Raiding the Treasury---

“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largess of the public treasury. From that time on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury, with the results that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship…”

Sir Alex Fraser Tytler

The Chinese are a very clever people, but they have the millstone of Communism around their necks. After World War II, the Communists (Chairman Mao) indulged in decades of self-inflicted economic wounds in trying to force collectivization of the people into an ‘ideal’ society…while their counterparts in Europe, who also started from a totally destroyed industrial base, had an unprecedented Capitalistic expansion in their economies.

But the Chinese are a very clever people. The Chicoms noticed that there was one tiny area in their huge country that out produced all the rest – Hong Kong. When the British returned Hong Kong to the Politburo, instead of trying to force it to become Communist, the Chinese leaders embraced the Capitalist nature of the tiny island and tried to turn the whole country into ‘State Capitalism’. Of course this is actually a form of Fascism, but it works so much better than the old ‘Pure Communism’ that they truly do have a Tiger by the tail. Whether China can ultimately resolve the unstable contradiction between Communism and Capitalism remains to be seen.

What happens next: Revert to the self-immolation of Communism? Move to a less controlled form of Capitalism? Keep the Fascism they have now, with inevitable internal power struggles and fights? Launch a series of imperialistic local wars to divert the people’s attention from internal problems? The only sure bet is that those in control now will not give up the power easily.

Don’t get too excited about an election that is 18 months away. Debt ceilings may be just a distant memory by then.

Remember that most people will base their vote on ‘sound bites’ they hear on radio or see on TV. With the media helping Obama, by not questioning any of the outrageous statements he makes , the Biggest Liar will win…and we all know who that is.

Thanks for the picture. The first time I went to Paris I had a little map that showed the location of the Bastille. When I went there, I stood on the specified corner, looked all around for it…but it wasn’t there. Later I read, in a history of the French Revolution, that it was torn down and the stones used for building a bridge over the Seine; the Ponte de la Concorde.

Overheard in The Tax Payer’s Bar and Grill -

Hey, Bartender. I know that I’ve run up an enormous tab at this bar and you say I have had too much to drink tonight, but if you will just give me one more bottle of ‘Old Wild Tax Money’ right now, I swear to you, on my Mother’s grave, that I will start to get sober tomorrow.

You see…come a little closer… I have this new 10 year plan. Yeah, starting tomorrow, I promise to drink 10% less of ‘Old Wild Tax Money’ each year. This will allow me to slowly pay off my tab to you. And best of all, you can be assured that by the year 2021, I will be completely sober. I swear to you that I am changing my ways…and you know you can trust me because I am your Congressman.

I remember arguing with a co-worker when the issue of who is going to control security at the airports first came up. I maintained that the Airlines, themselves, had the most self-interest in screening who gets on their aircraft and he maintained that such an important job only could be done by the Government.

I guess I lost the argument and also any respect I had for his judgment. I don’t know why people always assign superior competence to the Government in the face of repeated examples of its ineptitude.

We owe everything to a few people at Midway who risked it all to ‘Do their jobs!’ The admiral who launched the US attack at an extreme range. The 40 out of 42 torpedo bombers from the Hornet, Enterprise and Yorktown that were lost in a low level attack. Lt. Cmdr. Wade McCluskey’s decision not to turn back his 32 dive bombers from the Enterprise when low on gas. Lt. Cmdr. Maxwell Leslie’s formation of 17 dive bombers who joined McCluskey over the Japanese carriers while the Zeros were attacking the torpedo bombers.

All this and the political dynamics of this turning point of the Pacific war are wonderfully described in this web site (Scroll down to “Midway. 15 Minutes that Changed the World”):
http://scyllacharybdis.blogspot.com/2007_06_01_ar...

What a different world we would live in if these 15 minutes had turned out differently.