Hello again, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to another episode of Freedom's Creed. Today is Friday, October 21st, 2022. And I must say that it is good to be back in the driver's seat, as it were. It's been exactly a month since I published my last episode. I have been out of town for some time. I was sick for a little bit. And just life kind of uh creeping up on me like it does to everybody. But anyway, it's great to be back doing the podcast. And I hope you enjoy the episode today and that you enjoyed as much as I enjoyed putting it together. So let me get going without any further ado and let's talk about China. But before doing that, however, I want to talk about our national debt. Perhaps you're thinking, well, what's the national debt or anything like that have to do with China? I think you'll see as I go through this, though. Have you ever taken a look at the national debt as well as all the other debts and obligations that the U.S. government has? You can find it on USDtclock.org. Please go there, check it out yourself, and you'll see what I'm talking about. Perhaps you have done that already anyway. In any case, the U.S. national debt is more than $31.2 trillion. Now to put that into some perspective, because trillions of dollars is something that really none of us can really wrap our head around. Per citizen in the United States, that's ninety-three thousand six hundred and ninety-nine dollars per citizen. Not just taxpayer, but per citizen. So a child, a two-year-old, an incompetent person, it's every person. Now for taxpayers, it's more like two hundred and almost fifty thousand dollars per taxpayer. Wow. So clearly the national debt is a problem, at least to American citizens. Those in Congress, I don't know. I guess they're American citizens, but they sure don't act like the national debt is such a big deal. The US GDP is $24.8 trillion. That's in the that's in the green, not the red, like the debt is. The problem with that is the way we measure economic activity in the country overall is the GDP or the gross domestic product. It's the value of all goods and services in the country. It's a broad generalization of how the economy is doing. The foreign balance of trade is a big part of it as well. Investments, government outlays, and so forth. That's a big part of the GDP. So, as I said, it's a broad measurement of how we measure economic activity in the country. Now, I'm no economist. I can hear some of you saying, well, gee, Rex, you're really not an economist. You don't know what you're talking about. Well, newsflash, you don't have to be an economist to know when you're observing something that is unsustainable. I'm educated enough to know this. Give me a break, man. I'll tell you what, there's a lot of information on that debt clock. Go to it, check it out. But I want to highlight some of them before I get into the meat and potatoes of what I want to talk about today. The U.S. federal spending level is at $5.9 trillion. That's official. The U.S. federal budget deficit is $1.08 trillion, also an official mark. And again, these are numbers that are in the negative. The U.S. federal spending actual is a little more. That figure is at $6.02 trillion. And the U.S. federal budget deficit actual is a little more at $1.1 trillion. This next one here, I think, is probably the most troubling, although it's kind of hard to differentiate between what is the most troubling of the things that I just mentioned, but the U.S. debt to GDP ratio, which you get by taking the national debt and divide it by the GDP. Well, that percentage is 125%. Now, a little research will tell you that a number above 100% means that the dollar amount of the debt is more than the amount of the GDP. A number below 100% means that the dollar amount of the GDP is more than the dollar amount of the debt, which is a good economic indicator. Where we are right now is dangerous because the debt to GDP ratio is 125%. In other words, our GDP is not keeping pace with our debt. And that's a very, very troubling thing. Think of it in terms of a household. The debt to income ratio, if you were to try to go obtain a loan for a house and you had a debt to income ratio that was more than about 35 or 36%, at least that's according to most sites that I've looked at, then guess what? You ain't getting a loan for the house because your debt to income ratio is way too high if it's above 35 or 36%. If you had a debt to income ratio at 125%, then if you haven't already, it's time to declare bankruptcy because that's about all you have left to do. And it's unfortunate that that does happen to people. But based on the laws of our country, bankruptcy is a thing. So you can get out of a horrible situation if you need to, but that's a whole nother story right there. The bottom line, folks, in all of this is that we as a country, as a nation, we're in a very, very vulnerable position right now. And have been, let's be real, for the last two or three decades with this debt that we carry in our country. It's it's pathetic. If you tried to run a household on it, you wouldn't get very far. And the only reason why our government has gotten to the point where it is today and where this is, I don't want to say sustainable, but where it's actually uh working is because of the taxpayers. The taxpayers are what makes this possible. But if we don't do something to curb the debt to GDP ratio and soon, then it's only going to keep going up because over the last three or four decades, it's essentially done nothing but go up. And again, that's just not sustainable, period. Okay, so it is time to get out of China. And maybe you're asking yourself, well, why? If based on what I just got through saying, that alone is reason to get out of China. I don't have to say anything else, but I will. We all know that when we go to any store, whether that's a brick and mortar store or an online store, and you get your merchandise, nine times out of ten, it says made in China. Now, I got no beef with the Chinese people, none whatsoever. But I do have some angst against the Chinese Communist Party. That's for sure. How can we as a nation be stable and free when we are so unstable financially? Answer that question for me. Really, answer that question for yourself. How can it be? We can't. We can't be sustainable, we can't be free as a nation if we're not financially stable. Period. There is no other way to say it. That's how it is. If it hurts people's feelings or if people say, Oh, this guy, Rex Reed, has a real problem with the Chinese people. No, I don't. I just told you I don't. What I have a problem with is a Chinese Communist Party. That's where my problem is. Not to mention our government for not doing what they should have done a long time ago. Why is this still going on in 2022 when we had to know 15, 20 years ago, that a problem was brewing? I asked the question of our leaders. Don't you have the courage to do what is necessary to bring manufacturing back to this country? Apparently, you don't, because we're still doing the bulk of manufacturing in another country, and it's called China. Now, when the time comes, if it ever does, that we actually extricate ourselves from this situation, then yeah, there's probably going to be some Chinese people who are going to be hurt economically for a time. But over time, they'll figure it out. They'll figure out ways to make a living. They'll overthrow their frickin' government because they're so dang tyrannical and everything has to be their way. You know, we uh fought a revolution here in this country too, so maybe it's time for the Chinese people to rise up and uh have a revolution of their own. I think it'd be pretty cool myself. Get this people out of power. I get it, that's no easy task because the Chinese army is huge. My indignation is directed at our government as well as the Chinese Communist Party. Why do we continue to kowtow to China? Answer that question for me. That's a tough question. We continue to do it because of corruption, I think. I'll talk about that more in just a second. This government, this current administration, seems to be kowtowing to the Chinese Communist Party more than any other presidency, more than any other Congress. They're acquiescing when it comes to China and what to do about China. And it's gonna get the rest of us in some trouble if it isn't taken care of. We need to have leaders who have the guts to do what needs to be done. Period. I think it's a great thing that we're using other countries to manufacture our goods, be it Mexico, Vietnam, wherever. But why do we have to continue doing business in a country that is hostile toward us? Like China is. Uh let me rephrase that, like the Chinese Communist Party is. It makes no sense to me whatsoever. Again, I'm not a trained economist, but I'm smart enough to recognize that this kind of crap is unsustainable. We can't continue doing this, or we're going to saddle our kids and our grandkids, and perhaps even our great grandkids with a problem that could have been taken care of long before they ever came upon the scene. Wow. I don't know about you, but I don't want that kind of a legacy to pass on to my kids or my grandkids or even my great grandkids. In my view, one of the underlying causes of the problems that we're in now has to do with greed. And there's plenty of greed to go around, whether we're talking about corporate greed, political, union greed that causes companies to raise prices to sustain salaries, pensions, healthcare, etc. And finally, just corruption. Corruption is the worst form of greed, and there are virtually no entities that are exempt from corruption. We don't live in a perfect world, unfortunately. Listen, we all have to make a living. We all have to do something where we can receive resources into our households. That's a given. We need that. But unfortunately, with greed and with all of the corruption that is tied to greed, it's difficult for people to make a fair wage sometimes. And again, this is probably another podcast down the road. Who knows? But there is certainly plenty of greed to go around from the echelons of government to corporations and even to common everyday citizens. Perhaps we're all greedy to some extent, but I'm talking about the greed that wrecks economies, that makes economies go under. This is a bad thing, and it's going to happen to us unless we pull our heads out. I'll tell you what we need. We need strong leadership at every level in our society, in all facets of our society, be it political, business, individual, and perhaps most important, I think, is spiritual. Spiritual leadership is something that should be highly sought after in our society. And I don't care what your religion is, or even if you have no religion. Spiritual leadership doesn't necessarily encompass facets of religion. It just means that you're trying to be a good person. You want to treat other people the way you'd like to be treated. You're in touch with your spirit, you're in touch with who you are as a person, and you want to make sure that you're treating other people fairly and in a way that is acceptable. To me, that is a definition of spiritual. Certainly, it can mean religious, and it often does, but it doesn't have to. What strong leadership is not is certainly iron fisted. It means having the guts, the courage, the will, etc., to lead in a way that benefits society as a whole. Unfortunately, what we have today, particularly in politics and in business, is that people conduct themselves in a way that's going to benefit them, not society. And we need to get rid of people like that as far as I'm concerned. It seems to me right now, anyway, that we live in a society where we are putting too much emphasis on the wrong things. In other words, is it important or more important to give deference to someone's preferred pronouns? Or should schools be involved in the sexualization of our children, some children who are as young as five years old and in kindergarten? Is that something that our society should be focused on? Is that really, really important to our society at this point in time, or any time for that matter? Or should we be teaching small children about critical race theory and planting in their very impressionable minds that somehow because of the color of their skin, they are inferior to another person whose skin color is not like theirs. Should schools and others be foisting upon our children this enormous guilt that somehow is going to make things better because we're doing that? I don't believe so. I certainly don't need to be told by anyone, I don't care what their skin color is, that I should feel guilty because of past experience between one race and another race. I don't need to be told that I have some unrealized guilt because of my skin color and that I've got to get in touch with that, and somehow that's gonna help someone else in their life lead a full and productive life. Just don't buy it, and I never will. I believe in treating all people the same, regardless of their skin color. And yeah, I recognize that there are different races and different skin tones out there. I don't make it the central focus of who I am as a person. I try to treat other people as I want to be treated. And if I'm treated in a horrible way, then I just won't associate with that person. You know, the old saying, fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me, pretty much applies here. With the way things are going with the Communist Party in China, I think it's much more important to ensure that we are secure and safe here in our country from the influence of a communist regime or any other foreign entity that decides they want to overtake us or influence us to change our way of government that best suits them. Well, I'm sorry, we have a constitution, we have a declaration, we have a sovereign nation, we have a set of ideals, we have a set of laws that govern behavior or that should govern behavior to some extent. And I don't want any other foreign country or any other group of people who are going to come into our country and change it. And for that matter, I don't want the people who are in this country who want to change the way our government is set up to change it, to fit their whims. If they want to change our government, then you don't have to do that. Just go to another country, adopt another form of government that you think is better than what we have here, and be my guest, leave. The doors open, leave, and go to that country where you think things are going to be better for you. That's fine. And if you want to come back, if you're humble and repentant and submissive, then we'll let you back. Just don't try to bring our government down with your silly notions and your ideas that somehow there's a better form of government out there. I've said it before and I'll say it again. The Constitution and our form of government is not perfect. We are not perfect people. So it'd be kind of weird to have a perfect government with a bunch of imperfect people. Well, ladies and gentlemen, it's time to wrap it up for this episode. I hope you enjoyed it. Furthermore, like any episode that I do, I hope that you go and research these things on your own and find out for yourself the things that are happening in our country. And if there's a way we can change them, then we should. That is, we should change them if their current setup is a detriment to ourselves and the people in our society. That's a given, right? I'd like to end this episode today by quoting from James Madison from the Federalist Papers number forty one, the topic of which is the general view of the powers conferred by the Constitution. James Madison had this to say, The choice must always be made, if not of the lesser evil, at least of the greater, not the perfect good, and that in every political institution, a power to advance the public happiness involves a discretion which may be misapplied and abused. They will see, therefore, that in all cases where power is to be conferred, the point first to be decided is whether such a power be necessary to the public good, as the next will be, in case of an affirmative decision, to guard as effectually as possible against a perversion of the power to the public detriment. That we may form a correct judgment on this subject, it will be proper to review the several powers conferred on the government of the Union, and that this may be more conveniently done, they may be reduced into different classes as they relate to the following different objects. And then Madison talks about these different classes, which I'm only going to mention two of them, and they are security against foreign danger and regulation of the intercourse with foreign nations. And I might add that the intercourse that he is talking about is not sexual. So think higher. The intercourse that Madison was talking about was and is commerce. That's the intercourse that he was mentioning in this particular essay. And if Madison was concerned in 1788 with respect to the security against foreign danger and the regulation of intercourse or commerce with foreign nations, then I would think that we should be pretty concerned here in 2022 about what some foreign actors may want to do to hurt American society. I certainly don't want to wake up one day and realize how much the Chinese Communist Party has us over a barrel, and there's nothing we can do about it.