“The State is a gang of thieves writ large.”
— Murray Rothbard
While most of the corporate press continues to squash our collective brains in a partisan vise of sound and fury signifying nothing this election season, the 117th Congress continues to exhibit the greatest vice afflicting modern American politics: moderation.
Usually, “moderation in all things” is a virtuous maxim, but Republicans and Democrats seem to have adopted Oscar Wilde’s addendum to this truism — ”everything in moderation, including moderation” — as they have once again failed to pass a real budget, let alone a balanced budget that addresses the structural problems facing the nation built up over decades of decadence. And these moderates do this all while ensuring escalation in the latest war. Who doesn’t love more debt and nuclear brinkmanship?
Despite rising interest rates, crippling inflation, immense annual deficits and an overall debt burden of $31 trillion (as well as trillions more due to unfunded liabilities), the gang of “moderates” in Congress continue their profligate ways.
Contrary to popular convention, a political moderate in the United States does not represent some golden mean between two extremes. No, an American moderate is someone who, regardless of party, supports an immense warfare and welfare state. Moderates love self-licking ice cream cones.
Moderates, it seems, believe money grows on trees — enough money to send billions of dollars to Ukraine to court nuclear war with Russia without any clear path to victory along with exorbitant care packages to special interests here in the United States as well as other suspect nations around the globe.
It is one thing to provide for the common defense and promote the general welfare in the abstract, but to do so by blithely stealing the wealth of the living as well as countless unborn American generations is nothing more than criminal idiocy fueled by fear, cowardice and avarice.
Yet that is what the 117th Congress has offered the American people so far: a “moderate” multi-trillion dollar continuation of expenditures with both an increase in unnecessary war spending and a bloated welfare state.
Most of the political media reports on this congressional spending spree in their usual manner as national salvation after another brush with, for example, a “deadly” government shutdown — or some other fake crisis.
This expiring program will survive another few months! That temporary government emergency will continue as well! Crisis averted! Time for another crisis!
Of course, such reportage is a disservice to the American people.
Rather than painting pictures of the sky falling if the federal government attempts to get its house in order, the national media should be laying out the long-term ramifications and the context of our current fiscal and monetary woes, especially in relation to national security.
A free press would be informing the people of our long-term options, yet the corporate press continues to manufacture carefully crafted propaganda on behalf of their patrons.
When did the American press corps become such myopic imbeciles and lickspittles?
Where are the responsible and patriotic journalists?
Where are the responsible questions?
That said, if we are called to judge this latest 2022 spending spree like a sporting event, then we all lost — even the so-called winners are losers in the long run.
Republicans, Democrats, conservatives, progressives, independents, moderates and even those unaffiliated malcontents who wish the government would just go away — we are all losers now. When it comes to providing for the common defense and promoting the general welfare, it shouldn’t make us look like strung-out addicts.
Our addiction? Government power and privilege mainlined through debt.
Enjoy the high for now, America. I’ll see you all when we reach rock bottom.
Hopefully, the eventual withdrawal will see the end to this ‘moderation’ without killing the people or the nation in the process.
Joey Clark is a native Alabamian and currently, the host of the radio program News and Views on News Talk 93.1 FM WACV out of Montgomery, AL M-F 9 am-12 noon. His column appears every Tuesday in 1819 News. To contact Joey for media or speaking appearances as well as any feedback please email newsandviews931@gmail.com. The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to Commentary@1819news.com.
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