“IT IS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME …”
|| By RON PAUL || The drama over Greece’s financial crisis continues to dominate the headlines. As this column is being written, a deal may have been reached providing Greece with yet another bailout if the Greek government adopts new “austerity” measures. The deal will allow all sides to brag about how they came together to save the Greek economy and the European Monetary Union. However, this deal is merely a Band-Aid, not a permanent fix to Greece’s problems. So another crisis is inevitable.
The Greek crisis provides a look into what awaits us unless we stop overspending on warfare and welfare and restore a sound monetary system. While most commentators have focused on Greece’s welfare state, much of Greece’s deficit was caused by excessive military spending. Even as its economy collapses and the government makes (minor) cuts in welfare spending, Greece’s military budget remains among the largest in the European Union.
Despite all the handwringing over how the phony sequestration cuts have weakened America’s defenses, the United States military budget remains larger than the combined budgets of the world’s next 15 highest spending militaries. Little, if any, of the military budget is spent defending the American people from foreign threats. Instead, the American government wastes billions of dollars on an imperial foreign policy that makes Americans less safe. America will never get its fiscal house in order until we change our foreign policy and stop wasting trillions on unnecessary and unconstitutional wars.
Excessive military spending is not the sole cause of America’s problems. Like Greece, America suffers from excessive welfare and entitlement spending. Reducing military spending and corporate welfare will allow the government to transition away from the welfare state without hurting those dependent on government programs. Supporting an orderly transition away from the welfare state should not be confused with denying the need to reduce welfare and entitlement spending.
On reason Greece has been forced to seek bailouts from its EU partners is that Greece ceded control over its currency when it joined the European Union. In contrast, the dollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency is the main reason the US has been able to run up huge deficits without suffering a major economic crisis. The need for the Federal Reserve to monetize ever-increasing levels of government spending will eventually create hyperinflation, which will lead to increasing threats to the dollar’s status. China and Russia are already moving away from using the dollar in international transactions. It is only a matter of time before more countries challenge the dollar’s reserve currency status, and, when this happens, a Greece-style catastrophe may be unavoidable.
Despite the clear dangers of staying on our recent course, Congress continues to increase spending. The only real debate between the two parties is over whether we should spend more on welfare or warfare. It is easy to blame the politicians for our current dilemma. But the politicians are responding to demands from the people for greater spending. Too many Americans believe they have a moral right to government support. This entitlement mentally is just as common, if not more so, among the corporate welfare queens of the militarily-industrial complex, the big banks, and the crony capitalists as it is among lower-income Americans.
Congress will only reverse course when a critical mass of people reject the entitlement mentality and understand that the government is incapable of running the world, running our lives, and running the economy. Therefore, those of us who know the truth must spread the ideas of, and grow the movement for, limited government, free markets, sound money, and peace.
Ron Paul is a former U.S. Congressman from Texas and the leader of the pro-liberty, pro-free market movement in the United States. His weekly column – reprinted with permission – can be found here.
12 comments
Thank you for suckering more paranoid dopes into giving me their money for my shit newsletter! Nothing brings out the doomsday preppers like old Ronnie saying the end is near! Hopefully nobody looks into my past before handing me their hard earned cash…
yes! only Ron understands! the US and Greece are EXACTLY the SAME! there is ZERO difference! The countries are IDENTICAL! count the islands!! its the same number!! the number of the beast!!!!
I don’t know about tomorrow, but we are going in that direction with a huge and growing Government payroll and a 47% entitlement population. Greece is like the family member that borrows money from you and then goes out and buys a new car. When you complain that they shouldn’t be using your money like that they will accuse you of being jealous. Exactly what Greece did to Germany. When valuable resources are wasted on lazy, stupid people, don’t be surprised when their numbers grow.
Yes, but I like their yogurt.
Seriously, I agree with you,
“Drinking that free Bubble-Up and eating that Rainbow Stew.”
As Margaret Thatcher would say,”They finally ran out of other people’s money.” and the Greeks are pissed….at ‘the other people.’ for running out of money.’
Here is another perspective, that the GOP plans are what will create a Greek like meltdown. Interesting stuff. Paul (both of them) should stick with letting the big boys be economists. http://www.alternet.org/economy/paul-krugman-gop-determined-bring-greek-style-economic-crisis-here
And you are a “progressive” Helot. A slave and you don’t even know it yet.
And anyone who believes that lying Gruberment “economist” Kurgman has wax in his ears.
“Greece is like the family member that borrows money from you and then goes out and buys a new car. When you complain that they shouldn’t be using your money like that they will accuse you of being jealous. ”
lol…agreed…but at the end of the day who is more responsible for the lent/spent money, Greece or Germany?
In other words, Greece has been a bankrupt welfare state for a long time, way before they entered the Euro…it’s been the fabric of their society for some time which is why Goldman Sachs had to do some “special accounting” to get them in the Euro to start.
I think the German government was stupid for lending them(as well as France, Spain, Italy, etc. all the deadbeats in the Euro) the money to support their profligate living.
Most of the time, family members know which ones within their family are deadbeats…no?
In my family they are called the martyrs, they pair nicely with our family parasites.
If Japan can hold it together at a debt to GDP ratio of around 225%, we can do even more due to the fact we have the world’s reserve currency and can export our inflation/money printing to the rest of the world.
We can force the rest of the world to take our newly printed up dollars and absorb some of the inflation as long as we have the petro dollar.
Now, if the rest of the world figures out a way to get rid of it, well then, we are screwed. But that hasn’t happened yet.
Surely if we get to 225% we’ll also get things similar to Japan, like record high economic misery, demographic pain due to younger generations not being able to afford kids(generations of old people with no one to take care of them), and record high suicide rates….but that’s a small price to pay for economic stimulus for today’s generations.
Japan lives off the USA with their terrible debt to GDP ratio. When the USA falls, everyone who relies on it goes with it. The reason the USA has been able to survive is it has no competition. The USA made a bet on its currency being more “trustworthy” than Russia’s and that bet was won. Russia fell in the ’90s from over-spending on military. Ever since the competition disappeared for good, the USA has taken no caution in enjoying its world wide used fiat currency.
Yes, right now we are safe. But with a hard working China now as a legitimate competitor as well as a newer Russia, the USA should not be so cocky. The man who argues not to wear his seat belt because he hasn’t “had any problems with accidents yet” is certainly a foolish one.
“..Greece Today, America Tomorrow?”
It is coming, the same governmental philosophy, Socialism, is being implemented in this country that exists in Greece. And it is doing so at an alarming rate, especially under the two terms of Obama. At some point we get so far down the road, that there is no recovery. Everyone will have money, but it will not be worth diddly-shit.
He seems to always be picking on the Central Planning screw ups in government(s). … And someday The People will wake up and believe Him.