Gloomy weather depresses spirits to match economy and government

The last few days have favored us with soaking cold mists and chill winds. Mushrooms shoot up overnight and green mold appears on every vertical surface including our relatively new vinyl siding.

My normally sunny spirits are on hold and my thoughts increasingly turn to the state of our economy and the nonsense that is spouted by those we have elected and the media lackeys who curry favor with them.

To shake off my gloom, I drove into town to pick up supplies and prospect for business. Downtown Floyd has a charm that lifts my mood in the worst of seasons, but this inclement weather is hard on visitors.

The streets of downtown Floyd are normally crowded with strolling shoppers on Fridays, but today there were only a few hardy souls bundled up against the cold.

Inside the shops people chatted and exchanged greetings as usual, but conversations inevitably touched upon a sense of dwindling confidence in the economy and unhappiness with government policies.

Money is so tight that most people I know have significantly changed their buying patterns. Local businesses are lowering prices or developing lower priced goods and services to reflect the needs of their customers.

Even though most business owners are trying to be realistic and are doing what they can to tough things out, there is a pervasive feeling that the economy is not stable and may subside at any moment.

Most people still seem to have long term hopes, but are actually planning and executing on a month to month basis.

It seems like more people are making major changes to their lifestyles in an effort to deal with worsening financial situations. Those with jobs are developing craft opportunities in an effort to generate additional income. Those who are out of work or are in changed family circumstances are doing odd jobs and even cleaning houses to make ends meet.

People are resilient and those who concentrate on providing worthwhile products and services for those who need them will survive and will be ready to take advantage of the next economic recovery.

The current economic situation will not change for the better until true job creation occurs in the free enterprise sector. For more thoughts on what that might entail, read past the jump.

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Right now, while employment in the private sector is shrinking,  GOVERNMENT EMPLOYMENT IS INCREASING and this is worsening the burden on taxpayers.

Increased government control has not been successful in improving the economy in recorded history, but we are in the throes of a nationalization effort that shows no sign of abating.

Allocation of resources is best done in a free market situation because money goes to solve real problems. Allocating resources by government mandate creates solutions for problems that don't exist and creates patronage jobs to control the lives of everyday citizens. These patronage jobs do not create wealth and do not help the economy.

Government efforts to increase the cost of energy and the costs of doing business will depress tax revenues and will further increase deficit spending. Printing new money to support government programs is not a viable long range solution to our current economic woes. It is actually a time-tested way for us to achieve third-world status if continued long enough.

Entrepreneurship and the onset of war pulled the US out of the Great Depression. Most of Roosevelt's programs, like the National Recovery Act, acted to prolong the Depression.

Encouraging entrepreneurship through removal of stifling restrictions is probably the quickest way to bring back national prosperity. Major political changes will be required before free enterprise can flourish with a rational program for maintaining the environment.

The political realities behind some cherished beliefs may have to be exposed before real progress can be made. The junk science underlying "global warming" and the CO2 myth did not just happen, it was knowingly created and maintained to generate government grants for selected scientists and their supporters and business opportunities like the carbon trading markets.

There are a huge number of people dependent on keeping the "global warming crisis" real and "critical" to life as we know it. The global warming industry and the carbon trading industry is now worth billions and it was all created from some computer models that have never been validated.

The unfortunate truth is that these scams are a severe burden on our economy and have little to so with saving the planet. These man-made crises are, however, an essential tool in gaining power and consolidating that power in a central government.

These crises will be exposed as falsehoods eventually, but the organizations which they support may never be dismantled, unless the records are fully exposed for all to see.

If things are turned around, it will be through the dissemination of factual information on the Internet and a willingness to take action in making changes in government so that elected officials are responsive to voters.