trc@hou5a.UUCP (Tom Craver) (11/09/84)
> Terry Bermes > Congratulations to the supporters of the Reagan/Bush re-election >campaign. The "ME" generation has come through once again and bought, lock, stock and barrel, the "looking out for number one" theme of the Republican party. >You won and now we're all going to pay for it. The "ME" generation? Odd - it sure looked to me like Mondale was repudiated by the majority of every major group, with the exception of Blacks. If only it were true that people really did just "look out for number one". (Have you read Ringer's book of that title? I think you might be surprised...) Frankly, I agree with Mondale - Reagan won the election on the basis of his personality. If Reagan and Mondale had taken each other's positions on the issues, I think Reagan would still have won. (Though not as heavily - Mondale really messed up in *promising* to tax us.) His lack of coattails is the best indicator of this. So, even if it were fair to attack people for acting in their own self interest, you'd be still mistaken to say that most Americans actually voted on that basis. As to how we're all going to pay for it - I dont think that Reagan is going to do any worse for the economy than Mondale would - which isnt saying much. Either way, I suspect we're headed for a depression or hyper-inflation or both. The decades of super-spending and super-debts are coming to an end - with the whimper of stagflation, or with a crash. By the way - I'm not blaming Democrats exclusively for "big-spending" - though the programs they support have contributed the largest percentage of unjustifiable government spending. The Republicans didnt fight hard enough against spending they opposed, but rather chose to "compromise", allowing higher spending in areas Democrats wanted, in return for higher spending and other "benefits" in areas Republicans wanted. The attitude has been that the US public is to be treated like an undepletable resource, that can always be tapped for a little more. Then, when people began to show signs of really getting fed up with taxes, rather than cut or at least freeze spending, the government has simply shifted to borrowing - against people's *future* income. Really sickening...and now our sick economy is going to make us pay the price. So, dont give me this "its you selfish people that will kill us" - we've already been fed the poison, and it was the principle of self-sacrifice that was used to justify it, ever step of the way. "Sacrifice for the poor" "Sacrifice for our childrens future" "Sacrifice for a strong defense" "Sacrifice now for the old, and the government will force others to sacrifice for you when you are old". "Sacrifice" has been preached at us as a "virtue" for years by every government official with some personal pet project needing our money. It wasnt used to get us to voluntarily give our money, but rather to justify taking it by force, and to lull us into accepting it. Well, we sacrificed - and so long as we sacrificed "in the present", the economy survived. But when people showed signs of refusing to sacrifice more, the politicians started to shove the cost of sacrificing "into the future". Well, the bill is due, and the loan shark - the reality that you cant get something for nothing, including borrowed time - is looking impatient. Soon our knees will be broken, as a nation, and then we'll hear whining about how it "those rotten selfish people caused it" by refusing to sacrifice more. >You people won the battle but the war's >just starting. No, the "war" is practically over - and we've all been taken prisoner of the Debt. For some, it will mean the firing squad of suicide, but for most of us, it will be the concentration camp of a Depression. In fine net.news tradition: "Dont blame me - I didnt vote for either one". Tom Craver hou5a!trc