Letters to the editor Jan. 11

Eve of Destruction

The Eastern world, it is explodin’

Violence flarin’, bullets loadin’

You’re old enough to kill but not for votin’

You don’t believe in war, but what’s that gun you’re totin’

And even the Jordan River has bodies floatin’

But you tell me over and over my friend

Ah, you don’t believe we’re on the eve of destruction

The opening lyrics from the “Eve of Destruction” pop song by Barry McGuire in 1965 show that not much has changed from almost 60 years ago. 

The one glaring change is the administration’s dogmatic chasing of the fantasy of the supposed global warming crisis, spending borrowed money on the way to bankrupting the U.S. 

Inflation and its destructive effect are explained by the great libertarian writer for Newsweek and the N Y Times, Henry Hazlitt (1894-1993). He wrote over 30 years ago: “When Federal Reserve banks buy government notes or bonds in the open market, they pay for them directly or indirectly, by creating money. This is what is known as ‘monetizing’ the public debt. 

“Inflation must always end in a crisis and a slump, and worse than the slump itself may be the public delusion that the slump has been caused, not by the previous inflating, but by the inherent defects of a free market.” 

He warned, “It is harmful because it depreciates the value of the monetary unit, raises everybody’s cost of living, imposes what is in effect a tax on the poorest.”

The headlong rush over the fiscal cliff is accelerating with more billions added to the debt and lies such as “the southern border is under control” and “inflation is down,” fed to a gullible public. That may be too late as even a 2% yearly increase is catastrophic at this point, but we should try.

— Gary Goers, Kalispell