Hi Platt --
The election of Obama is a shining example of the power of the statist
propaganda machine. You can bet they will continue to use it to justify
their takeover of banks, auto companies, the health care system and
whatever else they want. Note that the first thing they do to bamboozle
the public to accept their grab for power is to create a phony crises,
e.g.,
global warming.
Right you are, Platt.
Here's a fable you won't find on the Internet . . .
THE EMPEROR'S NEW WEALTH
There came a time in this restive world when the people of the most
prosperous nation gathered to choose a new Emperor. The man they appointed
had no experience running a company or managing an economy, but he was
"cool" and in many ways different from his capitalist predecessor. He
spoke eloquently and with confidence, promising that he would usher in an
era of fairness by "spreading the wealth" so that "we can all get along
together". That had great appeal to the people who were looking for a
change ? especially a change that would end the rift between rich and poor
and make everybody equal.
Now it so happened that when the new Emperor assumed power he found the
nation's financial institutions in disarray. The people had been purchasing
houses they couldn't afford and the loan companies had run up so much debt
they had no more money to lend. That was a challenge for the Emperor who
had no wealth of his own but felt bound by his promises. So he consulted
with his advisors to determine what to do. Among them was the Imperial
Wizard who said: "Never let a crisis go to waste; it's an opportunity to do
everything you promised to do. Besides, the people won't notice if you
remind them that it's a crisis we inherited from the previous reign."
So the Emperor took his wizard's advice. Because he believed that only he
and his imperial minions could fix the problem, he called for money to bail
out the banks. He ordered up more money to bail out the auto companies
because they were "too big to fail." When that didn't work he turned
ownership of the companies over to the workers' union. To stimulate public
spending he gave out tax rebates to everyone in the land ? even those who
didn't pay any taxes. He allocated money for construction and energy
conservation projects to put people back to work, and he even nationalized
healthcare to fulfill his promise to the people. In his first hundred days,
he raised the nation's debt to four times what it had ever been before.
(You see, no one dared tell the Emperor that you can't cure a credit crisis
by spending money you don't have.) But that didn't seem to matter, because
the Emperor's heralds were also pledged to the Fairness Doctrine, and they
proclaimed throughout the land that the new policies were Good and Wise and
beyond repute.
After eight years under his rule the problems that had caused the credit
crisis still persisted, but the people were no longer buying houses and
automobiles. Instead they were trying to grow or beg enough food to keep
from starving. For, although more money than ever was being printed,
whatever was left after taxes was worthless paper. Light, heat and power
were unaffordable luxuries under the Emperor's energy restrictions.
National Healthcare had forced hospitals and physicians to cut costs and
ration treatment, and they were turning away long lines of people seeking
medical care. Drug companies that could not market products meeting the
fair price guidelines went out of business, and manufacturing was reduced to
farm implements, prefabricated housing units, and basic commodities.
Riots and pillaging were rampant everywhere, and the Imperial Security Force
was ordered in to quell them, since only the military could now own weapons.
Most of the employed were part of what was called The People's Fairness
Party which even illegal immigrants were invited to join and upon which the
rest of the empire depended. Those who once earned wealth had most of it
taxed to support the Party, and there was no incentive to work without
profit. Capitalism was no longer taught in the schools, since everybody
knew that it was evil, and "Socialism" had been replaced by "Fairness" which
was added to the standard curriculum of Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic.
The world's most prosperous nation had at last achieved its change to
Fairness ? its people were now neither rich nor poor but "equally
impoverished". A few realized that they had been rooked by an Emperor whose
"new wealth" was actually extorted from them. They weren't happy, free or
productive, but they couldn't complain because the Fairness Doctrine made it
politically incorrect. As for the rest of the world, the new empire had
become just another third-world country that could get along with everybody
else by just talking away their differences.
And that was fair, too. For who could be resentful of a country that had no
more than they did?
. . . but I'm considering running it in my Values Page column next week.
What do you think? Suggestions are welcome.
Regards,
--Ham
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