Alan Greenspan, in his younger days, was a disciple of Ayn Rand (Atlas Shrugged) – the mid-twentieth century libertarian icon. He authored several of the essays featured in her collection Capitalism an Unknown Ideal. I assure you, the Alan Greenspan of the Rand era was a free market ideologue in a big way. And I’d bet real money that, had he remained in the private sector, he would have fervently denounced the kinds of crony bailouts he himself, as the Federal Reserve Board Chairman, orchestrated during the post-Rand era.
Professor Ben Bernanke seemed to be a good honest pick for the Fed post. And I suspect (haven’t read the writings of his youth like I have Greenspan’s) Doctor Bernanke would have fervently denounced the pre-re-appointment closed-door sessions with politicians and the crony bailouts orchestrated by Chairman Bernanke.
If Germany’s Prime Minister (A. Merkel) were Italy’s Prime Minister (M. Monti), make no mistake, she’d be pushing big time for a Eurobond. If Italy’s Prime Minister were Germany’s Prime Minister, make no mistake, he’d be resisting it big time.
Ideologues shmideologues!
Forget ideology, today’s policywielders are mere microcosms of the electorates they represent. Merkel is the embodiment of today’s arrogant German, who doesn’t realize that he’s been the chief beneficiary of the Euro experiment. He thinks his prosperity is entirely his own doing. Again, if she were Italy’s Prime Minister, she’d embody the perspective of today’s Italian voter.
Some of my conservative friends think President Obama is an ideologue planted here to turn the United States into something that would make Cuba look like Hong Kong (#1 on the Economic Freedom Index). Books (I’m told) have been written proving, through the dissecting of every utterance of his political career, this conspiracy conclusively. I’m a skeptic. Now you might say “skeptic shmeptic” and throw the Affordable Care Act in my face. “Nobody (according to the polls) wanted it – and he still pushed it through. So there!” Well sure, nobody wanted “it”, but “everybody” wanted to keep their kids on till they’re 26. Everybody wanted no preexisting conditions, etc. And believe you me, certain big-monied players in the health care sector wanted it big time as well. Besides, “everybody” believes our health care system is the definitiion of dysfunctional. Going after health care reform, given his early-term political mojo, was a no-brainer for a talented community organizer. Doesn’t make him a communist.
“So”, you say, “what about all the class warfare stuff?” What about it? Like that’s Obama’s creation. Class warmongering has been a tool for the left since Christ was a cadet. Heck, it would be a tool for the right (was for a minute or two for Romney) if they thought it would work.
Let me cut to the chase and make my point. We have only ourselves to blame. We have to wake up folks and realize that ultimately we are the puppet masters. We know intuitively, contrary to what any condescending economist would have us believe, that no institution (home, company or country) can survive forever on borrowed money and corporate and union buddybuddying. Today’s politician is as politically greedy an animal as there’s ever been, and there’s no changing him. Who we can change however is us. Tea Partiers and Occupiers, you may not like their styles, but you have to admit, they both have legitimate gripes. The Tea Partiers say they want smaller, less intrusive, government. Amen brothers and sisters! Although when I watched one of their cofounders endorse Santorum I began to wonder. Occupiers want to end cronyism. Amen brothers and sisters! Although I still don’t get why they wasted their time on Wall Street. Politicians, not CEOs, are the ones beholding to the 99%.