WHEN PENGUINS FLEW AND WATER BURNED This is the true memoir of one US Air Force navigator’s journey from the schoolhouses of Air Training Command to the nuclear alerts of the Cold War to combat in a 35-year-old anachronism called the B-52. It is a first-hand account of life during the last days of Strategic Air Command, the early days of Air Combat Command and the ensuing military drawdown of the 1990s. From peacetime training exercises across the globe to combat operations in Desert Storm, Jim Clonts takes the reader inside the cockpit where life and death are seconds apart. Often comical, sometimes heart-pounding, other times tragic, WHEN PENGUINS FLEW AND WATER BURNED takes you into the world of military aviation, a crucible where warriors learn the true nature of character, conscience and mortality.

Friends of Liberty VOL 12
by Jim Clonts, 2009

06/21/2009

We've Just Tried Egalitarianism---and it didn't work

Egalitarianism is the political belief that all people should be equal in all ways, that Government should enact legislation that removes the inequalities of life, creating a truly classless society. All people are entitled to equal pay and equal economic outcomes. Usually this philosophy is associated with Socialist Communism; however, in recent years I believe the United States has broken new ground on a very old concept.

The left wing in this country has long stoked the fires of class envy. The poor and middle class are educated daily in modern media as to the evils of the wealthy while at the same time being told they deserve their fair share of the pie. For seventy years unions have championed the message that America's wealth is built on the backs of the little guy. Meanwhile, as the rich became richer, a funny thing happened. More and more of the poor moved into the ranks of the Middle Class. Although these people were monetarily rewarded for their hard work, boosting their lifestyles dramatically, many of them still harbored the notion of class envy. Perhaps with the increased wealth of the Middle Class, people get a taste for the lifestyle of the truly wealthy. Now they not only resent it---they're close enough to grab a piece of it for themselves.

What is the American Dream in 2009? To many it seems to be a $500,000 house, two SUVs in the driveway, a country club membership, fine---no make that---exquisite--things, and extravagant vacations. The media and Madison Avenue definitely portray it that way. We are surrounded by commercialism that tells us we deserve things we cannot afford. Listen to television or radio commercials and count how many times the word "deserve" is used. We deserve that Lexus---and that Acura. We deserve those diamond earrings. We deserve that vacation to Florida. We deserve. In the next commercial you will hear about credit card companies or automobile dealers or lending institutions that "love bad credit". Bad credit? No problem.

The Middle Class, particularly the Upper Middle Class, discovered some time in the late 80s or early 90s they could live the lifestyles of the rich and famous. They could get that high-priced mortgage with no money down (thanks to Government meddling in the mortgage industry), buy or lease that expensive Mercedes, take that European vacation and just "flex the plastic." As a society we over-reached on our mortgages and then ran up our credit cards to compensate for luxuries like milk, eggs and bread. All the while we were "flexing the plastic" commercial retail was thriving and expanding. Homebuilders were on fire, subdivisions going up everywhere. Sales tax to the states went through the roof and they spent the money as fast as they could.

This was not just a phenomenon of the Middle Class. The lower income folks did the same, just not at such extravagant levels of spending. Our society as a whole sought our own version of Egalitarianism. We attempted to equalize at the levels of the rich and famous with no real capital to back us up. For two decades our society was a credit financed illusion---a drunken orgy of living beyond our means. Now the hangover has started. People are not broke---they are way beyond broke. Banks that lent the money are broke. Retail and commercial businesses everywhere are going belly up due to the dry-up in disposable income. When these businesses do close, the real estate industry and lending institutions take more hits. The Government, both State and Federal, are seeing massive reductions in tax revenue, since to pay taxes a business must make a profit.

We did this to ourselves. We saw the American Dream and we wanted the trappings of that dream without the hard work that accompanies it. I once asked a class of high school students which they would prefer:the trappings of success only, or the trappings of success as a result of some great accomplishment. In other words, would you be happier to just have the money or do some great thing that results in you getting the money? They all agreed if they could get the money for nothing---they'd take it. What does this say about our society?

JC

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