Thursday, September 02, 2010

Thomas Sowell's Pessimism

 "Doomsters are a dime a dozen. But when a leading economist who's been called "the nation's greatest contemporary philosopher" sees serious trouble ahead, we'd better listen up. 

 Sowell sees the national equivalent of a "perfect storm," a gathering of "dangerous forces (that) have been building .. . for at least a half-century." 

    Yes, he says, our great nation has weathered many storms. But, he quickly notes, so did the Roman Empire before it collapsed. "Is that where America is headed?" Sowell asks upfront. "I believe it is. Our only saving grace is that we are not there yet - and that nothing is inevitable until it happens."......

    The Obama administration "is not the root cause of the ominous dangers that face this country at home and aboard," Sowell says. But "it is the embodiment, the personification and the culmination of dangerous trends that began decades ago. Moreover, it has escalated those dangers to what may be a point of no return.  [Sowell's Pessimism]

Boned Jello
Opinions about the nexus of that perfect storm are also a dime a dozen, and in my case free of charge.  August 9, 1974.  The Nixon  bloodless coup.   Sowell's fifty-year parameter takes us to JFK's election, in effect the beginning of The Great Society.  Hard to argue that too.

Secession is still the only course of action I can think of.  Things will still be tough, but at least "we" will have the opportunity to rebuild without the constraints and gloom imposed by statist government. And, we'll have hope where none now exists.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have had occasion to speak with law enforcement, both municipal and Federal off the record. the concensus seems to be that LBJ and 1968 was the beginning of the end for America. - Vice Sgt Boone

clem said...

Every US History student learns that the Articles of Confederation failed because the central government was too weak. What if the US Constitution fails because the central government is too strong?

It's not really the fault of the Constitution as it was originally written. It's the additional powers taken by the Federal government along the way. The overly broad interpretation of the Interstate Commerce Clause, the expansion of regulatory agencies, and the Sixteenth Amendment, for a few.

When the Soviet Union collapsed, its federal government ceased to exist and each SSR became an independent nation. Without major changes, the same thing will happen here.

Anonymous said...

I say that the current group of problems go back at least as far as the progressives TR and Wilson, what with their restrictions on capitalism, the modern education movement and the Fed. The last hold on reality was severed when Nixon cut the dollar loose from gold. FDR devalued the dollar by 60% but was limited in what he could spend because it still had intrinsic worth. Nixon made it so that Obama could print as much funny money as he feels like.

Government unrestrained by limits is a recipe for disaster.

Laurence

Anonymous said...

succession? You live in Maryland, right. If you succeed you are Cuba.

Alear said...

If at first you don't secede, try and try again.

DougM said...

There has been a century-long Progressivist effort to overthrow the Constitution going back to Teddy R.

Rodger the Real King of France said...

No, I live in Miami

Steve in Greensboro said...

Watched the Ethan Hawke vampire movie "Day Breakers" with my daughter the other night. The idea is that the world is 95% vampires and only 5% humans and there aren't enough humans to supply blood.

Made me wonder if it was a metaphor for government and taxpayers.

Probably not, but thinking it was made me enjoy the movie more.

Anonymous said...

Rog, I'm in Jacksonville, FL now. Mi casa su casa... haven't shaken the immigrant lingo from my last haunt. Come on by, with or without MoSup, but bring your spare liver.

Casca

P.S. Come what may, I intend to live well, or go down swinging.

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