SODOM & GOMORRAH: I believe that your actions should reflect your beliefs. In our age, this is a radical and dangerous stance because we are surrounded with people who are suffering from spiritual schizophrenia. A slight symptom of this schizophrenia can be seen in the current payroll tax debate.
The American Democratic Party has a reputation for being progressive and liberal. Therefore, their opposition, the Republican Party, does the exact opposite of what the Democratic Party wants done. This allows the Republicans to tell everyone that they’re conservative when they’re secretly suffering from the same political maladies as the Democrats. Moldbug laid much of this out when he distinguished between the Inner and the Outer Parties in the United States.
The problem with progressivism is its inconsistency. Proponents say that they believe in freedom, and then define that freedom in such a way that we are enslaved to the material. They stand up for universal rights and in the process end up dehumanizing and demonizing their opponents. They want self-determination for other countries but only at gunpoint. They tell society for 150 years that we must consume in order to be prosperous and now they tell us consumption will destroy the planet. What the Republican Party has done is turn Democratic inconsistency on its head. They have, in a word, decided to be insane in a different direction because they are essentially mirroring insanity.
And so it is inevitable that Republican leaders will fight with Democratic leaders. So when we read in Business Week that US Speaker of the House John Boehner and the Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid are preparing to fight over taxes this week, we are not surprised. Yet we are surprised that this is a continuation of a struggle between Republican representatives and a Democratic president, with the president on the side of extending tax cuts and the Republicans, at least initially, being opposed.
The Republican opposition stemmed from the fact that this tax cut isn’t paid for and would increase the deficit, which contradicted the earlier stances that tax cuts increase government revenue as more production from the economic growth that’s supposed to be stimulated from tax cuts leads to more income being taxed. Now the Republicans in Congress are saying that extending the tax cut is acceptable as long as some random pipeline project is approved. The pipeline is obviously needed for jobs, because the problem in this country (as both parties agree) is that Americans aren’t working hard enough. Democrats in the Senate have said that they want to levy a different tax to make up for the budget shortfall from the payroll tax. This makes complete sense; stubbing your toe will distract you from your headache.
Nothing the US Government spends is paid for; all of it’s either printed or borrowed. In that spirit, here is the 5-Part Mark Tully Plan for a Balanced Budget:
1. Eliminate all but the income tax, which is cut to 10%.
2. Eliminate the Department of Education.
3. Eliminate the Environmental Protection Agency.
4. Eliminate the State Department, this is Sparta.
5. SHUT ALL OF IT DOWN NOW!
We will have a budget surplus in three years. We also might have morals again.