Repman,
Is our country headed in the wrong direction? Absolutely. But it has nothing to do with entitlements. It has everything to do with our inability to get along with each other, our exploding population which leaves us fighting over limited resources, and the GREED that I mentioned earlier.
For me, this hits the nail right on the head....
I'm all in favor of a free market and unlimited potential for growth, but when things get as skewed as they've become, something has to be changed. I wish I knew what made sense, but again looking to a few of the smaller countries in Europe like Switzerland and Denmark, I wonder if their isn't an answer somewhere else.
When I visited the Nagra factory last summer, our guide explained that the CEO of Nagra only makes about ten times what a skilled (emphasis on that word) machinist on the factory floor makes.
He also mentioned that a machinist has just as much social respect as a corporate CEO in Swiss society. People that build and create things are valued there. It used to be that way here in America. When I lived in Phoenix, my next door neighbor laughed at me for changing my own oil in my Porsche, saying it was "very blue collar" to do so.
I feel there's still enough resources left so that everyone can have some, but not if we have a small handful of people hoarding hundreds and thousands more than they need. And that's what's driving the shortsighted decisions. Seriously, once you have a bit more wealth than you need, (I know that's tough to define...) do you really need 100 times more than that?
Same with the entitlements. A good friend in Denmark told me that he doesn't always like the 60% tax rate he's in, but the system works there. Kids get a good education, old people are taken care of, the health care system is intact and there weren't any people on the streets begging for money in downtown Copenhagen. He told me, "As long as it still works, I don't mind working hard and paying the taxes."
If your job is eliminated, the govt. will take care of your living expenses and send you back to school for 1-4 years to be retrained to work elsewhere.
The other dark side of the greed issue is crime. I really feel people turn to crime when they feel like they have no way of ever getting anything. (and knowing that even if they do get caught, the penalty isn't that severe.) the bigger the gap between the ultra rich and the have nots, the more interesting a life of crime looks to getting a masters degree.
I'm not saying I want socialism, I don't. I don't think a pure socialist society works because there is no incentive to work hard and excel at anything if there is NO reward structure. But a pure capitalist, market driven economy doesn't work either, because the greedy ones at the top just take it all and hang everyone out to dry. I think the last 6-10 years have shown us how this will play out.
So, I hope we can figure it out. I'm certainly willing to give up a bit and pitch in to help. But like my pal Lars says, as long as the system works.
