It’s finally here. Thank God. While I can only hope that the ignorance, bigotry, hatred, and other negative things that propagated during this election could be wiped out in one single night, I know that’s not the case. For some reason, America is angry. I honestly wish I knew why.
We’re still the top economy in the world. We’re still the sole super power in the world. We’re still the world’s reserve currency. The only thing that has changed is our demographic makeup. Since we’re a country of immigrants, that’s always going to be the case. There will always be a new wave of immigrants.
My political preferences are generally centered, regardless to whether I lean right or left on something, I don’t venture too far from what used to be the center. Now, I don’t know what the hell to think of my personal politics. I guess I’ll have to recalibrate myself in the morning once I see the results of this election.
Speaking of results, can someone please help me with a question that’s been bothering me. I’ve seen Trump get plenty of pop from the “drain the swamp” statement. People are believing that DC is so corrupt that we need to send someone there to clean things up. That’s all fine and good when you hear that, but if people seriously believe that, then why do they send the same damn people to Congress every election?
For example, Johnny Isakson has been projected to win his third term in the Senate for the state of Georgia. He’s already completing year number twelve, and Georgians (who voted for swamp draining Trump) are sending the same twelve-year Senator back for another six years? WTF people? Seriously? To top things off, Isakson has been in DC for four decades now. If you think DC is corrupt, then maybe it’s because of the voters doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results. The people of Georgia who vote this way shouldn’t open their mouths about DC being corrupt. In fact, I think all of Georgia’s Congressional delegation is pretty safe on returning back to office.
There’s some serious mental disconnect between the thoughts and actions of many Americans, and we’re going to end up screwing up a damn good country because of our spastic tendencies. I wish there was an enema big enough to wash out all the fecal matter in this country so we could start fresh, but I don’t think it’s possible to make one. Regardless of who wins, America loses. We’re going to be a polarized angry population with a government to match it. I hope everyone stocked up on alcohol or their favorite vice because the next four years are going to make the last eight seem like a cakewalk.
Bravo America. We’re going to get exactly what we’re asking for.
The Mind of Brosephus 
Reply to
doggonega says:
November 10, 2016 at 3:54 pm
And to
Brosephus says:
November 10, 2016 at 3:59 pm
There are many cases of government interference creating problems which are then used as reasons for more government interference. Here are three.
I will post each one separately because the website keeps choking when I try to post this all at once.
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We have a long history of protective tariffs in this country. Since our companies and laborers could hide behind this protectionism, they were less competitive globally than they should have been. This unnecessarily increased the pain and disruptiveness when globalization arrived.
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The government subsidized transcontinental railroads before they were economically justifiable. Other forms of transportation and other railroads found it very difficult to compete with the subsidized lines because they had to compete with subsidies in a market which, if left free, would not have supported so much transportation. This gave the subsidized lines government-created monopolies, which led to monopolistic abuses. This might have justified government action directed specifically at the subsidized lines. Instead, the government regulated the entire railroad industry, which created additional problems and distortions, including demands for more subsidies. Also, these monopolies created a general suspicion of big business which helped cause the misguided antitrust laws.
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A large war affects supply and demand for many goods and services. The proper way to deal with this is to let the market adjust, even if this means higher prices for many goods and services. During World War II the government instead imposed wage and price controls, making rationing necessary and creating market distortions. In particular, since companies couldn’t use pay to compete for employees, they had to resort to other incentives. One incentive used was health insurance. This distorted the health insurance market. In particular, it got us started on the current system of tying health insurance to employment. This caused problems that were used as reasons for further government interference. In particular, it made it harder for the unemployed to get insurance. It also meant that people who changed jobs often had to change health insurance, which created the problems with pre-existing conditions that have plagued the system.
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“The thing that really bothers me is that Trump, for all his braggadocio and bluster, seems to fold like a wet tissue when he’s with someone who has REAL power.”
You’re right about that. That’s probably why Putin and all of Russia were toasting Trump’s win.
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I overheard a conversation at work today. Can’t quote exactly, but something was said about the speaker not “getting anything” from Obama’s presidency…no effect on her, her family, her mortgage…nothing. Then not 5 minutes later she was talking about being responsible for yourself and not dependent on government.
Huh? Had to bite my tongue to keep from pointing out her hypocrisy to her.
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LOL!!! When people see the actual effects of Trump’s policies in living color, I suspect there will be a lot of buyer’s remorse. From losing insurance to higher costs across the board, I don’t see anything positive coming from his rhetoric. His voters are going to hold him to those promises, and his hubris is not going to allow him to be labeled a failure. Add a Republican controlled Congress, and I think we’re in for a bumpy ride.
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The problem with holding him to his promises is that you have to choose which ones. The ones where he says he’s going to do something, or the ones where he says he’s not going to do those very same “something”. Then there’s his avowed desire to be unpredictable.
As I said on another blog the only good thing I can see coming out of this is that there can only be good surprises.
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I hope you’re right. I’ll be praying like I haven’t prayed in a long time.
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The thing that really bothers me is that Trump, for all his braggadocio and bluster, seems to fold like a wet tissue when he’s with someone who has REAL power. As an example, how he behaved when he met with the Mexican president…or how subdued he was in that video of his for some court case.
Sooner, I hope, than later he’s going to realize that the President of the USA only has the power of the reputation he builds for himself..and I seriously doubt that Trump can build anything like a REAL reputation for power.
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Bad philosophy is the fundamental source of all the fecal matter and all the strange, destructive results.
Good philosophy is the enema and restorative that will clean it up and set things right.
Ayn Rand has provided the good philosophy we need. In particular:
Her identification of rationality as the fundamental virtue will be a kick in the rear to people who are lazy and don’t think. It should get some of them thinking.
She explains why people must not expect everything to be given to them.
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I don’t think Ayn Rand’s idea of self reliance would change anything in America, or the world at this point. Economies are too intertwined with each other. At this point, we’re all on this spinning rock together, and we have to learn to work together and help each other. Even if that means that we sometimes get the short end of the stick.
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Ayn Rand’s philosophy can help people become more rational, even if nothing changes on a larger scale.
As far as larger scale changes go, I’m talking long-term. First there will be a gradual process of Ayn Rand’s ideas becoming more widely understood and accepted. Once this has progressed far enough, we can start to work out how to get government disentangled from economics and business. Since the entanglements are complicated and get more so all the time, this will be a complicated process. This will be true whether countries collaborate on it or do it one country at a time. But complicated does not mean impossible.
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You can’t untangle government from economics and business unless you’re trying to go third world. If the American government was not as strong as it is, American businesses and our economy would be crap.
As far as economics being tied into the global market, there’s no putting the genie back in the bottle. Do you honestly think companies are purposefully and deliberately going to shrink their market and customer bases?
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Government only appears to be necessary because it has been used to solve problems caused by government in the first place.
I am NOT advocating deglobalizing.
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Nope. Government only has to get involved when the private sector can’t, or won’t, fix the problems itself.
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What Doggone said. Government doesn’t actively get involved. Government inserts itself when the private sector does not deal with the issue themselves.
I admire your adherence to Rand’s philosophy. Unfortunately, I don’t think her economic ideals, nor Kenyesian or Supply-side theory, will address current problems in current economies. We’re going to have to ditch the old ways of thinking and adapt ourselves to today’s time and technology.
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I am as stumped as you. I have only one idea why this is happening. People are lazy and don’t think. They expect everything given to them like they deserve it. Complacency destroyed Rome and it will destroy us. Human nature. I hate people. I will take cats. At least I know what they want, food. 😕😞😠
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I think people are angry and afraid. Technology is speeding us along. Our economy has matured to where there’s nowhere near as much innovation and job creation as before. And, to top things off, we’re changing demographically. That scares a lot of people, and if you look at the maps, the Red states are typically the lesser populated states.
I understand the desire to want to get away from politicians that seem to cater to the 1% to the detriment of everyone else. What I don’t understand, however, is electing a billionaire and expecting him to be the champion of the little man. Especially a billionaire with a well established track record of screwing over the little man.
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