Memes, Scapegoats, Propaganda
Here's a popular meme: "The U.S. spends as much on the military as the next 25 nations combined."
My first question might be, “Which 25 nations are we talking about and who are they next to?”
Ah, but wait, I smell a canard somewhere. This one especially stinks (as do most canards.) It appears that when you factor GDP into the equation, the U.S. is actually spending less than it did in the 50's. 60's, 70's, 80's or 90's. Furthermore, compared to other nations, we definitely spend a lot more in actual money, but we're also a helluva lot richer. Based on GDP, we spend less than Saudi Arabia, Israel and Russia. And, we're not that far off from our European neighbors. Make no mistake, however, if you want to find a chart saying Americans pay 150% of their GDP on war, you can find it. You can also find stories about flying sharks and ghosts that look like Marilyn Monroe.
Here's another big Meme: “The rich don't pay their fair share in taxes, so the middle class and poor foot the bill for all those $5,000 hammers.”
The top 1% of wage earners pay approx. 40% of all income taxes, while nearly half of all Americans pays no income tax at all. In fact, the top 10% of earners pays 70% of all income taxes. That doesn't mean that the middle class and poor Americans don't pay taxes, they do. Neither does it mean that $5000 hammers aren't real. They are. Americans, in fact, pay heaps o taxes, just not income taxes. The problem then isn't what the rich do or don't pay, but high taxes for everyone. That and a government that doesn't hesitate to spend, spend, spend, while digging into everyone's wallet like a crack addicted hooker with a willing John.
If a savvy politician needs a scapegoat, though, there's always one handy. Basically, they all use a war strategy, pit group against group, Black against White, rich against poor, immigrant against native, Gay against Straight, it's divide and conquer, that way any and all potential enemies become much easier to handle. Politicians also know (The one's that aren't idiots, at least) that if your landlord sees a substantial increase in their property taxes, for instance, they'll simply pass that cost on to their tenants, including the poor. This is equally true of all businesses, so the government is really punishing everyone with higher taxes. But, if you can make people believe that landlords and business owners are just greedy slumlords and evil capitalists awash in money and looking to take advantage, you can get people to enact laws that really just kick their own asses, which is far more common than one might think.
The simple truth is, that government has very little incentive to be efficient. The government's success or failure isn’t like a traditional business that either succeeds or fails based on the consumer. If I don't want to eat at a particular restaurant, I don't. And, if enough people agree with me, that business will quickly fail. If our government spends massively and get's few results, by comparison, it can do what kings and rulers have always done, just raise your taxes and lie. Which, politicians do, with alarming regularity. This is especially true if no one is paying attention because they're all looking at some celebrities ass or hair-weave. Then, scapegoats are in high demand by the fickle masses, until they get bored and move on to the next scandal or freak-show.
So, America, stop kicking your own ass and start kicking Washington's instead. They are and always have been the real enemy. Yes, occasionally they do something right, very occasionally, I might add. Remember, your government doesn't empower you, you empower your government. That's how it's supposed to work, not the other way around.
Mark Magula
My first question might be, “Which 25 nations are we talking about and who are they next to?”
Ah, but wait, I smell a canard somewhere. This one especially stinks (as do most canards.) It appears that when you factor GDP into the equation, the U.S. is actually spending less than it did in the 50's. 60's, 70's, 80's or 90's. Furthermore, compared to other nations, we definitely spend a lot more in actual money, but we're also a helluva lot richer. Based on GDP, we spend less than Saudi Arabia, Israel and Russia. And, we're not that far off from our European neighbors. Make no mistake, however, if you want to find a chart saying Americans pay 150% of their GDP on war, you can find it. You can also find stories about flying sharks and ghosts that look like Marilyn Monroe.
Here's another big Meme: “The rich don't pay their fair share in taxes, so the middle class and poor foot the bill for all those $5,000 hammers.”
The top 1% of wage earners pay approx. 40% of all income taxes, while nearly half of all Americans pays no income tax at all. In fact, the top 10% of earners pays 70% of all income taxes. That doesn't mean that the middle class and poor Americans don't pay taxes, they do. Neither does it mean that $5000 hammers aren't real. They are. Americans, in fact, pay heaps o taxes, just not income taxes. The problem then isn't what the rich do or don't pay, but high taxes for everyone. That and a government that doesn't hesitate to spend, spend, spend, while digging into everyone's wallet like a crack addicted hooker with a willing John.
If a savvy politician needs a scapegoat, though, there's always one handy. Basically, they all use a war strategy, pit group against group, Black against White, rich against poor, immigrant against native, Gay against Straight, it's divide and conquer, that way any and all potential enemies become much easier to handle. Politicians also know (The one's that aren't idiots, at least) that if your landlord sees a substantial increase in their property taxes, for instance, they'll simply pass that cost on to their tenants, including the poor. This is equally true of all businesses, so the government is really punishing everyone with higher taxes. But, if you can make people believe that landlords and business owners are just greedy slumlords and evil capitalists awash in money and looking to take advantage, you can get people to enact laws that really just kick their own asses, which is far more common than one might think.
The simple truth is, that government has very little incentive to be efficient. The government's success or failure isn’t like a traditional business that either succeeds or fails based on the consumer. If I don't want to eat at a particular restaurant, I don't. And, if enough people agree with me, that business will quickly fail. If our government spends massively and get's few results, by comparison, it can do what kings and rulers have always done, just raise your taxes and lie. Which, politicians do, with alarming regularity. This is especially true if no one is paying attention because they're all looking at some celebrities ass or hair-weave. Then, scapegoats are in high demand by the fickle masses, until they get bored and move on to the next scandal or freak-show.
So, America, stop kicking your own ass and start kicking Washington's instead. They are and always have been the real enemy. Yes, occasionally they do something right, very occasionally, I might add. Remember, your government doesn't empower you, you empower your government. That's how it's supposed to work, not the other way around.
Mark Magula