Some Interesting Ideas That Caught My Eye

I've long believed that a standing military - one filled with careerists, REMFs, and Pentagon weenies - is not the best use of our defense dollars. Here is a link to a different organization of our current mlitary. And, I might add my own idea to the Guard units. There should only be a SMALL portion of them that can be called up nationally, without the EXPLICIT consent of the governor/legislators of the individual states. That might go a long way to stopping these endless "Not-Exactly-a-War-But-the-Carnage-Sure-Resembles-it" actions.

About rising energy costs:

We've been damn fortunate lately. In the North, we've had relatively mild winters since Doofus Biden took office. That, and the lessened traffic for the last couple of years has helped keep energy costs from breaking the bank.

That's not gonna continue. The price of energy - gasoline, heating fuels (oil, gas, and electric), and lighting and other electricity needs - will inevitably skyrocket. That's the plan. To both diminish savings, AND to accustom the public to rationing, a process that both forces people to use less energy, and also puts them in their place - no mouthing off for YOU, Peasant!

Bayou Renaissance Man has a long post on the Energy Crisis (well, it's a manmade crisis, but it IS a crisis). I have no solutions, other than to retrofit your living spaces to manage with using less energy (tightening up heat escaping, reducing the number of rooms you do use, having alternative ways to manage cooking, transportation, and use of electric appliances). It's likely to be an uncomfortable time period, before it's over. I've been through it before, early in my marriage. We were forced to resort to THESE.

And, finally, the New Campaign to Persuade Americans to Embrace Serfdom!

There were (unacknowledged) serfs in America before this:

• The miners who worked in Company Towns, and shopped at the Company Store
• Sharecroppers
• Many of the migrant workers of the 20th century

The ideal in America was to own your own home, car, and possessions. Many people, seduced by the lure of Payment Plans, descended into a quasi-serfdom of Debt Slave. Much of the Consumer Protection industry - Truth in Lending, national and state Consumer Agencies, and the fight to end Payday Loans - stems from concerns about people getting into debt that is not able to be paid back before the merchandise that was financed wears out.

It's actually worse today. We have many people who lease their cars. That's a choice that does make some sense - IF you own a business, and use those cars for business purposes. It makes no sense if you're an average person, and could pay off the car within 4-6 years. Most cars on the road today can easily be driven 10-15 years before needing to be replaced (a lot of that need is difficulty getting parts to fix those cars).

Other commonly rented items include furniture, computers, cellphones, and various TV/cable service equipment. Your streaming services - video, movies, games, music - all amount to a rental, not a purchase. The poor are more likely to get into these "deals", leading them to an unsustainable lifestyle level. One interruption to their income, or a sudden 3 or 4 figure bill, and the house of cards collapses.

Inflation cuts people off from being able to afford home ownership, due both to the rise in the price of housing, and the increased cost of mortgage intereest. Such a double whammy was the cause of our continued rental, well into our 30s. We finally managed to squeak out a home purchase thanks to a mortgage broker (he probably finagled with the paperwork to make it possible - I didn't care, we were buying a house that was well within our budget, and we were both working).