This is a lesson children learn about the whole world

Has anyone here read Ken Gormley's new book about Bill Clinton "Death of American Virtue"?

"This is a lesson children learn about the whole world"

But the real question is: Is our children learning? Indications so far suggest: Sadly, no.

slag:

Since "the children" are learning that we has 57 States, I have to agree.

Soon they will tell us "There is no grown up in charge of your health care. Begin taking actions of your own to improve your health."

But I thought government was going to feed and educate my children; provide me with a job from cradle to grave; and ensure me with necessary healthcare from childbirth to death too -- the government would take care of me every step of the way if I was just a good citizen, paid my taxes if needed, and obeyed?

You mean individuals really do have to act in their own best interests, even when the temptations to turn everything from their finances to their health to childrearing over to the State?

How will people do that, when they've never been taught or encourage to adopt such independent skills because we all thought the policymakers had our backs?

Next thing you'll be telling us America's credit rating is being lowered because of our debts. And that the future we've all banked on in terms of Social Security, Medicare and all the other programs we've been paying into all our work lives simply won't be there since we had to take care of all the poor people and their children first, and there's nothing of our money left over for ourselves to count on in old age.

I work for one of those companies and I remember distinctly sitting in a very tense, hushed meeting and I said "I keep waiting for the 'smart people' to show up and help us with this" and this one grizzled old VP said "we ARE the smart people - there's no one coming to help us" and that's when I said to myself holy sh*t...

All I can say is thank goodness there isn't anyone in charge. Central planning of the economy has led to ruin everywhere it has been tried. The closest things we have had to people in charge, at the Fed, the White House, and in Congress have been some of the leading proponents of fiscal irresponsibility. We lament Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, but our government has gone them one better and mortgaged our future earnings for our short term health.

This is one of the key arguments of The Road to Serfdom. The assumption that there needs to be top down control over the system leads to the notion that we are all children, that we can act irresponsibly because there is always going to be someone, somewhere to bail us out, that a nanny state is needed to watch out for all of us.

The intellectual hubris of the statist is to assume that it is he who is that someone who can plan our way out of problems. This colors reactions to all failures- they assume we need a stronger leader to enforce the plan, or we need a stronger plan and more control. Surely some controls are needed, information provided must be honest and verifiable, dishonest actors must be removed, but it is so very easy to go too far, and the unintended consequences are mostly bad.

So how'd all you smart commenters make out during the financial meltdown? Retirement still on track?

Yes, tyvm.

"Since "the children" are learning that we has 57 States, I have to agree."

Does this kind of thing usually work for you?

"The intellectual hubris of the statist is to assume that it is he who is that someone who can plan our way out of problems."

This is true. Who believes in planning these days? You go to work with the economy you have--not the economy you might want...