From Open Palm To Closed Fist!
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
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It
is almost impossible to entertain any optimistic thoughts concerning
the future of America these days. Looking around, all one sees is
darkness, dread, and looming catastrophe.
OK. So maybe I overstated it a bit. But I don't think so.
Americans
who feel secure these days are almost entirely members of the "Takers"
in America. The "Makers" or "Producers" are depressed, disgusted, and
disillusioned.
Everyone but the dumbest among us
understands that we are in the last days of America. Just peeking over
the future horizon is a total collapse of the American economic system.
The Great Depression is about to slip into second place as the worse
economic calamity to strike America.
But, hey! It's what we of the conservative commentariat warned would happen.
Look.
When a boat is sinking, bailing will help only for a short while. At
some point you have to patch the leak, plug the hole, else the boat will
inevitably sink.
That great ship of state, America, is sinking -- because nobody is interested in plugging the leak.
America has been feeding upon itself for decades now and it has almost depleted its source of food.
Ever
wonder what would happen if an Anaconda discovered its tail and began
to consume it. That's is precisely what has happened to America. We are nearing the end of a vicious cycle of self consumption.
I received the following information from a Newsmax newsletter recently: "Entitlement
spending is already so high that the cost of all entitlement programs
plus interest on the debt is nearly equal to total federal revenue. That
means virtually everything else the government does is being paid for
with borrowed money, the report from the Institute for Policy Innovation
discloses.
Entitlements include Social Security, Medicare,
Medicaid, and means-tested welfare programs, plus veteran benefits,
unemployment pay, disability pay, and more.
A number of these
programs have grown substantially since President Obama took office.
Medicaid has grown from 46.9 recipients to 56 million, disability
beneficiaries have increased from 7.5 million to 8.8 million, and the
food stamp program has grown from 32 million beneficiaries to 47
million.
All told, more than 120 million Americans receive
entitlements of some kind, according to the Institute, a Texas-based
think tank. Add to that an estimated 16 million new Medicaid
beneficiaries resulting from Obamacare, and some 18 million people who
enter the health insurance exchanges beginning in 2014.
The
bottom line: For fiscal 2012, the federal government spent about $2.2
trillion of its $3.7 trillion budget on entitlement programs, while
gross annual revenues stood at $2.6 trillion. Add interest on the
federal debt of $220 billion to the entitlement payout, and that leaves
less than $200 billion to pay for everything else, including defense,
transportation, education, and homeland security. So the government
makes up the shortfall by borrowing, or printing, money."
Then there is this: "While
there had been speculation that the BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
may delay the release of its October nonfarm payroll number until after
the election, it turned out there was no reason to worry. Perhaps this
is because the number, while at stall speed, was not quite as horrible
as some had expected (even if the change in average hourly earnings did
tumble to new all time lows) and so boosted Obama's reelection chances.
There was, however, another closely tracked number which perhaps is far
more indicative of the economic "growth" in the past 4 years, which
certainly had a delayed release. The number of course is that showing
how many Americans are on foodstamps, and usually is released at the end
of the month, or the first day or two of the next month. This time the
USDA delayed its release nine days past the semi-official deadline, far
past the election, and until Friday night to report August foodstamp
data. One glance at the number reveals why: at 47.1 million, this was
not only a new all time record, but the monthly increase of 420,947 from
July was the biggest monthly increase in one year."
SOURCE: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-11-10/foodstamps-surge-most-one-year-new-all-time-record-delayed-release
The article goes on to say:
" ... going back to the start of the official start of the depression
in December 2007. In the 57 months from then until August 2012, there
have been 4.6 million jobs lost even as Americans on food stamps and
disability have risen by 21.2 million." SOURCE: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-11-10/foodstamps-surge-most-one-year-new-all-time-record-delayed-release
I'm not kidding myself. I DO realize that only the folks who actually CARE
the country is falling down around them will read this piece and those
of the multitude of conservative commentators who have been sounding the
warning for years.
Watching the decline of America today is akin to watching a terminal patient in stage four of the killing disease.
I've begun to wonder, recently, if the so-called "Preppers" and "Survivalists"
may have had it right all along. Of all the 300 plus millions of
Americans squeezed between the two oceans, (plus Hawaii and Alaska) only they will be anywhere near prepared for what lies in our future.
An Interesting note: "Smith & Wesson stock shot up roughly 10% on the day after the election." This from an article by Michael Porfido entitled "Here Comes the Revenge." Mr. Porfido continues: "Many
analysts think that this is because investors believe that gun sales
will increase due to the concern about possible legislation to limit gun
ownership. Gun sales will increase, but it won’t be for worry that
there will be gun control legislation. It will occur due to the
president’s rhetoric. When you are at the bottom of the economic
ladder, and your President tells you that people above you broke the
rules, you may feel justified in “evening” things out. It would not be a
big leap for some of those at the bottom to decide not to wait for Mr.
Obama’s redistribution. They may choose to “redistribute” for
themselves. The President’s rhetoric has given tacit approval that
successful people should be targets for retribution. Those targets at
the top of the economic ladder, would be foolish not to arm themselves." SOURCE: http://www.bernardgoldberg.com/here-comes-the-revenge/?utm_source=BernardGoldberg.com+Newsletter&utm_campaign=f79661cde6-NEWSLETTER&utm_medium=email
Author, Naomi Wolf said in her book "The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot" the following: "The
great dictators learn from one another what was essentially a blueprint
for closing down an open society; and then it became clear to me that
this blueprint is simple. It consists of ten steps. Ten clear steps.
Then what became chillingly clear to me is that these ten steps are in
place in America today." SOURCE: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1294790/quotes
What are those ten steps as defined by Ms. Wolf? Here they are: 1.
Invoke an internal and external threat 2. Secret prisons where torture
takes place 3. Develop a paramilitary force 4. Surveil ordinary citizens
5. Infiltrate citizens' groups 6. Detain and release ordinary citizens
7. Target key individuals 8. Restrict the press 9. Recast criticism as
espionage and dissent as treason 10. Subvert the rule of law.
SOURCE: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1294790/quotes
Alexis de Tocqueville summed it all up this way: "The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money." SOURCE: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/a/alexis_de_tocqueville.html#E3yMYsq2OddvFclX.99
The last four years have been nothing more than one long bribe of the American electorate. Now -- the bill has come due and the coffers are empty. At some point -- in the very near future -- those
outstretched hands, waiting to receive government sustenance, will ball
up into fists to take that which they have been told, over and over
again, is theirs.
J. D. Longstreet
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