Over the past fifty or so years, our government has stolen every nickel from our parents (i.e. there is no money left in Social Security) and every dime from our kids (i.e. we have left them with trillions in debt) while more money continues to be spent today than at any time in human history. At some point we need to ask, “Where has all the money gone?”
We know where it hasn’t gone. It hasn’t gone into infrastructure. In fact, we are still using the same electrical grid created through the hard work and ingenuity of the last of the great generations. We still drive on the roads they paved and fly out of the airports they built which have only changed since then in their growing decrepitude.
It hasn’t been spent preparing for disasters as FEMA was too broke to be of much help following Hurricane Helene and things are no better in Democrat-run states like California where there was tons of money in the budget, just none of it went to ensuring that the fire trucks weren’t in the boneyard, the reservoir wasn’t empty and offline or that the old fire hydrants were still in place and working.
The money hasn’t been spent on modernizing our nation’s technologies. In fact, at the Pentagon where you’d think everything would be state-of-the-art and then some, they’re still using floppy disks in their computers while things are even worse at the FAA:
Despite big advances in computing and satellite-based telecommunications, controllers continue to rely on ground-based radar and analog radio-communication systems that date back to the 1950s. Shockingly, some controllers still use paper strips to keep track of airplanes.
We know that, during the Biden years at least, the money wasn’t being spent to protect our borders or to prosecute illegal aliens. So where has all the money gone?
It wasn’t spent on maintaining school buildings. Thus, when I asked my AI program “Are there any schools in America where the buildings are crumbling?” it wrote back:
The situation is widespread, with the Government Accountability Office estimating that 54% of U.S. school districts need to update or completely replace multiple building systems. The backlog in school maintenance and repair projects is estimated to be at least $500 billion.
Neither is the education budget making its way into the classrooms where, despite having fully eliminated such classes as music, civics, home economics and shop, teachers still complain about a lack of even the most basic of teaching materials and stories continue to abound of educators having to use their own money just to buy paper and pencils for the kids. Oh, well, at least there’s still enough money to put tampons in the boys’ room.
The result is that, while bureaucrats and administrators, politicians, union kingpins, and the makers of tampon dispensers have all gotten rich (and drag queens are no longer searching for work), America’s children are the least knowledgeable and the least capable in our history.
Neither is the money going to the mental well-being of our children. In fact, while today’s children graduate from high school unable to read, write, calculate or even think, they are sure to suffer any of a whole host of psychological problems including what the CDC recognizes as epidemics of depression, anxiety, self-hurting, loneliness and suicidal thoughts.
With our having stolen every nickel from our parents and borrowed every dime against our children’s future, just what exactly do we have to show for it? Our infrastructure is ancient and crumpling, our technology is antiquated and decades behind our allies and adversaries, we’re unprepared for emergencies and incapable of providing help afterward. Our schools are crumbling and our children are ignorant, incapable and hurting. Other than that, though, it’s all been money well spent.
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Best post I've read in a while. Some suggestions. With and "savings" DOGE produces, political hacks (I usually call them worse) must not be permitted to find new shit to sped it on. Anything called an NGO or "non-profit" must have it's government funding taken away. They need to hawk for private donations - and actually accomplish more than posters and dialogs. Pay down the debt. In reality 90% of that value doesn't exist anyway. (See The Creature From Jekyl Island). Finally, if no one has the guts to fix Social Security and Medicare, it's all over anyway. Cheers.
Welcome to Substack. Glad you’re here Evan. I’ve wondered for years when we’d hear your voice on the stack.