Never bet against America

r
renqiulan
楼主 (文学峸)

In 1980 Nobel economist Paul A. Samuelson predicted in his college textbook that the Soviet Union would overtake the United States sometime between 2002 and 2012.

Well, the Soviet Union closed up shop on December 26, 1991.

Samuelson failed to understand that the gloom and doom of the 1970s had much to do with a crisis in American leadership, not American entrepreneurship. Green shoots would be everywhere if and when given a  "Morning in America," as Ronald Reagan put it.

On January 20, 1981 Reagan began his first presidential term. He meant to buck the trend of economic decline, and he did.

How?

The answer was summed up by Nobel economist Milton Friedman in three words: "Free to choose." In practice it’s up to enterprising individuals, not government bureaucracies, to make decisions where private businesses are concerned.*

True to individualism, Reaganite America managed to keep more and more wealth in the people. A smaller government grows a bigger economy. Small is beautiful.

True to collectivism, Soviet Russia managed to extract more and more wealth from the people. A bloating autocracy only depresses its economy. No freedom. No free growth. That's the way to the dustbin of history.

Reagan succeeded in making economic sense of his presidency to Americans as free individuals. That's the way to roar back and hit the ball out of the park.

Home run, Babe!

Author: renqiulan 

* In January 1925 President Calvin Coolidge declared, “The chief business of the American people is business.” 

 

 



 

🔥 最新回帖

C
CBA7
101 楼
That's "free to choose" all about!
C
CBA7
100 楼
Thank you for being yourself, so proud of you!
r
renqiulan
99 楼
With a grateful heart, may I say goodnight, ladies!
C
CBA7
98 楼
秋兰,it's up to you, of course. No worries :)
盈盈一笑间
97 楼
哈哈,小西是热心肠。我尊重秋兰的意思,加不加前缀,秋兰决定吧。我都ok。:)

 

🛋️ 沙发板凳

蓝灵
Hi, renqiulan! Didn't Warren Buffett say, "Don't bet against
蓝灵
America"?
r
renqiulan
Hi, 蓝灵!Indeed he did.
r
renqiulan
Buffett said, and I quote, "For 240 years it's been a
r
renqiulan
terrible mistake to bet against America."
蓝灵
Doubters are welcome to prove otherwise, though.
r
renqiulan
Why not? This is America.
蓝灵
"Home run, Babe!" Babe?
r
renqiulan
You might want to google Babe Ruth. I'm a baseball fan.
方外居士
藏富于民。
C
CBA7
"Free to choose" "Small is beautiful", those are beautiful
C
CBA7
things we always appreciate.
C
CBA7
秋兰好书评,谢谢分享!
r
renqiulan
谢谢方外居士!轻徭薄税,不与民争利,中国古已有言,唯实行者绝少而已。
r
renqiulan
.Thank you, 小西!This is the beauty of American democracy:
r
renqiulan
By virtue of our votes, we often can hold politicians' feet
r
renqiulan
to the fire when they fail to walk the walk. They can't just
r
renqiulan
go on talking the talk.
r
renqiulan
实在是言简而意不赅,有待改进。再谢小西鼓励!
C
CBA7
秋兰,建议你把你这个每周日的活动加上活动前缀,例如【读书沙龙 Sunday】, 这样大家容易记住是哪一天 :)
r
renqiulan
Music to my ears too.
r
renqiulan
感谢小西建议。自问写不了书评,聊几句读后感言还是可以的。
C
CBA7
哈哈哈,"hold politicians' feet to the fire", that's how America
方外居士
西周实行的是藏富于民政策。秦以后大一统,官府与民争利日渐严重。汉初曾休养生息,但汉武帝为了伐匈奴,采取了盐铁专营等政策。
C
CBA7
成为了真正的“厉害国” :)
方外居士
以解决财政困难。与民争利实际是政府与富商争利。在中囯,商人从来没有能力挑战政府。这与美国极不相同。
r
renqiulan
I like this idiom. I don't mean it literally. Haha!
方外居士
从某种意义上来说,美国是由自由商人建立的股份公司。
r
renqiulan
"厉害国‘’太厉害了。
C
CBA7
你的读后感很棒,那就把前缀【读书沙龙 Sunday】加上吧。美坛的另外几个活动都有前缀,就缺你的这个了,不要落伍啊 :)
r
renqiulan
有王权,无民权。要么偷生,要么作反。
C
CBA7
You got it! I know what you meant. Hahaha!
r
renqiulan
司马迁一语中的:“富者连田阡陌,贫者无立锥之地”。豪強兼併,民何安居乐业?
C
CBA7
哈哈哈,我的建议仅供你参考,也许你有更好的名称。秋兰晚安!
方外居士
儒家有君轻民贵的思想,但这完全靠皇帝的自我克制来实现,不遵守则无人能制。民权的概念也是近代以来才有的并逐渐发展起来。
方外居士
最具有决定性意义的是英国的大宪章,它首次明确规定了贵族对国王权利的限制。
r
renqiulan
无言以谢小西盛意。我还是如故作“门外文谈”好了。学而后知不足,既知不足,何如维持现状,继续抛砖?
方外居士
但是这个种子发展到今天也经历了无数的风雨。以美国为例,建国之初黑人是奴隶,妇女没有投票权。投票权限于交了税的男人。
C
CBA7
那就等明天听听盈盈的建议吧,我觉得还是有个活动前缀更好一些 :)
方外居士
这些问题直到上世纪才解决。这是一个社会经济文化发展的过程,不可能在一夜之间让所有人改变思想。
r
renqiulan
大宪章本质是王与诸侯的约法。对美国而言,还是五月花号公约更具启蒙意义。
方外居士
美国的大法官制度很好地维持了传统和变迁之间的平衡。只是川普上次认命了太多保守派法官,以后会让people pay it
方外居士
但是其种子来源于大宪章这个先例。没有国王愿意自动放弃权力,斗争和妥协是这个宪章精髓。只有斗争没有妥协,只能改朝换代重复。
方外居士
只有妥协没有斗争,只配做奴隶!
r
renqiulan
不经历过文艺复兴,启蒙运动,理性时代,恐怕不能较稳健地向民主宪政迈进。
方外居士
是这么回事。用好多代人的不断积累才可能产生质变。最后是新人产生新思想。就个人而言,一个人的世界观在二十岁左右基本形成,
r
renqiulan
此时此刻,乌克兰人和以色列人是最清楚的了。
方外居士
以后只能做微小的改变。所有要改造一个社会,需要几代人的时间,不仅是思想的变化,其实也是人本身的替换!
r
renqiulan
好的,听听盈盈意见。晚了,小西晚安!
蓝灵
Suddenly I found myself in a debate club.
r
renqiulan
Welcome back, 蓝灵!
蓝灵
What's up?
r
renqiulan
What made you stay up so late?
方外居士
我说的是国家内部的争执。国家之间的关系会有所不同,但也是斗争和妥协相互作用。到目前为止,国家之间更看重现实利益,而不是
蓝灵
I'm a night owl.
r
renqiulan
No kidding.
方外居士
Justice! 乌克兰能战斗多久要看美国能支持多久。以色列则是短期和平与长期和平间的取舍,因为巴勒斯坦人在数量上迟早会
蓝灵
Wasn't I sounding like a night owl?
方外居士
远超以色列。
r
renqiulan
You're sounding like a nightingale.
蓝灵
Hahaha!
r
renqiulan
Goodnight, 蓝灵!
蓝灵
Good night, renqiulan!
a
ahniu
right is always right

left is always not right

(发自我的文学城离线浏览器)

方外居士
这就是每个朝代通常发生的事。朝代建立之初,由于人口减少,土地比较平均。随着人口增长,土地兼并也加快,很多农户依附于大地主
方外居士
导致自耕农减少。而这则减少了国家税收来源而导致财政困难,最后导致政权崩溃。
移花接木
Be nice 2 America or we'll bring democracy 2 ur country
O
Oona
Brilliant 秋兰!这几天有人谈论历史在重现,会再现里根时代:--))
C
CBA7
秋兰早安,我昨天晚上提到的“读书沙龙”,其实就是盈盈当初提议的名称,我只不过建议加上 Sunday 而已 :)
C
CBA7
BTW,如果想要随意一点的话,【周日夜话】也可以考虑。当然,你如果用【Sunday 厉害国】作为活动名称,肯定有超厉害的
C
CBA7
的轰动效应,估计城里城外的人都要来参加了,哈哈哈!
移花接木
History has always repeated,is repeating, will always repeat
r
renqiulan
Hi, ahniu!Were you talking about politics or ethics or both?
r
renqiulan
Thanks, 移花接木!I've got to give it to you on that.
r
renqiulan
Thanks, Oona! A swing can't go too high in either direction.
r
renqiulan
That's the political design handed to us by the founders.
r
renqiulan
Ronald Reagan got that. He's not alone though.
B
BeagleDog
听着很鼓舞人心。但我是悲观主义者。不禁想到,在全球化的时代背景下,“free to choose”会不会就像现在或者更甚

加速美国资本外流到人力资源花费更低的国家?美国的资本肯定是越来越富有。可是中产阶层会进一步萎缩,美国本土的经济也不会有什么起色。

盈盈一笑间
占位点赞,谢谢秋兰。待会儿来仔细看。:)
盈盈一笑间
Free to choose!Reagan is one of the greatest US Presidents
盈盈一笑间
欢迎新朋友来美坛玩,问好
r
renqiulan
谢谢BeagleDog来评!贫富、左右两极化是当前现象,甚至是全球现象。然而,类似现象在历史上也曾出现过。值得正视,值得
r
renqiulan
審时。我个人倾向乐观,因为这不是最坏的时代,当然也不是最好的时代。
r
renqiulan
真是感谢小西一再鼓励!我现在还找不到相宜的“前缀”哩。
r
renqiulan
感谢盈盈!
r
renqiulan
Indeed he is.
B
BeagleDog
谢谢版主!谢谢LZ!
颤音
best prose i've ever written, free to choose, a fan of Fried
r
renqiulan
Thanks, 颤音, but I'm afraid I don't follow you.
C
CBA7
哈哈哈,秋兰又谦虚了。This is your baby, you name it.
C
CBA7
Your choice, free to choose :)
r
renqiulan
小西, I'm speechless. Frankly, I'm barely able to write.
r
renqiulan
I'm afraid I'm not ready to be a columnist.
C
CBA7
No kidding! If you're not ready,
C
CBA7
then nobody :)
盈盈一笑间
哈哈,小西是热心肠。我尊重秋兰的意思,加不加前缀,秋兰决定吧。我都ok。:)
C
CBA7
秋兰,it's up to you, of course. No worries :)