If you
look at our US history and the changes in our economic activity, you can get a
sense of how our economy has evolved.
Going
back to our beginnings in 1620, colonists were working to farm the land and
raise livestock to have a food supply.
All of this was done manually and required physical effort and skill. In
addition, colonists built homes, requiring work to harvest trees, process
lumber and construct these homes.
Hunting wild game supplemented their diets. These agricultural communities required
blacksmiths, leather work, lumber jacks, medical and dental skills to support
their farming work.
The
Industrial Revolution (1850-1920) gave the US new inventions that produced a
new standard of living. Labor saving
devices were developed that would allow us to produce more with less
effort. The development of the portable
engine evolved from the steam engine to the gasoline engine. Steel production was refined. The gas light was replaced by electric
lights. Hydro-electric plants were built
and coal fired electric plants were built.
Electricity allowed for the development of electrically powered tools
and appliances. Ice boxes were replaced
by electrically powered refrigerators.
Wash boards were replaced by clothes washers. Clothes lines were replaced by clothes
dryers. Dish washers were developed. The
automobile replaced the horse and buggy.
Railroads replaced the covered wagon.
The telegraph and telephone replaced the Pony Express. The stage coach was replaced by the railroad
car, automobile, bus and airplane.
The
Post-Industrial Revolution (1920-Present) continued to improve and refine our
industrial development and public health.
Sewer sanitation systems replaced open sewers. Clean water replaced dirty water;
chlorination killed the bacteria.
Penicillin replaced death caused by inflammation in 1945. Polio was cured in the 1950s. DNA was
discovered in the 1960s. Advances in radio frequency technology created radar.
Vacuum tubes were replaced by transistors, Computers were developed. Motion pictures, radio, recording devices and
television were developed. Air
conditioners were developed. Gas furnaces
replaced coal furnaces. Composite materials replaced wood, Telephones advanced
to wireless. Computers replaced typewriters and drafting tables. Digital
storage replaced paper documents.
Computer programming and robotics advanced. Credit cards replaced checks
and cash. Space travel was
achieved. Highways were developed and
nuclear power plants joined coal and hydroelectric plants in the 1950s.
Our
current economy is in bad shape, due to governmental overreach, unnecessary
regulations, excessive government spending and socialist programs. Reducing government’s footprint is needed to
reignite the private sector.
Reestablishing
the US Constitution (as written) and our national sovereignty are necessary to
reestablish the free market economy.
Going
forward, we need to pay down national debt and allow the market to set interest
rates. We need to have the free market
reestablish prices in healthcare and education.
This will require planned decreases in federal subsidies. We need to abandon all defined benefit
pension schemes and replace them with defined contribution plans. We need to reduce government control of our
economy.
Norb
Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
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