welsch@houxu.UUCP (Larry Welsch) (01/27/85)
A Reply to Daniel Kian Mc Kiernan >> = My original article > = Mr. Mc Kiernan's article > I just love the way that people in net.politics pontificate about things that > that they're abysmally ignorant about! Larry Welsch writes: You must love yourself a whole lot. :-). >> The main reason social security was formed was to provide protection for >> all the hard working folks who worked their asses off being good citizens. > Social Security was introduced as a political move to capitalize on the > popularity of the Townsend Plan (which you can read about in *After Affluence* > by John Oliver Wilson). I don't disagree. Almost everything the President and Congress does can be characterized as a "political move to capitalize on the popularity of" some idea or concept. I have read "After Affluence" by John Oliver Wilson. However, both you and he miss the real point of why it was good politics. See my original posting above. > But the Depression was caused by government manipulation of the > money supply, tariffs, and government interference with wage-adjustments (see > *America's Great Depression* by Murray Newton Rothbard). This is a fascinating rewrite of history. I was so surprised I went to the Encyclopedia Brittanica where I confirmed my beliefs. Immediately prior to the Great Depression, Calvin Coolidge was president of the United States. (I always felt sorry for Hoover who inherited Coolidge's legacy) Coolidge was known for his "non-interference" policies. Strangely enough it was the interference in the economy by FDR and later WW II that brought us out of the depression. Of course government interference in the economy is relative. It's just that Coolidge had so little compared to Wilson or FDR, that it seems odd to blame the depression on government interference. > I'm no more responsible for inflation than I am for the Depression, so > don't tell me to pay! I do not understand this argument. Taxes, government, and the draft are a little bit like the weather. You are not responsible for the weather, but you still get rained on and you enjoy the benefits of a sunny day. You sound a lot like some war protestors I remember who said, "Its not my war, why do I have to go?" You pay for inflation whether you caused it or not. That is a fact of life. >> Now for some kickers. Banks are still failing, and not all banks are FDIC >> insured. Also to get 10% on your money you have to use non FDIC insured >> form of investment. Or another words people have to RISK their savings >> just to maintain a decent return. > Okay, but just when did I cause that? I'm not responsible, so don't tell me to > pay! No one said you did cause it. However, if you make a "sound" investment and then through circumstances beyond your control and lose your shirt, then don't the same rules apply? People do lose money on sound investments due to circumstances beyond their control. Who should pay for it? >> What social security needs is not to be disbanded, it should be >> strengthened. > Great! Get the parasites to suck faster! This line scares me. To think of older people as parasites, makes me think of Hitlers' death camps. What do you propose we as a society do with older people? > Why should I have to pay your parents' bills? And why would my obligation to > do so grow with my productivity? You are under no obligation to pay any of my parents' bills. You also seem to think that personal income is directly related to productivity. It is not. > MONETIZATION OF GOVERNMENT DEFICITS IS THE PRINCIPLE CAUSE OF INCREASES > IN THE PRICE LEVEL! Sounds like it could have come Walter Mondale's campaign. > And clearly Mr. Welsch has no more understanding of economics than I have > of combinatorics. I therefore take it you hold a PhD. in combinatorics? :-) > Yet Mr Welsch SPOUTS-OFF anyway. You should speak? Sounds like the pot calling the kettle black. > Mr Welsch, how do you sleep at night, after condemning the innocent and > freeing the guilty? What gives me trouble sleeping are the veterans freezing to death in our capital, or the mass starvation in Ethiopia. Somehow, you having to pay a pittance in taxes to help these people doesn't bother me in the least. Larry Welsch houxu!welsch PS. I tried to reach Mr. Mc Kieran via electronic mail and could not find a path to him.