Obviously, Jerry Pournelle will not be welcome in D.C. with commonsense thoughts like this:
We can legitimately argue over the desirability of government building programs and whether all that ought to be left to the market; but it seems to me that if government is going to borrow money and spend it, the end result ought to be something useful, not just spent money… Just spending borrowed money doesn’t seem to work well.
It certainly doesn’t for private citizens. It may well make sense for a man who has landed a job as a carpenter to borrow money to buy his basic tool kit, or even to buy a car for transportation to and from work. It makes little to no sense to borrow money to take a trip across country for vacation and relaxation, or to buy frivolities. Everyone knows this, or certainly used to. Apparently the government doesn’t really know it. And now we borrow money to fund entitlements, to build demonstration projects, local museums that no one is going to visit, increase salaries of government workers and to hire new government workers whose funding will then fall on the local community, and other such horrors. Spending borrowed money without a very specific [and useful to the general public–ed] purpose is nonsense.
Of course, “common sense” is anathema to the ignorant, preening, over-credentialed ruling class. “Ignorant”? What, aren’t they mostly products of “elite” colleges and universities? Yep, for the most part they are, and that’s one of the linchpins of their unassailable ignorance and institutionalized stupidity. I’m not by any means anti-intellectual; I highly approve of thoughtful consideration of issues and genuinely intellectual pursuits that enlighten, broaden horizons and improve the conditions of those who pursue them, as well as benefit society at large. But. That sort of intellectual behavior is the antithesis of what goes on in most colleges and universities nowadays–and especially “elite” schools.
Any soi disant Academia Nut Fruitcake Bakery “intellectuals” want to argue the point with me? Hmmm? See my Comments Policy for fair warning.
