1. INFLATION: AN INFLATED WORD

Inflation constitutes a problem, in part, because the word itself is inflated. "Inflation" is used to describe too many different persons, places, and things. Confusion reigns in the understanding and elimination of any problem when opposites are called by the same name. For instance, if one's income expands--inflates--one should have more buying power ... if the money supply is not inflated at a greater rate ... or if production inflates. (The previous sentences reveals how the word "inflation" and its derivatives can be self-contradictory, i.e., depending on where inflation is occurring, one's buying power can be increasing or decreasing.)

The classical definition of inflation is "a rise in the amount of money in circulation without a corresponding rise in the amount of goods and services." However, as will be shown numerous times over, inflation can occur without an increase in the amount of money in circulation. What if a war destroyed all the crops, factories or hospitals? Or drought destroyed all the food crops? Or speculators hoarded an adequate harvest of crops, of goods or of doctors? The latter occurs in any trade when the governing board, body or association prevent an expansion of the members in the field so as to keep the service in short supply with high prices.

Price rises do not occur only from an unproductive rise in the money supply. Inflation indexes both the money supply and product availability, i.e., production employment.

Another point of confusion is the failure to distinguish the difference between inflationary prices and inflationary suffering. Who cares about price rises if his income rises at a faster rate? Inflationary suffering is what the general problem of inflation is all about, not the prices.

A direct causal connection does exist between the onset of inflationary price rises and subsequent inflationary suffering for ever increasing numbers of people. This initial price rise begins with individuals who overcharge for their goods or services. They cause inflationary losses (suffering) for those dependent on the inflated product.

The spark that ignites the inflationary fires does not begin with those who strike and walk the picket line. The blue-collar rank-and- file are consistently accused of initiating the wage-price spiral. In terms of the wage-price spiral, consider those who never strike a single minute but who consistently charge more for their same old products: their wages and prices have inflated without additional production.

Who are the inflation originators that never strike? They are the politically well-fixed. The initial, inflationary price rises involve sacred cows in the private sphere which the politicians tolerate, aid and abet. Excepting for acts of nature, most inflation starts with politicians legalizing more income for special interests even though the recipients of these political favors do not increase their production.

Consider the person who bribes a politicians for the right to inflationarily increase the cost of his service. His personal supply of money unproductively increases, thus making him a recipient of inflationary income. Similar is the windfall income that the oil companies received when the politicians eliminated price ceilings on oil. This is another example of monflation: more money, no more production. The oil companies used their privileged positions and shared monopolies to price-gouge the consumer.

Accompanying legisflation from necessity is the legisflation by choice. Legisflation occurs when the modern politicians choose to pass laws that benefit special interests, e.g., oil companies or medical monopolies. When virtual private laws (privileges) legalize more buying power for some groups--without those groups producing any more than they did before--a nuance of the classical definition of inflation has occurred. Specifically, someone special has increased his personal money supply without having increased his production of goods and services.

Legisflation by choice is a result of the democratic process being polluted by the modern politicians. Politicians ignore the concerns and consensus of the people for the special few.

Legisflation proves the point that democracy at election time does not guarantee the benefits of democracy ... a problem-freer existence. Regardless of how much democracy there is at election time, can the benefits of democracy be expected if democracy is not used in the national problem-solving process between elections?

Congress, as is, will not pass anti-inflationary, problem-solving legislation. Instead, legisflation will be the hallmark of a nation that has insufficient "divisions of people ruling." Such limited democracy deserves a specific name. A more descriptive, just and correct word for such irrelevant democracy is "demolection".

Literally and figuratively, demolection describes how America does not really have democracy per se. Rather, with demolections

divisions of people merely ELECT rather than rule;
people only have a say or a voice in how they are ruled for one day; and
people are "divided" on only one day to rule on their fate.

That one day is election day. Demolection, not democracy, is what America has for a ruling problem-solving process.

Demolection is why we do not have the problem-freeing benefits of democracy, why we have legisflation instead of legislation. A true, workable democracy, which adheres to optimal divisioning of the populace with the appropriate apportionment of power, would never fail in solving the people's problems. To a great extent today, problems in the U.S. exist because policy-makers abstain from democratic principles between elections.

Inflation can be stopped. Needed is a democratic process in which divisions of people rule themselves so as to rule problems out of their lives. It can be stopped quickly when people are productively organized to rule the problems out of their lives.

One of the problems is a semantic one, namely, inflation being an inflated word. Hopefully, the newly coined words have aided in discriminating the different types of inflation. Hopefully, the words will crop up in everyday usage, especially in the grilling of the top economic policy-makers.

INFLATION: AN INFLATED WORD

'Twixt old apples and oranges now on sale,
Lie inflated gestures of hidden gold.
Inflation's gist? A harsh and schizoid word,
Wreaking havoc on fools, both blind and bold.

Against endless pain of unstopped 'flation,
Dins flattery, harping empty hedges.
Flares cries for strikes, but no gain of substance,
'Cept again, the middleman who fudges.

Before ancient reawaken groans will fade,
The flatulence of minds confused must pass.
Ask not of pols, long-winded talks possessed,
From them, again, you'll buy colluded gas.

Can "up and down" be found to sprout,
From a singular semantic seed?
Faults so planted yield fruits not ripe nor cured;
Blooms but benumbing stale, noxious weed.

Of all things both inflated and cheapened,
"Inflation" flames above as most abused.
Our sad singeing, suffering slide will stop,
When bifid 'flation's tongues are fused.

Warning: Anyone found stealing lifehours will be forever banned from participation in and rewards of Better Democracy and Capitalism.

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