[p2p-research] Post-Depression first: Americans get more money from government than they give back | csmonitor.com

[Paul D. Fernhout]

J. Andrew Rogers wrote:
> On Mon, Nov 23, 2009 at 6:05 PM, Ryan Lanham <rlanham1963 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Mon, Nov 23, 2009 at 7:10 PM, J. Andrew Rogers <reality.miner at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>> The other current reality is that States like California are not
>>> inherently bankrupt, they are just fantastically wasteful, corrupt,
>>> and incompetent. That kind of deadweight loss is tolerable in a strong
>>> growth economy, but it becomes a dead albatross during less prosperous
>>> times. California is a good example of a state that has been
>>> completely captured by a power structure that uses the government as
>>> its personal money tree.
>> That sort of argument feels very old now...like very 1983.
> 
> 
> Sadly true in this case, the growth in spending has significantly
> exceeded the growth of the economy for a long time. There is
> absolutely nothing to show for the massive spending increases. It is
> mostly spent on things like lavish pay for bureaucrats, the unions for
> which have completely captured the government for decades. Something
> is not right when the State that has metropolitan areas like Silicon
> Valley has government workers that make 10-15% more than the average
> individual in the private sector.
> 
> The state is a disaster, and the state government is largely immune to
> accountability. For projects that span adjacent state borders,
> California will frequently pay more than 10x for the same bit that is
> on their side of the border as the adjacent states.
> 
> Other states may have better excuses, but California is simply a
> matter of corruption and gross fiscal mismanagement.

OK, I probably should not say this, but I will, but what do you expect from 
a state that gave the USA Ronald Reagan and the Reagan Revolution that 
ripped the solar panels off the White House, cut taxes on the wealthy while 
running up deficits through arms races, and deregulated everything in sight 
(especially children's television, something that injured a generation now 
mired in the fruits of consumerism, war toys for boys, and worse for girls).
"he War Play Dilemma: What Every Parent And Teacher Needs to Know"
http://www.amazon.com/War-Play-Dilemma-Childhood-Education/dp/080774638X
"So Sexy So Soon: The New Sexualized Childhood and What Parents Can Do to 
Protect Their Kids"
http://www.amazon.com/So-Sexy-Soon-Sexualized-Childhood/dp/0345505077

All thanks to "Mr. Family Values". :-(

Still, California is an odd state because it also gave us the fruits of 
Silicon Valley and many liberal and environmental ideas (even if some of 
them had root elsewhere like William C. Norris' Plato in Minnesota, or 
Rachel Carson growing up in Pennsylvania, the ideas really bloomed in 
California for various reasons).

And no doubt even the Reagan Revolution has good points. I feel a focus on 
family and trying to avoid abortions is a good thing, if you can do it 
right, without shooting the country in the foot.

In that sense, California is a reflection of the entire USA, seeing all the 
problems and solutions together in a miniature and exaggerated form.

Example:
   "The Reagan Revolution"
    http://www.emayzine.com/lectures/1980s.htm
"""
The 1980’s were the triumph of upper America. It was a celebration of wealth 
and the political ascendancy of the richest third of the population. It was 
the glorification of capitalism, free markets and finance. But at the same 
time there were growing hordes of homeless sleeping on heater grates. The 
1980’s were the second Gilded Age and a new plutocracy had been created 
which would rule America well into the 1990’s.
"""

I've been looking at the parallels between the 2000s and the 1920s here:
   "The Great Depression: Its Causes and Cure"
   http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/THE_GREAT_DEPRESSION.htm
   http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/Causes.htm
   http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/Timeline.htm

So, it's hard to sum up a state like California very easily, I guess, except 
maybe as a caricature of the rest of the country?

So, is what we see in California now an indication of what the rest of the 
country will face in the next decade?

--Paul Fernhout
http://www.pdfernhout.net/
http://www.beyondajoblessrecovery.org/