Invisible Bread Lines

Modern Survival Blog ran a story tonight about "Invisible Bread Lines" that really hit home to me. We may not notice the 44.5 million destitute people standing in bread lines, because the bread lines no longer exist. There is no stigmata to failure, it is entirely acceptable now to never try to work a day in your life. You can go right on down and shop with everyone else that earned their money (and had your benefits stolen from them) to pay for their food. There is no accountability either, it's just cash on a card. We are the society that rewards failure, both corporate and individual failure. There is to personal responsibility, no corporate accountability that can pierce the corporate shield. Everyone must win at all costs. The real losers are those of us that foot the bill. The ones that support the lower class, the mandarin class, the political class and those with no class.

What does that entitlement behavior do to us? How can we motivate the masses to succeed when they cannot fail? Programs that offer a hand up are far more successful than those that give a hand out. The lack of accountability has led to people driving 60-80 thousand dollar cards using SNAP benefits to buy steaks and champagne. This is not acceptable, nor is it legal in my opinion. The federal Gooberment  has no ability to offer benefits to the specific welfare of an individual. The general welfare clause means to benefit everyone, and because everyone doesn't get SNAP benefits, it's not legally justified in the constitution. The same with "Bailout" giveaways, not legal.

The "Recovery Pandemic" I see nationwide singing the praises of rising GDP, DOW and S&P 500 values is highly optimistic to say the least. We have record debt to go along with that record tax revenue. There's a bubble in the market that is growing daily. True inflation is running at near 8 percent a year and it's not long before us working stiffs can't afford all the cool new stuff we don't need. Once that happens, or if gas prices spike this year like they are supposed to, we may see a large decline in the markets.

Employment participation is the lowest it's been in 35 years, leading me to believe that it's not all rosy out there in blue collar land. Over 1/3 of employment age people are sitting it out. I'm lucky that I have a skill I can use to make money from several different sources instead of being required to punch a clock. That gives me the ability to know my income threshold and to decide when I can coast a bit and when to churn some business. Why you ask? Because I can go Galt anytime I wish. I can remove myself from the machine at the federal level. What is "Going Galt"?

Expression for undergoing a voluntary financial strike or decrease in income. An individual might choose to do this in order to protest the amount of money going to the government, or to protest what they feel are unfair taxes (if they earn less, they will be taxed less, therefore hurting the government). The term is taken from a character in Ayn Rand's novel "Atlas Shrugged"; the main character John Galt leads a movement where the wealthiest individuals leave their jobs for low-paying jobs in order to protest the socialist economy.

I can make far more if I worked more, but my family and my sanity are worth too much to me. I have also pulled away from doing business in the closest metropolitan city in my area. I gave up the license I carried for 15 years in protest of the way they are treating professionals and making up violations in order to generate income. After 15 years of never being fined, they attempted to issue a fine. I was just 2 weeks from my renew on my license, but just let it lapse. They can do without my services making them money. I was literally paying them to extract additional funds from me. No More! I will continue to work in the city, but will not allow them to make money off me. Even if that means fracturing a law. Their Gestapo crew can find another shill.

One of my best customers was fined 250 bucks over a $2.70 cup of coffee. He bought it on his business credit card, and the employment office audited his books. They considered that cup of coffee unreported income, leveling a fine on him. This is what it's like to live in tyranny. I will not comply, I will not be violated at their every whim with my own support.

Every person has a point where they say "No More". It might be when they can't buy food because of tax hikes, it might be when their life savings is stolen out of the banks like they did in Greece. There's no telling what the trigger is, but everyone has a point of no return. Once reached, a person will wave the black flag high, and do what needs to be done. The sad thing is, they have bred failure into our populace. They make sure the masses are fed. They ensure that things are JUST tolerable enough for people to stay seated when they should be stringing up the tyrannical bastards.

They may charge me rent for the land I own, they can tax or claim ownership of the rain that falls, they can charge me to drive on the roads I paid for, they can force me to buy insurance I don't want, they can shame me into keeping my mouth shut when I see wrong, they can teach my children to be sheep, but they can't force me to pay for the privilege.