Is this what is coming?

For the last couple years, and even for some time before, our economy has been struggling. The biggest news lately is that we are recovering. But unemployment is still very widespread, as high as 20% in places like Michigan, but I think it is even worse if you consider under-employment.

Our elected officials are merrily creating more legislation to cope with all our issues, and what isn't so obvious is that they are creating more and more jobs. Each time a government agency is created, criticized, strengthened, it adds more jobs. That's why they can say the economy is improving. And its in their best interests to do so. Why would government workers vote for a candidate who was going to eliminate their jobs?

Our war efforts actually fit into this scenario as well. Not so much from the soldier's point of view, but from the money the government is creating to support the soldiers and the war efforts. Want to make a lot of money? Go to work in Afghanistan or Iraq as a contractor. Want to make an obscene amount of money? Start a company that sends people to Afghanistan or Iraq. There is so much of this going on that the government auditors can't even keep up with the fraud waste and abuse of the handful of contractors who are just trying to cheat the government. But I do think the vast majority of the contractors who are in that side of the business are trying faithfully to do their jobs in a fair and equitable manner, and take care to do the right thing for their employees, the soldiers, and the native civilian populations.

But I digress. Where is this going? If everyone becomes dependent on the government for a job, isn't that socialism or communism? If private industry sees manufacturing and heavy industry disappear, we are left with the service industries remaining. Does the whole country need to be run like AMTRAK? I could see a future where the only non-government job was standing behind a counter flippin' burgers.