"The only way to be happy, is to give happy."
I think it's time for another collaboration between all three of you readers out there! I always enjoy the intelligent and thoughtful comments to this blog, and have particularly enjoyed the collaborations we've done. So here's another, in the form of a simple question:
I am a Town Clerk in the Township of which I live, so I am involved at the local level. I believe that our government tries to fix problems by making up laws. What else are they suppose to do while they are in office. They have to make it look like they are doing something to be re-elected. Then when someone puts a microphone in there face, there focus goes from the heart to there head, and then they believe they are above the people. Then all the fixing they think they are doing turn back into problems for the next one to try to fix. A circle of passing the buck, and no true form of Leadership of taking personal responsibility like another organization I just happen to be very fond of! TEAM!
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Chris,
From learning what the government should do according to the constitution,it is not helping at this time. It is very difficult to listen and read all that is coming from the politicians and believe anyone of them are giving truthful testimony. There are movies shown on the Turner Network that were made in the middle and late 30’s that show how much the government shouldn’t be trusted. It is interesting that the public still hasn’t learned their lessons. As you and Orrin have continually indicated change will only come through education.
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I believe the U.S. government creates more problems than they solve. We have to remember that government does not have any money to begin with so the only way they can “fix problems” is through taxation. And when they can’t get the money through taxation they borrow it from other countries such as China. And when they can’t borrow it they simply start up the printing press. So for each problem the government tries to solve they probably create another five. All government can do is take from one group and give to another. On a more positive note though I believe in this economic down turn along with bill HR 1207 ( federal reserve transparency act) currently with I think 27 co sponsers that people will start to understand that socialism doesn’t work and that freedom is so much sweeter.
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OUR GOV. ABSOULTLY CAUSES OUR PROBLEMS. They have no accountably, we the people do not stand up and ask why, or flood them with calls to say stop wasting our money!!Most people have become comfortabaly numb, or don”t realize that the elected officials work for us, we have an obligation to keep them accountable. I am so glad that one person at a time we are able to help people realize this.
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Chris, not only does the government cause the majority of our problems, but they actually make matters worse once they find out that they caused it in the first place. I believe in your ideas about medicine that causes side-effects that then require medicine that causes side-effects that require medicine….
Let’s tax the people that got bonuses from the bailout 90% so that the American public can get back the money that shouldn’t have been given in the first place! You are absolutely right when you stated that at some point you just have to let things heal and put up with the side-effects.
Thank you so much for such a great blog. You have helped me start thinking more clearly than I have in years.
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I have always believed less is more in regards to Gov’t. I am so completely digusted with our country and all the (sheep or chickens) that are so well trained by the foxes. We desparately need more RASCALS to save this country.
Thanks for all you do.
Randy Vander Kolk Band of Bros
also check out
http://www.investmentrarities.com/bestofjimcook.html
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“I’m not very smart, but I try not to be stupid.”
I’m sure many of us remember that awesome Geoff Bodine quote. I don’t think you have to be a rocket scientist to see the results that follow government intervention. I think anybody who looks at the evidence through the eyes of a student will see a direct correlation between government intervention and a decline in quality and production in anything they touch.
It’s that whole principle of 3rd party purchases that Bob McEwen teaches about. When a 3rd party purchases something on behalf of you with your money they neither care about cost nor quality because they are not affected by the purchase.
Then when factor human nature into the equation it is not hard to imagine corrupt things happening where politicians make decisions for selfish ambition or other person gain. Here is one such example…
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=456870
Does the government cause our problems? Collectively yes, and it is easy to throw blame and get all worked up about it, but ultimately it is our fault for electing representatives who pander to our own selfish desires and agendas instead of those who would act with integrity.
As long as we keep putting them there, they’re going to continue to rob, cheat and steal.
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I like to think of the government as a road builder. The American population tells the “government” where we want or need to go and hires (elects) the contractors (representatives) to build roads which are open to everyone. Then it’s up to us to have a strong enough desire (dream) to get on the road to destinations chosen by each of us.
Unfortunately, we are living in an age where the government is taking our resources to build the roads and then telling us where we want to go, how fast we can go, what mode of transportation we are allowed to use….
What results is people all over the country are unhappy and discouraged, either because they really don’t want to go anywhere, or would choose neither the destination nor the government’s mode of transportation to get us there.
The end result is the destruction of initiative and accountability – both leading to tyranny.
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Hey Chris – I have to agree with commenters Ryan and Kevin. As well intended as a few civil servants may be, (because the majority of the 545 top people in Washington are there to grab power for themselves) to quote Milton Friedman, “We know a famous road that is paved with good intentions”. Every day Congress meets, we lose more freedom. Government interference is what has CAUSED our economic problems. To wit: Chuck Shumer yesterday telling the AIG bonus recipients to return the money or they would be taxed 100% – when it was his fellow Democrat Senator Chris Dodd who authored and pushed through the amendment to the bailout bill PERMITTING those bonuses IN THE FIRST PLACE!
Putting aside the PR stupidity of paying those bonuses, are we really to the point now where our government gets to decide what is just and unjust compensation and steal what they determine is “unjust”?!
Here’s a great video of an interview with Friedman some years ago. Be aware that back then the terms “Liberal” and “Conservative” were differently defined. Pay particular attention to his statements at the 10:20 and 14:58 minute marks. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfdRpyfEmBE&feature=related And I highly recommend your readers read “The Road to Serfdom” by Hayek and “Economics in One Lesson” by Hazlitt. Keep up the great work Chris!
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Chris, why did you make the question so easy 🙂
Kidding aside, I think it depends. There are obviously problems that I create myself that the gov’t has nothing to do with. An example, my lack of fiscal intelligence that created my debt, was unfortunately created by yours truly. Maybe a few years back I would like to blame someone else, but as they say, “the buck stops here”!!!
However, on a more macro level, most everything that the gov’t does, especially in a creation mindset (this program or that program), causes the individuals in this country more problems and roadblocks.
As far as I can tell, our gov’t, even though it’s still one of the best in the world, has gotten too large. It has moved so far from it’s original intended functions and purpose that it has become difficult for me to understand and comprehend HOW we can move it back to the right point. I mean, I liken our gov’t to a drug addict. No matter how much good they want to do, they are still addicted to OUR money, and they have to continue the spins and stories to continue their habit!!
In essence, I feel that the gov’t has so overstepped it’s bounds, and has gotten themselves so far in, it simply continues to create more and more problems.
I love what you talked about in Saginaw on your “second second” CD. It will only take a small group of men and women with the right thinking to influence our country and get everyone thinking TRUTH. It excites us to think about the history that we’re making in this country. Our purpose is clear, the leadership is right, now we just need more soldiers! Let’s go run at our destiny!!
Thanks for all you do,
Chris
PS – I’d love to hear more of your thoughts on the numbers needed to change the thinking of the WHOLE country…..
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As some other commenters have said, the govt doesn’t have any money, so to “fix” our problems with our money is a silly notion. They aren’t supposed to “fix” our problems. They are supposed to protect us so we have the freedom to fix our own.
Not only does the government cause problems, I believe they cause some of them intentionally. I know it’s a scary thought….that’s another discussion for another day.
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Both. Government has been creating money out of thin air and printing it to cover the shortfall between its expenses and borrowing from overseas. This is why the tax code is so complicated, to pay interest on the national debt.
It then passes legislation to ease lending restrictions, and in the next breath it is giving cash to those who behaved immorally or ignorantly with no consequences for their actions. If only the government had sense enough to go back to its governing document, the Constitution.
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A nation’s greatest asset is a people that is free. Government helps bring order out of chaos, sort of like a manager, but more control is not the answer. To break a horse is to manage it, but one would never want to crush the spirit of a great horse. A free people are the same. The answer to our problems is not to crush the spirit of the American people with taxes and inflation. Instead, throw gas on the fire of the American spirit, encourage ingenuity and creativity, and join together as one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty, and justice for all. Long live the American spirit!
Edg
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I have a question. Would our country be the greatest nation on earth today, if our founding fathers had created a government like the one, that we currently have controlling our nation today?
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Hey Chris!
I have come to believe that any local, state or federal government that collects taxes from us and then “looses” more than half of that tax money through administration of said government is the cause of far more problems than they could ever fix.
Lead on my general!
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It reminds me of science. You answer one question only to be left with 2-10 more. Governments power today all seamed to stem from the mass publics’ ignorance really. The people never really having a clear understanding of what’s going on elect the ones with the loudest mouth and talks to there emotions. In Sales it’s about finding that need and filling it. Problem is that anyone can use that power. Including the ones who have there own interests at heart. When speaking to a persons needs they may only go as far as the band-aid effect and try to solve the symptom. But that’s cause it’s the quick and easy sale. I truly admire what ya’ll (I’m from TX) are doing with TEAM cause ya’ll are tying to make the hardest sale of all. Selling people on themselves and getting to the root of the problems. Us.
We elect the officials who come from the “us” pool. Therefore getting “us” to where we need to be spiritually and mentally is one of the most crucial parts to leading a successful organization. Like a country.
So as far as Gov. causing or fixing problems, I think it’s our best and worst attempts at trying to lead ourselves without God and His laws. Government can be a HUGE lever to use for the common good. Especially ours. And I use “the common good” heasatantly. Thing is our current Gov. is causing more problems that fixing cause they don’t seam to be thinking things through far enough and playing to todays “NOW” culture rather than being the leaders and doing what ought to be done.
Our core gov. is the best there is. All the sequins and decorations are getting a bit gaudy and are getting in the way of what really matters. I say get all three branches on system and then if they want to pass a bill or start a war they really WILL have to check up-line first.
This would have been my 2 cents, but looks like I might need them for upcoming new taxes. Better hang on to them for now.
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Problems? What problems??
The government can still collect money whether it actually provides valuable goods/services or not! That’s sheer genius!
What are you gonna do – NOT pay taxes?? MWAHAHA!
“It’s not paranoia if they really ARE out to get you.”
(BTW, I love the medicine/side effects analogy.)
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I can’t think of a circumstance where the government at any level has really helped me personally, and although the government can inconvenience me it has never caused me a problem either.
The problem we face with government now is that many elected officials have stopped making decisions based on sound charactor and integrity and have started making decisions based on popularity. Therefore we get cake and circuses, and very little leadership.
As a former law enforcement officer I would point to Jessica’s Law here in California as a prime example. Good intentions, bad law, passed because the author wanted to be seen as strong on crime and no one could argue against it without being labeled soft or friendly toward child molesters. The Probation and Parole officers that have to enforce this law going nuts trying to enforce it, or even make sense of it and the sex offenders have all been forced into homelessness which makes them very hard to supervise!
In government less truly is more!
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Chris:
I believe that our government has had very good intentions and some forms of our government are needed and wanted. The police, the firemen, etc. They do help protect us. I have a brother who is a fireman and a sister who works for the police department.
However, the major problems in our country currently have been created by the government and they cannot be fixed overnight.
Why anyone thinks they can swoop in and save the day is beyond me.
Their decision making skills definitely need some work. We did not get here overnight, and it will take much more than the government to help us get out.
Before TEAM, I did not believe that only one person could make a difference, but that one person leads to another and then another.
Thank you Chris for your endless efforts with this blog and always focusing on making a difference.
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I believe that the US government today causes far more problems than it fixes. I also believe that people confuse good intentions with results, and that they also feel powerless and turn to the government out of hopelessness. Here is an example that I thought might be used to test this theory.
Let’s start by rounding out some numbers to make the math a bit more simple. The estimate of what GM and Chrysler need to survive is about $60 billion. (Could be $30 billion – could be $100 billion – who knows?) There are about 300 million people (not households) in the US. (It’s a bit more, but let’s go with this number.) $60 billion divided by 300 million equals $200 per person (not per household).
Let’s also assume for the moment that 100% of the population agrees that the auto companies should be bailed out. (Hardly the case!) If we all mailed $200 per person to GM and Chrysler, the two auto companies would be all set – for the moment. (Same management is still at the auto companies, but we’ll skip that for now.)
But most people don’t have that kind of money (they can hardly afford Autoship or a few CDs and a book), but all those jobs have to be saved (politicians’ jobs along with autoworkers). The population as a whole has voted in the market place not to buy enough cars at a certain price to keep the auto companies profitable, and the companies have not responded to consumer demands. We have decided not to voluntarily give our money to the auto companies even in exchange for cars.
But we don’t know how to fix the problem because we don’t understand that a new company or industry could grow if we had our own money and spent it the way we decided. Which horse-and-buggy companies in 1910 could have foreseen auto repair shops and drive-thrus and tire companies and glass companies becoming such large economic forces?
So we let the government take our money by force (try not paying your taxes and see what happens) and give it to the auto companies. In essence, by letting this happen, we are saying that the auto companies and everyone who relies on them, as a group, have more of a right to your money than you do.
On top of that, the government has to take a slice to support its operations. Then, the auto companies have to abide by the strings that come with the money, so it costs a bit more. (As an example, I work in the real estate industry and have seen local and state agencies take 10% of HUD monies to support their own agencies. Thus, just at the local level, 10% of the money is NOT going towards solving the problem.)
So, on the average, that $200 per person is probably closer to $225 per person that the government has to forcibly take from you.
Now, do the same sort of math for $1 trillion for the banking industry.
And take that money from the people who just lost 20%, 30%, or 50% of their net worth when the stock market dropped. The government is taking money from people who just lost money in order to give it to the businesses that lost money for us in the first place.
Fortunately, we live in a free country where all this can be solved if you just spend more of the money that you just lost. ☺
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I don’t involve the government in my grocery shopping for the same reason I don’t appreciate their purchases on my behalf for the many other things they were not designed to do. It is time to take back our freedom and allow individuals, churches, and free enterprise businesses to do what we do best and let the government do what they were designed to do such as keeping us free people in protecting us with our great armed forces. Please keep challenging us to think, make decistions, and grow a spine.
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I agree with all the posts here that the government causes most of the problems and is either too ignorant or too ashamed to say they caused it….so they point fingers at things like “free enterprise” and set about trying to “fix/cover-up” their blunders. I knew we were in trouble when I took the kids on a tour of our state capitol and the tour guide told us how many laws they make every year (why?) and that one of the most recent was choosing our State Apple! Yes! Apple! I am glad we paid for that! I was wondering how we would go on without knowing our state apple!
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Chris,
I will answer your question this way: We have 3 cats. They are vey nice, well-trained and mostly well-behaved cats. They do things cats do, like eating cat food, sleeping on beds and other soft surfaces, going outdoors in nice weather and so on. They meow and purr. (I have our smallest one purring in my lap, somewhat hindering my ability to work, even as as I type this!) They get occasional scraps of people’s food as treats.
And our cats know they are cats. They know they aren’t dogs, or pigs or birds or people, or any other of God’s creatures. And they don’t much seem to want to be any of those other things. Being cats seems to suit them, and us, just fine.
Our government is an animal. Unlike our cats, it wasn’t content with what it was. Our Constitution gave it deliberately limited powers, which it has expanded, both beurocratically and by laws and declarations. It doesn’t want to do what it was designed to do. Some call this evolution. Other’s don’t. Those of us who don’t call it socialism.
Now, Chris, have I answered your question sufficiently?
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Our government (or any government) fixes or creates problems to the extent that it’s people elect and allow. For who is the government, but it’s own people? Poorly educated people have elected a government that promises things will be easier for the people, which, in turn, created a government that creates problems. Unfortunately, the properly educated people in this country have obviously either become a minority, or have found “more important” things to do on voting day. Is our government trying to fix problems? Some in our government are trying to fix problems, but being small in number, are rendered powerless. Some in our government are being misled into believing they are fixing problems by yet others in our government who are being led by greed. And who is the father of greed? So who, in fact, is leading our country? I pray that we educate our fellow people, that educated people vote on voting day, and that we will once again have a government that will do that which was intended for it to do – and leave it’s citizens to fix their own problems.
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Ultimately I think that the government enables a lot of bad decision making; however the citizens and businesses have some level of responsibility also.
If the citizens would impliment delayed gratification and not buy that thing that they can’t afford then there wouldn’t be a record # of foreclosures.
Does the government hold a gun to someones head and tell them to get a divorce? I don’t think so.
It’s a vicious cycle of the citizens blaming the government for the problems and the government blaming the citizens. Who’s going to take responsibility?
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Jonathan – I think you hit it on the head. And for sure the roads our government has been building have, for the most part, not been ones I ever asked for or secretly wanted. I’ve been trying to figure out how we the people could fix the government – but short of some very radical, revolutionary ideas I am stumped.
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