of the people.”
The real irony is that the west, which fancies itself the paragon of modern, civilized society, has it the worst. Day in, day out, the developed world gets plundered and violated more by its kleptocratic leaders than any tinpot dictatorship. The stroke of genius is how well they masquerade their thievery.
The US Senate, for instance, introduced a bill late last week to limit the amount that the Defense Department spends… on printing. Never mind multiple front wars, unlawful invasions, and million dollar Tomahawk missiles… they’re focusing on the big picture: print costs.
Meanwhile, NATO forces continue waging war in Libya, now escalating the air campaign with supplemental rotary wing squadrons. When they introduce attack helicopters to the battle space, you can be sure that ground forces are not too far behind.
Needless to say, this all carries tremendous cost to taxpayers. To a normal person, the math is simple… each of us is forced to live within our means, and any deviation outside of that is quickly squashed by the credit market.
In the consequence-free environment of politics, however, costs are magically pushed forward to the distant future, while benefits and goals are muddled amid grandiose, unquantifiable platitudes like “freedom,” “security,” and “prosperity.”
It’s amazing that people demand more accountability from their favorite sports team. Any head coach who notoriously overspends a team’s budget and has no strategy for success other than eloquent speeches about “victory” and “sportsmanship” would quickly be shown the door…
… and yet, a political system in which malignant forces steal resources from the productive, waste the vast majority on folly, and redistribute the breadcrumbs in order to buy votes and maintain the status quo, is hailed as ‘rule of the people.’
Around the world, people are voicing their utter disgust with this system… in some places violently (Egypt, Syria), and in others at the polls (Spain, Finland). In either case, governments are reaching deep into their playbooks to maintain the status quo of kleptocratic elitism, including:
- sending government forces to open fire on their own people
- confiscating public and private pension funds
- banning protests and public demonstrations
- lying about secret bailout meetings
- conjuring villains to justify huge spending programs (like $150,000 body scanners)
- printing trillions of dollars and denying price increases
- fraudulently misstating macroeconomic indicators and sovereign balance sheets
- engaging in military conflict to distract the population at home
- eliminating financial privacy
- allowing police agencies to spy on their own citizens without a warrant
- imposing exchange controls and restricting the free flow of capital
- raising taxes, without warning, overnight