US Debt

So today Dom asked me this question on Twitter, which is the last question at the bottom of the list. I was so bewildered and I had him ask again. I was stunned because no countries do that. The government can't say, "Oh hey guys, I borrowed too much money from other countries and I can't pay them back. Can everyone give me $300?" The economy doesn't really work that way. I don't think any economy would work that way, especially when it comes to money, because if it did, it would set many hardworking people back and just cause the government to be more careless with spending. As it is, the US government isn't responsible with spending at all, but I'm getting ahead of myself. You gotta understand how taxes work and how the US treasury works, so I'll write about it here:

Taxes are what working people basically pay the government to make the country better. At the end of every financial year, the taxman comes and says, "Hey give me your money," and people will try their best to lie about how much money they are supposed to give Taxes are used to build schools, roads, and hospitals and help the government fulfill his or her promises.

All US taxes go to this state department called the Treasury, which is basically where a group of smartly dressed people help the President manage the money of the US. Unfortunately, the US has been giving too much money to bail out banks, which increases debt. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan also made debt accumulate (they cost USD$1.4trillion ), making things worse.

Also, the US can actually borrow money from the people using this thing called Treasure Securities. They are bonds and people actually lend money to the US to fund their projects but I can't go into that now because it would take another post to complete.

Basically the US didn't regulate banking and say, "No, you can't have people who can't afford a mortgage take out loans," and so they have to give money to the banks and bail them out. This doesn't help the banks at all because there are no regulations, and so the banks keep lending people money and the government has to bail them out when people can't pay the banks back.

I seriously think that the US government has to set limits and say, "Okay, if this dude has a crap credit rating, we cannot give him a loan because he cannot afford to pay it back with interest." Then maybe the endless stream of borrowing will stop.

And unfortunately, we are very much capitalist, and Singapore can't 'share' money with the US because we have our needs. We are also a small country and there is no way we can solve all the financial problems of such a big country. We cannot loan anyone money because it will contribute to this unceasing borrowing cycle that a lot of countries cannot get out of.

Besides, Singapore is also hit by the crisis, but the government has saved enough money to bolster some businesses that are operating at a loss so that they can get through the crisis (More on that later).

Satanism

Even though I have already answered this question on Twitter, I thought it'd make a good first post.

Satanism is this big word for many religions that worship Satan. Though Satanism flourished in the 1960s, it actually has roots way back in history. Take Milton's Paradise Lost for example. This 17th century work had Satan as one of the central characters, and has him explaining why he doesn't want to serve God. Satan in this work questions God as his creator, throwing the known universe into disarray.

Fastforward to the present, and we see many people becoming believers in Satanism. Why? The internet allows us to get information quickly, and a google search on Satanism can get you to various churches that practise it. There are Theistic Satanists - i.e. those who really believe that Satans exist and worship him, and Atheistic Satanists - those who use Satan as a metaphor to convey their belief in choice, and that they should take responsibility for whatever happens in their own lives, not God.

Sidenote: Theist means God, and Atheist means without God, so you can derive what these words mean easily from these opposing terms.

La Veyan Satanism is part of Atheistic Satanism, and Our Lady of Endor Coven is part of Theistic Satanism.

I don't know much about Satanism to elaborate fully on its ideas and beliefs, but I do think this came about because people found Christianity to be problematic. Satanism is a reaction against Christianity - Atheistic Satanists find it illogical that they should trust a higher power to organize their lives. They rebel against God and instead seek to make responsible choices. Satanism also stems from people who are disgruntled by what they think are illogical loopholes of Biblical teachings, and they think this other belief will provide them with the answers they are looking for.

I also do think that Satanism is part of the backlash that comes with evangelizing - no one likes being told that they are going to hell for not believing in the one true God, or that their religious beliefs are wrong. Satanism is a more extreme form of rebelling against these sentiments.

Naturally Christians are very upset with this. People are worshipping the devil himself, who supposedly tempts people to make immoral decisions. Perhaps they also think that these teachings are not aligned with their own and are crude ideas cobbled together.

As with all religions, tread carefully. Read up on them to know what they are and how they function, and never insult someone else's religion; respect the person and his choices, even though you may disagree.