I saw a short bit of an outdoor speech Hillary Clinton recently gave at a University. She made a promise to the students that if she was president she would force universities to lock in their tuition rates so that a student’s tuition could not increase after their first year. The students applauded, and I’m sure many a socialist professor became teary-eyed with joy.
But this was slightly outrageous to watch. Is this what politics is about? Pandering to groups, promising to change the rules for them. These rules are best setup by the free-market. The government has no right to intervene, even though the intervention may appeal to a small group.
Central economic planning is always a disaster.
“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence: “From bondage to spiritual faith; From spiritual faith to great courage; From courage to liberty; From liberty to abundance; From abundance to selfishness; From selfishness to apathy; From apathy to dependence; From dependence back into bondage.”
–Alexander Fraser Tytler (later Lord Alexander Fraser Woodhouslee), in “The Decline and Fall of the Athenian Republic,” published 1776
I hate to point this out, but it’s worth saying that one would be shocked and appalled to hear these Hillary-esque promises come from the likes of Ron Paul. He appears to be the lone candidate working to stem the tide of this political dysfunction and restore the idea of America to this geographical entity called the U.S.A.
