The Bribery Of The Republic

“The American Republic will endure, until politicians realize they can bribe the people with their own money”

- Alexis de Tocqueville

The Great Depression allowed Franklin D. Roosevelt to lay the building blocks to a future generation of soft despotism.  He was an extremely effective politician and knew what had to be done to transform the American Republic into a nation that fit his socialistic left-wing ideology.  The nation of Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln ended on March 4, 1933 (with the brief exception from 1981 – 1989).  I believe that Roosevelt knew that he wouldn’t achieve his plan for ultimate transformation during his lifetime so he planted the seeds of socialism for future politicians to water and watch grow.

The most powerful tool in Roosevelt’s arsenal was the knowledge that he could bribe the American people with their own money.  Future presidents followed in his footsteps with the excessive spending on unnecessary government programs that ultimately led to the generation of votes that kept them in power. It’s like the old saying, “don’t bite the hand that feeds you.”  FDR’s Social Security Act of 1935 and the amendment signed into law thirty years later by Lyndon Johnson that created Medicare were the beginning of the fall of the Republic.

Social Security in it’s purest application is a great savings tool to supplement our retirement, but allowing the Federal Government complete control over the coffers was a huge mistake.  They left IOUs in the “trust fund” to pay for entitlement programs that indirectly buy votes by bribing the Republic with their own money.  I don’t understand how people can’t see this.  Food stamps, unemployment benefits, money for the arts and sciences, the public school system, farm subsidies, mortgage relief, bank bailouts, easy credit, guarantee of jobs and national parks (among many more) are NOT free.  The government taxes those who chose to work for a better lifestyle for those who expect that same lifestyle to be an inalienable right.  We have allowed them to mortgage our future for instant gratification.

We currently are running a $1.8 trillion deficit (that’s four times larger than the record set under the Bush Administration) and we have a national debt of $11.4 trillion dollars!  Assuming that there 306 million people living in the United States each American’s share of the debt is $37,254.90 and that doesn’t include the amount of interest we will have to pay. 

When will we learn that it is up to us, We the People, to pay for their spending?  Every day we are being bribed with our own money and yet we allow it to occur.  We empower the government to rule with a soft tyranny and 52.9% of America ENJOYS it.