Do you ever wonder if the true price of all the spending bills is the American quality of life? Look around the world and we see how many countries, in order to live as good as us or better as the case may be, institute flat taxes at a much higher rate or simply live a poorer quality of life.
In the U.S. we pass bills, and our deficit soars because we don't want to sacrifice our quality of life, but we do it at the expense of the rest of the world and our own people since U.S. citizens still own the majority of U.S. debt.
The question, I feel, will eventually become, "at what point does the role that the U.S. plays in global politics, no longer justify the amount of checks we write that we can't possibly hope to pay back?"
At this point, I feel like the way the U.S. looks at debt is that it is something we will never have to pay back and part of that may be our role as global negotiator, but what happens if the balance of power shifts? What happens if the strongest military force and global peacekeepers becomes someone like China?
They already handle much of the manufacturing around the world and they've installed powerful military bases around the world at strategic points near where the US strategic military bases are also located. They also have alliances with other powerful economies and leverage enough to survive U.S. based as well as European based sanctions with nations that we depend on for global trade.
So we find ourselves engaged in another cold war, and this time, it's not about weapons but about leverage and the position of the global parent to the nations of the world.
Curently we view people like China and Russia as bullies and crazies but it's not beyond the realm of imagination that they might be viewed differently were they to do a few misleading "good deeds." Look at how much Donald Trump "got them in line" by simply allowing them to gain traction behind the scenes.
By that I mean, do we really believe that the Chinese bullying and increased pressure on Taiwan happened entirely in 2021 and none of it came from Trump's presidency? Do we really believe that Russia's three pronged attack and amassing of troops on 3 sides of the Ukrainian border was entirely planned and executed in 2021?
The nations of the world are increasingly becoming run by, "strong-man" autocrats and men who flaunt the idea of democracy as more of a suggestion than an actual rule. The U.S. based NGO Freedom House just announced slippage from democracy in 73 countries worldwide and the democrazies out there seek to convince their people, in many cases successfully, that this is the best way. Even here in the U.S. you have farmers voting for rich city dwellers who seek to industrialize farming and cut them out of their jobs. It's kind of insane.
I've digressed though so I'll get back to the initial point, which is: what happens when Americans either cave to the global trend of autocracy as demonstrated by the break down of law and order on January 6th, or "strong-men" strategically win the new cold war with false flatery and strategic control? Can we continue with the American high quality of life without paying a high price for it in the end if the proverbial shit hits the fan or should we be taking steps now to equalize the playing field and not spend so much on everything but rather preserve the things we want the most?
It looks like it's either that or the European flat tax of 40% income tax on middle earners with higher wages for all. What is the cost of the American way of life or can we get away with it being this way forever?
