Too late. The dollar which grampa earned and saved is worth a nickel today. Kind of makes producing and saving an exercise in futility.

It doesn't get diagnosed because the common man doesn't see it as a problem until it's too late. He's too busy living it up on the temporary illusion of prosperity to worry about the impending disaster.

...and if you can fool a majority of the voters, that's democracy.

Anon is right. The products of ones life must be considered, but all are worthless without life. No one lies on their deathbed and wishes he'd spent more time at work.

Five for humor minus two for accuracy. I give it a three.

Congress: The opposite of progress.

When you are not in debt, you are free. When you are in debt, you are a slave to the future payment of that debt. This is true when the debt is voluntarily incurred, but much more insidious when the debt is incurred by the actions of a government or a central bank. We've been fat dumb and happy for almost 100 years, riding the exponentially inflating debt bubble created by bad monetary policy, and the bill is coming due sooner than we think. I hear Zimbabwe is about to issue a $100,000,000,000,000 note.

I would have to assume, since Bastiat wrote "The Law" in 1848 and died in 1850, that the plunder to which he referred was prior to that time. However, the moral principle which he espouses is ageless. Plunder is plunder and should be recognized and treated as such regardless of who the perpetrators are, their numbers, their rationale or their power to legitimize it. "70% of the people back the President in his efforts to stimulate the economy." The US Pravda said it, so it must be true.

Bastiat's one of my favorites. He should be required reading for anyone who wants to have and intelligent debate about social, political or economic issues.

Naive is believing good will can help others without any capital backing. Someone somewhere has to expend capital first, whether that capital is their time, energy, knowledge, talent or justly acquired property. Good will may give you a warm feeling, but it's not worth squat without some elbow grease. I love how people who work and earn are always decried as selfish, but the thieves who steal the fruit of their labor are revered to the level of sainthood.

Waffler misses the point entirely. The reason precious metals became common as a medium for trade was because of their intrinsic value - something fiat currency lacks unless you're short on fish wrappers or toilet paper.

RBE, The problem with trade in commodities, (other than precious metals), is transportability and flexibility. A men with a cow who desires twelve chickens still has to deal with transporting the cow and chickens. He must also find someone who, not only wants a cow, but also has twelve chickens which he values less than one cow. The convenience of transportable and flexible mediums of trade has been recognized for centuries which is where "money" came from in the first place.

That was the old Greenspan He used to be a gold bug. Funny how greed and power will change a man.

Soft and useless, yeah, right ... Gold has several applications: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold

Perhaps he should have said tangible wealth so the socialists would be less confused. It never ceases to amaze me at how little regard they have for capital until they want that which has been earned by others.

Our goose is cooked.

"If there is really such a thing as Natural Law in reference to social and political things and realities why doesn't it just operate on its own naturally?.Why must we have to promote it?" Because there will always be those bent on initiating force against others to get what they desire from the fruit of other peoples' labor. As long as there is offense, there will be the need for defense.

It is impossible for human beings to write unbiased history. Apparently, it was equally impossible for Jules Michelet to write on the subject of bias, without bias, for what, in Monsieur Michelet's opionion are "false" gods?

Our government is very good at choosing positive sounding names for their actions and derogatory ones for the same actions when they're done by others. However, we aren't too bright and we fall for it almost every time.

I've read a lot from folks who claim that vouchers would be a step forward. However, I believe many private schools would take the bait. As soon as they begin accepting state funds, the state becomes the customer and will be able to force their dictates on them. True market competition comes from individuals deciding with whom they will trade and at what price. If the state steals the funds, regardless of how they claim to redistribute them, the association between producers and consumers is altered as is the balance which keeps price and quality in check.

"Public" property merely transfers the rights associated with the appropriated goods and services from the individuals, who make up the public at large, and concentrates it in the hands of the privileged class known as the state. It's funny how some will say we need the state to prevent monopolization of goods and services, because less competition increases price and decreases quality, but when the monopolization is done by the state they believe it's necessary and will never result in the same negative conditions.

Funny, my reference to "the pack" wasn't intended derisively. It's just another synonym for group, but my point, concerning country folk Vs. city dwellers, was either missed or purposely ignored. My point was cause and effect, specifically that the chasm between their attitudes and actions are not innate but the result of the number of people with which they associate on a daily basis. The economic law of supply and demand and subjective nature of value works on all things scarce, including people. The greater the supply the less we value them and vice-versa. I'm not applying any moral judgment to that, just stating the fact. Value is determined by scarcity. Yes, my son values others, because he's not inundated with humanity every day. He also values himself more. Given the choice between that or having him grow up serried, as just another insignificant drop in the sea of humanity, I'll choose the former over the latter.

Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated.

We must all be prepared to sacrifice to the Homeland, comrades!

I love the way individuals and families are said to have "wants" while "society has "needs." The fact that society is a fictitious entity, really nothing more than a word to describe groups of individuals and that what achieves the best outcome for the individuals within the group IS what is best for "society" seems to escape the socialist mindset. Of course, seeing through the fog of their rhetoric, it is obvious that it's not really about what's best, it's about what they believe is best for them, who has control and limiting diversity of thought. Learn to march to our tempo and sing our songs and we'll all be good and productive and happy...slaves. I love Big Brother.