I sent this cartoon to a friend of mine. He lives on the west coast and is very well to do. We both graduated from high school in 1959 but he attended a suburban school and I went to an inner-city school. He came from a rich family, and I did not. Our common interest was sports and girls. What else was there in those days? He moved to California shortly after college and we didn’t re-connect until recently.
He sent me the following reply to the above cartoon:
I just don't know where all of this is going to end.
Can the politicians really be as incompetent as they prove to be every single day?
Do they have no sense of the tsunami they are about to release?
Do they take a stupid pill every morning?
Politicians are like a curse released from the tomb of the Mummy. They are like the little girl in the movie the Bad Seed.
Like my dad told me years ago. "One crook in one crook out" makes no difference who you vote for.
They are like Zombies from night of the living dead.
The seat of organized crime is not with the mafia
It is in Washington DC.
Almost all of the people he and I grew up with and went to school with are
very
liberal
. Most of them are successful and well to do. Both of us are conservative. Now that I think of it, I don’t know of a single person who I went to school with who isn’t a liberal. If I had not gone to work in the precious metals industry, and had my eyes and mind opened to the destructive nature of endless big government deficit spending and money creation, I would most likely be a liberal too. I have empathy for the needy. I believe in equal rights for all people. But “equal rights” does not mean everyone gets a free ride from the government. It means everyone should have an equal opportunity to succeed. That said, we still live in a white Anglo-Saxon Protestant based society. Equal is not the same for everyone. But warts and all, there must be a reason so many people are leaving their homelands and trying to get into the US. America is still a great place to live. (Or, maybe it’s because they get
free
food, lodging, education, medical attention, and other goodies here.)
I grew up in a middle class neighborhood and in a middle class family. My father was an insurance salesman who worked a route, collecting small premiums. He never made much money.
During high school and college we lived in a small two-bedroom home. I shared the second bedroom with my younger brother. We had one window air conditioner for the whole house, and one small black and white TV.
From my earliest memories until I graduated from college, my family only had one
new
car, a 1951 red Chevy that my father’s brother bought for him. My uncle Irv was the only member of our family that was affluent. For many years, he owned the hippest jazz nightclub in the Twin Cities.
I didn’t own a car until my first year in college, and I paid $60 for it and prayed it would start every morning. During the winter, on below zero nights (we had a lot of 20 below zero nights in Minnesota in the 60s) I had to get up at 12:00 and 3:00 a.m. and start the car and let it run for half an hour to warm up, so it would start in the morning to get me to school.
I paid for my college tuition, my car, my gas, my entertainment, and my clothes – everything on my own. During the school year, I worked Monday and Thursday evenings and Saturdays selling woman’s shoes. That’s where I met my wife Susan. I waited on her, flirted, and got her phone number. I was a senior in college and she was a senior in high school. When she left the store with a new pair of flats, she told her mother, “That’s the boy I’m going to marry.” I called her the next day and we’ve been together ever since. I also worked full time at the shoe store during the summer to earn enough to pay for the next year’s tuition at the University of Minnesota.
In those days, my idea of a great job was to become an assistant manager at an Edison Brothers shoe store. All I hoped for was
an opportunity
. Upon graduation I got it. My first job was in 1964. I went to work for Helene Curtis, selling health and beauty aids. It came with an annual salary of $400 a month, and a car and expense account. No one gave me anything. I earned it all on my own. There were no social safety nets, no food stamps, no welfare, nothing but the opportunity to work for a living. In those days, no one expected anything more.
I never thought about politics but I do remember a saying that I heard in my early 30s – “Everyone is liberal until they reach 30 and then they become conservative.” I didn’t follow that template. I didn’t become conservative until my early 40s. I’m a slow learner.
I understand that we have many clients and followers who are liberal. But I ask myself, how can anyone believe in fiscal responsibility, gold, and limited government - all concepts we focus on - and not be a conservative? I do make the distinction between being a fiscally conservative and socially conservative. There is nothing wrong with having a big heart and showing empathy for those in need. There is nothing wrong with supporting individual freedoms and women’s rights. But the question should be asked –
“Who is going to pay for all of this?”
The young liberals would say
, “
No one. It’s all for free. The government will give it to us for free. It’s our birthright.” There is a growing movement in the Democratic Party that the rich should pay for it. They are floating legislation that will tax income AND assets. Define rich for me. The truth is, increasing taxes on the top 1% or 10% would not generate nearly enough wealth to cover the social programs that the Democrats embrace. But it sounds good and it certainly
appeals to a lot of voters
.
It all starts with the understanding that “A politician’s only purpose in life is to get re-elected.” And how does one get re-elected, or elected in the first place? Most often by promising to give stuff, for free, to those who vote for him or her.
The underlying reason why the Democrat politicians insist on open borders and are against “the wall,” is because most of the people coming (illegally) into the US from Mexico will vote for the Democrats.
Going back a bit, to the Johnson presidency, Lyndon Johnson attempted to fund massive social programs and the war in Viet Nam at the same time. It was called “Guns and Butter.” It led to the end of the gold standard (in 1971) and the beginning of the crippling inflation of the 1970s. It is too unpopular to raise taxes high enough to pay for the spending, so then they have to borrow it, which, in the 70s, sent interest rates to the moon. It also sent gold and silver to the moon too. Unfortunately, these days, the Republicans are no longer the party of fiscal responsibility either. My friend is right. There is no difference between the two parties – they are all a disgrace and they are leading us to a very bad ending to their fiscal irresponsibility. There simply is no way to pay for the endless wars the Neocons have us involved in plus all the social programs the Democrats are pushing for. This is Johnson’s “guns and butter” on steroids.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, gold is still building a base above $1,300 ($1,313 as at the moment). This is just the first step toward $1,400 and above.
I have subscribed to John Williams’
Shadow Stats
for over 10 years. If you are interested in getting an honest look at the economic numbers, the real numbers on inflation, interest rates and GDP growth.
