BY RUSSELL TURNER
INSURANCE FROM STUPIDITY
In today’s world it seems there is a never-ending list of insurance that we need to have. Over the past few years the healthcare insurance debate has been front and center. For many people the reason they didn’t have insurance was very simple, the cost had risen to a point where they couldn’t afford it. But thanks to the government class they found a solution; they just made a law requiring you to purchase it even though you couldn’t afford it. Even with subsidies to help pay the premiums, the proposed increases of 30% per year will be more than most people can afford.
In America we have allowed a nanny state to develop that is supposed to protect us from all ills and consequences of bad decisions. I have heard many people talk about the school of hard knocks; while it may seem harsh, a little pain can teach us to avoid bad and destructive behavior. When I was a kid growing up other kids and myself would ride our bicycles without helmets, kneepads, reflector vests and without constant parental supervision. Maybe because of good luck or divine intervention we survived childhood and because of a few bruises and scraped knees we learned that there could be pain for foolish behavior. Had I grown up in today’s nanny state, there’s no doubt I would have been in foster care or the custody of some government ‘Child Protective Services’ agency, and my parents would be in jail for neglect.
In today’s business sector there is always someone or some company wanting a bailout for a bad business decision. Some politician becomes terrified that some factory worker is going to lose his job, or that a pensioner might lose money in the market and they are willing to spent trillions trying to prop up the system. We need to remember that recessions and down markets are just part of the cycle of business. When kids do something stupid, they’re supposed to fall down and scrape a knee. The pain teaches them to not be so careless. When businesses and investors do stupid things, there’s supposed to be a recession. There’s supposed to be a market downturn. These are perfectly natural reinforcement mechanisms to not be so stupid next time.
In this current nanny state, nature can’t be allowed to take its course, and preventing that from happening only reinforces bad behavior.
Governments are bankrupt. Their economic figures are so contrived that they count prostitution and narcotics in official GDP figures. Most importantly, there are no consequences to stupidity anymore. Banks can screw up as much as they want, and the government is going to bail them out. Governments can screw up as much as they want, and the taxpayers will be forced to bail them out. Our government and others across the globe are experiencing economic crisis brought on by too much debt, and their only solutions is to incur more debt while ignoring the risks to future generations. Sadly there is not such thing as stupidity insurance, but if there were our government needs to buy a huge policy.
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