Although nobody would like to be perceived as stupid, being stupid releases one from being thoughtful and correcting mistakes. In reality, stupidity is a deviation from what is ethical and lawful.
To the question “How do we pay our debt?” some people in the republicans, in the United States answered: “We just don’t paid; we will go on default.”
Four common sense counterarguments came to mind:
-The fact that one decides not to pay a debt doesn’t make one less responsible.
-The more simple consequence of a person, entity or government not paying his or her debt is that this person or country became un-trustable, somebody or something that you cannot rely on.
-If a government is mature enough to decide the amount of money they print, it has to be mature enough to face the reality of the money that is printing.
– What is going to be next? To answer “we just don’t pay” is a way to cover un-ability to find how, to resolve an issue. Is this going to continue into other “ideas” that cover incapacity to solve a problem instead of fighting for solutions? Then the next idea may be internationally: “lets go to war with the countries that we are borrowing money so we are not amicable and they don’t ask for the money” and nationally: “ To have people in prison is costing us so much money, let put then out so we do cut in cost and don’t have to increase taxes”. Remember the movie Fargo?. In Fargo, to cover what one does, something more horrible need to be done and the horror and nonsense escalated to the ceiling. When you push things beyond their limits the ceiling fall on you. That must be the origin of the nickname “debt ceiling”.
It is a myth that many Americans as individuals have a problem with covering the cost of what purchase on credit. Is it the idea behind, “lets go on default” to institutionalize on a government scale bad credit?
The answer: “lets don’t pay our debt, lets go on default” is republican. The answer: We have a debt, we have a problem, lets face it and find ways to spend less so we can paid our debts is democratic. In how these two parties deal with a problem, shows that being “progressive” is related to being responsible. But beyond the observation of the link of responsible to progressive and stupid to conservative, the question here is how far stupid ideas are allow to go and why they have been even considered and not so much what one person or political entity says.
The answer: “We just don’t paid, we will go on default” is not and acceptable answer because it is stepping outside the game (a player may not say…I am not getting the card I need so give cards again). This is the game of a country with other, to step put of the game is to be tricking other countries. I use the image of a game because the “We just don’t paid, we will go on default” is putting a blind in the eyes, and step out of reality. The “We just don’t paid, we will go on default” is a form of escapism not allowed in a system for government.
To pay the debt it is not a choice but an obligation one contracts when getting the loan. The choice is in the how (which plan, which package to made to be able to pay the debt) but not on the what. The debt needs to be paid. In the spirit of any contract, private or public, one sees that elusion of responsibilities is not a right. Only in the cases that are marked as such and only partially responsibilities of one part are relaxed. To the question “How do we pay our debt? “ The answer “We just don’t paid, we will go on default” it is not acceptable because it is unlawful. It goes against the law, the law of nature (equilibrium) the human law (trust the others, there is the convention that the other who say so is reliable and respond to you) also, the law of the land, The Constitution.
There is no bill of stupidity in the constitution.
The “ We just don’t paid, we will go on default” is against the spirit of the United States Constitution. Specifically the constitution is set to offer domestic tranquility: “<The constitution starts with: “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” > How a country that doesn’t pay the debts can the tranquil?
Furthermore, the “ We just don’t paid, we will go on default” is against the constitution and in consequence an unlawful decision. Sections. 8. of the constitution, says that “The Congress shall have Power… To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States; To borrow Money on the credit of the United States;” But in no place, the constitution say that the Congress shall have power to do not pay the debts. There fore, if the Congress doesn’t have the power to refuse paying debts and it does it, is acting unlawfully. But the rule of the law implies that everyone including the government must follow the law. It is not allow to the government to disobey the law, to act unlawfully.
In addition, to print dollars like to bake donuts, and then don’t pay the debts, implies not taking seriously the money printing. When money is understand as a piece of paper, defeats the meaning of what money is. The sequence of large United States dollar printing and The United States defaulting on debts would be a form of counterfeiting the current the dollar. In the same section 8 the constitution says that one of the powers of the congress is to provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States” that implies that those that argued “ We just don’t paid, we will go on default”, should be punished and not followed.
What made a system is agreement under its regulations. For the United State to go on default and not pay their debt it is not only naïve stupid, but host the perversion of stupidity: to cover and allow the actions that are outside of ethics and laws.
Jana Leo, philosopher.
July 15 2011
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