Scuttled; The Ship of State
Not many are now alive who recall the particulars in detail, but a contest for political control of the United States government once stirred a great deal of passion because the mighty Ship of State had sailed into shoal waters on the winds of post-war money inflation and citizens didn't like it. They wanted to get out of the navigational predicament and back into the deep blue of the open sea.
Along came a charismatic candidate for president who promised to do just that. He said, over and over again;
"I accuse the present Administration of being the greatest spending Administration in peacetime in all American history--one which piled bureau on bureau, commission on commission, and has failed to anticipate dire needs or reduced earning power of the people. Bureaus and bureaucrats have been retained at the expense of the taxpayer.....We are spending altogether too much money for government services which are neither practical nor necessary. In addition to this, we are attempting too many functions and we need a simplification of what the Federal government is giving to the people."
Voters got the message and the candidate got their votes. They also were encouraged by the principal planks in his party's platform:
"We advocate:
"1/ An immediate and drastic reduction of governmental expenditures by abolishing useless commissions and offices, consolidating departments and bureaus and eliminating extravagance, to accomplish a saving of not less than 25 per cent in the cost of Federal government. . .
"2/ Maintenance of the national credit by a Federal budget annually balanced. . .
"3/ A sound currency to be maintained at all hazards. . . "
It was on these promises that Franklin Roosevelt and the Democratic Party swept into power in the elections of November, 1932. Not only did they not do what they promised, they expanded the vast array of bureaus and commissions President Hoover had erected in his desperate attempt to jump-start the economy after the stock market collapse of 1929.
With the assistance of a Federal Reserve System that was not yet two decades old, and by maintaining the system of deficit spending that it promised to eliminate, the new administration supervised the transformation of the old constitutional republic into a socialist-style democracy. Large groups who benefited from newly created money applauded. People who understood where it was leading were appalled and powerless.
The contrast between the "Roaring '20s" and the gloomy depression of the 1930s is stark in the collective memory. But the inflation of the 1920s led inevitably to an economic correction. However, the attempt to smother it by intervention of the federal government only prolonged the misery which continued until the war clouds gathered once more. In 1940 inflation began creeping back into the picture and it has continued without abatement for sixty-six years.
"We would have been doomed without all those social safety nets," say the supporters of FDR's New Deal. If the objective all along has been to create a dependent class of millions of people the trend into socialism has been a success. But the entire structure has been erected on an unsustainable money system. In the long run going broke doing good is irrational, but that's precisely what was launched with that infamous election of 1932. Until that time the people supported the government. Since that time the government has assumed the role of supporting the people. Unfortunately, it does not have the means to do it without expanding its debt and there is a natural limit to the amount of debt even the world's most powerful nation can sustain.
Which brings us to the present predicament of the Ship of State. Its debt load is so heavy it has sunk to the gunwales and no longer responds well to adjustments of the rudder. It is crowded with passengers who enjoy the voyage and the free lunches but are not willing to pick up a bucket and help with the bailing. Moreover, the ship is dangerously close to a shoals and if it runs aground it will no longer be able to move at all. It is, in fact, in far worse shape than it was in 1929 and no one has the courage to do anything but hope for a change in wind or some other act of Providence to save the day. In the meantime, passengers and even the crew are singing songs of inspiration. "The Economy Climbs Ever Upward" is a particular favorite, followed by "Debt is Wealth" and "We Are Americans and Therefore Invincible."
It may be too late to take the Ship of State on another tack so as to avoid the dreaded shoal. On the other hand, Americans - when faced with dire emergency - have risen to conquer adversity in the past. They may hate the inconveniences they will suffer and shocked at the material losses they must endure, but they might dust off their copies of the U.S. Constitution and set the nation back on course once more heading for the open waters of prosperity.
John Wrisley, July 16th, 2006