The Real Problem With America: Morality
The Market Ticker ® - Commentary on The Capital Markets
Posted 2012-12-11 12:14
by Karl Denninger
in Editorial
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The Real Problem With America: Morality
 

When you get down to it, the fiscal cliff, along with most of the rest of the political "problems" we face in this nation, come down to one thing: willful and intentional misconduct.

That's a morality problem folks.

Let's put the record on the table, shall we?

In 1980 total Federal Health Spending was $55.3 billion.

In 1990 it was $155.8 billion.

That's about an 11% annualized increase. 

At that rate what is US Federal Spending for a 65 year old 30 years hence when he dies?

$3,567 billion, or three times the size of the entire Federal Government in 1990.

Possible?  No.

Known in 1990?  Yes.

So what did the government do after that?  It started talking about and ultimately passed Medicare Part "D", which dramatically increased future entitlement promises.

Who's responsible for this?  Both Democrats and Republicans.  We have had both administrations and both parties in control of Congress. 

Is the underlying problem simply that government is paying too much?  No, it is monopoly practices which took hold during the 1980s.

But was it just the 1980s?  Why no.  In 1970 the US Federal Government spent $12.1 billion on Health Care.  Remember, this was not long after Medicare was put in place.  Just 10 years later in 1980 the government spent more than four times as much.

Morals?  Where?  The fact that the medical industry would "eat" the government and ultimately destroy our society was known 30 years ago.  You were lied to by both parties and both parties continue to lie to you today. 

They lie because you let them. 

You let them because many of you are lying too.

Who are the people lying to?  Themselves.

Can you live beyond your means?  No.  So why do we allow it?  Why do we remove from personal responsibility the consequence of having children, for example?

EBT cards are one example.  It used to be that if you were hungry you could go to a soup kitchen and stand in line for a bowl of soup and some donated (and usually stale) bread.  It didn't taste all that good, but it was reasonably nutritious; it usually contained beans or some similar source of protein, and occasionally some small pieces of meat, all donated. 

But you had to stand in line before the church or other place running the kitchen, effectively announcing "I'm poor."

We decided as a society that your self-esteem is more important, and thus we started issuing "food coupons."  That (partially) hid your poverty.  But even that was visible, so now it's done via what looks like an ordinary credit card -- but isn't. 

Why?

Because we're dishonest.  We think it's perfectly fine for people to hide that they're sponging off everyone else.  We claim that self-esteem (in the negative sense) is not a motivator, even though we know that failure does motivate people (to not fail again!)  We further claim that you won't get more of whatever you subsidize, even though we know you will, and that you won't get less of whatever you tax.

These are all lies.  They're lies that you tell yourself.  You tell your neighbors, friends and acquaintances those same lies. 

Worse, you lie to your children, and tell them they'll have a better tomorrow, and a better future, even though you know damn well that what you're doing and demanding is destructive and mathematically impossible.

The worst offenders are school teachers, administrators and politicians of all stripes.  I have particular disdain for those political types that claim to be "for the people" or even worse, "for liberty", because they're not only lying they're either doing so from positions of power or trying to achieve power through lies.  Teachers lying to students are particularly mendacious; those who use students for political protest (and there are many) or who selectively teach that collectivism is somehow superior and will "work" (even though history shows it never has) and then argue that they are somehow "special" and should have "retirements" that are guaranteed at a level that nobody else can achieve in private industry are in fact trying to defend the right to financially******their students!

Want an example?  How about right here:

Two Michigan school districts closed Tuesday after hundreds of teachers called out, likely so they could participate in union protests tied to the expected passage of "right-to-work" legislation this week in the state capital.

FoxNews.com confirmed that the Warren school district had to close Tuesday after  so many teachers called out absent; WDIV in Detroit reported that the Taylor  school district had to do the same. A statement from the Warren system said that  by 8 a.m. local time, 750 staff members had called out.

If you associate with any of these teachers in any way, shape or form or worse, are one, you are a pig.  You are a feral rat, a snake, a pile of used dogfood.  You deserve to rot under a bridge and your remains should be despoiled by wild fox and whizzed on by all who pass.  No parent should permit their child to remain in your classroom and any that does should be charged with felony child abuse.

Is my opinion clear enough or need I state it more-strongly?

We will never address what ails our nation until we cut this crap out.  It begins with you, I, and everyone else.  It begins with we the people demanding that those who we choose to associate with and those who we elect to office hold a higher moral standard and when they fail if they are in a position of power they be immediately removed and replaced by someone else.  If they are an associate then we must cease association until their behavior changes.

A nation and her people are only as moral and ethical as those who reside within it demand of those who lead, and especially those who instruct our youth. 

Our founders were wiser than we, in the main.  John Adams comes particularly to mind, who said, among many other things:

"Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence."

Indeed they are.

"While our country remains untainted with the principles and manners which are now producing desolation in so many parts of the world; while she continues sincere, and incapable of insidious and impious policy, we shall have the strongest reason to rejoice in the local destination assigned us by Providence. But should the people of America once become capable of that deep simulation towards one another, and towards foreign nations, which assumes the language of justice and moderation, while it is practising iniquity and extravagance, and displays in the most captivating manner the charming pictures of candour, frankness, and sincerity, while it is rioting in rapine and insolence, this country will be the most miserable habitation in the world. Because we have no government, armed with power, capable of contending with human passions, unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge and licentiousness would break the strongest cords of our Constitution, as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.

The responsibility begins and ends with us folks.

So your charge today, dear reader, is to do exactly that. 

To accept that our government cannot fund that which we will not pay for in the present tense

To demand that our government put a stop to the medical monopolies right now throughout the system, without exception, fear or favor. 

To return poverty "assistance" programs to their former status which places your acceptance of such aid in public view; if "society" is paying for it then we have a right to see it, for good or bad, in all its splendor, and be able to count it, as this not only is a check and balance on people claiming that which they don't really need, it also prevents hiding the scope of problems when they're real.

Finally, I challenge you to look at your own personal associations in your daily life, and to decide.  This is not just a matter of your personal way of life, although it may appear that way.  We are, as a nation, governed by liars and thieves, yet arithmetic does not know politics nor will it sit still for them.  It just is, and if our conduct does not change in the immediate future the outcome as dictated by arithmetic will come and your weal -- or woe -- will be determined not just by your own conduct but also by the conduct of those who you choose to associate with.

Choose wisely, for the time remaining to choose at all is coming to a close.

Discussion below (registration required to post)
 

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User Info The Real Problem With America: Morality in forum [Market-Ticker]
Ponzi_unit
Posts: 8102
Incept: 2007-09-05
Gold
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"Is my opinion clear enough or need I state it more-strongly?"

I would have mentioned vultures but that's just me. People who are receiving 'charity' from government don't view it as charity. They have nobody to thank. You'll see them walk out from the entitlements office tossing litter on the ground. There's no sense of accomplishment other than getting what's mine.

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Taxpayers witnessed a crime and stayed around long enough to get charged with it.
Apotheoun
Posts: 1282
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MN
Online
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Karl, we are the minority now. there are too few of us left. I do not believe we can effect the change we want to instill on the rest of the public. I do truely believe we have lost. The election told me and confirmed everything I needed to know.

Now it is time to prepare for the worst for when it comes. How does that song go again, "know when to hold'em... know when to walk away, and when to run." My mother has already started to network in her area in upstate NY and they are starting to build plans for when things go wrong. I am of the assumption things are going to be completely chaotic in the first month or 2, maybe even longer. Kiss your loved ones and network or just leave the country all together. I do not believe there is any hope for America short of a miracle, and I think you do to (but I could be wrong).

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"when despair is all you can see, the end is finally near."
"Because there is some good left in this world, AND ITS WORTH FIGHTING FOR!"
Steph4liberty
Posts: 1679
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Thank you, Karl...I made roughly the same argument in the food stamps thread. That the root cause of most of our country's problems (and the worlds) is a lack of morals. Whether you appeal to a higher power or not, morals are necessary if we want to live in a just, honest, and prosperous society. In fact, the founders wrote the Constitution for a Christian people/nation and said it would only work in a moral society.

Our morals should dictate that we not steal from our neighbor (either by force or by some sort of "tax"). Our morals should dictate that we transact business with others in an honest and ethical manner (Corzine apparently does NOT understand how to do this). Our morals should dictate that we teach our children that being personally responsible is THE ONLY way to live. Our morals should dictate that providing charity for those who honestly need it is our obligation (to care for those who can't care for themselves). Our morals should dictate that we remove from positions of leadership (federal, state, local government, teachers, police, etc.) those that exhibit a clear lack of morals because they will harm our society. For me personally, my morals dictate that we should not abort a child growing in the womb. I know others may feel differently and they're certainly entitled to their opinion, but my personal morals tell me killing an unborn, but already conceived child is the equivalent of killing a born child. In my opinion, it goes back to being personally responsible...in this case, for the action of having unprotected sex (I know there are rare cases of******and that's a discussion for a separate thread).

There are many more examples, but these were the first that came to mind.

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"Man will never be free until the last Banker is strangled with the entrails of the last Politician" - unknown

"This isn't a market anymore, it's a computer game." - Drench
Nomennescio
Posts: 63
Incept: 2012-01-16

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Ponzi,
Mrs Nescio works for county government, social services. The stories I hear make me want to cry. It is worse than you describe. And the attitude is almost universal. There is no shame, no embarrassment, only "Why I gotta fill out that form? Gimme my damn money."
America was a wonderful country.
Genesis
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I disagree Apo.

We may be too few as a percentage but we're nearly all of those who produce. That's a problem for those who do not.

There is not as of yet anything that can force me to produce; indeed, there never really is.

I am getting very close to "reduce, pull in horns, find small pleasures and disregard the rest" as a life choice. Such will not be a small change for me, but it's one I can make.

And one others can make too.

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I don't care if it makes sense -- only if it makes money. -- Me
Bank (n): See scam, fraud and theft. Eat a bankster -- they're low-carb.
What part of "shall not be infringed" was unclear?
Calsdad
Posts: 2
Incept: 2012-11-27

Massachusetts
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That's something that a lot of "producers" don't realize.

The think the Free **** Army is in charge.

Producers are in charge. They ALWAYS are. One of the keys to power is to make producers THINK that somebody else is in charge.

Honestly - I think this is one of the keys to fixing what is wrong with this country, people need to step back and really think this out. They need to get it thru their thick heads WHO is in really in charge.

And once you've convinced yourself that your'e a producer - and you are in charge - start reminding all of the non-producers around you FORCEFULLY - of that fact.

Genesis
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Yep.

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I don't care if it makes sense -- only if it makes money. -- Me
Bank (n): See scam, fraud and theft. Eat a bankster -- they're low-carb.
What part of "shall not be infringed" was unclear?
Trades50
Posts: 4214
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Land of Tax and Spend
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Some loud mouth libtard was on television this morning stating: "We won, end of story".

They feel empowered now to push the socialism agenda. More entitlements and FSA stuff. They figure it will generate more votes to elect even more libtards.

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When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. When the government fears the people, there is liberty. - Thomas Jefferson
Genesis
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Sounds fine to me; my answer is:

"You won, I agree. Now produce or starve, because I'm not going to and there is literally nothing you can do to compel me to do so."

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I don't care if it makes sense -- only if it makes money. -- Me
Bank (n): See scam, fraud and theft. Eat a bankster -- they're low-carb.
What part of "shall not be infringed" was unclear?
Drkshapiro
Posts: 630
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Gold
Southern CA
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Nice ticker, but "used dogfood?"
Unless it's some poodley "teacup" thing (i.e., rat, not dog) then they eat anything, even vomit.

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Honesty may be the best policy, but it’s important to remember that apparently, by elimination, dishonesty is the second-best policy. --G Carlin
Genesis
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That's true -- a friend of mine's dog eats cat**** on a regular basis.

Explain that one in Darwinian terms if you dare....

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I don't care if it makes sense -- only if it makes money. -- Me
Bank (n): See scam, fraud and theft. Eat a bankster -- they're low-carb.
What part of "shall not be infringed" was unclear?
Duc888
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Quote:
We may be too few as a percentage but we're nearly all of those who produce. That's a problem for those who do not.

There is not as of yet anything that can force me to produce; indeed, there never really is.

I am getting very close to "reduce, pull in horns, find small pleasures and disregard the rest" as a life choice. Such will not be a small change for me, but it's one I can make.

And one others can make too.


Been doing this for the last 18 months......got about 4-6 months to go and then I'll have successfully reduced my fingerprint to that of a field mouse.

That's the plan. Disengage from the system. The only thing I can not escape would be an alternative minimum tax.


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...burp
Steph4liberty
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Things that make you go smiley or smiley

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"Man will never be free until the last Banker is strangled with the entrails of the last Politician" - unknown

"This isn't a market anymore, it's a computer game." - Drench
Noodleman
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I see they caught another bank (HSBC) laundering international drug cartel illicit narcotic proceeds. heh. Fined them $1.9B. So that will get get passed along to the consumer in form of higher bank fees and the $1.9B will be used to finance more food stamps and bailouts for crooks. Naturally, no criminal prosecution against any of these banksters. heh. They must be laughing their asses off as they have their power lunches the the high government officials. Yet if any one of us ran a drug money laundering operation out of our homes they would seize every last penny we had and make us prove it was not purchased with drug proceeds, and we would do a minimum mandatory 10 years in the Federal big house. How's that for 'equality under the law' and moral government??? heh.

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"Ammunition beats persuasion when you are looking for freedom." Will Rogers, 4 Nov 1879 - 15 Aug 1935

Jotapay
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Gen wrote..
I am getting very close to "reduce, pull in horns, find small pleasures and disregard the rest" as a life choice.

Quote:
Some loud mouth libtard was on television this morning stating: "We won, end of story".


Just remember what happened when "they won" in Cambodia. The emptied whole cities into the countryside and smashed in their skulls with hammers by the millions.
Thomasblair
Posts: 35
Incept: 2009-04-03
Green
AL
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>>Explain that one in Darwinian terms if you dare....

Cat **** contains undigested protein.

Could also be allelomimetic behavior - they see you (pack leader) picking up their **** and the cat's ****, so they learn that this is acceptable.
Jonesapple10
Posts: 379
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Quote:
We are, as a nation, governed by liars and thieves,


I agree, but I would take out "governed by" in the above sentence.
Star
Posts: 26
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Best MT ever! I might have to hang out here more often.

This speaks to root of all the problems and not just the symptoms.
2dogs
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Karl wrote..
...my answer is:

"You won, I agree. Now produce or starve, because I'm not going to and there is literally nothing you can do to compel me to do so."
We are SO there, too. **** them. They can try to steal from each other. Good luck with that.

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You can't defeat the combined effects of massive voter fraud, the Free **** Army, and the entire bought and paid for media complex. This nation is done.
Gantww
Posts: 537
Incept: 2011-04-22
Green
Nashville, TN
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Quote:

Karl wrote..

...my answer is:

"You won, I agree. Now produce or starve, because I'm not going to and there is literally nothing you can do to compel me to do so."

We are SO there, too. **** them. They can try to steal from each other. Good luck with that.



That's basically where I am as well. My daughter will be out of daycare in 7 months or so. When that happens, my monthly expenses will have gone down substantially. I'm going to start working for myself and working much less. Why make more just to have it stolen for ungrateful strangers? I can plant a garden for myself, or write a book or something in the spare time. Hell, I can just sit and stare blankly at a wall; beats being a slave in all but name.
Jal
Posts: 512
Incept: 2009-03-25

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Karl, don't stop repeating your message.
You are highlighting many problems with the old system.
You are proposing some new system.
The active financial elites need to hear. I'm sure that they do have some of your inputs.


The financial system has failed.
A new financial system has not been debugged.
They will keep kicking the can down the road until a new financial system can be put into place.
The enemy is the old financial system.
The central bankers know, just like all generals, that there will be collateral damage in this conflict between the old financial system and the setting up of an operational sustainable new financial system.

Change is already happening.
Bagbalm
Posts: 4254
Incept: 2009-03-19
Green
Just North of Detroit
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Karl shame and shunning used to have social force. That was what contained drug abuse before laws were passed. Part of it was urbanization. You can live anonymously in a big city. Your neighbors don't know you. You are the guy in apartment 312. If you want to be a drunk or do drugs nobody is going to go tell your mother.
Shame don't work. Nobody is ashamed anymore.
It has progressed until those who are living decently won't speak against the corrupt they know personally. My local family are pretty decent. They work. They don't deal drugs. But we have one member who can't control jumping on every female no matter how marginal. His business practices are rotten. He gave up trying to have employees who quit on him and works alone now.
I simply won't have anything to do with him.
The price of morals is a free steak and a beer. If he throws a BBQ there are exactly two of us in the family that won't run out there and pretend he is a decent human being for a free feed.
His own sons when confronted on associating with him just looked at the ground in shame and said: "He's not nearly as bad as he used to be."
Well isn't that a ringing endorsement?

Kwerk
Posts: 908
Incept: 2009-03-02


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Additionally, spending on federal welfare benefits, if converted into cash payments, equals enough to provide $30.60 per hour, 40 hours per week, to each household living below poverty. The median household hourly wage is $25.03. After accounting for federal taxes, the median hourly wage drops to between $21.50 and $23.45, depending on a household’s deductions and filing status. State and local taxes further reduce the median household’s hourly earnings. By contrast, welfare benefits are not taxed.

http://budget.senate.gov/republican/publ....
Ct-hilltopper
Posts: 58
Incept: 2010-11-04

Connecticut
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>>>>That's true -- a friend of mine's dog eats cat**** on a regular basis.

Explain that one in Darwinian terms if you dare....<<<<

We used to have a beagle, and he would raid the catbox on a regular basis. We couldn't keep him out of it.

I asked my vet what could be done to keep him out of the catbox. My vet told me that cat**** to a dog is much like chocolate to a human. They love it.

We had to just continue being vigilant about the catbox. LOL

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I have certain rules I live by. My first rule: I don't believe anything the government tells me.
I don't have pet peeves, I have major psychotic f-ing hatreds! And it makes the world a lot easier to sort out.
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