Column by Bob Wallace.
Exclusive to STR
I have expended several thousand brain cells – which now means I am pretty much out of them – trying to figure out who are the producers and who are the parasites.
Are firefighters parasites? They don’t produce anything, but they are necessary. Are the police necessary? They don’t produce anything, either, but in some cases they are necessary. Even if both are necessary, the irreducible fact remains: They don’t produce anything.
Do politicians produce anything? Of course not. They are not just worthless, they’re the most dangerous parasites that have ever existed. Judges and lawyers? Neither produces anything, but a proper (i.e., minimum) number of them are supposed to help society function smoothly.
Teachers? Mostly worthless. They’re supposed to produce educated students. But what exactly do students learn in 12 years of public schooling? And then four years of college? And then graduate school? And a Ph.D.? That’s approximately 20 years of schooling! If that much schooling really worked, we’d be 2,000 years ahead of where we are now.
Does the military – all branches – produce anything? No. Do they even protect the country? No, not when they’re busy crashing into other countries that aren’t even threats to us.
I believe we have military forces in three-quarters of the countries in the world. How exactly is that producing anything? Why do we have troops in Portugal, of all places?
Just how much of our economy is taken up by parasites on taxpayer money? One-quarter? One-third? One half?
Who does produce anything, then? For one, people who produce things – farmers, miners, contractors, manufacturers. People who produce ideas that make society run better can be considered productive. But how many people actually do that? The average psychologist, sociologist, economist or political scientist? Don’t make me laugh.
There is only one way to figure out who the parasites really are: withdraw State money. If that happened, I estimate 80% of college professors would have to seek other employment, along with most police officers, judges, and lawyers.
I consider those things to be very good!
Real wages stopped going up in 1973, courtesy of the crushing burden of the State. If they had continued to go up as they should have, I’ve read estimates that the average salary would be over $90,000 a year.
Not surprisingly, the only section of the country that is doing well economically is Washington, D.C. and the surrounding area. Why? They’re sucking up taxpayer money, impoverishing everyone else in the rest of the country.
The State has its tentacles so deep into the economy it’s hard to tell who is productive and who is a parasite. The analysis needed to tell one from the other will make your head hurt.
When the State gets too big – and it always does – it collapses. That’s what’s happening in Wisconsin right now. And who’s protesting? “Workers” on the public dole.
Do I sympathize with these people? Yes. They don’t have a clue as to what they really are or what has happened. They can protest all they want; it won’t change the economic facts. But this collapse fated to happen and many people predicted it. But very few people listened, not enough to make any difference.
What does make a difference – as always – is the School of Hard Knocks. That’s when people learn the State isn’t your friend – it’s your Enemy.
