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'Economics 101'

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 30, 2009

When (oh when!) will the people and government of the United States learn the basic facts of personal and national economic life?

One, not everybody in a society, a nation, can be rich. If there were no people who needed to work to earn money, no one would make any products or perform any services. If we were all rich, we would all be poor. Would you want your garbage man or your auto mechanic to be so wealthy he didn't need to work?

Two, pyramid schemes always collapse, and the frantic investing in real estate and "flipping your way to wealth" of the recent past is simply a pyramid scheme.

Three, you can't painlessly and magically "spend" your way out of a recession/depression. You have to work, scrimp, save and earn your way out of it.

Four, the current "stimulus" packages are simply the creation of fake, bogus money unbacked by any real worth or value. All they will do is create massive debt and massive inflation that will bankrupt people who live on fixed incomes, as most retirees do. Welcome to the economic ghetto, all you golden-agers who voted for "change;" you're going to get it!

Five, the United States has only about four percent of the world's population and about four percent of its livable land area. We cannot support the rest of the world with foreign aid. We can't afford it. We can't save the world singlehandedly; we're too small.

Six, not everyone on this planet who is unhappy in their home country automatically has the right to come live in the U.S. and be supported by American taxpayers. We are not being mean-spirited if we refuse to be guilt-tripped into giving away our country. If we don't control our borders, we are doomed.

Seven, we cannot be the world's military policeman. Again, we just aren't big enough.

Eight, illegal drugs are destroying our nation economically as well as physically and morally. We need to find the courage to impose strong, draconian - even capital - punishment on anyone who passes illegal substances to another person.

Nine, we can't let an ever-growing percentage of our population live on welfare, live on the work of others. Except in the case of people who are totally incapacitated, we have to have the "tough love" to say "those who don't work, don't eat," and it's their problem, not "society's."

All of this is simply "Economics 101" for today's world. If we don't wake up and learn it quickly, we won't have a country much longer. And we won't deserve to.

HUGH WILLIAMSON

Apollo Beach

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