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THE COHEN POV -
This is the end, beautiful friend
This is the end, my only friend, the end – Jim Morrison, the Doors
Is there hell to pay? Is the entire effort of the ruling class to punish you for living? Why do our carefully selected representatives never represent us but push for agendas and spending that do not benefit its most valuable resource, its citizenry? Why are borders 6400 miles away more important than our border 130 miles from L.A.? Why the unobtainable quest for world domination by proxy wars? Cui bono?
We see all the usual markers of civilizational decline: high crime, bad schools, high poverty rates, an inordinate amount of homelessness, low social cohesion, money that has lost its purchasing power, crumbling infrastructure, chronic illness, rampant drug use, gender confusion, and two national anthems. Everything is designed to keep us sick, divided, and feeble-minded. Toxic chemicals in the water, toxic chemicals in the air, and medicines with side effects so dire the cure could be worse than the disease. We note our Leaders are genuinely senile and corrupt. They bloviate while the country burns. They saddle our wallets with intermittent energy that is expensive and unreliable while eschewing reliable energy that must be used as a backup for when the wind doesn't blow, and the sun doesn't shine. The mainstream media never tells the truth, so we keep on, keeping on, being debt slaves. The media specializes in encouraging wars, sapping our military, and justifying the creation of unsurmountable debts.
The DC elite delight in open borders. They welcome a new population of 20 million unvaxxed, unskilled, and unassimilable people from some of the places that hate us the most. The gerontocracy welcomes these interlopers for their deceitful purposes. We have a media telling us that open borders are the humane, righteous, and moral thing to do. That no human being is illegal. But are open borders moral when fentanyl is being smuggled across our borders killing 112,000 Americans a year? Are open borders moral when kids are being trafficked? Is it justifiable that gang members and possible terrorists are on walkabout inside our country?
How much do these new illegal arrivals get for crossing the border illegally? After working for 40 years, the average American will be lucky to get $1500 in their Social Security checks. Illegal immigration costs the U.S. $451 Billion, according to the House Committee on Homeland Security. The committee found that nearly half a trillion dollars are being lost due to excess expenses in healthcare, law enforcement, education, housing, and other sectors due to an influx of illegal immigration in the past two years crowding out real Americans from the social services they need. It is tough to pin down the exact amount of benefits these aliens are getting because private charities and NGOs contribute meaningful amounts to their importation across the border and their welfare. They are funded mainly by our tax dollars. Some accounts suggest an illegal can get up to $7000 a month. Why are they coming if they are not getting a cornucopia of free stuff? Many people have been alarmed at the pictures all over the internet of thousands of military-aged males trekking over the border with not a woman or child in sight.
How can our $32 trillion deficit, which is growing, possibly be sustainable when the average American makes $60,500 a year and pays $11,000 in income tax? Our dear leaders have burdened every resident in this country with a $100,000 debt monkey for the fool's errand of a pax Americana that the world will never accept. We know the government doesn't care what the voters want. We know it is one giant grift where people in Congress making $170,000 yearly get as rich as Midas trading on inside information. The military-industrial complex loves war because it's good for business and excellent for the purses of CEOs and the donor class. With unwinnable forever wars and an extended footprint of over 750 military bases, which are indefensible in this age of cheap drone warfare, pinpoint surveillance from low earth orbiting satellites, hypersonic missiles, and long-range artillery. Note how the Ukrainian military is being torn to shreds even with American military hardware. Iranian militias launch cheap drones to cause havoc on American bases in the Middle East and in the Red Sea.
It is the end when the next generation is too discouraged to bootstrap themselves out of mom's basement. Who can argue? Why go to college and sink 120K into debt? To work in a job you hate, never to be able to afford a home due to the oligarchs of the financial behemoths like Blackrock, Vanguard, and State Street commanding their army of lieutenants to buy up the affordable housing. Why start a family to live in a lousy 850-square-foot apartment and pay 50% of your income on various taxes and fees? Why work so that you can see the invading barbarian hordes getting all the free stuff that Americans must work their butts off for? Why cultivate a career when A.I. is threatening to take your job away? How does it feel to know a better algorithm can replace you? Why apply for a job when the least qualified because of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) have the best possible shot at landing that job? If you do work because of DEI mandates and you're not a minority in the chosen class for promotion, you will find a new, improved, lower glass ceiling that will keep you in "your place." Why live in a country where meritocracy is dismissed, and quotas and empty gestures of symbolic reparations are all that the H.R. department cares about? What happened to character, competency, intelligence, honesty, and integrity? What happened to do the right thing?
(Eliot Cohen has been on the Neighborhood Council, serves on the Van Nuys Airport Citizens Advisory Council, and is President of Homeowners of Encino. Eliot retired after a 35-year career on Wall Street. Eliot is a critic of the stinking thinking of the bureaucrats and politicians that run the State, County, and City. Eliot and his wife divide their time between L.A. and Baja Norte, Mexico. Eliot is a regular contributor to CityWatchLA.com – [email protected])
