E-Newsletter No. 113 May 2023
In decades past, Americans were known for their rugged individualism. The term had its origins in the American frontier experience. It meant that an individual was self-reliant and independent from state or government assistance. Ray Lyman Wilbur, a former Secretary of the Interior, once wrote, “It is common talk that every individual is entitled to economic security. The only animals and birds I know that have economic security are those that have been domesticated—and the economic security they have is controlled by the barbed-wire fence, the butcher’s knife, and the desire of others. They are milked, skinned, egged, or eaten up by their protectors.”
Collectivists (socialists) seem to have a similar goal. You may recall a few years back (when men were under attack by “woke” Leftists) a new term came into being – toxic masculinity. A new similar term “toxic individualism” is now in play as well. A rugged individualist is more than likely a fervent anti-Communist. Therefore, in order to advance the Socialist agenda, such an individual must now be labeled as being toxic. Socialism demands that a person sacrifice their individualism for the greater good of the collective. This is the fundamental transformation that the Socialists are trying to achieve.
News update: It appears that our federal government is merely weeks away from running out of money yet again. President Biden’s original desire was for a “clean” debt limit increase, with no restrictions on future government spending. Fortunately, it appears that conservatives in the US House of Representatives are not going to let that happen. Yes, the debt limit will be increased, as no one wants the federal government to default on its payment obligations. But hopefully, our federal government will begin to make some fundamental changes to curb future spending.
Unfortunately, that objective is going to be extremely difficult to achieve, unless the various Socialist programs (Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid) are fundamentally transformed. These “mandatory” programs are not separately budgeted. They are on automatic pilot, and they represent over 65% of federal government spending. With the aging of our country’s population, something must change, but career politicians refuse to address the problem. It is so much easier for them to steal from future generations. Margaret Thatcher once said, “The problem with Socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.” Yep. That happened a long time ago and is the reason why the federal government’s debt limit is north of $31 Trillion and is about to rise yet again.
US Debt Clock – – April 1st – $94,600 per citizen / May 1st – $94,765