After the election: Enjoy or endure?

By JIM THOMPSON
HCP columnist

In my short lifetime, 62 years, the United States has moved from a place to enjoy living, a fortunate privilege for those of us born here or immigrating here, to a place to be endured.

This was confirmed with the irresponsible re-election of Obama by a population more interested in goodies for themselves instead of responsibly preserving and leaving the country for future generations as they found it.

Where do environmentalists go from here?

Their mantra has always been preserving the earth for future generations.

Yet, I’ll suspect a large portion of them just voted to drive the U.S. off a fiscal cliff.

Why preserve a hill, tree or river if there is no future for the soul?

It has struck me recently what blind faith people put in government while simultaneously looking at business and industry as something bad.

The government runs monopolistic programs bloated with inefficient bureaucrats in a take it or leave it manner.

Just look at FEMA.

They, and George Bush, were castigated by the mainstream media for doing a poor job in New Orleans. Read the details, folks, FEMA is doing a worse job in New York.

But since it is under the guidance of the mighty Obama of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the press does not investigate it.

I have worked inside large businesses all my life. It is nothing like it is painted by those who wish to destroy it – environmentalists, unions, and socialists.

Today, big business spends an inordinate amount of time complying with regulations, appeasing the public, and doing everything they can to keep the outside world happy.

Yet, business is the only place real wealth is created. Taxes are merely a transfer of wealth.

Paying a government employee is merely a continuation of the transfer of wealth. Kill business and the game is over.

It is also remarkable how we have transformed our foreign policy in the last four years.

Leadership foolishly believes one can make friends with enemies whose sworn objective is to destroy us and our (former) ally Israel.

It is as if I could protect my house from termites by putting cute little piles of sugar-coated wood out in my yard.

All of this is going to end badly, very badly.

We will be lucky if the United States merely goes bankrupt and experiences riots like those experienced in Greece.

A more likely scenario is that Obama will, after another year or two of this misery he has inflicted upon us, declare martial law.

He holds the keys to the most powerful assets ever created by humankind.

He is not afraid to play fast and loose with the Constitution.

He is unbelievably selfish and egomaniacal – he really believes he knows what is best for the rest of us. There is nothing to stop him now.

I suggest you keep this and read it in a couple of years. You may want to re-publish it then, but you probably will not be allowed to do so by that time.

Jim Thompson, formerly of Marshall, is a graduate of Hillsboro High School and the University of Cincinnati. He resides in Duluth, Ga., following decades of wandering the world, and is a columnist for The Highland County Press.