Crush your enemies and make them pay

We'd all like a little "closure" now that "times are hard", but let's face it - the current economic situation is the result of years of outmoded thinking. Wealth-creators have tried to justify what they've done in terms of "social benefits" - clearly the wrong course of action.

Years ago the prominent thinker E.K. Blankenship was asked what should be done in times of labour unrest. He pointed to the administration in then South Vietnam as a model. Dismissed as a "crank", Blankenship's wisdom was sadly ignored.

But treating our own citizens in the way South Vietnam treated theirs would be a disaster, the naysayers whinged. Seems they were unaware of Blankenship's "Law of Diminishing Outrage", which states that no matter how outrageous the action, the public will eventually accept it so long as they are atomised.

Just think of how the "bank bailout" could have been different, with a little South Vietnam style leadership.