With the United States federal government continuously running extreme deficits even through some of the most substantial capital gains receipt years in history, it may be time for the U.S. citizenry to stand up and demand accountability on the part of our elected leaders.

Right now taxpayer dollars are extracted and pissed away on numerous projects, wars, wealth redistribution schemes and other endeavors that have been proven to be immensely uneconomical and a drain on the vitality of our long-term economy as well as a burden on future generations. Not to mention that each project is completed with brute force as its basis (if you disagree, think about what would happen if you decided not to support government activity and willfully abstain from paying taxes - the feds would be kicking down your door ASAP).

Allowing the charge to be led are Keynesian deficit-spending principles, fiat monetary policy whereby politicians feel they have a blank check and can simply inflate away all government expenses, the ponzi-like scheme of Social Security, whereby all workers become dependent upon future workers for their retirement and thereby have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo of dependence upon a foolish government program (nice job FDR, that was a very tricky program you established), and unscrupulous and foolish short-sighted politicians such as George W. Bush, the architect of arguably the worst presidency of ALL-TIME.

Basically, the last 75 years have added up to an explosion in the size, scope and perceived power of the central authority. How this took place without a large outcry from the responsible citizen is beyond me. Unfortunately (or fortunately looking at it in another light), I am young enough that I will likely witness the fallout from this buildup of government largess and short-sighted thinking.

Since the federal reserve system was established, the United States Dollar (now, somehow, the “federal reserve note”) has lost upwards of 90% of its purchasing power. The debt obligations of the U.S. government (including social security, medicare and other government-backed schemes) have ballooned to over $50 trillion dollars. Our society is awash with debt. Our children and grandchildren face an unsustainable situation and the only people we have to blame our OURSELVES for not speaking up and demanding sane action from our elected representatives.

It all matters not, however, because, as Keynes so aptly pointed out, “In the long run we are all dead.”

Click here to read a CBS Marketwatch (read: mainstream) article on the history of our country’s central financing. Simply put, unless we demand change, we’re in for some turbulence.

Filed under: Politics, Social Mood, Economics