“The basis of all morality is duty, a concept with the same relation to group that self-interest has to individual. Nobody preached duty to these kids in a way they could understand—that is, with a spanking. But the society they were in told them endlessly about their 'rights.' The results should have been predictable, since a human being has no natural rights of any nature."

– Robert A. Heinlein, “Starship Troopers”, 1959

“Those who refuse to support and defend a state have no claim to protection by that state.”

– Robert Heinlein

“It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong.”

- Thomas Sowell

It’s the 20th Anniversary of the film version of a popular Sci-Fi novel. Certainly it is a favorite sci-fi novel of many people who served in the military. Easy to guess why.

Service Guarantees Citizenship. Do you want to know more?

STARSHIP TROOPERS Turns 20: Does This Film (and book) Lay the Foundation for a Post-Democratic West? Yes.

So what’s the ground truth on the economy?

Some sectors of the U.S. economy seem to be doing well, while at the same time a lot of Americans are still struggling. Indeed, the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer; that is not just a hackneyed Leftist straw man argument now ironically enough.

Is that what is behind the current retail Apocalypse of so many failing chain stores? Their normal clientele doesn’t have the money to shop as much anymore?

The main thing that has grown in the past eight years is government, so the people who work for government or do most of their business with government are making money. Especially in and around D.C. The national debt, is already at the point where it can never be paid back, and it’s still going up. Private debt is likewise high and people saving very little in the aggregate.

“Additionally, 28% of adults who haven’t retired yet reported to being grossly unprepared, indicating they had no retirement savings or pension whatsoever. “

Maybe those folks who aren’t saving anything for their retirement are expecting to die in some world-shattering calamity before they get old. So I guess the worst thing for them will be if the world doesn’t end soon, eh?

“Asked to comment by the WSJ on the latest annual study, Jonathan Morduch, a New York University professor of public policy and an economist said that “everybody on the low end feels like they’re in a different situation, almost like they’re in a different America than those with a bachelor’s or more.” He added that “The combination of instability and illiquidity are really hurting at the low end,” he added. That's the same "end" that had such an outsized impact on the latest presidential election.”

Unfortunately a bachelor’s degree isn’t necessarily the step up to better life especially if it require going deep into debt to finance a collage education, as the report discusses.

“…Homeownership represents an important means of wealth accumulation, with housing equity being the principal form of wealth for most households. So, changes in the way we finance higher education, with an increased reliance on student debt, may have important implications for the housing market and the distribution of wealth.”

“It only took the Fed about 6 years to figure out what was patently obvious to everyone else. Alas, that does not help solve the core underlying problems discussed above because absent a world in which US colleges hand out diplomas to everyone - which will never happen - the vast wealth gap will only get bigger. And that "prediction" does not even take into account the fact that the US is now about 2 years overdue for a major recession.”

Fear not though, if and when the economy collapses and goes into a deep depression, then we will likely see our cold civil war turn hot.

A Quarter Of American Adults Can't Pay All Their Monthly Bills; 44% Have Less Than $400 In Cash