One of our many problems is that we must have the gumption, the will and the courage to do something constructive about the immediate situation in order to make constructive changes to the longer term trajectory. There is no way to cause that to be a painless proposition. When aggregate expectations are at, say, 10, but the aggregate national capability set that is needed to meet and satisfy the expectations is a 6 or maybe 7, something has to…..and will…..give. It will not be pleasant.

We don’t have the option of being able to back up about 40 to 50 years, do it over, do it right and not end up with a pathetically decimated private sector economy and overly burdensome kleptoparasitic governments who have committed to spending more than can be provided by the vestiges of what was once the most diverse and most robust national economy that had ever existed.

Our problems are very real problems. Few of those who we have elected to be our problem solvers in government at any level are real problem solvers. They seem to think that the only thing they have to do is to write and pass a properly worded piece of legislation and get it signed into law by a President and ipso presto, just like magic, the problem will be solved. They don’t seem to understand that the laws of nature are and will always be the primary prevailing laws. For as long as we are human beings living on planet Earth, we will obey the laws of physics. A tendency to disregard that is why there is such a thing as “The law of unintended negative consequences.”

As for real–and substantial–spending cuts: It will not be easy and it will not be fun for anyone, but it must be done. We simply cannot continue to “duck and cover” and continue to exacerbate and compound the problem and then pass it on and wait for our children, our grandchildren and subsequent generations to get serious about dealing with the problem…..? If we do that, we may cause the creation of a new national holiday. I couldn’t guess what it may be called, but the prescribed “celebration” activity would consist of our descendents going to cemeteries and pissing on the graves of their ‘baby boomer’ ancestors.