Thursday, April 28, 2005
The California Economic Conundrum (As Interpreted by Zombyboy) (Updated)
Sure, the example is California, but the rule of it seems to apply at the national level.
California (before giving Gray Davis the boot): Gray Davis must go! His economic policies are disastrous and woe will fall upon us if he is allowed to continue his evil ways.
California (turning its eyes to an unlikely hero and the hypnotic qualities of Twisted Sister’s classic “We’re Not Gonna Take It"): Help us, Arnold Wan Kenobi, you’re our only hope!
California (following the glorious honeymoon period): Wait, wait, wait, no one said anything about sacrifice. No one said anything about giving up our free stuff.
California (projected for the near future): Hey Arnie, here’s the fix! Tax the rich, tax the rich! Because, you know, they can afford it and all…
Lesson for the Rest of Us: Everyone likes a reformer until they start reforming things, and everyone believes that someone else’s pet program should get cut instead of their own. That is, balance the budget on someone else’s back, thank you, because my free stuff is far more important than their free stuff.
Play that out on a national level and it’s no wonder that we face our current spending and budget problems.
Update: Linked, kindly, by Rob at Burton Terrace.
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Comments & Trackbacks
Never underestimate the power of Twisted Sister.
(Only half kidding)
Never underestimate the vile servitude to which people will surrender themsleves in order to avoid any real sacrifice or struggle. Never underestimate the short-sightedness and overall apathy of my fellow Californians.
Honestly, I wish it were just confined to California. Truth is that it’s everywhere. Bread and circuses rarely lose their appeal.
Isn’t this same thing playing out with Bush’s efforts to solve the energy crisis (building more refineries, etc) and Bush’s efforts to reform S.S.?
Absolutely. On the negative side, though, it’s also what fueled things like his big pill bill--huge expenditures for very little gain.
It’s enough to drive me crazy.
Good point. (BTW - I linked to this from B.T.).
Even though I’m a programmer and a web site designer, I have yet to take the time to learn about the mechanics of trackbacks.
You probably did the link right, but it doesn’t matter. My site is trackback deprived. The things just don’t work right.
Don’t worry, though, I’ll put in the link manually.