June 30, 2010
Oxford, UK
I’m impressed by many insightful responses we received from yesterday’s letter. I’d really encourage you to browse the comments section and see how everyone weighed in on the topic of politicians protecting their interests at the expense of our civil liberties.
It’s important to explore these issues from time to time– they serve as a reminder to take action while we still can. But rather than dwell on the political negativity that seems so pervasive these days, I really want to get us refocused on solutions.
After all, there are a multitude of options and opportunities out there that lead to increased wealth, asset protection, and a fuller, more independent lifestyle. Each of us has the power to exploit these.
Before discussing solutions, though, I first want to give you a much better understanding about the philosophy of where I’m coming from. I think it’s probably obvious at this point– you realize that I’m no fan of government, but I want to explain why.
Sure, I’m dismayed when I see signs of increased authoritarianism, such as what happened at the G8/G20 summits in Canada. The greater concern I have, though, is that these rapidly expanding governments routinely destroy value and make things more difficult for productive individuals.
One of the comments that I read yesterday from reader ‘Chengdu Express’ summed it up quite clearly. To paraphrase the comment, there are essentially two types of people– those that benefit from the system (government jobs, free health care, generous pensions), and those that provide the benefit (taxes).
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June 29, 2010
Oxford, England
My apologies for not writing to you yesterday… I was angry (a rare occurrence for me), and I hate writing to my friends when I’m angry. You see, the G8/G20 summits took place over the weekend in Toronto, and everything about these events simply boils my blood.
To me, there’s nothing more utterly worthless than a bunch of corrupt, irrelevant, incompetent bureaucrats who generate enormous pomp and circumstance to gather together at taxpayer expense in order to accomplish absolutely nothing.
Yet this is what happens at these ’summits’ year in, year out. They’re not exactly staying at the Holiday Inn Express, either. The events are always in some posh resort where legions of underlings can enjoy champagne and filet mignon, courtesy of Joe Public, all the while their bosses strut and glad hand in front of the cameras.
This year, the focus of the summits was on the state of the world economy. They spent the weekend arguing, debating, and deal making… yet by Sunday evening, the only real accord reported by the group was an insipid statement about halving budget deficits by 2013.
The truth is, these summits carry absolutely no weight whatsoever; the G8/G20 are not sovereign bodies with any authority to enforce any of the resolutions. At the end of the day, each of the member countries is going to march to the beat of its own drum, no matter what it may have signed up for at the summit.
Regardless, the media ate it up. Newspaper headlines around the world heralded the governments’ progress to reduce their budget deficits… apparently failing to realize that half of a budget deficit is still a budget deficit, generating yet another uptick to the national debt.
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bad governments