Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Noticing the Obvious

Nothing good can come of it -- noticing the obvious, that is:
Learn from the fall of Rome, US warned

By Jeremy Grant in Washington

The US government is on a ‘burning platform’ of unsustainable policies and practices with fiscal deficits, chronic healthcare underfunding, immigration and overseas military commitments threatening a crisis if action is not taken soon, the country’s top government inspector has warned.

David Walker, comptroller general of the US, issued the unusually downbeat assessment of his country’s future in a report that lays out what he called “chilling long-term simulations”.
I suspect that there's a lot that I couldn't agree with Mr. Walker about. Still, though, the man's talking like a grownup about an extraordinarily childish American Empire. I take some rueful and perverse comfort from the thought that things can't continue as they are for much longer.

2 comments:

lemming said...

No, they'll get much worse. We're afraid of change and unwilling to do what's needed. Take away Congress' health insurance, that might spur them to action.

Jim Wetzel said...

Whether things are "much worse" or not depends, I think, on one's point of view. I think things are apt to get much worse for Americans, all right, when the Asian bankers finally stop underwriting our Endless Imperial Keg Party. But Americans aren't the whole world, not by a long way -- and the world as a whole might be better off after the World Manager State and its wars go away for lack of financing.

We're like a drunk, staggering around town using his MasterCard for a series of unwise purchases -- a gun here, a few boxes of ammunition there, a couple more bottles of hooch somewhere else -- and shooting out everyone's windows in between. When the card starts getting declined, isn't that better for most folks?