The US of A has been built around the foundation of "don't tread upon me", "say no to taxes", blah-blah-blah., etc. There is an ingrained culture of "tax hate" - at the expense of everyone who can't afford to build their own hospitals, schools and roads (like, all of us).The "tax hate" "hard-on" has been so preposterously and virulently tumescent, that the richest Americans have the poorest thinking like them. Billy-Joe Bob living in his trailer in Arkansas, collecting a disability cheque, and driving his very same 1980 F150 for a quarter century thinks taxes are "evil" - because his preacher, his congressman (both parties), and his president says so (along with all the neighbors). He doesn't "get" the fact that those taxes would ensure he wouldn't have to pay all those fees, tolls, levies, and most importantly, insurance policies (health in particular) every month. More importantly, it would ensure he could AFFORD insurance... But don't try to tell Billy-Joe Bob. It would be "unpatriotic".
The times are a-changin' now... Government cannot operate without taxation. We talk about bailouts - massive bailouts putting the governments of the West into hawk for everything they have (and don't have). Our children's children will be paying the debt in the land of "low taxes".
Imagine - if you will - a land with little or no taxes. You hop in your "Harper Hatchback" (see post from a few weeks ago), to rumble down to the corner store for your ration of foodstamps. On the way your hatch loses a wheel in a pothole. Highways and roads have been neglected because governments have no money and people don't believe in taxes. You leave your Harper Hatchback on the curb (knowing that the tow-truck will cost you a month's salary), and hike it to the store. The lineup is ridiculous. When you finally get your stamps from the "government wicket" you head to the Kraft Dinner aisles (yes, "aisles" - KD is now the North American diet. Period). You grab your weekly fix of KD, and head back to your car. What's left of it is less of what you left. You think about calling the Local Police (ltd.)(brought to you by Kraft), and find that it's 4pm - time for all cops and good bureaucrats to be home behind walls defending their families.
You start the hike home. Not a problem as far as walking is concerned - in these times you walk almost everywhere. The problem with walking, however, is the gangs of unemployed teens who have nothing better to do than shake down a neighbor for loose change. As you head for your neighborhood, you encounter one such group. The Elm Street Bullies are out in force. Before you can duck out of sight they slam you to the ground, take your KD, and the rest of your food stamps. You're lying in the street, having trouble getting up. You have no cell phone - not since Fi-Rog-Bel-us canceled your service (for being behind 1 month in payements). They're the only cell provider, so you can't get another phone. Pay-as-you-go is popular, but it's on THEIR network...
As you drag yourself to your house, you find that the city still hasn't: fixed the leaky hydrant, and your street is pretty much flooded (water pressure probably will suck for your shower - and God help anyone if there is a fire); they haven't fixed the street lamp(s) either. From your incessant complaints (after waiting 3 hrs in a line on City Hall's call center queue - no walking in anymore - City Hall's not open to the public) you find that the lights will be in next year's budget (they hope).
You go in. No-one broke in today. That's good. You wind up the radio to hear tonight's "death hockey" game. Time for dinner. Out to the garden... Oh shit! The neighborhood punks took your ripest tomatoes again! You'll have to turn up some green potatoes to boil for dinner. Sigh... too bad about the KD. F'n punks. You know you'll get them back. Tomorrow you wait on the back deck with your shotgun...
Ahhh... taxes. Can't live without them... Can't live without them. For years, America's right and rich (mostly the same people) have been on a crusade to kill off taxes and government. Now, in what could be our greatest hour of need - beyond even the "Great Depression" - we may not have the kind of funds Roosevelt had for the "New Deal". America will most likely be saddled with debt for decades. China-India Inc. may buy out what little of America the Japanese failed to buy out (with the Arabs) in the 70s and 80s.
The fear of taxation - no - the hatred of taxation, a democratic and necessary part of any state (ancient or modern) will be the downfall of the US - and any nations looking to go along for the ride... the "American Experience" if you will...
I wrote a few posts over the years about the death knell of the US Economy... Just couldn't see how it could last with all the excessive consumerism, lack of resources, and a society fueled by "tax hate", war and purchasing power. I guess we see how it begins to decline (I won't say "ends" yet, since they can "pull a UK" and save some of their importance)...
What's next for the US?
Here are a few possibilities:
1) Policeman for hire - Be the "external" defense contractor for the EU, or the Pacific Rim countries (better bet here)...
2) Form a North American/Central American Union (have to include Central America, to control Panama Canal Zone), then be the defacto defense force for it...
3) "Contract" - Withdraw from overseas holdings (like Guam, Puerto Rico, etc.), overseas bases, etc. Focus on a new form of "splendid isolationism". Contract the industrial base - focus on the best technologies, and best industries (as the UK did in the 60s and 70s, before recovering in the 80s). Most of the industries will collapse by themselves. The people will demand social services and support. The "cowboy capitalist" is dead.
4) By some miracle, convince the whole world to "Buy US", establish favorable trade links by promising "security" ( bullying?), and "keep on trucking" after a long recession (5-7 years) - call it a "depression"...
5) Be at the forefront of Green research and technology and lead the world in it - this would take a "sea change" in attitude - the disappearance of the oil/media/robber/resource barons of today. Become a "Northern European welfare state", or so to speak. I find this highly unlikely for the US, but if anyone can do it, Obama can. If the people keep the faith - through some ugly debts...
6) Watch as Canada becomes #5 (above) - the green AND energy/resource superpower, and sign on to be our permanent "defender". We would be the defacto "power" in North America, and the US would be our Halliburton/Blackwater...
The silver lining? The US can forget about terrorists, if they just "step back" from the world. Best way to avoid a bear trap is to not step on it. At that point, they can ratchet down the trillion dollar defense budget, and focus on "home defense".
The bottom line for any American "comeback" is taxation. The "Xtreme Free Enterprise" "X-Games" are over. The people MUST be taxed. This whole idea of "not enough rich people" in America is over (yes, "political" Americans have used that phrase)... The rich in America must pay their share. While they can create "wealth" with their money (IF they invest it in job creation), they won't be able to do anything if the masses can't purchase anything. The American "masses" - the "consumer class" need a lift. The same with Canada. Only the government can do this. Only the government can take on such huge debts and expenditures - and will do it without "profit motive" holding them back. Taxes will put money back in government coffers - especially if aimed at the rich - the 5% who control 90% of the wealth. Not middle class folks like doctors, lawyers, plumbers, teachers, factory workers, etc.... No. The "rich" must ante up.
The "American Dream" is built on the back of slavery and the poor and middle class (perhaps even the "cultural/economic slavery of the middle class" - although they don't know it). It is built on the fictitious principle of "trickle down". It has survived 300-some-odd years... Like a big game of "Stock Ticker" or "Monopoly", the people try to get to the top of the "ant hill". The dream of a 10,000 sq ft home in a gated community prevades the middle class consciousness... and if they can't get that, they'll settle for the 3000 sq ft "starter castle" complete with granite counters, triple garage and media room.
President Obama can pretend that his government has deep enough pockets to:
a) Maintain overseas wars and military presence,
b) Bail out banks and mega corporations,
c) Bail out poor home owners batting way over their average in home size and cost...
But... but... but... he - along with most of the non-wealthy firmament will soon realize that there IS INDEED A NEED FOR GOVERNMENT. There is a place for taxation with representation. There is a NEED for taxation, and a government that clearly regulates "run-away" capitalists...
If taxes don't begin to rise in the next year or two - in most of the West, especially America - will see a depletion of services that people need and are used to. It will start with small government agencies. It will spread to major departments and their offerings. Eventually, simple local services like garbage pickup, street repair, and neighborhood upkeep will break down.
Of course Big Business will step in to help out... Private enterprise will take over the roads and highways... Yeah, right. They'll cherry-pick what they want. Take Greater Vancouver, for example. Private enterprise will already control/own most of the key bridge access points to the city - including the Trans-Canada's Port Mann Bridge. Imagine your city with toll freeways and toll bridges everywhere. Imagine a toll to enter your downtown core (London UK already has it). Private security firms? How about private police - for a fee, since government couldn't afford to pay for it? For profit healthcare? Not long, if a Conservative government has it's way. They need any excuse to say the government can't fund healthcare.
We the people will ultimately have our say... But we will need to cut through the deliberate murkiness created by the "uber-rich" and corporate classes. They will try to ensure that we believe taxes are bad... that government is bad... that regulations are bad. They will try to make us forget that it is THEY who put us in the predicament we are currently in.
Time for us to say "bye-bye" to the "corporate cowboys", and hello to truly "responsible" government. A REAL GOVERNMENT FOR THE PEOPLE - not just a government people THINK works for them. A shake-up is coming. A move to truer democracy. Liberal minds everywhere can be instrumental in the change. We don't have to reject globalism - it is good to work WITH the rest of the world - we simply need to reject the "anything for a profit" part of it... We need to revisit "nation-building" - the thinking and processes that got us here in the first place... The cooperation of people and state.
If we are unable to realize the change to the modern liberal democracy, "the people" will tear apart our nations in an orgy of fear, contempt, and revenge, of the likes we've never seen...
Now... back to hooking up my solar panels...
; )
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