I don't think any normal, rational person thinks of themself as stupid. Sure, we all do stupid things at times and realize that we have done so. But rarely, if ever, do we think of ourselves as 'stupid'. I mean, stupid is foolish, senseless, a slow-witted doofus, on a continuous basis. No one thinks of themselves in this way, it's just human nature. Even if one is indeed, stupid. There are a multitude of factors that can account for being stupid, such as lack of education, culture, environment, influences early in life, genetics, and so on. However, there is another explanation for stupid. One that I think most have not thought of. Biases, prejudices, intolerances, narrow-mindedness, bigotry, inability to be objective, enmity for whatever reason. These 'states of mind', though state of mind tends to be ephemeral and these conditions tend to be somewhat permanent, often form the framework of a person's thinking and behavior. And the thinking and behavior that comes from these characteristics isn't usually objective and rational. And, more often than not it enters the realm of foolish and senseless, hence, stupid.
Let me give an example. A president, at a time that a pandemic disease was spreading around the globe, shuttering businesses, schools, and institutions, causing millions to lose their jobs and livelihoods decides to begin to disburse funds to individuals and businesses to help them endure unprecedented hardships. Government funds, checks in the mail to enable them to weather the storm. Not just billions but trillions. I mean, who doesn't like getting a check in the mail, especially if it's 'free money'. Prop up the masses until times are better. Fair enough.
Here's another. It's no secret that millions are struggling with student loan debt and have been for years. Part of the American Dream is to go to college and prepare oneself to get a good paying white collar job. After a few years, since you now have that good paying job you pay back the student loan. The crash-landing called reality was not everyone got a good paying job. Degrees, even advanced degrees in philosophy, don't often lead to high paying jobs. In fact, they often don't even lead to a job at all. So this overly compassionate president decrees that this burdensome student loan debt shall be forgiven. Erased from the books, like it never happened. So in many cases very expensive educations suddenly became 'free'. Hundreds of billions of dollars given away for free. What could possibly be more altruistic and magnanimous than forgiving debts, and giving money to people who had lost their jobs. It's exactly what one would expect from a great leader, right? Right?
Life is not that simple and easy, except for the simple-minded. We've all heard it and we all know it, nothing is free. There is no free lunch. And when the government is involved, absolutely nothing is free. A stark fact is the government does not generate income. It cannot generate wealth of any kind. It is incapable of producing anything of value. It collects taxes and fees from the working populace and distributes that money in myriad places. If the government gives out 'free money', it's not actually free, it's coming from another source. And 99 times out of 100 that 'source is the American taxpayer. Now here's the really bad news, when the government spends large sums of money for whatever reason it has a negative effect on the economy in the form of inflation. AKA, rapidly rising prices for goods and services. The government is in effect flooding the economy with dollars which has the effect or reducing the value of the dollar, causing inflation.
All that presidential magnanimity came at a price. Kind of like a drunken binge. It seemed to be so much fun at the time but the next day was hell-to pay. I'm doubting that many would argue that one of the definitions of inflation is 'hell-to-pay'. So, back to the original premise, was that president, compassionate, prescient and forward thinking? Or perhaps foolish and short-sighted, maybe even self-serving. Were the stimulus checks and forgiven loans really good for the people and the country, or was it all just a forbearance to the pain of the present situation? Hangovers are hell...
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