I never thought much of history when I was in high school.\u00a0 Why do we need to remember all that silly stuff that happened a long time ago?\u00a0 That was never fully explained, and so it seems a little pointless.<\/p>\n\t
Now I know it matters, and I wish someone would’ve explained why.\u00a0 It matters because history repeats itself and people have short memories.<\/p>\n\t
Life is not a laboratory, so you can’t know what will happen if you pass ObamaCare or not.\u00a0 There is no control group or double blind peer reviewed studies on the subject; we can’t split the US in two and have one group continue status quo while the other pursues health care reform, then compare the results…….but in reality there is something that will often suffice: history.<\/p>\n\t
History (sometimes modern history) runs natural experiments for us; if you understand history, you understand the present…you can preview the future.<\/p>\n\t
“The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public’s money.” <\/strong> It is debated who originally said that, but let’s give it to the Frenchman Alexis de Tocqueville.<\/p>\n\t I think about that a lot lately, because I wonder about the sustainability of Democracy<\/strong>.\u00a0 I’ve already discussed that I don’t understand how our monetary system is sustainable….money as debt requires us all to be in ever increasing amounts of debt to allow the economy to grow.<\/p>\n\t I watch the welfare systems of Europe….where the people,\u00a0 always on strike, demand more and more from a government they don’t seem to understand is not giving them jobs.\u00a0 It does not provide them with healthcare, or a pension, or education, or really anything……it takes from them and when they receive it back they act like they’ve gotten something.\u00a0 It was theirs in the first place.\u00a0 If I rob most of your money, then give some of it back to you….have I really done you a favor?<\/strong><\/p>\n\t Maybe in some cases…if you can do better with the money than I can (which is possible)……but is it sustainable?\u00a0 Won’t I always end up voting myself more until I do to the country what the labor unions did to Detroit and the US auto industry?<\/p>\n\t I think of the US, with its crippling income inequality, and I see a future where voters may well try to vote themselves more.\u00a0 Why not?<\/p>\n\t If people no longer feel hard work can get them ahead in life (and I admit that as I watch Wall Street get bailed out while I foot the bill, I wonder whether lobbyists might be better than hard work), they will pursue other means…voting themselves benefits is one avenue.\u00a0 Crime is another.\u00a0 Leaving the country is another (an avenue we see Mexicans\u00a0 pursue).<\/p>\n\t Government does not hold any real power.\u00a0 People agree uneasily to be governed because they feel the alternative is even worse…but that doesn’t mean it will always be.\u00a0 History teaches us that ALL governments except the ones currently in existence have failed.<\/strong> These will likely fail too.<\/p>\n\t Alexis de Tocqueville also said, “The best laws cannot make a constitution work in spite of morals; morals can turn the worst laws to advantage.”<\/strong> and its corollary: No contract can be sufficiently specified as to prevent dishonest behavior by those who wish to gain advantage.<\/p>\n\t History, and Stanley Milgram’s Stanford Prison Experiment, show that people’s morals are easily swayed.\u00a0 People act in accordance with the situation.<\/p>\n\t Our Constitution, Democracy….our way of life…..its all enabled by this basic agreement that we trust people and its possible to come to mutually beneficial agreements.<\/p>\n\t Government (Democracy or otherwise) is a moot point if people decide the system is rigged against them and that it doesn’t pay to obey the rules.<\/strong><\/p>\n\t Governments fail for this reason.\u00a0 At that point you must reset the people’s sentiment by fixing the system; or you have to bribe them with their own money.<\/p>\n\t I wonder about the sustainability of all our modern governments.\u00a0 I think they will fail; perhaps in our lifetime.\u00a0 I wonder what will come next?\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I never thought much of history when I was in high school.\u00a0 Why do we need to remember all that silly stuff that happened a long time ago?\u00a0 That was never fully explained, and so it seems a little pointless. Now I know it matters, and I wish someone would’ve explained why.\u00a0 It matters because […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0},"categories":[1],"tags":[73],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3IMYj-4B","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":47,"url":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/?p=47","url_meta":{"origin":285,"position":0},"title":"New scientific “truths”:","author":"kellio","date":"February 11, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"History Shows That Famous Thinkers Also Get It Wrong. And they admit it.","rel":"","context":"In "Asides"","block_context":{"text":"Asides","link":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/?cat=23"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":552,"url":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/?p=552","url_meta":{"origin":285,"position":1},"title":"Tax cuts for the rich do not stimulate the economy. They aren’t even a neutral. Tax cuts for the rich are a drain on the economy.","author":"kellio","date":"May 15, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"A little high level data\/history here, and then we'll jump into Myths related to taxes for the rich. \u00a0I will provide a logical plausible mechanism for why low taxes for the rich do not stimulate the economy. 1. \u00a0The GDP growth rates during times of high marginal tax rates on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"economics\"","block_context":{"text":"economics","link":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/?tag=economics"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":441,"url":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/?p=441","url_meta":{"origin":285,"position":2},"title":"Only the government can save us now……. from the government.","author":"kellio","date":"May 14, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"It is sometimes said that the cure is worse than the disease; however, sometimes the cure IS the disease. I was working in a benefits office of a large university and there was a lady who got a customer service award.\u00a0 The story was told that employees would call the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Inside My Head"","block_context":{"text":"Inside My Head","link":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/?cat=9"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":34,"url":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/?p=34","url_meta":{"origin":285,"position":3},"title":"The important questions","author":"kellio","date":"December 9, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"I have grown tired of asking questions to which I know there are no answers. Perhaps that is adulthood? I ask more immediate questions these days: What will I do today after work? What will I do today at work? Where will I eat dinner? What kind of beer do\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Favorite Entries"","block_context":{"text":"Favorite Entries","link":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/?cat=10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":728,"url":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/?p=728","url_meta":{"origin":285,"position":4},"title":"Why Ayn Rand was wrong","author":"kellio","date":"May 27, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I've read a lot of her books: Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged, Anthem, We The Living, and also a few of the non-fiction works. \u00a0I found them inspiring and they've had an influence on my life. \u00a0And...I think she is mostly wrong regarding what our relationship should be with other people (which\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Stories\/Observations"","block_context":{"text":"Stories\/Observations","link":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/?cat=11"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":36,"url":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/?p=36","url_meta":{"origin":285,"position":5},"title":"New Year’s Resolutions","author":"kellio","date":"January 2, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Since I took down the history of the website I can't link to last year's New Year's post, but here are my resolutions: \"2007 is going to be the best year ever because I said so. If you do not think 2007 is going to shape up too well....then please\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Resolutions\"","block_context":{"text":"Resolutions","link":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/?tag=resolutions"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=285"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":287,"href":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285\/revisions\/287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}