Where Is Our Ark?
What a solemn and blessed reassurance it is to gaze upon a rainbow and remember the words in the Good Book, where The Almighty tells us that He hung that iridescent, softly splendid arch in the sky to signify His promise to never again destroy the world with water. Instead, He gave us liberals. But there are days when a colossal gully washer might seem an improvement over what we are seeing unfold around us. At least Noah had an escape clause. With great prescience he constructed an ark to escape calamity, thereby becoming the first person in recorded history to "go Galt." His good nature outdid him, though, and while the wildlife and insects were boarding the vessel, a couple of liberals snuck in through the service entrance.
During the ensuing journey, the stowaways never lifted a finger to help feed the animals. They could never be persuaded to lift themselves off their haunches to do any of the cleaning, repair the leaks, open or close the shutters, or prepare meals for the other passengers. They lifted nothing at all except the provisions of others, and even then they disparaged both the quantity and quality. "Where's your proof?" you ask. Well, says I, read the Scripture and you will see that the whole ordeal was so stressful on Noah, taxing his temperate reserves to the very last philanthropic drop, that the first thing he did upon disembarking the boat was to fall into substance abuse. His only reprieve from these unregenerate ingrates was to get snot-slinging hammered. But I'm getting carried away with myself. My question is, where is our ark?
Throughout its history, America has been the world's ark. The Statue of Liberty is a literal standing invitation to the world's oppressed to "go Galt." People who were sick to death of being bullied by the state in their home lands, who wanted to rise or fall by the sweat of their own brow, who wanted to work hard and earn their way, who wanted to breathe deeply the refreshing oxygen of liberty, came here. Where do they go now? Where do we go?
The day after the debt ceiling deal was signed (it will be consummated with future generations), our government got down to business, spiking the National Debt upward by $238 billion in a single day. This brought to $14.580 trillion our debt, in a country whose GDP is $14.526 trillion. In other words, the 100% point has been breached, and we now owe more than we have. Support the deal, we were told, or our credit rating will fall, the stock market will tank, and we'll get the blame. So with a straight face, we supported the deal and said that spending $9 trillion that we don't have over the next 10 years, instead of $12 trillion that we also don't have, constituted a spending cut. Proposals to actually freeze or, heaven forbid, reduce spending were dismissed as radical. The result has been an immediate spike in the debt to over 100% of GDP, a credit rating reduction, a tanking stock market, and we're still getting the blame. Brilliant.
The sad reality is that there is no ark. There is nowhere else for us to go. Our backs are against the wall in this, the last best vestige of freedom on earth. May I be so bold as to make a suggestion? Dispense with the half-measures. We may have already gone over the tipping point. China now feels free to lecture us over our spendthrift ways. Communist China! Our GDP is shrinking, and what is President Nero's response? His administration pushed 608 new regulations in July alone, at a regulatory cost of over $9.5 billion. He castigates the private sector and vilifies owners of corporate jets all while taking the world's biggest corporate jet to Chicago for a fund raiser following his wife's little jaunt to Africa on your dime. But he's for the little guy, remember? Yes, the Dr. Kevorkian of economic growth has a prescription, and it is to suck even more resources from the private sector, devalue the currency via printing press, and get jiggy wit it in the Rose Garden to celebrate his birthday, all while 13.9 million people in this country remain unemployed, and America's finest and bravest give their lives in a war in which their Commander in Chief has already sounded retreat.
This little emperor in the White House is making Jimmy Carter look successful. There's little doubt that he's taking the Democratic Party down with him, but the question is whether or not he can be stopped before taking the country down too. I respectfully submit that the time for fighting battles, as opposed to perpetual positioning for the next battle, is here. I may be reading this wrong, but it doesn't seem to me that time is on our side. Tepid measures yield tepid results. The freshmen in Congress have the right idea. When they stand up and take point in the battle for Constitutionalism, limited government, individual liberty, a robust economy and strong national defense, do you think the folks on our side can back them instead of taking shots at them? Otherwise, the next gully washer will be a merciless tidal wave of national decline against which there is no ark.
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Dec '10
Re: Where Is Our Ark?
What are you preparing?! You're always preparing! Just go! -Dark Helmet.
Jul '10
Re: Where Is Our Ark?
The way out is obvious, but the question is: will enough people vote for it? Can we muster enough votes to counter the sizable segment of American society living off government largesse? They have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. It is hard to change direction after nearly a century of unimpeded growth in federal spending. My fear is not whether we can do it, but whether we will.
Re: Where Is Our Ark?
My fear as well,...and not just on the liberal side of the equation.
Oct '10
Re: Where Is Our Ark?
The best rant I've read all week! Great analogies, thank you very much. I plan to share them with a liberal friend who will read your piece with his brain engaged. Personally, I have serious concerns that we aren't already beyond the tipping point.
On Monday, I will take a corporate jet to Spokane and back to help a friend move his mother here in a quick and TSA-free fashion. My pal will be paying hard-earned cash that will contribute to the overhead and profit of a local charter company, pay two pilots for a day's work and will still have to pay Governor Moonbeam his pound of flesh for the privilege. And BHO would apparently like to shut down that option for the hoi polloi who don't get to ride with him in the "world's biggest corporate jet."
Separately, if we ever get our act together for a Ricochet gathering here in the SW corner of the country, I hope we do so on a schedule to match yours - and remember...I'll provide the grits.
Jul '10
Re: Where Is Our Ark?
Dave Carter
My fear as well,...and not just on the liberal side of the equation. · Aug 6 at 9:29pm
Amen to that. Both parties have been maddeningly obsessed with increasing spending; they just choose to spend on different things. We are beyond the point of superficial tweaking of this or that program. We need a wholesale reassessment of just what the federal government should be doing at a fundamental level and eliminating entire departments and programs accordingly. It's going to be ugly and unpopular, and too many of our political class don't appear to have the stomach for it.
Dec '10
Re: Where Is Our Ark?
Whiskey Sam
Dave Carter
Amen to that. Both parties have been maddeningly obsessed with increasing spending; they just choose to spend on different things. We are beyond the point of superficial tweaking of this or that program. We need a wholesale reassessment of just what the federal government should be doing at a fundamental level and eliminating entire departments and programs accordingly. It's going to be ugly and unpopular, and too many of our political class don't appear to have the stomach for it. · Aug 6 at 9:34pm
It's not just the political class that may not have the stomach for it, as you pointed out earlier. We basically have two choices, we can either pull this thing out of the nosedive it's in or rebuild on top of the wreckage. This gets to the heart of my melancholy. I occassionally venture away from my computer and Ricochet, and what I see out there is not encouraging.
Oct '10
Re: Where Is Our Ark?
"...We need a wholesale reassessment of just what the federal government should be doing at a fundamental level and eliminating entire departments and programs accordingly. It's going to be ugly and unpopular, and too many of our political class don't appear to have the stomach for it."
Whiskey Sam, you are spot on. All of us should to go back and read Angelo Codevilla's seminal piece, "America's Ruling Class" - http://spectator.org/archives/2010/07/16/americas-ruling-class-and-the/print
Re: Where Is Our Ark?
Del Mar Dave: "...We need a wholesale reassessment of just what the federal government should be doing at a fundamental level and eliminating entire departments and programs accordingly. It's going to be ugly and unpopular, and too many of our political class don't appear to have the stomach for it."
Whiskey Sam, you are spot on. All of us should to go back and read Angelo Codevilla's seminal piece, "America's Ruling Class" - http://spectator.org/archives/2010/07/16/americas-ruling-class-and-the/print · Aug 6 at 9:46pm
Del Mar Dave, I haven't seen that piece before. I'll have to read it later, though. The hour is late and I have "miles to go" tomorrow. Thanks for the l link. I look forward to some grits too.
Apr '11
Re: Where Is Our Ark?
Brilliant. Thank you.
Jul '10
Re: Where Is Our Ark?
Dave Carter: ...
The day after the debt ceiling deal was signed (it will be consummated with future generations), our government got down to business, spiking the National Debt upward by $238 billion in a single day. This brought to $14.580 trillion our debt, in a country whose GDP is $14.526 trillion. In other words, the 100% point has been breached, and we now owe more than we have.
Quibble Alert: We now owe more than we produce in a year, per GDP. America's "net worth" is a much, much larger number that is not easily arrived at. Theoretically, we can retire debt by liquidation of federally held assets, valued at less than the total American net worth, but still greater than the federal debt.
But the quibble aside, we are on the rapid rail to fiscal ruin and changing destinations is as necessary as it will be painful.
Re: Where Is Our Ark?
Yes.
What I saw, when I went back to America last, was not encouraging. It made me wonder if I've been in denial--confusing the level of political involvement on Ricochet with that of Americans generally. I did not see anything like a widespread awareness that the future very well may not at all resemble the past, or what would seem to me an appropriate level of emotion about this. To me it looked like sleepwalking. I was very confused by it. I kept saying to myself, "Don't judge by this airport, don't judge by this household, don't judge by this neighborhood, don't judge by this conversation, remember that you may be experiencing culture shock"--and those are all real caveats--but I came away with a powerful feeling that the country had been narcotized. Feelings aren't facts, but that was the feeling I had.
Dec '10
Re: Where Is Our Ark?
Claire, being that you were in Seattle you saw what I see every day, though I see it to a lesser extent in the less urban county directly to the west.
May '10
Re: Where Is Our Ark?
Dave, great post. Bad news: we are well past the tipping point. Not arithmetically, but if you combine 4rth grade math + committed trend + political will = we are toast. Good news: there is an ark. For those with the common sense to protect themselves, protecting capital and waiting until the deluge= things are really cheap, is not exactly rocket science. At some point we will do the right thing after all other alternatives are exhausted, but there is an ark to float in the interim period. Get on it.
I have gone Galt and live in a "developing country" with better entrepeneurial prospects (where isn't?). I do however have a deep love of country and look forward to our waking up and getting things sorted. I still believe that our best days are ahead of us - but we have some serious doo doo to wade through between here and there.
It will not be a fun ride, but assuming we make it through, our period between incredible incompetents should get longer.
May '10
Re: Where Is Our Ark?
If your suggestion is that there are no alternatives to America as far as respect for civil liberties goes, then I'd have to disagree. As I've argued before, America isn't even the freest English speaking country in terms of "economic freedom", which is what you're getting at, I gather. There are quite a few places where one can expect less government intervention.
Edited on Aug 7, 2011 at 4:10amMay '11
Re: Where Is Our Ark?
I do not want join in the depression fest, but I have to agree with Steven MacDonald above (too long to re-post), we are well past the tipping point.
This was brought home to me during the the debate and riots last spring in Wisconsin. Most of my family is from Wisconsin, some are teachers, some work for the state government, and some are in private industry. The shocking part was that many in private industry side with the unions; talk about joining hands and jumping of the financial cliff.
There is little understanding among the polity as to how dire the financial situation is, and how much change is required to prevent implosion.
As to the Ark question, I am not sure whether there are still towns and communities in the U.S., or whether it is better to leave the U.S.
An interesting question and I would love to see more comments.
Jun '10
Re: Where Is Our Ark?
It's going to get much, much worse before any restoration is possible. I've been reluctant to mention something, but I suppose someone needs to bring it up. Most readers are probably aware of a recent phenomenon known as a "flash mob." The media won't report on them because there's a racial component. The incident at the Wisconsin state fair the other day was particularly nasty.
Now imagine what's going to happen when an armed citizen in fear of his life opens fire on one of these mobs. Imagine where the media will try to pin the blame. Imagine how Eric Holder's justice department will react. Now extrapolate in the privacy of your own mind to what will happen the day after election 2012 when Obama loses. Demi-gods are not torn off their pedestals without collateral damage.
We're going to see a 1968 redux, and it won't be pretty. Civil disorder on a massive scale. Poisoned race relations for generations to come. God help us.
Edited on Aug 7, 2011 at 7:48amMay '10
Re: Where Is Our Ark?
2012 is make or break for the nation, and the poll numbers look good. If the Tea Party posse can keep the GOP honest at that point, we're in with a chance. Which is depressing, thinking we have merely "a chance" to prevent complete collapse. But I don't see us having anything more than that. So let's do this.
In the event, John Derbyshire has good things to say about Uruguay as a pretty good place to live. Limited slots available. I'll race ya.
Sep '10
Re: Where Is Our Ark?
Claire Berlinski, Ed.
Yes.
This has been true for several decades. The question is not why it is, but how do you take advantage of it? I do not view the elections of 2012 as the important elections. I view the primaries leading up to the elections of 2012 as of primary importance. People voting in these will be more informed and active. If establishment Republicans are not replaced on a number of ballots nothing much will change no matter who wins 2012.
Jul '10
Re: Where Is Our Ark?
Michael Labeit
...
If your suggestion is that there are no alternatives to America as far as respect for civil liberties goes, then I'd have to disagree. As I've argued before, America isn't even the freest English speaking country in terms of "economic freedom", which is what you're getting at, I gather. There are quite a few places where one can expect less government intervention.
By the time you factor in medical markets, gun rights, and right to self defense it certainly is. America is the massive mutant of the anglophone world, a resort that unabashedly retains core Whig individualist sensibilities.
Examples:
In Australia: the law requires voters to vote. And they think it is a grand thing to assure that every ignorant mother's child that otherwise would not be bothered dilute the informed vote.
In Canada: Mark Steyn's good friends on the Canadian Human Rights Commission.
In the UK: Just read their press. They lost their way so long ago that members of Parliament straight-facedly argue that state control of health care gives individual consumers more leverage than market solutions. While their elite comes here for treatment.
Do not underestimate what we have.
Nov '10
Re: Where Is Our Ark?
In a broad sense, this issue has come up many, many times among my (politically) conservative homeschooling peers. Specifically, we've been discussing the "Benedictine Option" and what that might look like in the digital age. We're a relatively diverse group, actually, in terms of race/ethnicity and religion and location, but we all agree that we're witnessing the end of something. And before it all comes crashing down, we're hoping to have inculcated in our kids the ability to preserve the best of Western civilization for themselves and their own children.
ETA: Whoops. Mommy brain. I was going to loop back to your comments, Dave. So my point with this was that some of us find ourselves in a...very different kind of trench right now, but I'm right there with you: I'm not going down without a fight.
Edited on Aug 7, 2011 at 11:59am