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Response to a Proposal for Serfdom
A Critique of Barack Obama
by Punkerslut
holdoffhunger -+at+- gmail.com

Special to The Libertarian Enterprise

The economic, buyout plan of the United States government is made with the thought that the New Deal of Roosevelt ended the depression; but the unemployment during the "New Deal" only worsened during this period, and continued to worsen during Roosevelt's "Second New Deal." [*1] Even then, there is a tremendous difference in allocating taxes for public works, and paying for non-productive "toxic assets." When we choose to pay for the debt of these private firms, in their miscalculated business endeavors, we are taking a gigantic opportunity cost. The value of these firms, once we have paid for them, will be cut several fold. It is equivalent to buying a lottery ticket as a means of guaranteeing economic success. There are a million other alternatives to prosperity besides "scratch it tickets" and worthless assets.

It's the oldest, economic truth: everything is worth what it's buyer is willing to pay for it. So after we buy some worthless companies, they won't be worth half of what we paid for them, because nobody is willing to pay that much—nobody, that is, except the economic "genius" behind the Democratic Party.

The value of these assets, under their current debt, is a negative number. We lose our tax funds, but we gain a debt. With increased federal loans, taxes will either increase, or the value of the dollar will drop. This is going to accelerate at the very moment that our society takes one trillion dollars and, in a single transaction, devalues it to less than zero. This is similar to the economic recession of 1990 [*2]. This was also caused by the United States government knowingly allow banks to operate without regulatory enforcement. The value of billions of dollars suddenly vanished from the world market, costing jobs of millions.

Our economy is worsening on a day-by-day basis. This situation was produced by White House economists. Those who were so certain that their policies would create prosperity in the 90's are now silent. Greenspan was once giving speeches at the rate of over a a hundred thousand dollars—the failed economy, while at first it showed artificial signs of vitality in the 90's, certainly did not fail Greenspan. It did not fail the Bush or Clinton administration, when they both made illegal wars in Haiti and Iraq. It did not fail the CEOs and the masters of industry, whose wages are sometimes five thousand times that of the minimum wage worker. [*3] This is the case with Robert M. Delvin, president of American General Corporation. Ironically, this is the same exact company now seeking billions of dollars from public tax funds—maybe paying CEOs forty million dollars yearly is inadvisable?

There is no change-of-plan in any of these bailouts. These companies continue to import products from Burma, where an illegal military dictatorship has created forced work camps. [*4] The funds that came from this dictatorship, like that of the Chilean, Malaysian, or Iranian dictatorship, come from American corporations and tax dollars. In fact, it was the grandson of the New-Deal president Roosevelt, who had caused an Islamic-Republic revolution in Iran. [*5] Such acts continue to be hailed today by US presidents as "liberalism" and "freedom." Perhaps we should borrow a phrase from Orwell: "War is Peace; Freedom is Slavery; Ignorance is Strength." [*6]

Nothing is going to change in how these companies operate. Walmart and other international distributors still have the incredible rates of sexist discrimination. [*7] Companies continue to emit unregulated amounts of toxins into the air, filling our oceans with mercury and toxins. Forced labor camps in China and the Third World still use child labor. In the United States, the police and the army are still used violently against unionists—as recently as 2002. [*8] Not one single bit of any of this is mentioned. It's not because Obama wants things to change—it's to guarantee that they won't ever have a single chance of changing. Now that these activities, from third world death squads and genocide to exploitation and dictatorship, shall receive endless funds from my taxes.

Obama opposes any change to these policies of Capitalists. And once the buyout goes through, it will go from the practiced law, to the official law. Our tax dollars will be turning the machines that grind children's bones into dust. He was offered a bill to cut the hundreds of millions of dollars that were used for corporate bonuses of the buyout businesses. These companies are being criticized for their high CEO payout, their death squads, and their sweatshops. But when Obama had a bill to cut their bonuses, he refused. We cannot "govern out of anger." [*9]

It is governing out of anger, I suppose, when people want food to give their children, instead of paying out millions to those living on yachts and in mansions. Yes, Obama—Bread Riots Are Very Angry! I can only hope that these rioters are not betrayed by the memory of their children; I only hope that they have enough strength to rip down the tyrant who wants to chain their futures to murderers and thieves. Meanwhile, the bonuses also keep flowing into the personal coffers of the Obama administration, as well. [*10] This is hardly surprising. I couldn't imagine King Louis the 16th letting the aristocrats exploit and pillage the peasantry, without himself receiving some of the loot.

Now when I work, I can say, "Ah, yes, I am working! And that twenty percent tax of my income will keep those sweatshops going—it will keep the ground polluted—and it'll keep both the government and the economy out of my hands! The state supports the Capitalist, the Capitalist pays for the campaign financing of the government. What a wonderful little power-sharing circle, but alas, I have been left out of it, with neither a voice nor any freedom. Those murderers in South America and Africa, those overseers of forced labor camps and those government officials—never again shall their death squads run low on bullets, because I'm ready to work, and I'm ready to be taxed!"

None of the policies of these corporations have changed, and Obama is resisting these efforts stubbornly, calling them "governing out of anger." A prohibition on child labor, guaranteeing the right to unionize and strike, and the right of a people to self-determination—ah, yes! I can see how all of this is "governing out of anger." According to UNICEF, one out of every five children in the United States lives on less than one dollar a day. [*11] But Obama is quiet about it; perhaps his opinion is that widespread, child starvation is "governing out of love."

The bought-out businesses are operating exactly in the same manner that brought them to bankruptcy and debt. A store that sells sand in the desert has a better economic outlook.

Obama for Change? I'll call it how I see it: Obama for Death Squads, Forced Labor, and Children in Poverty.

Resources

*1. Hopkins, Eric. Industrialization and Society: A Social History, 1830-1951. Routledge, 2000. p. 197.

*2. "Dirty Money: BCCI—The Inside Story of the World's Sleaziest Bank," by Mark Potts, Nick Kochan, Robert Whittington, March 1992.

*3. Source: The Houston Chronicle.

*4. "The Burma road to ruin," Guardian.Co.Uk, by Mark Tallentire, Friday 28 September 2007 14.17 BST.

*5. "A Very British Coup" British Broadcasting Corporation. 2005.

*6. "1984," by George Orwell, published June 8, 1949.

*7. "Wal-Mart And Sex Discrimination by the Numbers," by Dan Ackman, 06.23.04, 9:40.

*8. "Bush orders 'cooling off' period at United," United Press International, Jan 21, 2002.

*9. "Obama: We Can't 'Govern Out Of Anger'," by Philip Elliott, March 23, 2009 11:17 AM EST, Associated Press.

*10. "Obama's Campaign Staffers Get Bonuses," by New York Daily News, November 14, 2008 11:26 AM.

*11. "Young child survival and development," by UNICEF.

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