"Get outta my way ... and bring me a drink!"
Putting Proper back in “Property” – Part 6
Picture a lumbering, arrogant, drug-addicted, womanizing, self-delusional, chain-smoking bully. He’s also got cancer and Alzheimers … and a hunchback! And he’s broke. Wait, not just broke, but massively in debt – with every credit card maxed out and his house triple-mortgaged and in default. What a sad son-of-a-bitch!
It’s not a pretty picture, is it? What a shame … Uncle Sam used to be a pretty healthy and attractive guy. He used to be an upstanding man in the community, a hell of a lot more social, and more productive. He even used to mind his own business.
Yep, Uncle Sam. The embodiment of our once-great nation, he is beset with all these maladies as the result of an inverted and mangled morality that can only result in long-term hospitalization, bankruptcy, and/or death. The Government of the United States fits the profile of an alcoholic-addict perfectly – somebody who plays every imaginable trick with himself (and anybody else who will listen) in order to continue the delusion that he is a victim, that he can’t be held responsible for his actions, that everybody and the World at Large did him no good, and that everything will be fine if he can just have another couple of drinks. He’ll quit tomorrow, but today somebody just needs to lend him a buck, or buy him a bottle. He needs time to sort it out, and we need to try harder to understand him.
Those of you who know anything about addiction, know that this is a load of crap. According to the principles of Alcoholics Anonymous, which is perhaps the only program that can save somebody in such dire straits, Uncle Sam needs to “put the plug in the jug” and get his ass to a meeting. Recovery via the 12 Steps of AA would suggest that he doesn’t stand a chance unless he admits that he is powerless over alcohol (a.k.a. over-spending, over-consuming, bullying, nation-building, printing money out of thin air, indoctrinating the young, spying, etc.), and that his life is unmanageable. That is Step One. Then he goes to Step Two, and this involves humility, introspection, and other healthy actions.
How does this relate to the main theme in this series on property? Well, the connection is that when a man convinces himself that work is good for some – but that money grows on trees, that it’s okay to eat and play today – but to pay for it next year, and that it’s okay to mind everybody else’s business, but to ignore and neglect his own, he is on a collision course with Reality. He is at odds with the Laws of Nature.
In a complex society, with many, many levels separating the ultimate producers and the ultimate consumers of goods, there is ample room for a con-man, such as the alcoholic-addict, to attempt to have his cake and eat it too. He can only do this if those around him do what psychologists call “enabling,” which is like helping somebody build a house of cards while there’s an elephant stomping through the living room.
Well, guess what! The parties in power – both of them! – have been playing a game of “You Scratch My Back and I’ll Scratch Yours” for decades. For those farther down in the food chain – especially the common voter, this might as well be translated to: “I voted for them because they promised me an extra piece of that pie (in the sky), and the bastards better keep sending me my slice, but – - - Damn it, where did it all go?!”
Oops! Looks like a bunch of us bought into the alcoholic’s game. No doubt about it – he’s a smooth talker. And, man, he’s so well-dressed and … sexy. But – he’s a lying son-of-a-bitch! He has no intention of paying you back … or me, or anybody. He’s drunk!
The proper response to this unfortunate state of affairs is what the psychologists call “tough love.” We must stop enabling the addict. We must let him stumble, fall, and fail. We must let him learn. He must surrender to the insanity of his delusions and face the facts that gravity exists, that debts must be paid, and that contracts and obligations must be honored. Only by this “sobering up” can Uncle Sam get back on his feet and return to health and dignity. He must stop spending and start to pay people back.
One Debt at a Time!
