00:00:00.000As the Republicans head into what is likely to be a very perilous midterm election, affordability is the issue on everyone's lips.
00:00:07.760The Biden administration largely dismissed the question of rising food and housing prices, which cost them severely.
00:00:14.220Some of the GOP have also tried to pretend the issue doesn't exist, while others have acknowledged it but have been unable to make any meaningful progress.
00:00:22.660There are certainly actions that both Biden and Trump have taken that made the issue worse,
00:00:27.500like starting foreign wars or increasing entitlement spending.
00:00:30.840But the reality is that neither party has a solution.
00:00:34.260The problem of spending and inflation is baked into the very nature of mass democracy.
00:00:38.840And until we address that issue, nothing's going to change.
00:00:42.880There are several key aspects to the affordability crisis that most Americans are experiencing,
00:00:49.920People might have more money in the bank, their wages may have even increased, but that money is worth less and less every year.
00:00:57.900Inflation is the most pernicious of all taxes because of its hidden nature.
00:01:02.540Normal taxes have to be voted on and extracted directly, but no one votes for inflation directly and it works its dark magic by eating the value of money that's already been earned and stored safely away.
00:01:14.880It punishes the careful and responsible saver while rewarding the gamblers and manipulators.
00:01:21.700Everyone understands that inflation is driven by spending.
00:01:25.480The more money you create, the more you can hand out, but the lower the value of that currency drops.
00:01:31.040Inflation may be useful to a government that needs to, say, pay off a large debt by reducing the value of what was borrowed,
00:01:38.460or hand money to an expanding client base, but it's bad for the average person.
00:01:43.300Most people don't have the first mover advantage or access to complicated financial instruments that the rich use to protect themselves from inflation, so they lose out at the grocery store.
00:01:55.400The oldest move in the history of politics is offering people a material reward for their support.
00:02:01.620This is true in every political system, but it's particularly powerful in democracies where the will of the people directly grants legitimacy to the government.
00:02:10.580It's usually wise for a politician to create a certain level of plausible deniability
00:02:15.420by filtering their bribe through a social program designed to help particular demographics who vote for them.
00:02:21.100The population understands that bribery is still taking place,
00:02:24.820but the appearance of legitimacy makes the voters feel more comfortable about supporting the graft.
00:02:30.620Donald Trump recently broke that rule by suggesting that he would send every American a $5,000 check if the GOP wins the midterms.
00:02:39.580It's unlikely that these checks would ever even go out if the Republicans are victorious,
00:02:46.280This offer violates every fiscal principle conservatives espouse,
00:02:50.380but that didn't bother Trump in the slightest.
00:02:53.060Conservative commentators lost their mind over the proposal,
00:02:55.940but the billionaire simply ignored their cries.
00:02:58.620The president is perfectly aware of the realities of democracy,
00:03:02.320which is why he promised to never cut entitlements early on in his campaign.
00:03:06.440In a democracy, offering people stuff is the winning strategy.
00:03:10.060And Donald Trump? That guy likes to win.
00:03:13.320Before the modern era, everyone from Plato to Aristotle to the American founders warned against mass democracy.
00:03:21.140A constitutional republic with heavy restrictions on who can vote might be viable,
00:03:25.960but a democracy with a wide-open franchise is a disaster waiting to happen.
00:03:30.160Once the average person who contributes little to the system realizes that they can vote themselves other people's money, the game is over.
00:06:58.140We have a mechanism that is keeping us from solving this problem, and we have enshrined that mechanism as something sacred in our society to never be touched.
00:07:07.920So the fact that these two issues are inextricably linked is kind of a big deal.
00:07:13.240If there's a systemic issue underlying our entire society that drives us to have this never-ending spending, to always be at this deficit, to always be creating inflation, well, then obviously we are never going to fix that problem.
00:07:27.140We're never going to fix that issue. It's impossible to actually do anything about it.
00:07:32.300So the brutal truth is that both parties are just going to continue to spend recklessly while blaming each other for inflation.
00:07:39.700As long as mass democracy reigns, vote buying will be the most effective way to gain and hold power.
00:07:46.580And power is what every politician actually wants.
00:07:49.880thanks for watching guys if you enjoyed this video go ahead and click like and if you haven't
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00:08:28.000at The Blaze. Thanks for watching. And as always, I'll talk to you next time.