Throughout U.S. history, there has been a recurring temptation to replace hard work and productivity with gimmicks or government schemes promising easy wealth, from Richard Schell’s 1874 plan to dig a transcontinental canal funded by printed money to Keynes’s 1936 theory that digging holes in the ground would boost employment and national output; such ideas have fueled nonproductive federal spending, hundreds of agencies existing solely to spend money, and even programs paying farmers not to plant, illustrating how reliance on artificial “solutions” over real work has contributed to economic trouble. #KeynesianCritique #FederalSpending #ProductivityVsGimmicks #EconomicHistory #WorkEthic

In America, the poor carry the least debt because they are generally considered bad credit risks, the middle class holds moderate debt primarily for homes, farms, and small businesses, while the rich borrow most easily and carry the highest proportion of personal debt; corporations are actually the largest debtors outside the government, funding expansions, acquisitions, and operations, and on top of this, the enormous debts of cities, states, and the federal government create a system of economic bondage reminiscent of slavery. #DebtInAmerica #EconomicSlavery #WealthInequality #CorporateDebt #FiscalResponsibility

Universities receiving Pentagon research funds can divert focus from their core mission of education, as such grants though tiny compared to industry contracts ($852 million to universities vs. $116.7 billion to industry in 1982) often prioritize research over teaching, benefit professors financially, and may reward politically connected alumni rather than serve practical scientific advancement; while industrial research drives most technological progress, universities’ involvement in defense contracts is minor, and education would often be better served if such funds were directed elsewhere. #PentagonFunding #UniversityResearch #EducationVsResearch #HigherEdPriorities #DefenseContracts