To the people of Greece - my heart goes out to you; unemployment is spiraling, wages are plummeting and your social safety net is being torn asunder. You can protest and riot against austerity all you want, but it is inescapable; those who live beyond their means and amass unsustainable debt, shall one day live beneath it. Your choices are to institute a regimen of harsh austerity now and pay your debt or default and cut off future credit and face even graver economic instability in the future. On the other hand, the size of the American Economy and the role of the dollar as the de-facto global currency gives us much greater leeway in amassing debt and pursuing monetary tricks, in order to put off our inevitable date with austerity. For decades the American people have accepted the bi-partisan platform of expanding the warfare and welfare state while slashing taxes. This is not the fault of the political establishment, but of the American People, for we elect the Democrats and Republicans, the Bush's and Obama's, who promise the impossible and write off the few voices of conscience and reason, like Dr. Ron Paul, as "kooks" and "radicals." And we as a people chose the path of spending, borrowing and of demanding impossible entitlements from the state. But, the die has been set and sooner than later we will be forced by the iron laws of economics to live beneath our means. If we can summon up the seemingly exhausted wisdom and fortitude of generations past, we can begin to toil, save and invest, so that perhaps our children or grandchildren can live well.
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