Bread and Circuses

So, there are riots around the world and not just in Third World nations? Is that a surprise? I wouldn't think so.

Large numbers of people have been getting freebies for quite a while now. The "rich" have been taxed to pay their "fair share." But, such gov't largesse, growing and growing because those who enact the laws don't pay for them, just spend other people's money, is unsustainable in the long run.

What, then, happens when things that have become "entitlements" are taken from, well, people who have been treated like children, not like adults responsible for themselves? They act like children, of course. They throw tantrums, translated into "riots."

The Romans knew this and I'd guess any real thinking person knows it, too. "Bread and circuses" can't go on forever. Either they must be curtailed or extended so that the future has to pay the burden and deal with the tantrums/riots. The corrupt Roman emperors were concerned with maintaining power and their own lavish lifestyles; they were willing to stick future rulers and Romans with an untenable economic situation. Whether or not our current politicians are corrupt is debatable, but they are either spineless or stupid. Is there another choice: corrupt, spineless, or stupid? I suppose it could be a combination of all three.

I am amazed at the speed of the downfall. Is this it? Has the mightiest economic nation in the history of the world, the one with the greatest freedoms, been brought to its knees? Who was the British philosopher, a couple centuries ago, who postulated democracy would thrive until people realized they could vote to give themselves what other people have (earned)? Is this it? I always worried about my kids and, esp, grandkids. Perhaps I'll see the calamity. I don't know.

But it amazes me how people who have thrived, even those who have gone against the grain, in this nation are so critical of it. The freedoms they have to say and do the things they do to ruin it are not possible in most nations of the world. We allow people to engage in nation-suicide actions. In fact, one might say, many in our gov't have done exactly that over the past few decades. They may mean well, but do they ever think?!?!? Yet, many of these same people see no hint of hypocrisy with the lifestyles they live, permissible because of the freedoms, political and economic, this great nation has afforded. Note our President, who seems to be taking the Presidency as his own personal toy, vacation, party, etc. His deductions on his income tax were more than double or triple our total household income! I'm not critical of that except to the extent he's always blathering about "paying our fair share." Hey, they guy lives rent-free, doesn't pay for food or transportation or clothes, gets vacations on the house, etc. It simply continues to amaze me.

Out to mow the lawn....