The obfuscation via government intervention in all its forms (stupendous deficits, subsidies to failed corporations/business models, pork barrel handouts) is one of the factors seducing people into a false sense of complacency that our economy is just fine.  Borrowing money to keep your bills paid might seem ok, until you realize the borrowed money must be paid back with interest.

In less government-dependent/credit-fueled times, a major decision like raising a child was saved up for and anticipated.  Healthcare was funded out of pocket or with straightforward insurance.  Retirement required savings.  Nowadays, our government promises us all these goodies with borrowed money, which we will eventually pay for with interest (assuming the dollar doesn’t collapse first).

In less government-reliant times, there were fewer entitlements, senses of entitlement or bogus lawsuits which now haunt would be doctors and entrepreneurs. Why bother using your MIT degree to start a new business when you can day trade and make the “market more efficient”… hah!

Even the stock market used to be a reasonable measure of future economic value.  Now it is a game profitable game to be played/manipulated with enormous  leverage.  The S&P PE ratio is over 100 according to S&P and the graphical evidence is stunning.  Anyone with their 401(k) invested in stocks is asking to be smoked.  Meanwhile, insiders are bailing out.

I have no desire to go back to days of extreme hardship or give up technology, but it seems the more government obfuscation we allow to seep into our lives, bit by bit, the further we get from the truth and honest consequences of our lifestyles.  A single woman with three kids who is reliant on the state for breakfast and lunch year-round is in a worse off position since the true costs of her lifestyle are not borne by her, but rather, the taxpayer, who is under increasing pressure to stop paying them.  This “help” that the State provides via welfare, subsidized housing and other giveaways are not sustainable and ultimately dangerous for its beneficiary.

If you want to ruin a man, give him everything he wants.  Never let him fail, struggle, grow or mature into a man. – Inthon.com

As a result of government encroachment on all levels of life we are living in delusion about how much things *actually* cost and how they function.  There are now entire families dependent on the government for food assistance, educational assistance, medical assistance and job placement assistance.  This is neither normal nor sustainable.

As the credit-fueled economy inevitably slows down and inflation spike or benefits are cut, there will be a lot of disillusioned, angry and unprepared people.  There have been numerous chances to come clean from politicians, media and leaders.  Instead, all we hear are happy bromides about how things will be back to normal.  The only voices sounding the alarm that the debt-fueled economy is unsustainable are drowned out.

Takeaway:  I hate to be so closed-minded as “government bad” “free market good”, but it is obvious to anyone paying attention that the more we cede our power and money to the government, the less reliant, intelligent, capable, stable and robust we are as a society.

Many sites on the Internet are heavily skewed towards defending an existing ideology, however, I am interested in engaging others in a mutual search for truth rather than defending any ideologies.

While I have previously fallen in love with certain ideologies (libertarianism, free markets), I often find there to be different points of view which have valid points which I had not considered. While libertarian/free-market viewpoints still seem to me to be the most logical and valid, I find that reading debates or refutations of those viewpoints often provide food for thought.

Most of my growth and learning has come from reading and reflecting upon what I disagree with. In future posts, I plan on sharing some statist versus libertarian conundrums which I have thought about.

Thanks for reading.

To read more about choosing action, click here.

1. Being challenged on my views on religion – I never questioned my faith, but there were a lot of incongruencies I harbored underneath the surface. After speaking with an atheist friend for 10 minutes, I realized I was simply afraid to openly declare that I was a “non-believer”. Rather than be honest and honor those agnostic beliefs, I was going through the religious motions.

2. Being challenged on my views on abortion – I never considered the human aspect of abortion until I sat down with a self-proclaimed “far right winger”. Even though I didn’t agree with his views, his frankness and real-life examples caught me so off-guard I was literally speechless.

3. Being challenged on my views on homosexuality – I realized an online columnist who I thought was very masculine was actually gay and I was somewhat surprised. His response was perfect… “Yeah so?” When he put it like that, I (officially) realized it really wasn’t a big deal for someone to be gay.

4. Being challenged on my libertarian stances – A lady responded negatively to an op-ed piece I wrote for my college newspaper. After debating with her, she didn’t back down. By standing up for her beliefs, she forced me to double-check and re-examine my views.

Had it not been for these random people refusing to roll over and capitulate, I would be far less mature and open-minded than I am today. Interacting with people I disagreed with forced me to examine my “pristine” beliefs and get a more accurate picture of reality.

The lesson I have learned is that learning only comes from challenging oneself. This is what great teachers and great friends do; they force us to stretch and consider what we had previously dismissed.

I plan on writing more about this topic in the future as it relates to education. In my personal observations, giving up money and power to governments to educate children reduces the responsibility and consciousness of the parents whose children are being educated.

Thank you for reading.

To see a great video on “excuses”, click here.