Americans Abandon Most Government Institutions During Economic Collapse

[Editor's Note: The following post is by TDV Editor-In-Chief, Jeff Berwick]

At first analysts would write it is not a matter of “if” the US economy will collapse, but “when.” 

In 2014 it is not a matter of “when” the US economy will collapse. It already is.

Still politicians and pundits insist the US economy is getting better, from greenshoots to fairy tale unemployment rates under 10% when true unemployment is three times that. Few believe politicians and experts on our improving economy because so few have faith in government institutions. Americans have been lied to for so long their eyes have glazed over in the face of government hogwash. 

The Bureau of Economic Analysis has been at the forefront of obfuscating the true state of the economy. In the first two reports on gross domestic product (a useless statistic, which I explain here) in the first quarter 2014 Bureau observed growth in GDP or slight decline, but in their third revision they reported that real gross domestic product fell 2.9 percent, a major decrease…

This major revision is a sign the US economy is collapsing. Businesses are not investing, they are issuing debt and buying back their own stocks. Undistributed profits fell for the second quarter in a row. The good news is people are smartening up. 

Americans are slowly learning that it is not Capitalism which destroys economic activity but government. In the words of Ludwig Von Mises:

“As a rule, capitalism is blamed for the undesired effects of a policy directed at its elimination. The man who sips his morning coffee does not say, “Capitalism has brought this beverage to my breakfast table.” But when he reads in the papers that the government of Brazil has ordered part of the coffee crop destroyed, he does not say, “That is government for you”; he exclaims, ‘That is capitalism for you.” 

The good news is that increasingly Americans blame government institutions and not business, according to a recent Gallup poll. 

Every time Gallup releases a new poll it seems there is something for libertarians to rejoice over. It has been well-known for the past decade that confidence in Congress is repeatedly setting record lows, but this most recent poll tells us something perhaps more important. It tells us about how Americans perceive small business…

Confidence in small business scored high marks at 62% among 1,027 randomly-chosen adults from all 50 US states and Washington DC. Why is this important? Small business will be a central component for Americans when it comes time to picking up the pieces in the aftermath of The End Of The Monetary System As We Know It (TEOTMSAWKI), which our readers will know started when then President Richard Nixon took the US off the gold standard in 1971, making a key change to the Post-World War II Bretton Woods world order.

While confidence in small business scored high marks at 62%,  organized labor struggled to gain traction, polling at 22%. You can see below that small business owners hold some confidence in their future, but their outlook is far below pre-Greater Depression optimism.

Small businesses are key for the future of the United States. There’s no amount of regulation or policy in the world that can get many Americans (in fact all slaves of governments everywhere) back from the brink of starvation. What’s the answer? Entrepreneurship. What the United States needs now are 315 million businesses. As Jay-Z raps, “I’m not a businessmen. I’m a business, man.”

Entrepreneurship is the story of the US and in fact the history of economic activity throughout the world. Entrepreneurs – humans- taking action is key to everybody’s future! By helping yourself and starting a business, you’re also helping all of those people you will eventually serve. But in order to achieve this you must act! As Ludwig Von Mises said: “He who only wishes and hopes does not interfere actively with the course of events and with the shaping of his own destiny.”

More than 99% of businesses with payrolls in this country are small businesses and who knows how many more are operating in the gray market with employees under the table. I guarantee you they’re all small businesses! Historically small businesses in the United States employ more than 50% of all workers and create 80% of new jobs. 

What the entire world needs now, as a part of embracing liberty and freedom, is a 21st Century Entrepreneurial Awakening. The individual needs to reassert himself or herself as the most innovative, entrepreneurial, industrious agent known to man. A huge part of this is shrugging off government – all governments. And we’re getting there…

Confidence in the US government is at an all-time low, and not only among foreigners. Americans’ confidence in Congress and other key US governmental institutions has fallen to lows, as seven percent of Americans say they hold “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in Congress as an American institution, down from former low, 2013′s 10%.  In 1972 confidence reached 42%.

Americans’ current confidence in Congress is not only the lowest on record, but the lowest Gallup has recorded for ANY INSTITUTION in the 41-year trend. It marks the first time Gallup has measured confidence in a major US institution under 10%. Four percent of Americans say they have a great deal of confidence in Congress, while three percent have quite a lot of confidence. One-third of Americans report holding “some” confidence, while half hold “very little,” while still another seven percent volunteer that they have “none.” Confidence in Congress has been on decline since 2004. The bottom line is that confidence in Congress is the lowest of the 17 institutions Gallup measured this year, and is the lowest Gallup has ever found for any such institutions.

Also noteworthy is faith in public schools reaching a historic low at 26%. The presidency dropped by 7 points and polled at 29%, a mere few points over its all time low of 25%, recorded in 2007. 30% express confidence in the Supreme Court, which is at its lowest point in the history of the survey. Faith in the prison system was noted at 23%, recorded a full 5% drop. The prison system has never fared well in Gallup’s polls since it was added in 1993. Contrary to the rest of the data on low public opinion towards government, the military fell just 2% points, still representing the favorite statist institution (you might say, the ultimate statist institution), with 76% expressing confidence in it.

What Must Be Done?

The increasing confidence in small business and the decreasing confidence in virtually all government agencies is a sign that people want to take control over their own lives. This is good news. 

Things in the US will get more difficult for entrepreneurs even if over time there are more entrepreneurs. The government hates competition and in this day-and-age every individual with some skills on a laptop can run their own business for cheaper than ever in the history of the world.  In TDV’s HomeGrown, a subsidiary of the TDV Newsletter, we give US-based individuals advice on surviving TEOTMSAWKI. What’s more dangerous for a government is that its citizens can run a business from anywhere on the globe. That’s why so many Americans are renouncing their citizenship. They’ve seen the writing on the wall and know the US economy is facing collapse.  TDV Offshore can help you on your way to joining those who have already escaped. 

Questions or comments on this article? Join us at The Dollar Vigilante!