Rome, Venice and the United States

The problem with primarily socialist economies is that people begin to expect entitlements from the government.  This observation is pretty obvious and some sarcastic people are probably thinking "really?"

Unions are considered socialist organizations because they make workers equal, the same way democracy is supposed to.  To benefit from a union a worker has actually work for their benefits, medical, dental, holidays, retirement.

When the government guarantees these benefits they are no longer something we work for, they are considered entitlements.  Yes, we pay into Social Security as a disability and retirement benefit.  People still consider government sponsored benefits entitlements even though we have to pay for them.

Back at the beginning of the twentieth century the United States began going through a workers revolution where unions began building up popularity, primarily because corporations refused to provide reasonable working conditions.  If a worker wanted to work they were subject to zero benefits, terrible conditions and maximum hours for minimum pay.  There were no age limitations, no disability, no workman's compensation and the liability laws favored the employer.

We are headed back toward that same failure because people say "American Workers" cost too much and are lazy.

After all no one ever became a billionaire paying workers more than their competition does, right?

Well except for that guy, Henry Ford.  He must not count though.  Sarcasm.

Good management can pay workers more and make profits.  Bad management pays themselves more and goes bankrupt.  Look at the AMC Tower, Sears Tower, Chrysler Center, etc.  All monuments to bad management giving themselves more.

The truth is many places make money paying their employees more money than the competition.

So we have union workers, people actually working, making money and receiving benefits based on their work.

We also have people depending on government entitlements.  How did that happen?

In order to stop the union tide rolling over the United States and the perceived spread of socialism our Government passed a lot of laws protecting workers and establishing benefit programs for workers.

Really BAD move.

If unions had been allowed to spread naturally benefits like retirement, health and other things our government is now involved in providing would have been provided by employers.

The employers didn't want to pay these benefits so the U.S. government subsidized the employers fight against unions by regulating and providing benefits, entitlements, that people would otherwise have to work for.

Every worker receiving benefits, disability for example, from the government instead of from an employer is an example of our government subsidizing employers.

So what is going to happen?  If we look at the past, Rome, Venice, other places where governments attempted to subsidize capitalist enterprise, like the United States went broke paying out benefits that employers should be paying.

Eventually the United States will have to stop paying out those benefits and when that happens the unionization movement will start up again.

Because the United States government is looking out for people with money as opposed to the average citizen laws, like the recent "right to work" laws in Michigan, will be passed in an attempt to stop unionization.

History tells us that as government sponsored benefits are withdrawn and workers are oppressed revolution will occur.  Violent or non-violent, a revolution will occur.

If the government manages to suppress a non-violent revolution the people will become apathetic and eventually the government will fall to an outside force.

Why would an outside force come into the United States?

Land.  They ain't making any more of it.

This explanation is actually pretty simple.

Fertilizers are made using non-renewable resources like phosphorus rock.  As population increases agriculture production must increase.  North America has the most arable land per person in the world.  As agricultural resources run out production per acre or hectare will be reduced.  Population pressures in countries like China will force them to either starve passively or accumulate land.

Right now, with inorganic fertilizers, it takes about 0.6 acres or .25 hectares to feed a person for a year.  Historically it takes about 1.2 acres or .5 hectares per person per year.  To deal with production issues like drought or pestilence there should be a safety factor of about 2 so we need about 1 hectare or 2.4 acres per person.  The world can support about 4.4 billion people.

Unless we can invent land.

The obvious thing to do is control populations, but, the Chinese tried that and have been vilified.

So the United States could support unionization and the natural development of union-employer bargaining or the United States can continue down this course of union oppression and entitlement which has failed in past cultures.

People grouping together to address issues is natural, politics, political lobbies, unions, churches, etc.  Oppressing the natural system always has very bad results, and throughout history people have repeated the same mistakes over and over and over.

In a very simplistic model the United States will be conquered by the Chinese within the next century.  Not economically, militarily, because the Chinese will need the land.  Not want, not negotiate, need.  It will be a life and death battle for the Chinese and probably India.

If people in the United States continue to be apathetic because of worker oppression there is very little doubt that the Chinese will succeed and the United States will be conquered the same way Rome and Venice were conquered.  Maybe the first attempts will fail, as they failed with Rome, but in the end they will succeed.

If we look at Rome we see that the government subsidized employers and entitled workers while violently suppressing any change to their system.  In order to maintain the government benefits provided to the citizens the government stripped the military and depended on "technology", at the time heavy cavalry.  When people needed what Rome had, Rome was conquered and destroyed.

 History repeats itself, over and over again.  In the end, if the United States continues making the same mistakes previous cultures made, the United States will be conquered the same way previous cultures have been conquered and for the same reason.  Resources, primarily land.

Oppressing the natural order of people grouping together and addressing issues always has and always will fail

Providing government benefits rather than worker benefits always has and always will fail.

This ain't rocket science.  It ain't complicated.