Drinking that free Bubble-Up and eating that rainbow stew

by Don Keith

I know I am supposed to discuss rapid technological change and its effect on media, society and Amateur Radio on this blog. But sometimes I simply have to venture out when something compelling enough grabs my attention.

See, a couple of interesting things landed in my in-box today that I wanted to share. First, there was a story about one of the possible Democratic presidential candidates who promises to give every man, woman and child in America a free $1000 every year, no strings attached. No, not a tax rebate or a welfare plan. 47% of Americans don't pay any income tax anyway, and he does not want them to be left out of that FREE money.

The candidate proposes to pay for that trillion or so dollars a year with a value-added tax on every item sold in the US, theoretically to be paid by those greedy capitalists who suck up all the money and hide it from the rest of us so we can't earn any of it. Never mind that any VAT will be paid by the very consumer that gets that free thousand bucks, not by the manufacturers, importers, creators, or sellers.

Then, moments after I read that ridiculous mess, I got an article that tried to figure out why so many Americans are suddenly becoming infatuated by the lure of free stuff from the federal government...a ploy straight out of the socialism playbook. Yes, it takes a few minutes to read the article, but if you really care about the future of our country (and, what naturally follows, the future of the rest of the planet), then go to all the trouble to read it.

Then, get ready to line up for your free thousand dollars, free cellphone, free internet, free healthcare, free college education, and, as that great poet Merle Haggard says, start "drinking that free Bubble-Up and eating that rainbow stew."