On a sterner note, Franklin held that government had the right to tax away everything but those belongings necessary for an individual's "survival."
"He that does not like civil Society on these Terms, let him retire and live among Savages. He can have no right to the benefits of Society, who will not pay his Club towards the Support of it."
"He that does not like civil Society on these Terms, let him retire and live among Savages. He can have no right to the benefits of Society, who will not pay his Club towards the Support of it."
Dear James,
Thanks for your emails.
I think the Debt Crisis - like all crises - is an opportunity "in disguise."
When people get hit in the wallets, they act.
'Til then, they display the sluggishness of pleasured consumer units.
Although upward pressure on the national debt will plummet when our own baby boomer generation dies off, mounting medical expense (in the absence of "revolutionary" change) is on course to exhaust the treasury - perhaps in our lifetime.
When this medically-induced debt crisis comes to a head, the only quick way to halve medical expense is single payer healthcare or some other centrally-managed government program.
National Geographic: Per Capita Healthcare Expenditure Correlated To Longevity
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2013/03/national-geographic-chart-of-per-capita.html
It will also become clear that the only way to keep the debt from killing the economy is to pay it off "on the backs" of The 5%.
"Plutocracy Triumphant"
Cartoon Compendium
"The Rich Aren't Just Grabbing A Bigger Slice Of The Pie. They're Taking It All"
Between 2007 And 2010, The Net Worth Of American Families Plummeted 40%
"Taibbi: The $9 Billion Whistle Blower At JPMorgan-Chase. Financial Thuggery At The Top"
"Pope Francis Links"
"Pope Francis Links"
Although Ben Franklin -- the most financially successful Founding Father -- was opposed to "government handouts," he made the following comment concerning the need to tax citizens, even if taxation stripped them of everything but a modest home and "the tools of their trade."
Ben's view of taxation may be the most "revolutionary" position ever set forth by a major American politician.
Benjamin Franklin to Robert Morris: On Taxes
"The Remissness of our People in Paying Taxes is highly blameable; the Unwillingness to pay them is still more so. I see, in some Resolutions of Town Meetings, a Remonstrance against giving Congress a Power to take, as they call it, the People's Money out of their Pockets, tho' only to pay the Interest and Principal of Debts duly contracted. They seem to mistake the Point. Money, justly due from the People, is their Creditors' Money, and no longer the Money of the People, who, if they withold it, should be compell'd to pay by some Law. All Property, indeed, except the Savage's temporary Cabin, his Bow, his Matchcoat, and other little Acquisitions, absolutely necessary for his Subsistence, seems to me to be the Creature of public Convention. Hence the Public has the Right of Regulating Descents, and all other Conveyances of Property, and even of limiting the Quantity and the Uses of it. All the Property that is necessary to a Man, for the Conservation of the Individual and the Propagation of the Species, is his natural Right, which none can justly deprive him of: But all Property superfluous to such purposes is the Property of the Publick, who, by their Laws, have created it, and who may therefore by other Laws dispose of it, whenever the Welfare of the Publick shall demand such Disposition. He that does not like civil Society on these Terms, let him retire and live among Savages. He can have no right to the benefits of Society, who will not pay his Club towards the Support of it."
"Politics And Economics: The 101 Courses You Wish You Had"
Paz contigo
Alan
PS Speaking of Founding Fathers, here's a worthy idea:
"Founding Fathers Profit-Sharing Remedy For Inequality.
Even Ronald Reagan Likes It!"
("The History Of Corporations In The United States. A Return To Roots?")
"Politics And Economics: The 101 Courses You Wish You Had"
Paz contigo
Alan
PS Speaking of Founding Fathers, here's a worthy idea:
"Founding Fathers Profit-Sharing Remedy For Inequality.
Even Ronald Reagan Likes It!"
("The History Of Corporations In The United States. A Return To Roots?")
On Fri, Jan 2, 2015 at 11:01 AM, James K wrote:
Starting the new year on a note of "optimism!"
It would be nice. date: Wed, Dec 31, 2014 subject: Some clear thinking on the debt
If you haven't heard yet, the United States of America just hit $16 trillion in debt yesterday. On a gross, nominal basis, this makes the US, by far, the greatest debtor in the history of the world.
It took the United States government over 200 years to accumulate its first trillion dollars of debt. It took only 286 days to accumulate the most recent trillion dollars of debt. 200 years vs. 286 days. This portends two key points:
1. Anyone who thinks that inflation doesn't exist is a complete idiot;
2. To say that the trend is unsustainable is a massive understatement.
At an average interest rate of 2.130%, Uncle Sam will shuffle $340 billion out the door just in interest payments this year... and it's a number that's only going up. To put it in context, China owns so much US debt that the INTEREST INCOME they receive from the Treasury Department is nearly enough to fund their entire military budget. (Karl Marx claimed a Capitalist would sell his executioner the rope used to hang him!-JK)
Yet when you look at the raw numbers, there is no sign of improvement anywhere on the horizon. Last year, the Treasury Department brought in about $2.3 trillion in tax revenue. They spent $2.9 trillion JUST on mandatory programs like Social Security and Medicare, plus the very sacrosanct defense budget.
In other words, the US government was $600 billion dollars in the hole before paying a dime of interest on the debt, or paying the light bill at the White House. In fact the government's own numbers reflect a budget deficit through the end of the decade, i.e. the debt level is only going to get higher. These are their own figures.
In the 19th century, the Ottoman Empire was facing a similar debt crisis. In just 11-years, the Ottoman central government went from spending 17% of its tax revenue on interest payments, to spending over 52% of its tax revenue on interest payments. Then came default. Eleven years. The US is at 15% right now. How long will it take for the interest burden to become unbearable?
History is full of examples of superpowers bucking under the weight of their debt. This is not the first time that it's happened, and it won't be the last.
Sovereign debt is a giant confidence game. Investors buy bonds on the belief that governments can (and will) pay. When that confidence is chipped away, the cost of capital becomes debilitating. And people tend to notice a $16 trillion debt burden.
This is banana republic stuff, plain and simple... and smart, thinking people ought to be planning on capital controls, wage and price controls, pension confiscation, and selective default. Because
the next trillion will be here before you know it.
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