FRUGALITY and TEMPERANCE first attract our attention. These simple but powerful virtues are the sole foundation, on which a good government can rest with security.
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There is no FRUGAITY in government what so eve. 1.3 trillion deficit, 14 trillion debt. This is a result from a coup d`e tat in 1913 the federal reserve.
In this day and age, frugality and temperance, on the one hand, and the federal government, on the other hand, is an oxymoron.
When our government printed paper money then stopped backing it up with gold and silver they figured that they no longer needed to practice temperance and frugality. Paper money is nothing more than credits and the more the government prints the less the dollar is worth. Tax and spend what we no longer have is disastrous.
I think so, too. Every day someome proposes that the “governament” pay for some new hand-out.
That proposal Suzie is absurd. The government doesn’t pay for ANYTHING….the TAXPAYERS do. The taxpayers entrust thier elected officials with decision making, and with thier best interest in mind. What do we get…a government that hides behind personal agendas that are covered up by the liberal media, and even lied about by the liberal media. I agree with you Suzie…and with Patricia above…we are being lied to, decieved by and taken advantage of, by the very people we entrusted to prevent these things!!
We have to help everyone and to do that We have to give all our hard earned money so they can give it away for us.
Sadly, because of human nature, no one guards someone else’s money as well as they guard their own money. Because of this, when politicians are elected into office, they simply do not attempt to conserve taxpayer money the way they would conserve their own. There is nothing that can be done about this; the only solution is to limit the amount of money and power that government has.
And it’s not just in government, the same thing happens in large corporations, whether for-profit or non-profit: the employees do not safeguard the corporation’s money and assets as jealously as they would guard their own money, and spend it a lot more carelessly than they would spend their own money. But government, as opposed to for-profit corporations, has an additional downside: a private sector employee succeeds by saving his company money; a government employee who succeeds in saving the government money is “rewarded” by seeing his department’s budget cut next year as (s)he didn’t use all the allotted funds. Whereas in business a manager or executive becomes well-known or successful by making money or increasing sales, the success of a government department head is perceived by how many employees (s)he oversees and how big his/her budget is. Thus, high ranking government department heads have every incentive to grow government. This is why government always grows. It is human nature. The Founding Fathers understood this and tried to separate power among different levels of government (federalism) and different branches of government (separation of powers) in order to slow down the inexorable growth of government.
Unfortunately, in 1913 we fundamentally changed the limited federal government the Founding Fathers gave us by: (i) ratifying the Sixteenth Amendment (the income tax), where we gave the federal government access to much more money that it was ever supposed to have access to; (ii) ratifying the Seventeenth Amendment (direct election of senators), where we broke down federalism and eliminated the role of the States in the federal government by eliminating their representation because senators, who were now popularly elected, like members of the House, were no longer representatives of and answerable to their home States; and (iii) creating the Federal Reserve, the “coup de grâce” where we ceded control of our monetary policy to an unelected cabal of bankers.
And now we’re surprised that the federal government spends an exorbitant amount of money every year? And we’re surprised that senators regularly vote for legislation that takes away power from the States and gives it to the federal government? And we’re surprised that the value of the dollar has plummeted by 96% since bankers have been able to tinker with its value? It was all very predictable, and indeed predicted by most of the anti-federalists.
Back then, people actually WORKED for their living…no free governmental handouts. Those who founded USA government knew what the limitations of government should be and how to handle a budget. Today, those limitations are scorned and our citizens are paying for their “give me” mentality, patronized by poilticians, for at least the last 60 years
I believe there is some frugality & temperance in our government but at this point in time the proper course of action would be to have none. We passed the point at which we could ever become solvent again sometime around 2005, at this point we should spend like drunken sailors & enjoy it until the economy collapses & we are ready to revamp the financial system.
Oh, you must be a student of George Soros, Mike… Thats what he’s been pushing for all along… to collapse the US economy, and force us into a new world order.
I fear you completely are unaware of that which you so glibbly advocate. When the economy collapses, as it likely will due to thinking like that, you will see total Chaos. You will not have money, if you have not prepared yourself for it, you will not have food, likely no water, and you won’t be able to buy anything…. certainly not gas to drive to… oh wait, no sense going to the store… you can’t spend what you don’t have…. The economy is based on money, and…. YOU DON’T HAVE ANY!!!!
Now hasn’t that been an interesting look at the reality you jest about wishing for?
TFP, “I think our government has gotten pretty far away from the idea of “frugality”, what do you think and why?” As you can see from the last post by Mike, we have strayed no further from “Frugality” than we have from “Intemperance.” Frugality is simply the practice of acquiring goods and services in a restrained manner, and resourcefully using already owned economic goods and services, to achieve a longer term goal. Our government has developed and honed it’s skill at acquiring in an unrestrained and resourceful manner the wealth of the citizen and business to further it’s own ends… Control over the populace.
Intemperance is not just a word for imbibing in a few drinks, it is Lack of temperance, as in the indulgence of an appetite or a passion.
Our entitlement society has a lack of temperance in it’s appetite and passion to suck the life out of our nation and of our government to seek to satiate that appetite as a means to satiate it’s own appetite and lust for power.
I have to be humbled when agreeing with this statement. Consider that our government is from the people, for a moment, and then think hard about the point I am going to make. OUr government is a direct reflection of the population it represents. The majority of people, today, are tied to credit in one form or another. Credit Cards and loans and mortgages all under the premise of the American Dream and the promise of prosperity. I have no problem with people living the dream and prospering however, the debt load that people have taken on with no thought of the personal and national economic costs have crippled this country. The mind set that money is infinite and can be doled out at an unbelieveable clip has infected our minds and has therefore, been reflected in the inexcusable irresponsibility of our government. Only recently, have the American people started to wake (again) from this spell. This is evident in the attempt to change the ranks of the two houses of Congress. Fugality and Temperance must first be virtues held by the people or the hopes that government will take this role, will be dashed against the rocks in a wave of unchecked spending. A discount is not a discount when the total spent bankrupts the buyer namely, the taxpayer. We must keep in mind our own pocketbooks and keep them in order. We must decline to put our personal lives under the weight of massive debt and live frugal and with temperance. This, in turn will not only send a message to our politicians but be passed to our children and therefore, shape the politicians of the future.
Pathetic punctuation^^^ Sorry.
Not just the country, but its people also have gotten away from it. Look how many are in debt because of the I want it now attitude.
People tend to think as the Federal Gov’t being a separate entity in and of itself, not funded and run by people WE vote in. Its a very strange phenom… Wonder if its because the mass information thrown at US citizens tend to be buried in legalese and takes a huge amount of time to sort through. The longer we allowed those who made decisions hide in the background noise of mass info, the more these folks decided to get more while they can. While they “made the hard decisions”, we turned to more of a world of leisure. Everyone wanted more w/out paying for it.
Charles, thats pretty much what Mike G. was saying. It used o be (in the founders day) that credit was not so dominating in life. Most things you got you saved for THEN you got it. I’m not saying credit didn’t exist, just that it was not so prevalent as it is today.
We’re far from the era when you could go out in the woods, mark of a plot of ground, take your axe and build a nice little log cabin on nothing but your own sweat and labor. Gots ta pay dearly for anything you needs or wants…
Credit is a complicated issue that the majority have not had in control for some time. Personally, I have used it for home, vehicle, renovations, furnishings, education…, you name the essential, I got it with credit… Nothing that was non-essential, ie., a hobby, recreation, jewelry, not even my wife’s engagement/wedding rings. We have never used our full credit time limit for anything, always paying off early.
In this particular moment in time…. Generally speaking, if you are creating debt and are not working to reduce it early and not starting a business, you are likely not in control and are not paying attention to the economy…IMHO.
You would do well to get yourself out of any debt as quickly as possible, and be somewhat prepared for what might happen should the economy fail. We have a huge national debt our govt is not interested in controlling, and the global community is pushing to break from the dollar which this administration is deflating by rapidly printing more. Our debtor nations are dumping dollars for tangible assets as fast as they can so as not to end up with worthless paper. If the dollar is disconnected as the world standard, it ‘will’ collapse and become worthless almost overnight. Think about what that would mean for a bit. Google Economic Collapse to see what has happened in our recent past to individual nations. Look at what was begun in 2008. Then look at the present military preparations for economic collapse CNBC reported on as recently as December 2010. (Note this is not your typical Ultra-Conservative, survivalist, doomsday website, but LIBERAL National Media.)
http://thenewamerican.com/usnews/politics/5418-us-military-prepares-for-economic-collapse
Society as a whole has gotten away from a frugal lifestyle in exchange for instant gratification, and ” greed is good”.
Dan, to add to your comment, when I was in college one of my professors pointed out that the payments should never outlast the item purchased. Using that rule of thumb buying on credit works for acquiring a home, vehicles, and major appliances. Education is in its own category since you are borrowing to invest in yourself. It only makes sense if the investment pays off. But using that rule of thumb one should not charge vacations, meals out, clothing, etc. unless the bill is paid in full when it arrives. If we all followed that rule, we would be better off.
Another point, whatever happened to good enough? When I bought my current car, on credit, I made a list of what I needed in a car. I started looking at the bottom line cars and went up until I found one that had what I needed. It was good enough. In fact, I love my car. It is just now showy.
Homes too. When my folks bought their first house they wanted to know how many bedrooms and bathrooms and was it in a good school district. They did not demand fancy upgrades. One of my favorite shows is House Hunters. I cannot count the number of times they have had some young couple starting out demanding granite countertops and stainless appliances. If you can afford those things great, but what ever happened to good enough?
Yeah, well, I dun herd bout dat Mazerati ya got parked in the garage under yer hi-rise gated community condo on the beach front….. -{;-)
Dan, LOL! I drive a Nissan which is parked in the basement. I live out in the country on 5 1/2 acres. No beach, but occassionally a part of the property gets a bit swampy!
Sounds like the farm I grew up on… Used to swin in the back 10 acres in the rainy season up until they build a bypass highway thru the edge of it. Fixed the drainage problem forever, but took away about 6 acres for roadway. I preferred the swimmin’ hole…
I grew up in te burbs, that is why I live in the country now!
Unfortunately, I went the opposite direction… not by choice.