The most popular person in society is he who lies to the public in a manner that excuses the masses from the repercussions of their own actions.
Likewise, the most unpopular person in society is he who tells the masses the truth about what they have set into motion.
Voters tend to elect popular candidates who willingly lie to them rather than those who serve up a dose of reality.
That's because the masses don't want to live in reality; they want to enjoy the short term gains that come from displacing long-term consequences to whatever citizens are unlucky enough to live in the future time of reckoning. Thus, elections are the mechanism by which today's delusional citizens grant themselves present-day benefits at the expense of future citizens who, thanks to the laws of physics, cannot vote in present-day elections. (Because they don't own time travel machines.)
Future citizens, in other words, are truly victims of taxation without representation.
The American people just voted to plunge their home states into financial crisis
The recent mid-term elections demonstrated this in neon lights for anyone who cares to pay attention. From state to state, all across America, the voters just granted themselves benefits and payouts that are mathematically impossible to sustain. California, Illinois, Florida, Michigan, New York and a long list of other states passed ballot initiatives or elected liberal political leaders who cannot help but drive their states (and the nation) into fiscal catastrophe.
With over fifty percent of America's households now receiving some form of government entitlement, America's voters have jumped the shark and decided to milk the system for all it's worth, for as long as the seemingly free money keeps flowing. Accomplishing this is no more complicated than voting for the politician who promises to hand out the most free stuff.
Nowhere on the mid-term ballot did we find a candidate promoting fiscal responsibility, reduced government debt and living within our means. Fiscal reason wasn't up for election. Instead, nearly all the candidates promised "more free stuff" if elected by the self-serving voters.
Candidates and voters are now running a self-reinforcing scam. The politician says, "You vote for me, and I'll deliver more free stuff," while the voter says, "You promise me more free stuff, and you'll earn my vote." Both the politician and the voter seemingly benefit for some time, since living on borrowed credit always creates an artificial boost in apparent quality of life. But just as an addict experiences chemical hell when quitting his habit cold turkey, the repercussions of the financial collapse that's now set in stone will be catastrophic beyond imagination.
The financial collapse of California, Illinois, New York and even the USA is now a certainty
As you ponder all this, it's important to realize we are no longer living in a society that can even pretend to be following a track of fiscal sustainability. The financial collapse of dozens of U.S. states is now set in stone. Pensions will be scrapped. Retirement benefits will be slashed to nothing. Public services like police and fire will be cleaved bare, allowing criminals to run rampant in cities like Los Angeles, virtually unimpeded by anything resembling law enforcement.
Yet somehow, the voters of states like Illinois continue to demand their own financial demise. Shifting the cost of today's benefits to some future voter seems magically convenient, if not downright scandalous. But the real scandal is that the future voter who will have to pay for today's unfunded benefits is often just an older, more tired version of the same voter who demanded those benefits today.
The American voter, in other words, is scamming herself.
She is taking an ill-advised cash advance today while ignoring the "day of reckoning" when all that debt comes due.
She thinks she's a genius for electing politicians who promise precisely what she wants: Dissociation from the future repercussions of her present-day actions. But in reality she's just a fool who thinks money comes from nothing. (Ocasio-Cortez, anyone?)
She's also causing a future catastrophe that will impact herself and her family, by the way. Because karma exacts a hefty price from those who most deserve it. Cause and effect, they say, is a real bitch.
Most Americans don't pray these days, but if they did, the prayer of choice should be, "Dear God, please save me from the consequences of my own actions."
God won't answer that prayer, by the way. Instead, God answers with a far more important principle: May you all experience the repercussions of your own decisions so that you gain wisdom, however painfully. For without repercussions, there's no point at all in having free will in the first place.
Humanity is about to learn some very painful lessons. Sadly, the repercussions of those who have acted as fools will always impact those who tried to save the fools from themselves.
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