The state of the union in plain English

What to do when the rule of law has been replaced by the rule of morons

by Craig J. Cantoni

We're being ruled by morons. If you doubt this, consider the following crises brought on by the morons. At the end of the sobering list, you'll find suggestions on what you can do when the rule of law has been replaced by the rule of morons.

The Monetary and Fiscal Crisis

The problems below have resulted from the Federal Reserve's easy money, the government's deficits and unfunded liabilities, and the disincentives to save that are embedded in the tax code and social-welfare programs.

• In 2002, one dollar could buy one euro. Today, it takes $1.60 to buy one euro. If it were not for this precipitous fall in the dollar, some experts say that a barrel of imported oil would cost about $80.

• From the end of the Second World War until the mid-1990s, the savings rate of US households fluctuated between eight and 12 percent of disposable income. It fell below five percent in the late 1990s and went negative in 2005.

• US households hold pension assets of more than $11 trillion, an impressive sounding amount until you realize that the assets only come to about $4,500 per year, per retiree, assuming a life expectancy of 20 years after retirement and a real return on investments of five percent. Many boomers were counting on escalating home prices and stock market valuations to supplement their nest eggs, but now face declines in both.
  

• Astonishingly, each American under the age of 18 is being bequeathed a bill of $800,000 for the unfunded liabilities of Social Security and Medicare of previous generations.

• Local state and national governments now consume about 45 percent of national income, versus 12 percent prior to 1930 and 22 percent in 1947. If regulatory costs are added, well over half of income is consumed by the government today.

• About 60 percent of the population either works for the government, is in a household where the primary breadwinner works for the government, is dependent on government subsidies or handouts, or works in a private-sector job that depends on government regulations (e.g., tax accountants). And then Americans wonder why politicians pander to special interests. Suggestion: Look in the mirror.
  

The Education Crisis

The conventional wisdom says that American high school students are not taught rigorous courses in math and science. Actually, that's not true for many students, especially high achievers from two-parent families and with college-educated parents. In order to meet the toughened admission requirements of good universities, such students are taking rigorous honors and advanced placement courses that are more challenging than the courses taken by their parents and grandparents. There is an academic crisis, however, within certain minority and socioeconomic groups, a crisis that is exacerbated by high rates of out-of-wedlock births and single-parent families, which in turn have been exacerbated by government policies.

But even the high achievers are woefully deficient in economics and political philosophy. Either intentionally or unintentionally, they have been taught a statist, collectivist perspective on economics and government--a view that is reinforced in college. As such, they become adults who don't know economic facts like the ones in this article and thus elect morons to public office.

The Housing Crisis

The proximate cause of the housing bubble and its collapse was greedy homeowners and investors, but the root causes were the Fed's easy money, the incentives in the tax code that encouraged people to buy more expensive homes than they would have otherwise bought, and government housing policies that encouraged lenders to give unsecured mortgages to unqualified borrowers. These root causes are not being addressed by our morons in Washington.

The Energy Crisis

Yes, energy is a crisis, but it didn't have to be one. A combination of government inaction and the wrong government action has left us with the no real alternatives to petroleum. With foresight and strategic thinking ten years ago, the situation would be different today. The nation would be benefiting from a marked increase in domestic oil production and refining capacity; a marked increase in the use of our massive coal reserves; and the construction of scores of new nuclear power plants, which, although not cheap, could recharge electric cars, heat and air-condition homes, and provide the energy necessary to produce hydrogen for transportation and other uses.

Instead, our ruling class has left us extremely vulnerable to interruptions in the supply of oil and to rising fuel prices. They have interfered with the market when the market would have worked, and they have taken counterproductive actions in those cases where markets wouldn't work.

Americans don't realize that in today's just-in-time world serviced by 18-wheel trucks, there is only a two- to three-day supply of food and other essentials. We're standing on a razor's edge of security. It's not a stretch to think about an interruption in oil supply triggering food riots. Nor is it a stretch to think about a war over resources. After all, ever since humans learned to stand upright, they've been killing each other over resources.

The Iraq War Crisis

The nation has done a lot of boneheaded things internationally under both Democrats and Republicans, especially in the Middle East. But the Iraq War was particularly boneheaded, considering the foregoing crises facing the country. Only 29 percent of Congress voted against the war, but it's difficult to recall anyone in Congress or the media asking obvious questions about unintended consequences. It shouldn't have taken the benefit of hindsight to ask:

• When the Sunni regime of Saddam Hussein is removed from power, what will keep Shiites from seeking revenge on Sunnis and rekindling the longstanding hatred between the two branches of Islam?

• When the Sunni counterbalance to Shiite Iran is removed from power in Iraq, what will fill the void to keep Iran in check?

• If Baath Party members are fired from their government posts, how will they find work and who will run government bureaus and utilities?

In addition to the crisis of Iraq, there is the huge cost and ongoing blowback of maintaining over 700 military bases around the world.

The Health Care Crisis

The major cause of the health care crisis can be summarized in one sentence: The government almost totally destroyed a consumer market in medical insurance and medical care 66 years ago.

Now the geniuses in Washington and in the presidential race want to administer the coup de grace to what is left of the market by nationalizing the industry.

Just as they do with the Iraq War, politicians and the press are not asking questions about unintended consequences. In addition to rationing of medical services and long wait times for treatment, the nationalization of the industry could result in lower incomes and higher unemployment for the poor. Studies have shown that as entitlements increase, the poor have less of an incentive to improve their lives.

Conclusion

Supposedly, we're a constitutional republic that is ruled by the rule of law. The law specifies how we elect our representatives and how we throw them out of office if they are morons and endanger us. But we're not throwing them out of office. Worse, we are getting ready to elect one of the Three Stooges to be president.

What can be done? Nothing. You see, the problem isn't that we are ruled by morons. The problem is that we are morons for electing morons.
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Mr. Cantoni is an author, a columnist, and a moron. He can be reached at ccan2@aol.com.