More on The End

NeoVictorian discusses "Irish Democracy," the passive resistance of ordinary individuals to the dictates of their government.

As I've written before, I imagine that this is how the American Experiment will end. For all the fears of Soviet-style aggression to the reluctant, we forget that the American left has risen to power by appealing to the worst traits of humanity. The constituency they have created will be their downfall.

I'm not speaking of the hate-filled ranters of the media. I'm talking about the lazy, selfish and willfully ignorant. The Obamacare rollout is a perfect example:  a crowd of wonks so assured of their intelligence but unable to accomplish anything. It seems that everyone involved just assumed that someone else was making it work.

I keep picturing the federal government as a pack mule. One lazy person after another hops on. For a while, it doesn't matter, but eventually the weight gets to be too much. The mule slows, then stops, then crumbles to the ground.

Son of Brock Landers at 28 Sherman has a good piece talking about this (in part). The system is built on giving blue voters a free ride, but were a couple of generations (at least) removed now and, not only do the recipients have no experience with thrift and hard work, the values have disappeared from their culture.

Having worked as many jobs as I've had, I've seen the results up close. Some people have a job set in front of them and simply can't get started. The concept that sometimes things aren't easy isn't there. Laziness isn't the right word; they're like cavemen looking at a rocket ship. They don't know what they're looking at.

Those are the worst of America, but moving up the ladder doesn't bring much hope. Over the years, ability has become less important than credentials and identity. But, like the pack mule, the system was strong--couldn't it take another imbecile with a degree?

The governments of America are composed of the same people you see behind the counter at the DMV. The have their processes, their required forms, but little connection to how it all works together. They have to rape a child in the office to get fired. That was fine for a while, I guess, but it eventually seeps into management.

If we continue on the path we've been on, what will happen is the wheels of government will grind slower and slower. The advantage of this will be that a parallel, functioning system can form to pick up the slack. Since this will be ad hoc and local, it will be effective and appropriate to the issues at play.

America got pretty far without a central government controlling everything. I'm betting that, in the red states, those values are only buried and not gone. After all, they were ones that were expected to carry the rest.