When the mortgage meltdown began, we were assured by Democats and Republicans alike that all actions taken were temporary solutions to stave off calamity. Even the "stimulus bill" has been coached in those terms, and the rhetoric has generally been that it is a bandaid and not intended to radically change American economic law or policy.
Now, however, more and more people are calling for the "temporary" nationalization of banks.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e310cbf6-fd4e-11dd-a103-000077b07658.html
Nationalization is a sea change in how Americans view their economy, and could easily be the beginning of a true planned economy which is tightly controlled by the government. Do we really want a nation where the President and Congress have a say on how you spend your personal money? And can we really trust the current government to give up this kind of power, once they have it in their hands?
8 comments:
I hope it's not inevitable, but I do think that the government will not willingly give up that control.
It scares me. We are living in "1984". We truly are so much more socialist than even a few months ago.
I wonder if it is time for a Conservative movement to send a copy of 1984 to every member of Congress. Wouldn't be that expensive, and might be a powerful statement.
They wouldn't think it was wrong! The state is providing for everyone, the world is better that way. If the state decides 1+1=3, hey, who is he to argue, that's the consensus so it must be right. The protagonist is just a hatemonger who needs to be enlightened.
Sigh.
Looks like 1984 is the next audiobook I need to borrow.
I don't see most governments giving up the power, regardless of who is in charge.
Wedge,
If you have never read 1984, you DEFINITELY need to. But if you have never ready ANY George Orwell, read Animal Farm first. It is much shorter and less dense, and is a good introduction to the ideas.
Keep in mind the time in which Orwell was writing, during the rise of both Fascism and Communism/Socialism.
Nomad, I'm a VERY slow reader and as such, haven't read much in a long time... rarely even finished school assignment reading as I just didn't have enough time. I used to love to read, but the forced mandatory school reading at a pace I couldn't keep up with killed it for me. Which is unfortunate because I haven't read things like 'Atlas Shrugged', '1984' and 'Animal Farm'. Thankfully I did well with the 'Atlas Shrugged' audio book... I have now figured out a way to get in the books that I need to ready. Looks like animal farm is just over 3 hours... in line for it at the library.
Sounds good. You'll like ANIMAL FARM. 1984 is a MUCH longer book, and full of philosophy. Read it only if you find you want to get more into the ideas behind ANIMAL FARM.
All animals are equal... but some are more equal than others.
Sums up the whole thing.
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