And it gets worse (via the WSJ):
Today in America there are nearly twice as many people working for the government (22.5 million) than in all of manufacturing (11.5 million). This is an almost exact reversal of the situation in 1960, when there were 15 million workers in manufacturing and 8.7 million collecting a paycheck from the government.
It gets worse. More Americans work for the government than work in construction, farming, fishing, forestry, manufacturing, mining and utilities combined.
I agree with John. I think our country, in it’s current state, is doomed. We are quickly approaching a tipping point when the shit will hit the fan if we don’t start to reverse this trend. And quickly.
To borrow an analogy from biology, if the parasites overwhelm the host, it is catastrophic for both the host and the parasites. (Which is why viruses aren’t really trying to kill you, at least not quickly.) That analogy may be unfair; certainly not all government workers are parasites. Let’s try this one: if the cowboy gets bigger than the horse, both the horse and the cowboy are in trouble.
There are many reasons for pessimism these days, but first on the list is the prospect that the growth of the public sector at the expense of the private may have become irreversible.
The coming revolution in this country won’t be a race war (blacks vs whites vs Hispanics) or even a war between Liberals and Conservatives (since we have all the guns, almost all of the military training, and all of the real men, this ‘war’ would be over in a week). But rather it will be a war between government employees and the tax paying private citizens who pay their salaries and benefits.
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This is a problem of greater magnitude than most people realize and that we have arrived at this point is no accident.
A few years ago I was engaged in a debate/discussion with another commenter at Gates of Vienna, with the main thrust of my argument being that the citizens of the EU country he lived in needed to speak up against their government for the many problems they had to live with, in particular the massive immigration of muslims. He explained to me that they couldn’t for fear of losing their jobs, as nearly 60% of the population either worked for the government or relied on the government for their daily bread. They feared speaking out because the government now ruled them like serfs.
This creeping expansion of the government payroll, along with the massive numbers of recipients of government hand outs, is a detriment to our freedom and liberty.
good one NO2. I did some commentary on something else Thomas Paine wrote sometime back on kind word and a 2×4. It was among my first postings I believe..but I can dig it up for you if you want.
Sure, would love to see it.
nuts. can’t find it. It must be on my OTHER blog. Sigh..that one goes back even further. it’ll take me a short bit.. in the meantime..there’s a new post over on 2×4. A list of links. Links to stuff I said on 2×4 in 09.
I’ll try and stop by this evening.
The “meat” world has been keeping me very busy, recently.
If you haven’t been following this season, Top Shot on History only has a few shows left, it comes on tonight at 9.
On Wednesday nights, Justified is my 9 o’clock wind down for lights out.
Finally! found it no2. it wa a post I made in 08 on, as I said, another blog. I transferred it to 2×4,
Feel free to pass it on my fellow urbangrounders.
http://kindwordand2x4.blogspot.com/2011/04/common-sense-august-3rd-2008.html