The financial crisis points out that the US as a country over the past 50 years or so followed a path in both government and personal finance of getting what we want today, planning to (maybe) pay for it tomorrow. Food, shelter, clothing, education, retirement, medical care and respect have moved from things that needed to be earned to "rights" that ought be "freely available".
Of course, in the real world, there is very little that is "free". Both government and private individuals have enjoyed the separation of "buying" from "paying", but in so doing they have believed that the buying part can continue without much significant needing to happen on the payment side until "later".
So we arrive at today. It appears that at least home ownership really isn't an affordable "right", it has to drop back to being a privilege. How about retirement without saving for it? How long can the Social Security Ponzi scheme continue to provide some Americans with the short term reality, while certainly providing most of us with only the long-term fantasy? How likely is it that this or one of the other "pseudo rights" that liberal thinking has foisted on us will take down those of us that have worked, saved, and paid the taxes over a long period right along with those that have just pointed the finger of blame at "big business", "CEOs", "Wall Street", or some other supposed agent of evil?
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