“Freebies” and the death of society as we know it.
Too many “Freebies” have the capacity to destroy all of us!
First of all, one of the most important and greatest fact that humans must understand, and 98% don’t, is that the the word TANSTAAFL has a very serious meaning. This acronym is credited to Robert Heinlein (who, by the way, made me into an insatiable reader of science fiction at the tender age age of 9. Remember “Rocket Ship Galileo” ?) and TANSTAAFL means, “There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch!”…
Nothing is free, not the food we eat, the substance and sustenance we gouge from Mother Earth itself, the clothes we wear; the water we drink; absolutely n-o-t-h-i-n-g is free. It is or was or will be paid for by someone, from past production and savings or investments now or in the future by your decendents. But it will be paid and with interest on top of it!
I’ve read several very scholarly books lately on Labor Force Participation (by both males and females). Both those who are looking for work in the labor force and those who are not finding any and those who are not even looking for work and all. Both books are superior in their research, data sources and the clarity of how it is all presented.
The inescapable conclusions of both the books coupled with overlaid personal observation by yours truly of the none to smart economic policies of this country and the states that make up our USA have, over the past 6 decades, lead us at an exponentially increasing rate into a disaster that cannot now be avoided. EXPONENTIAL rate of debt, that will be defaulted on sooner than later and where will we be then?
Ah! Where to start?
I suppose with the simple fact (as far as I can tell, it’s of Muck’s origin – correct me if I’m wrong!) that, “If you pay a man not to work, he will continue not to work in order to be paid.” There are exceptions to this situation of course, for example, an emergency requiring immediate funds or a sudden illness requiring a co-pay that can’t be put off. This pretty well sums it up if you stack all the supposed “freebies” (SNAP, food stamps, SSDI, Medicaid and others are not in the class and Social Security and Medicare funded during a mans working years and “are put into Trust” (i.e.“Taxed” and collected when these people are working), but in reality are being stolen by the US Treasury to pay the general debts of the country, both programs now depend on current confiscation of funds from those who currently work to pay for those who are retired.
Now paying a man not to work is so much more dangerous than meets the eye. There was a day not long ago when an able bodied man who wasn’t working or relied on charity or “the dole” was looked down upon as shiftless and worthless and perhaps even dishonest and at the least a burden on the rest of society. How this moral attitude slowly dissipated into what we have today (if you can get it for “free”, by all means do it – regardless of who really pays for it in the short or long run) escapes me. Perhaps because of more women in the work force, perhaps automation lessening the value of the lesser educated worker, perhaps the ever growing crowd of non-anglo population with different attitudes about living and different mores on what is considered “normal” in living one’s life.. Who knows..
All we can see with no doubt is the result of these changes in attitude about self sufficiency, personal pride of accomplishment, responsibility of self, and all those other things that go along with working, making your own way in the world and doing a good job of it.
Mucks’ personal reaction? If I meet a man who is physically capable of working( at anything) and yet sucks up food-bank commodities, welfare, medicaid et al, I ignore him, he is no friend of mine and is, in my opinion, lower that whale shit in the order of human achievement and existence. He is nothing, a boil on the ass of society and should be lanced, drained and given the opportunity to mend his ways. If he doesn’t, then he can live in the woods, beg on a street corner or whatever – BUT – he should not be supported by taxpayers who do work and pay taxes and pay for goods and services from their own funds.
This man is parasite – too many of them and the lifeblood of America will be drained away.G
et the Government (State and Federal) OUT OF the support business and leave it up to volunteers, charities and such to harbor those truly in need due to circumstances they were unable to control. NO WELFARE. NO MEDICAID. NO FEDERAL OR STATE GOVERNMENT budgets for handing out money to able-bodied citizens.
My final words on the subject: WORK, EARN YOUR KEEP, RELY ON CHARITY OR DIE.
I realize that this puts ‘Ol Muck in a bit of a rigid position and I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT victims of hurricanes, tornados, natural or man-made disasters. I am talking about individuals who make a conscious decision to be DEAD BEATS regardless of sex, color, education, religious beliefs. Those people are an unbearable load on the rest of us and we need to bring back the SHAME that used to be attached to those who make no effort to maintain themselves even though they are physically and mentally capable of doing so.
‘Ol Muck…
Great write, Muck. Dead on. I tend to look at dudes the same way.
Hi Muck,
Heinlein wrote a short story about an alien society that could NOT be conquered by US spacetroopers. The aliens just totally ignored all orders from the spacetroopers, even if they were killed in the process. The spacetroopers gave up because they realized that they would have to kill all the aliens. You don’t happen to know the title of the story do you? I thought it was very powerful. If enough people just ignored the government they couldn’t do shit.
@Diogenes: That must be one I missed! Let me do some research on Heinleins’ publication lists and see if I can find it!I haven’t read it and would take great pleasure it doing so.
Thanks for the input!
muck
I hear you, but with 50% of the population not paying federal tax, those people vote and the people they vote for are promising more free shit.
I don’t see any change moving forward.
So Muck, I take it that you have a dim view of Zuckerjoo and the other know it alls that are pushing for society to accept the UBI scheme? What a sorry lot we would become waiting for our “FREE MONEY” every month.
If this money is simply created out of thin air and dished out as a no work/no strings attached stipend then would it be a real “freebie”?
Sad to say, you’ve hit the bull’s-eye: the so-called “money” is nothing more than a digital cipher created out of thin air and therefore represents no unit of true value for goods produced or labor expended. Sure, just hand out the UBI to all: why not? Might kill the work ethic? Ah hahaha! WHAT work ethic? Does anyone seriously believe that the work ethic still exists outside of a diminishing minority? I’m an old guy with a passive investment income that I barely spend, but I still work because if I didn’t, I’d go nuts, not to mention that feeling guilty would contribute to the madness, but I don’t kid myself that others would feel the same and I don’t much care about their thoughts or feelings; I live for myself, not for them. A non-productive life to me is the equivalent of living death. Give ’em their funny “money” and let’s see how that works out, sez I. Can’t help but believe in the medium to long term it won’t work out well at all, but meanwhile, for as long as I last, I’m game to let ’em give it a whirl.
Instead of EBT, Snap, section 8, and the other forms of welfare handed out by the gov. I propose warehousing the welfarians. We could have camps with barracks, cafeterias, excercise facilities ect. It would be a lot cheaper, and (hopefully) really shame inducing! So a big WIN – WIN! You would be free to leave anytime, unlike prison, but if you leave you are on your own.
Too late Muckster. There are more voters voting for free shit that voters voting to oppose it. The only option now is the collapse of the system that enables it. Well that or having Google officially declared a monopoly because that would definitely fix it!
I don’t normally post, but Muck, your excellent view of the freeloaders hit a home run for me.
There is a family consisting of a brother, a sister, the sister’s son, and numerous other adult relations living near me. I cannot bring myself to call them neighbors.
The brother hasn’t worked in ten or more years. Two years ago, he had to have major heart surgery. After the surgery he was put on medication that cost roughly $1,000.00 a month.
Of course, he didn’t have insurance. We the taxpayers picked up the bill and continue to pay for the ongoing prescription costs.
Most of the adults do not work… One a month all the adults make the trek to get the food boxes.
They receive engery assistance in the winter months.
That is the freebies I know about… I’m sure they receive other “entitlements” also.
Meanwhile my spouse and I work overtime when possible, pick up odd jobs, grow a large garden, and whatever else is needed to make ends meet.
Well I used to think the same about people who didn’t work but there are people who get sick and then can’t work.I haven’t worked but about 5 months this year.This Hernia has kicked my ass but I am recovering.Thank God.Now the doctors have told me they have found a blockage in my heart.May need surgery .Glad they found it.They told me I was Prime for a major heart attack .This has really changed my attitude .God is telling me something. What is it Stucky?All this time I thought I was in good health.Now not so sure.
BB
I understand there are people who may not be able to work due to disabilities or illness. (I pray your health will improve.)
Nonetheless, I have lived next to those people for over twenty years. The guy that had surgery was cleared to work, and the rest of the family are quite capable of working.
The twenty-something-year-old son has had ten jobs in two years. He can’t maintain a job as he can’t get his bum out of bed to make it to work on time.
The free shit lifestyle is what they have chosen.
Indent Service ,you had better get that thing on your private parts cut off .You probably think you are in good health.God may surprise you big boy.
Good points, but where are the good jobs for people to go to?? There aren’t enough. The richest country on earth can’t even provide half of its citizens with the dignity of a living-wage job. WTF? If I was stuck in the ‘hood, I’d take the free money too rather than fry burgers at Mickey D’s. Their apathy is just a normal response that anyone would have when they recognize that they are the ‘mark’ in this scam economy. There is no ‘work your way up’ path anymore for a large segment. Any purported tales of people who do are just anecdotal stories to keep the dirt people showing up to their dead-end jobs that only enrich the stock holders. Good on ’em for recognizing it and to quit participating.
There will always be a percentage who are worthless lazy bums, but not in these kinds of of numbers. No way. And it’s not right to accuse people of being that when all that is offered them is a shit sandwich.
It will hit home with you one day when you experience the level of “care” you receive from a $7/hr nursing home worker that knows there is no ‘working your way up’ in this rigged economy.
Vodka – what a load of shit. “Good jobs” is bullshit. No one has a right to a job. No one has a right to a living wage.
People need to go to work. They need to create their own opportunities. No welfare will focus the mind incredibly.
A living wage must be earned. Not given as a right. If you can earn a living wage, great. If not, to pay that person a living wage, as you call it, means you have to take, by force, from those that can actually earn and give to those that cannot.
It is bullshit. Wake up.
What’s “bullshit”, Llpoh, is the exploitation of workers. I occasionally hired temporary farm-help. I always paid them a good wage because I have a conscience. What % of the people living in poverty in the richest nation ever would be acceptable to you? If you’re ‘good’ with 50%, then I suspect you’ll be ok with 99% as long as you aren’t one of them. Rationalization is a slippery slope.
I’ve told you before that I respect and admire your success, but the game has changed. It’s rigged against the little guy. Even the Bible condemns those who fail to pay a fair wage. James 5:4
Charles Dickens knew all about your kind of rationalization. History repeats.
Vodka – wage must ge linked to output. Simple as that. You want it linked to living standard, with no link to output or value. It is, to repeat, bullshit.
Wages need to reflect value, and nothing else. If people can produce sufficiently to live well, great. If not, poverty beckons. Survival of the fittest.
Your rationalization eventually leads to sweat-shops, which is essentially slavery. Too bad the poor Chinese workers that have to make 120 pair of Nikes per shift (retail: $140 each) for just $600/mo don’t have guns. They’ll soon have to increase their output to 160 pair of Nikes per shift or lose their jobs to a factory in Vietnam that will do so at half the wages. Then the Vietnamese workers will face the same threat from Bangladesh.
That’s where your rationalization leads to.
If you’re ok with that, then good luck to you on the Big Day when you meet Jesus.
You must be Cherokee because they had their slaves carry their belongings on The Trail of Tears. And you’ve turned into Andy Jackson himself. No mercy. Survival of the fittest, baby!
Vodka – I did not know you are a socialist imbecile. You are one of those demanding $15 an hour minimum wage. And that has been a screaming success, right?
Here, in small words just for you: business hill not hire people for more than they are worth. Nothing you can do will make that happen. Nothing. Any attempt to force business to do so will make things worse, as socialism always does.
If an employee can make 10 widgets a day, I will pay him for ten widgets. If he can make twenty, I will pay him for 20. But I will not pay him for thirty if he can only make 20. Why? Because I will go broke. It is not my consideration whether he can live on the wage of 20 widgets. I can only pay him his worth. If no one accepts that pay, then I will have no workers. It is that simple.
Your implication that I am a slave owner is despicable. I suggest it reveals a lot about yourself. It reveals that you are a hypocrite Christian, like so many before you. That you think you are able to judge others, even though your religion says you are not to do such. Your path to heaven may not be so clear as you are suggesting.
You are a socialist prick. Pay whatever you want to whomever you want with your own money. As for me, I will not employ anyone that does not produce the value of their wages.
Society cannot do that. It is socialism, and it means that the productive must fund the less or unproductive, by force. It means loss of production, loss of GDP, loss of employment.
Re the Chinese, Vietnamese, etc. – here is an idea. Do not buy their goods. Do not buy Nikes. Etc.
But if an American can produce no more than a Chinese, just how the hell do you think that the US will have a higher standard of living? Answer: it is impossible. Only by outproducing the competition can you have a higher standard of living. If each American and each Chinese produces 10 widgets a day, the standard of living will be the same in each country.
Buy a clue and get back to me, you Christian hypocrite.
VERY well said indeed, Llpoh.
Vodka bringing up …. trail of tears … you being a slave master …. truly despicable accusations
I’m surprised you were so gentle in your response.
Stuck – I am heeding your message of love.
Lol!
Temp help!
That really helped the little guy.
I live in an ag state with farmers being excluded from paying for employees’ workers compensation insurance and paying overtime wages.
Did you cover comp insurance and overtime wages for your temps?
“…People need to go to work….”
no shit, but there are MILLIONS who need jobs
Fudgepacker – they do not need jobs – they need to go to work. Jobs are just a small subset of going to work.
I knew someone who raised chickens free range with feed and sold them for $5 a head, plucked. They could not raise enough of the healthy birds for people in the area themselves, so they hired young men who’d been in juvenile facilities and wanted a job where they could work outside and make ten bucks an hour. It was going fine until some union hack suggested the former inmates were being exploited and the next thing you know… the damn chickens are $5 a POUND.
I think they are still in business, but in a very small way, selling to health food markets locally.
My point? Even a smart and capable entrepreneur will run into the brick wall of bureaucracy, in the form of government intervention OR labor union interference.
At one point I considered selling people some of my homemade stuff, canned and sealed in mason jars as a gimmick (Canned meat is delicious, but is such a strange sight most people won’t try it.) But, really, think about it… we really can’t depend on mailing systems for prompt, efficient or inexpensive delivery. While most of the ingredients I grow, forage or raise myself, there are some that require someone else to do their job and I just don’t see that happening much longer.
Okay, my little ramble here about how I suspect there are a lot fewer job opportunities in this country than anyone admits. I do not know a young person with a full time job in this community in which I live. They work odd jobs and under the table. And, occasionally, they get arrested for cooking meth.
Vodka
My son, by trade, is a phlebotomist and medical lab tech.
Currently, there aren’t any openings in his field… He works the grave yard shift in a nursing home.
The fact is he works because he doesn’t want to eat nothing burgers and shit sandwiches.
Additionally, he makes more than your quoted $7.00 an hour.
I simply do not see how anyone can simplify parasitism.
And given the state of the federal government’s debt and defict spending, it’s not going to end well for those who choose not to work.
You obviously thought that Scrooge was a good boss then? Just keep telling your son to work harder and then it will all work out! Somehow. Probably.
I’m glad I’m not your son.
He’s happy he has a job, and he enjoys working with the clients.
So, what’s your point?
By the way, I’m thrilled you’re not my son. You’re too much of a whiner.
Just keep tellin’ your boy to keep his nose to the grindstone. He probably won’t even bother to pick up your ashes from the funeral home when you die. He likely had to work an extra shift to pay for your cremation. Fucking dumbass.
I don’t care what you think of me… But my son was taught to work for a living, and yet, you, a fucking parasitic dirtbag and a Walmart freak of the week, disrespects him for working a legitimate job.
Keep in mind, positive drug tests for job applicants have reached record levels.
My son who has his “nose to the grindstone” assisting the elderly and disabled passed the test.
You will age… Those who don’t have their nose to grindstone may mean you may not be as blessed to have someone as caring and compassionate as he is to aid you in your latter years in the middle of the night.
Vodka, if you look into it you’ll find that the only reason the Middle Class in America existed in the manner that it did is because of the unsustainable growth caused by unlimited printing of fiat currency. The wealth created was unsustainable from the very beginning. The artificial system that allowed auto workers to “earn” $75/hr plus benefits or that allowed unions to extort high wages for other trades is failing.
That’s what happens when our owners transfer the real wealth of every dollar to themselves. At first it looks great for the workers and everyone joins the gravy train but over time there is less and less gravy. Ask yourself how many generations in all of human history have enjoyed the ability to work for 45 years or less while saving for or being promised a big pension for retirement plus social security so they could quit working at 65 and live luxuriously for another 25 years or more? Answer: Only two or maybe three……in all of human history. Why: The artificial wealth effect of a young and robust fiat currency.
It’s gone. It’s not coming back. Add to that the fact that your owners are attempting to level the labor playing field by knocking down $75/hr wages in the west and raise $0.50/week wages in China, India and others to create a “global economy” where we’re all equal and reality really sets in.
It’s yet another reason why the fed needs to end. As always it’s best to think in terms of reality which is what llpoh is trying to tell you.
Muck – great stuff. I have been saying this exact thing, over and over. Welfare has created vast problems. It is destroying the family structure, has eliminated the need for personal responsibility, is vastly reducing national output, has changed the country into net debtors rather than net savers, etc.
Charity is a private matter, not a govt one. The founders would be rolling over in their graves if they knew this was happening.
Thanks friend. A lot of the comments I generated with this post leave something to be desired but yours’ are all on the money!
Having kangaroo steak for dinner??
muck
Actually, wagyu fot father’s day lunch. Yum! Kangaroo is not bad, either. Thanks Muck.
Thank you Dragonfly ,blew my mind today when they told me . I’m back at the hospital tonight doing a cat scan , blood work and some other tests I’ve never heard of. Appears I have blockage in one part of my heart . Never knew it ,never felt it. Anyway thank you and anyone else who is preying for me.
Good catch, BB. That must be a Jewish doctor that spotted that.
Hang in there, Rubber Ducky!
https://youtu.be/RVh179oXFao
BB,
I will continue to pray for you, and I will continue to check this website for updates from you.
You are part of TBP family.
Good luck, BB.
“Just keep tellin’ your boy to keep his nose to the grindstone. He probably won’t even bother to pick up your ashes from the funeral home when you die.”
—— Vodka, drunk on his own stupidity
Folks, you probably won’t ever read a more mean-spirited comment here ever.
Mocking a man’s son, and what that son would do at his funeral????
UTTERLY DESPICABLE at every level breaching all bounds of human decency.
And this from a creature who blows Bible verses up our asses at every opportunity! Let it fall on deaf ears! For you, sir, are an abomination to the Man Of Love.
Stuck – Vodka has proven himself an A grade hypocrite. He assumesthe gates of heaven are his, but exhibits he is Satan-filled at every turn.
A mom’s son. 😉
Glad you’re back.
“How this moral attitude slowly dissipated into what we have today (if you can get it for “free”, by all means do it – regardless of who really pays for it in the short or long run) escapes me. ”
People are lead by example. After years of people seeing their opportunity being stolen, not to mention their livelihoods, homes, etc. by bankers with the support of government “leaders” they figure now – “Fuck it, I will get mine now too.” What did Kennedy say about peaceful revolution being impossible? This is simply the natural manifestation of a society that has been systematically strip mined, and ultimately told that theft is the only way left to make any type of a life.
” …. heart attack …. What is it Stucky? All this time I thought I was in good health. Now not so sure.” ——– bb
If you took care of your body (for is it not the temple of the Lord?) as well as your cat, or your Bible studies, you probably wouldn’t be in this boat.
You probably have a shit diet. Not picking on you … just a reasonable estimation based on truck drivers I have personally known. Truck stop food. Fast food. Greasy shit. Processed shit. And you literally sit all day for hours on end …. who knows if you exercise (you never mention it). It’s just a matter of time until it catches up to you …. now you have blocked arteries. Your thinking you’re in good health was just self-deception, no?
NOT picking on you! It’s tough love, man. A so-called friend will tell you your ugly girlfriend is gorgeous. I real friend will let you know she’s ugly as shit. Consider this advice from a real friend (I normally charge $50 for this); you NEED to make some SERIOUS life style changes.
At least the doctors found it in time. For that I am delighted and I wish you nothing but the best and a most speedy recovery.
You eat shit and your girlfriend is ugly, that’s tough love.
My comments were over-the-top. It’s an emotional topic for me because my 80 year old neighbor’s 50 year old daughter committed suicide this Spring out of economic despair. She made plenty of mistakes in life, but always held a job. She got behind on bills and then had a $2,000 vehicle transmission shit the bed. Then one of her adult aged kids needed to move back in with her and I guess it was all too much. What Mark Steyn labels “an epidemic of despair” in the U.S. remains mostly an unreported story.
Stucky, you wouldn’t exactly be the pure soul who is qualified to confront others with their hypocritical comment blunders. When have TBP comment threads been anything but a biker bar? But suddenly you clutch your pearls and need a fainting couch. Too funny. You were correct about my mean-spirited Trail of Tears mention though. For that I do apologize.
Llpoh is a big brain here and I always read his comments when I notice that he has posted. What always gets lost in our exchanges is that I totally agree with him except for the fact that he refuses to acknowledge the collusion between government and businesses. The government implements policies that provide an over-supply of labor to keep wages low because business pays them a bribe. There just needs to be a balance between the two. There was in the recent past, so there should be again.
Vodka – sorry for what happened around you.
Stuck said Imwas reserved in response. The real reason was because you are almost always on the right path far as I am concerned and it seemed out of character. I understand the,points you make, but as a business owner I take a different view to many. I am in it to make money, and by so doing I create jobs. I have no other motives. Take away my chance to make money, and I exit stage left. And all of my ilk do the same, far as I am aware.
No hard feelings. It is half the fun of being around here. Again, sorry for your loss. The world can be very harsh. But I understand that. Efforts to make it otherwise tend to make things worse in my opinion.
Thanks for the gracious response. That earns respect as far as I am concerned.
Thanks for the forgiveness. I respect successful businessmen. Most people are oblivious to the risk you take. You deserve your success. And the fact that you share your knowledge is proof that you are one of the ‘good guys’.