The political sideshow leading up to the November 5 election in America shouldn't just be followed for entertainment value. Most Kiwi business owners should be wearyingly keeping an eye on what is unfolding, as they all have a vested interest in the end result.
The story of the first black man knocking down race barriers and being elected President of the United States is an inspirational story, however this would appear to be the only positive legacy that Obama will leave behind when he eventually exits the White House - hopefully soon after the November election.
Unfortunately, Obama still seems to have the edge in most polls over the slightly less scarey option - Romney. Getting rid of an incumbent President after his first term is going to be difficult.
Ignoring the mass job losses and an economy that's tanking, the overwhelming achievement of Obama's presidency is that he has successfully made socialism mainstream. In fact it's hip and cool. For many Americans, Obama has managed to rewrite history and has convinced the masses that "you didn't build that". Free market and capitalism are out - state control and intervention are in.
Are Americans really this stupid? Have their brains, like their expanding waistlines become so fat and lazy that they blindly blame private businesses for their woes and willingly accept any regulation that redistributes the success of the productive?
The video below shows Peter Schiff (a television financial commentator) posing as an anti-business crusader. He found a number of "mainstream" National Convention delegates and attendees who support explicitly outlawing profitability.
Sure, a similar ruse would've uncovered a whole lot of ridiculous comments from nut-jobs attending the Republican National Convention last week ...but those sound-bites wouldn't have been anywhere near as disgusting as what Peter Schiff uncovered this week at the Democratic National Convention:
Hopefully the second part of the Atlas Shrugged trilogy, due in theaters on October 10, may arrive just in time before the election to exercise the lazy and flabby minds of those Americans that have allowed the creep of socialism into their once proud nation:
