Discussion on:

It's time to cowboy up

Taking a stand can be tough; but usually it pays off.

That the American economy is leaning out over an abyss and there ain't no more rope (in the shape of fiscal policy at the fed).

Speaking of forgetting, let us not forget that in the month of August ZERO jobs were created in the U.S. First time since WWII.

So I'm a lil unsure as to where to ride off to when I saddle up the horse. Other than taking a page from Thomas Jefferson and trying to make my household self sufficient that is...

Much as I admire him as a statesman he didn't handle money well and left his heirs a load of debt. So you are correct in that we should not depend on the leadership from government to fix the monetary mess we are in.

Inflation. Devaluation of the dollar. Unemployement rising to double digits.

Before you call me a pessimist let me just say that I'm an optimist who likes to plan for the worst. It seems to me you can't tell the difference between corporate interests and state interests. And the two are very different. So anyone have any proposals for getting government for the people (rather than pseudo people Inc) back? And here is where I really hope Mr. Jefferson is wrong...

There are many reasons for the economic conditions our country finds itself in. Despite all the finger pointing we hear, most of the problems have to do with ourselves. While many find it quite easy to put the blame squarely on the backs of banks or "wealthy" folks and cling to their class/race warfare arguments, the true source of the problems get ignored and continues to infect every element of a "civil" society.

In my opinion, the failures of banks and governments (municipal, state and federal) is just a sympton of the actual problems - On an individual level, i believe the problems start with a growing sense of entitlement, unquenchable desire for instant gratification, victimization mentality, a total disregard for personal responsibility and an ignorance in basic economics. Not to downplay the crony-capitalism propped up by a bloated statist government, but if people were focused on liberty, personal responsibility and true rights rather than artificially reasoned rights, then government wouldn't be such a powerful position to reward the special interests groups and to spend our money so ineffectively.

The hard to bear truth is, many in our society have been conditioned to believe they are victims of someone else's succes. Their idea of 'prosperity' is driven by their illogical understanding of what are truly rights - as if we have a right to a new car, a right to be guaranteed an arbitrarirly set wage imposed by statists (and federally sanctioned monopolies), right to own a home, "free" healthcare, "free" welfare, "free" college, "free" cable tv, "free" solar panels, subsidies, etc.

Meanwhile, some smooth talking union boss or politician is there promising to deliver these "rights" in exchange for their support. So, the government grows bigger as more and more people look to catch a ride on Uncle Sam's gravy train and in the process it strips us of our freedoms, self-respect, and responsibilities.

The end result? More of the citizens' money inefficiently spent, propping up of failed government bureaucracies, crony-capitalists, and other special interests and people with less incentive to pay their way in life, and fewer decisions being made at the local level because of the beliefe that the nanny-state will and should be there to kiss our boo-boos.