I BEGAN reading with interest Bruce Karolle’s opinion piece, “The National Stage,” and found some insight and an objective view with respect to this year’s election reality show. However, his last two paragraphs turned subjective (his considered opinion duly noted), and provide evidence that Bruce has been drinking that Obama-Aid and Demo-Aid juice that gives one the Alice in Wonderland illusion that any politician regardless of their affiliation, left, right or middle wants the governed public to believe they know what they are doing. Politicians only want to be elected or re-elected and rule over their constituents. Most don’t want to be bothered with the details of the public’s struggle so long as they don’t have to live it.

Fact is, all Republicans, Democrats and Independents (for a very long time) are guilty of feeding the public their particular brand of snake oil and the slight-of-hand illusion that everything is better, or getting better, or their plan will make everything right. Then they just print more money (or approve bigger budgets) and throw it at the problem. Sure enough, the public eats this up and votes the guys and gals that provide the biggest harvest of cash. They then promise to keep taxes in check by – printing more money!

Bruce, you’re a very educated person accustomed to study. Break out the history books, especially those dealing
with economic history (U.S. and World) and the facts are clear in every case. You cannot spend your way out of an economic disaster anymore than you can bail a boat out with a doughnut. You can only throw money at an economic problem for so long and then it explodes into a depression – history is rife with this fact. Ask the Italians, French, Germans, or yes, Americans, we’ve been there. Wonderful how all our political leaders have their own brand of Kool-Aid that induces amnesia in their constituents. Problem is, the politicians are running out of Kool-Aid and the public is waking up and getting angry.

How is it possible that our 16 trillion-pound gorilla (U.S. National debt, not including unfunded liabilities), that eats (at present low interest rates) 1 trillion pounds of food each year that we have to borrow from someone else, can continue to live without getting very upset when it can no longer be fed? America cannot pay back a $16 trillion debt by printing more money, period. Any illusion that the Democrats or Republicans have any idea how America can recover from where we are presently is nothing but political pandering and further kicking the can down the road.

What America needs, and to which Guam is well accustomed (physically), is an economic super-typhoon. Crisis may be the only way that Americans can pull up their collective pants, and get down to work and save our collective butts from ourselves. The German miracle after WW2 shows that a beat-up country can pull itself out of the grave by hard work, and LESS government involvement.

I would suggest that everyone learn to plant a garden, raise some chickens, and invest in some hard assets (property, gold, silver). One day, sooner than we all may realize, paper currency will only be good for starting the BBQ.
Cheers.

Clayton Duvall,
Tamuning