In Defense of Demagogues...

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^A long winded way of saying "I like Trump!".

Demagogues think we're lemmings, and that we're willing to go over a cliff for them.

I don't trust charismatic leader-types....not one bit!

FWIW, kind of off topic but I've always thought Obama was tremendously overrated as a speaker. I remember seeing him in person in 2008 at some town hall in Waukesha and his stump speech was nothing special and all I was hearing was how this was how amazing he was as a speaker but then again I guess what would of lived up to expectations? Maybe on an individual level he is charismatic but on screen especially away from the teleprompter he is not. Obama seemed more popular because who he was as a representation of change altho I should note that Obama ran against the Bush's policies and made frequent remarks about the Constitution and civil liberties, far way from where he is now.

I don't see Obama as being charismatic.

Through his experiences, he seems to have become a rather conventional President in a lot of ways.

In retrospect, I think he will be rated as a rather average president. He's had a strong tendency to attempt to take the "middle road" on things. Sometimes, with success; other times, without success.

He's no dangerous socialist--that's for sure.

Maybe now, in the heat of passion, you might see dangerous features to Obama's presidency.

However: Civil unrest has occurred under the watch of most, if not all, Presidents.

Obama made an attempt to be transformative--but Congress used its check and balances to prevent that. Obamacare sucks for many people--but Obamacare is more of a bad compromise than something that is radical/socialistic.

What's alarming is the increase in school shootings. Lots of alienation is revealing itself. I don't think it's Obama's fault, though. I just think the times, in general, they are a changin' to a more cynical phase. People are believing the glass is half-empty, rather than half-full.

I believe, 50 years from now, Obama will be seen as being a pretty average President. He turned from being a "reform-minded" President to a pretty pragmatic one. This, like I said, was forced upon him by Congress--especially the House.

He did do a pretty job at not making his "race" a paramount issue during his presidency. His mixed racial heritage has no relevance to how we will judge him in the future.

Not on a soapbox calling for the Workers to take the means of production, but just mentioning that wages have declined over the last forty years, and jobs have been vanishing since NAFTA.

The causes of our problems are not Cosmic, most were caused by Congress.

Our wages have declined because Minimum Wage rates have lagged behind the cost of living,

Our jobs have declined because shipping jobs offshore was not offset by tariffs on the import of the goods produced.

Our jobs have declined because of lack of Border Control, and internal employment control that lets people come here illegally and mostly avoid taxes, and then send their money out of the country.

We once had good education. That has eroded over time. Sometimes it was the Right, make them pledge allegiance to the flag every morning, and to God! Sometimes the Left, Everybody is equal to everything, and Union teachers are there to enforce social conditioning.

Somewhere along the way Reading, Writing, Thinking, Math, got lost, along with History, Geography, and other useless subjects. We have stood at 38th in world rankings for a while, between Bulgaria and Romania.

An educated workforce is the first pick of business, and the strongest factor in maintaining a Government of The People.

In 1963 the Dollar was an ounce of silver. The wages were enough to live, buy a house, car, have a non working wife, two point five kids and a dog. There were choices in employment, anyone who applied themselves could improve their standard of living.

We now have more people out of the workforce than during The Great Depression. An entry level job does not pay enough to rent an apartment, and eat. Those who prepared themselves for work, now find no jobs, and they are saddled with lifetime debt.

I was against the National Debt before Obama, who has doubled it, ran it up more than all Presidents before him combined. He has been spending a Trillion more than income every year, but we have nothing to show for it.

Someday, not only no more running up the debt, spending a Trillion less each year, but also paying back a Trillion a year, to cover the Social Security of the War Babies for several decades. They paid in over their working life, Congress took the money and left an IOU. Everybody knew when they had to pay that back.

Congress does not have the money to pay it back. The younger workers paying in is not enough to cover the retired. The can has been kicked to the end of the road where it meets a cliff.

By all of History, the next step is the government prints more money, the value of money drops, until it is worthless. Hyper Inflation. History says, all paper money has become worthless.

The cure is worse, Deflation. When government can no longer survive on income tax, it taxes assets. We already have Property Tax. As those taxes rise the property becomes worth less. Next comes a tax on Bank Accounts and Securities. As government sucks the life blood out of the economy money becomes more valuable, and the price of all things drops. No one wants to buy because money is hard to come by and worth more, and all assets will be cheaper next year.

History also says the only way to avoid this, revive the economy, bring stability, is to tax those who have benefitted from the previous laws. To tax their assets.

One way was to elect a Dictator for five years who could write new laws. Another way was to murder a rich family and steal everything.

Trump has proposed a 14.2% tax on assets, Net Worth, which equals the National Debt. Paying off the National Debt puts twenty Trillion dollars in circulation at inflation. It reduces the interest paid. Taxes can be lower.

Interest produces asset bubbles. Inflation drives up prices. Deflating those bubbles assets are worth less because money is worth more.

For most people, living paycheck to paycheck without much assets, their paycheck buys more, their savings retain value.

Greece and Rome both knew they faced a French Revolution situation, if the people cannot buy bread, the rulers heads come off.

Taxing the rich and dismissing government has never been popular with the rich and government. Following WWII Ike had a 90% top tax rate, and kept it till the War Debt was paid, Europe was rebuilt, win the peace, the American Autobahn was built, and we transitioned from a war economy to one of peace. It brought general prosperity and formed the Middle Class.

Ike also closed the country to immigration, threw out the illegals, sent the people of Europe back to the country of their birth, and made the US Dollar=One Ounce of Silver the world benchmark of money.

While some claim to be smarter than anyone else, because they are educated, the wisdom of the common man is rarely wrong. 80% of people think we are going in the wrong direction.

As JFK said, "Those who do not make revolution possible, make it inevitable."

They have a right to be demagogues, and their audience has a right to like their demagoguery and follow them.