The Great Bailout Stall, Part I: The Financial Collapse of the USA

What can you say about something that thousands of people in the media have been writing and talking about nonstop, twenty-four hours a day: the financial collapse of the U.S. For me, the answer is both simple and novel: Tell the truth.

Most of what you've been hearing about the soon-to-be "bailout" is simply untrue. Of course, we expect lies from the Criminal Class in Washington, but what's more troubling is how virtually no one in the media seems to understand the real problem. Or, if they do, are afraid to talk about it.

Forget about whether this particular bailout (as opposed the previous bailouts and the larger ones that are just over the horizon) is $300 billion, $500 billion, or $1 trillion. It doesn't matter. Why? Because unless a vast majority of the populace demands that the Vote-Buying Game in this country is brought to an end and votes their representatives and senators out of office, the runaway inflation I've been predicting for three decades will ultimately overwhelm the land of the free(bies).

Meaning ... bailouts don't matter, because the bailout dollars will soon be worthless anyway. Even if the staunchest Marxists in Congress get their way and up the ante to $1 trillion, it will do absolutely nothing to solve the real problem. It's nothing more than a desperate attempt to stall the inevitable.

Those of us who for years have been saying that the total collapse of the U.S. economy was inevitable are not prophets. As early as the late seventies, anyone who was willing to admit that two plus two can never equal five knew that politicians and their partner in crime, the Federal Reserve, could not keep America's depression invisible indefinitely.

So what, exactly, is the real problem that underlies the financial collapse of the U.S.? Perhaps Frederick Douglass, one of America's earliest black heroes and an advisor to President Lincoln during the Civil War, gave us the answer in an indirect way when he spoke about the so-called "Negro question":

"Everybody has asked the question ... 'What shall we do with the Negro?' I have had but one answer from the beginning. Do nothing with us! Your doing with us has already played the mischief with us. Do nothing with us! If the apples will not remain on the tree of their own strength, if they are wormeaten at the core, if they are early ripe and disposed to fall, let them fall! I am not for tying or fastening them on the tree in any way, except by nature's plan, and if they will not stay there, let them fall. And if the Negro cannot stand on his own legs, let him fall also. All I ask is, give him a chance to stand on his own legs! Let him alone!"

What Douglass had to say about Negroes applies to Americans of all colors today. Through ever-increasing government handouts and intervention in the economy, people have come to believe they are entitled to everything -- literally. Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are natural products of the evolution of a democracy into a Marxist state, their chief function being to carry out the absurd notion that everyone is entitled to own a home.

Hard work, self-discipline, and saving are considered to be old-fashioned concepts. It's all about having it all, and having it now. Did you ever look at the crowd at an NFL football game and ask yourself where all those beer-guzzling yahoos get the money to buy $200 tickets?

A few months ago, I was in the mood for some light humor, so I turned on CNN. I believe it was Larry King who was interviewing one of those twitheaded "financial advisors" who never cease to amaze me. The ever-tough Mr. King asked Ms. Twithead what people could do to improve their deteriorating financial situation.

Her first offering was to say that a person could save $200 a year by "giving up his one-bottle-of-water-a-day habit." Powerful stuff, eh? Her second suggestion was that a person suffering some financial discomfort might consider bringing a sandwich to work instead of going out to lunch.

Then, without warning, it came -- the jaw dropper: In the most casual manner, Ms. Twithead said that people might also "consider going out for entertainment three nights a week instead of four." No, I'm not joking.

I immediately turned to my wife and asked, "Did that woman just say what I think she said?" Even though I've known for thirty years that it was impossible for the U.S. to avoid a financial collapse, that innocuous little comment by that no-name "financial advisor" was a seminal moment for me. I said, "Do you realize that that woman, though she hasn't a clue about what's going on with the economy, just explained why Americans are doomed?"

Now hear this: I've never gone out "for entertainment" four nights in any one week of my life! It makes me feel kind of out of it to know that my mailman may have been going out four nights a week all these years, while I've been home reading and going to bed early.

Of course, I do, occasionally, get out -- and from what I've observed, Ms. Twithead is probably right about the average person going out four nights a week. It's always fascinated me how good, middle-priced restaurants such as Outback Steakhouse, California Pizza Kitchen, The Cheesecake Factory, and P.F. Chang's have one-to-two-hour waiting lists every day of the week.

Now, finally, I understand. People are addicted to having a good time. After all, it's only plastic. And, besides, they're entitled to it. To hell with saving. I say, bring on the strawberry cheesecake!

With all this as a backdrop, in my next article I will dare to speak the unspeakable and tell you what really needs to be done to solve America's financial crisis -- and it's not a bailout. Unfortunately, I must warn you in advance that there will be something in my words to alienate everybody.

I wish I could learn to keep my big mouth shut ... but there's something about writing that just squeezes the truth right out of me. As I said, the impending financial collapse of the U.S. was -- and is -- inevitable. You may want to give some serious thought to unsubscribing ahead of time.

About the Author

Robert Ringer has helped more people transform their aspirations and goals into reality than perhaps any other author in history. Ringer is the author of three #1 bestsellers, two of which have been listed by The New York Times among the 15 best-selling motivational books of all time. In addition, he has been the subject of feature articles in such major publications as Time, People, and The Wall Street Journal. Subscribe to free newsletter

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