I think America is doing better than ever in terms of economics and safety but not basic liberties. My biggest concerns for the US:
- Gov't will increasing use all the laws/regulations plus the spying ability of technology in corrupt ways.
- Automation is completely up-ending the labor market, and people will be tempted to try to "fix" this with bad policies.
- Reliance on gov't to manage personal matters increases, and this undermines liberty.
I can't predict the future, but my guess is one or more of these problems will cause the US to become more ordinary, similar to how the UK went from being a vast empire to what it is today. It's still a fine place, but it's not global titan that it once was.

come visit-PM me abaco :)

Best comment here.

Ole!!!!

Mexico

In his more-recent speeches and am taken back by how angry he sounds. He really sounds pissed off, mainly about race. It's unfortunate...

While I would love to go to a country that speaks English, I'm not convinced any would be a step up, yet. My wife's family is from France, and our relatives there have encouraged us to look that way. Something that really matters to me is my children's future. I want them to have opportunity. At this time, every working American (when you take unfunded obligations into account) is in the hole to the tune of about $1.1M government debt. Add to that the tightening noose we're all seeing, and I think the decline here will continue.

I find it so disturbing that a nation would do this to itself. People, in general, can't help it. They want goodies. They're happy with their HD tvs, convenience store groceries, and welfare...

Where are you?

Jan, did I brag on my most recent book? . it offers
a possible path, though it's a difficult one. . the
flyover States secede, join together, establish a
stronger constitution and hold out economically
until the rest of the States give in. . interesting
read. . I was just "executive editor" -- and co-author, kinda.

here 'tis::: http://www.amazon.com/Unsustainable-Tuck...

-- j, still optimistic
.

And the fact that we have become, for the
most part, GODLESS, should be added to
your list of reasons for America's decline...

Well, considering that there is very little difference between Atlas and today's headlines, I would have to assume that we will reach the same point; unfortunately, I don't anticipate John Galt showing up to save the day...

Yes, we are on the same side. Only I think that helping the looters is like helping an alcoholic- you only prolong the pain. Just like an alcoholic must hit bottom, the looters' society must collapse. When you "try to salvage" and produce, that is the nectar that the moochers and the looters feed on. I believe that Ayn Rand had the same perspective...

The American uniqueness was based on two interwoven facts - the immigration of people from around the world that valued freedom and were willing to earn their way without any handouts or help and the codification of those values in a unique document. I would attribute the first steps to the destruction of those ideals to Wilson and his social policies. Since then, and with an accelerated tempo, more and more people have been coming to America not to earn a better life, but to mooch off a juicier tree. Notice that for the first time ever, the number of people emigrating from the US is increasing every year. That number is still only in the thousands, but those are the producers, while millions of leaches and parasites are coming here for the welfare "benefits." The US is now one of the most corrupt countries in the world - and yes, I am quite aware of the type and quantity of corruption elsewhere, but at least in those countries everyone is aware of the corruption and knows the prices for government "favors." In the US, we pretend to be squeaky clean, while government favors, influence, taxes and monopolies are allocated based on campaign contributions, nepotism and every kind of bribe method known to man. The government ethics courses that I am required to take every year cover in great detail how illegal it is to accept a gift of $20, or $50. But we quickly get into a grey area when we talk of $5K, and we never talk about $50K. The law and the ethics are only for the little people.
As for your point of not taking other people's land - that is true, but American foreign policy since WW II has been dysfunctional at best. While perhaps having good intentions, we have screwed one country after another, while hurting ourselves. I think that the most accurate description, while looking at all the facts and weighting the results, would be an idiotic policy, or perhaps just idiocy without any policy. You say that we allowed an administration to be elected on lies - could you name an administration within our lifespan that was not elected on lies? Perhaps we should stop blaming Osama, Hillary, Bill and George - perhaps they are a reflection of us?

All you say is true. There is something afoot that I noticed years ago in the Carter administration. That is the power of advertising. During the last months of the Carter years the news media began to point out the short comings in his utopia and at the same time they became receptive to a more optimistic "growth" approach to our economy. It seems even if you are as biased and deaf as a news organization the repeated story of "enjoy what you have, it could be worse" get's tiresome. The truth is, without growth the status quo will get worse. The same sum divided by more people can only be less. Therefore, the only path to prosperity in Utopia is a smaller population; either by war, disease, genocide, or emigration...take your pick.

I have notice in the last few months the media is more attentive to Obama's follies and they are also clamoring for optimistic motivation moving toward a growth footing on the economy.

It is akin to the theory in Beck's "the Overton Window". Through media, news and commercial, the parameters of expectation and acceptance are gradually changed.

Thoughtful people who think things through have always know Socialism is a dead end street. If the only way to prosperity is a declining population, sooner or later there are not enough productive people to pay the way, or as Thatcher once said, "...you run out of other people's money to spend.

Bottom line, the regime has to get it done in this administration or the national view will change enough to end this siege. As your claim that Germany found Hilter, a generation ago America found Reagan. I don't wish to resurrect Reagan because times are different. It is my thought that correct motivation, expectation of a positive outcome, proper metrics to measure progress, adjusting course as needed, and the realization among the mooches that they will get less and less over time; all of these factors will cause a sea change in our direction. For millennia man was ruled over by Kings, and these same factors created the USA. We may not be what the founder's envisioned, but I don't believe we will become any of the other available choices from Western European socialism to Iranian theocracy.

Robin Hood is a fairy tale because the wealthy would have traveled around Sherwood Forrest or purchased "Traveler's Cheques" from the Templars or Dominci family. Taking from the rich and giving to the poor only lasts so long.

Morning coffee laugh! Thank you.

Jan

I'm 81 and am not sure if tomorrow's the day I assume room temperature. Having been in business in retail, distribution and manufacturing, I can assure you I know how to deal in reality. I raised an engineer son, and a business son. They both deal well with reality. My attitude with reality is that you must deal with it because it is inexorable and will destroy you if you don't. However, this doesn't exclude the dreamers. Or, if you prefer, visionaries. The moochers and looters have been with us always. Currently, they have assumed the mantle of those who are to be treated with empathy and taken care of. They can go to hell. Actually, you and I are on the same side only with differing approaches. It's not a competition between us.

Yes, I believe that the America that exists today is indeed finished. And while I realize there are some that want to repair it, I say you can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear. The progressive left's version of America is a goner, and good riddance. It has become a cesspool no amount of smell good is going to refresh, so flush it and start with a new bowl.

But, like Noah, I believe there is of course a future after the turds are all drowned. And I believe there are others out there building their own arks, some here in CONUS, others in various countries (and btw, if I was going to expat, a good place to do it would be Argentina). But I decided to Galt in Texas. More on why later.

I came to my personal realization that the course this country was on could not be corrected without a flood, revolution, zombie reincarnation, etc, shortly after 911. I saw a govt that had become too powerful because "we the people" as a majority had become by and large pussies that allowed themselves to become wards of the state. Entitled, lazy, and short sighted, they were easy pickins. And when Zero got elected, that was my signal. I put my company on the market, started doing what the Kalling's did and sold most of my unnecessary flotsom, and started looking at night time satellite pics. I settled on a part of Texas that had the fewest lights. And Texas because, if you stay away from Austin, are plumb eat up with folks made of the same "rugged individualism" that made the America of old great.

I bought as much land as I could afford next to these "rugged individuals", and then worked on making me and my family as self sufficient as possible. Energy in the way of solar and wind, cattle, 5 working wells on alternative energy, large gardens, dairy goats, chickens, guns and ammo as well as befriending possible trigger pullers in case we have to repel the gangbangers when their gravy train is gone, etc. And, I built my "headquarters' smack dab in the middle of my 700 acres with only one unimproved road in, cut through a heavily wooded area. And speaking of gangbangers, I realized I would also have to cope with those that did not prepare. Starving people are desperate people, and you have to realize that you cannot care for them all.
That is the toughest part. I am hoping to avoid most of that by making myself a much harder target than unprepared Joe Blow down the road. Kind of like being in bear filled woods with somebody you can outrun.

And I came up with a business model that I can do myself, without having to have employees. Not that I dislike employees, its the govt baggage that come attached to them I cannot stomach. The only USD for most part I keep in banks is the amount I will need to pay rent ransom every year to the govt in the way of property taxes. The rest of my USD went into farm equipment, barns, diesel storage tanks, etc. Hard assets, ie. The rest of my monetary assets I keep in either physical gold and silver, or Norwegian Kronas that I can convert if necessary.

The rest of my efforts goes to time spent keeping as low a govt profile as I possibly can. I intend to be around, or at least provide an ark after I am gone, to those who can rebuild this country, or planet for that matter, after this hideous tick the NWO implodes on itself.

With no sign of North Korea turning into an Objectivist paradise as the people recognize that their government has failed them I am dubious that descending into ever more socialism will eventually wake people up. Perhaps in a very long time.

One of my favorite mottos is: "Maybe the horse will learn to sing". While there is still life in the country and in the constitution, attempt the impossible.

There are two places that would make a major difference, both of which have growing movements in their favor:

1. Legalize drugs. Abolish the war on drugs. This effort has justified ever more police militarization and denial of liberty. No knock raids, asset forfeiture, laws on cash deposits, and many many more were all justified by the War on Drugs. Stop it. There is a growing movement to do this, it even has support among some liberals. Take this step.

2. Increase school vouchers. Having the government pay for school is less than ideal but breaking the virtual monopoly of the educational system in instructing each generation in the benefits of socialism is vital. With more private schools, some of them at least can introduce the concepts of capitalism.

These are both efforts that are underway and if increased would help increase liberty and decrease the indoctrination of each generation.

I, of course, have a whole lot of other things that should be done, but those two are the ones that seem most achievable.

As an engineer, I have been trained to live in reality. You may have a good dream, but how old are you and the fellow dreamers? Will you be around for the "naturally reformed" moochers and looters to voluntarily ask for your knowledge in ending their mooching and looting?

By revolution I meant revolution of ideas but failed to make it clear. Perhaps I'm dreaming. It's a good dream, though. In any case, it might well be a good thing if a tight knot of dreamers survived in order to remember and remind that there once was a better time and what caused it to happen, ala "Farenheit 451.

I considered the word "salvageable" as excluding the revolution option. A revolution could turn the country around (depending on who wins), but will almost certainly be followed by a very bloody civil war. It would have to be bloodier than the first one because the divisions are not geographic, but cultural and class-based. If the moochers are not eliminated, the revolution will be for naught. But for salvaging the country through the rule of totally corrupt laws and make-believe elections, and doing it in a timeframe when America will still have any economic abilities left and within the lifespan of people who still remember the Constitution - no disrespect intended, but you are dreaming.

You are, of course, entitled to that perspective. I choose to regard the present downward slide as salvageable. True, there are not many of us, given the big picture, but time and again throughout history a few men were able to turn things upside down with ideas, and yes, revolution. There are many examples of this, which is what gives me hope for the possibility. That does not mean blindness to what is, but an attempt at the probability of what can be.

Our current example of uniqueness is the same as our founding principle, natural rights. No other Nation builds from and documents that basic, obvious state of humans. We are as unique today as we were when those defining rights were acknowledged, simply because those rights were acknowledged and documented. For all our issues - we have our share, America is the only Nation that does`nt take land upon conquering enemies,(one glaring exception would be Native American land, but as with slavery,there are circumstances of the times that must be considered.) we rebuild and return it, America is the Nation that ALL other Nations, friend, or foe, depend on in catastrophic events - we show up. In our current state of affairs, Americans peaceably protest and petition our government for relief, we do not take up arms against it as do most other Nations. We are being seen as weak on the world stage right now, because we allowed an administration to be elected on lies, one that has planned ulterior motives - hidden by a treasonous media. We have not, as a Nation, "gone native", we are taking our medicine and solving it slowly and with rule of law - that is unique.

America is almost finished and the final nail in America's coffin will be driven when the next liberal supreme court justice is sworn in. That is why a conservative president must be elected. Electing the next president is more important than republican, libertarian, Baptist, Jew, Catholic, it must be about what kind of lawyer will be nominated to the supreme court. If a liberal is nominated to replace a conservative justice, the constitution will cease to exist. Forget your ideas that divide us. Remove liberal democrats and republicans from office by uniting behind one conservative candidate. Don't stay home if your brand of conservative is not the nominee. Don't elect a liberal because you are too pigheaded to go vote. Don't do that to your country. Fight hard in the primaries, but if you love America, unite in the general election.