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Monday, July 28, 2014

Miscellany: 7/28/14


Quote of the Day
Behind an able man there are always other able men.
Chinese Proverb

The Centennial of the Start of One of the Most Tragic Events in World History: WWI
Courtesy of LFC
Sixth Year of Publication Ends With This Post

Tomorrow will be my sixth blogiversary. I'm maybe 2 weeks shy of publishing post #2100 (I've actually taken down a couple involving relatives). I did not start the blog with the idea of publishing daily (occasionally more with one-off posts, like my mock annual awards or standalone essays). My signature miscellany format started in 2009, although the style, features, and daily schedule evolved over time. Detailed readership statistics weren't available until around 2010; I haven't fully analyzed readership statistics year over year, but my readership seems to have increased steadily.

I don't think I'm even registering on many blogrolls, and I suspect that sooner or later most readers will find something I've written they disagree with strongly. An obvious current issue is immigration; I've always been pro-immigration; one of my best friends is a naturalized citizen from India, and I know what he had to put up with before he got his green card. What I didn't like about Obama's approach on the issue is that it was totally political (with his ally labor unions opposing things like temporary worker programs), with abuse of discretion in enforcing the law; so I initially had more of a rule of law perspective and questioned more the priorities within quotas than the quotas themselves. As I became more libertarian and philosophically consistent (influenced by more open borders classical liberals like Don Boudreaux) and studied the shameful evolution of immigration law, my views have hardened and are not popular with either side of the current debate. I don't have direct reader feedback, but it seemed everytime I posted a pro-immigration opinion, I would take a 50% or so hit on readership the following day. But really, I'm fine with people disagreeing with me, and yesterday's quote on Cicero on popularity vs. virtue is a reflection of my perspective.

It's also interesting to note how my perspective has changed over the years; looking back at 2007-8, I was pushing John McCain; it wasn't so much his neocon views (although I thought his long Congressional career easily trumped both Clinton and Obama's meager records). I thought he might be more of a bipartisan leader, I bought into his "straight talk" persona, he had paid his dues, and his tough 2000 loss of the nomination to Bush made him the most viable alternative to the Dems' predictable tactic as portraying any GOP nominee as a highly unpopular Bush third term.  I even briefly enjoyed how he completely swerved the media and Dems with his VP pick. I avoided criticizing McCain during the campaign; I halfway worried some Dem operative might quote my fledging blog to use against McCain, but I was shocked by his impulsiveness and other mistakes, e.g., the decision to suspend his campaign over TARP, his desire to postpone the first Presidential debate, why he contradicted his experience argument by picking Palin, his earlier quote about needing to be educated on economics, his failure to rebut blatantly false charges about being a radical deregulator, why he didn't openly oppose the unpopular TARP bill. He seemed to lapse into political spin vs. straight talk, and his "maverick" ticket concept seemed to be unprincipled at best. I thought one of the real low points was when the Obama campaign accused the McCain campagin of stealing a housing-related policy; you cannot try to out-Democrat a Democrat: people are going to buy the real deal. He badly needed to throw Bush under the bus, but he had gone out of his way during the primaries, pointing out he had the most pro-Bush voting record over the last session or two, in order to attract the loyal Bush base, something the Dems hung around his neck during the general election campaign. Then there was the resource issue while Obama had built a massive campaign warchest. The Dems carpetbombed purple states with ads while the McCain camp sat watching McCain's lead in Florida wither away without challenge. I do think once the economic tsunami hit, McCain was done. In an uncertain economic environment, the party of entitlements is always going to beat Mr. Greenshades. But I felt I myself could have run a better campaign than McCain, and I couldn't get elected as dogcatcher.

It's interesting to read some of the older material and realize how much my perspective has evolved. I am not an anti-government ideologue or a conspiracy theorist; in fact, I've been in the Navy, I was a state university professor, and I've worked as a contractor or consultant at various levels of government. I'm more of a profound skeptic or critic vs. opponent of the State. I don't think my values have changed, but there's been a paradigm shift: it's difficult to explain it. It had more to do with a more thoroughgoing challenging of assumptions: why, for instance, did other countries eliminate the evil of slavery without a horrific Civil War? Why was the government involved in individual benefits, not just for the poor, but the middle class? How have we piled up over $80T in unfunded entitlement liabilities? Why did we intervene in Afghanistan and Iraq, knowing existing sectarian or tribal issues, neither country a credible military threat to a major nuclear power? If high tech could bloom without industrial policy, why is the Fed necessary?

Yes, I think everyone wants to be liked and respected; I truly believe this is one of the better blogs on the Internet. It would be interesting to know why some posts draw more readers than others; I know my Mom likes some of the videos I embed, and a nephew likes the cartoons I select. (I hope people also stick around for my commentary/analyses.) No, I'm not an economist, but I'm well-informed and have a very readable style. Initially I never dreamed I would have enough material to span over 2000 posts. But then just a couple of months ago, I wasn't sure how I could/would use Twitter, and already I've racked up 73 tweets. You can probably fit my followers in a phone booth; I've already seen some of my followers fly away. Why? I'm not sure--maybe an implied pro-Rand Paul tweet? People not caring for my comedic one-liners? In any event, I don't know what will happen over the coming year; my business/travel schedule may not allow me to post daily. But I'll probably focus a little more on Elections 2014 and 2016; the first step will be seeing Justin Amash shrug off the US Chamber's fight to primary him a few days from now...

Pro-Liberty Thought of the Day



Image of the Day
Via Sonny Mooks on Being Classically Liberal
Chart of the Day
Via Cato Institute
Note the gains by no-income-tax states like TX and FL
Tweet of the Day
Hall of Shame: PA Lawmaker Edition

Courtesy  of Brad Bumsted | Tribune-Review via WSJ
Among the two dozen or so portraits of prominent Pennsylvania legislative leaders, including Benjamin Franklin, an assembly speaker before independence, are 4 whom were convicted on various corruption (use of state resources) or obstruction charges. The plaques were a compromise in lieu of taking down the portraits.

George Reisman, Labor Unions Are Anti-Labor: Thumbs UP!

There are a number of economists I enjoy reading: Don Boudreaux; Bob Murphy; Thomas Sowell; Tom DiLorenzo--and George Reisman. In fact, I have followed Reisman on Twitter and have favorited a couple of his Tweets.

This is a gem of a little piece. Reisman points out that unions don't achieve real gains by dog-chasing-its-tail inflation. Rather, it's increased productivity whereby widgets decrease in price relative to wages. More goods, lower prices increase real (inflation-adjusted) wages and the worker's standard of living. Reisman notes that attempts to manipulate wages, say, by expensive work rules and/or barriers to entry (e.g., licensing restrictions) do not increase the demand for labor (and note in a competitive labor market non-union employers will often meet or beat union wages); in fact, by limiting the supply of widgets and real wages, the demand for widgets and other job-supporting goods and services is diminished, not to mention other policies discouraging hiring, e.g., minimum wage and mandatory benefit mandates, other members of the labor pool find themselves priced out of the labor market.

Facebook Corner

(IPI). The high-rise at 500 N. Lake Shore Drive is the second-most expensive in the city, with rents for a one-bedroom apartment approaching $3,000 a month, well beyond the reach of most Chicago residents.
But that's not too much for the Chicago Housing Authority, which has used federal tax dollars to pick up most of the tab for four lucky residents in the year-old building...
Let's get this straight: there is taxpayer money for supervoucher rents in the private sector, but not for an alternative to failing public schools?

(Drudge Report). Laura Ingraham hints at running for office...
 I can't wait to see her get her ass kicked in the political arena.

(National Review). If homosexuals aren’t allowed to marry because they won’t produce children, should the same standards be upheld for heterosexual couples?
In mathematical terms, heterosexual intimacy is a necessary, but insufficient basis for procreation (e.g., sterility or post-menopause). There are social norms for procreation and social stability, and those are implemented through the institutions of marriage and family. I see the law as reflecting existing social norms

More Proposals

My niece is back from her honeymoon, and I think I'm going to put this series on hiatus for a while.









Be Really Careful of What You Wish For....



Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Eric Allie via Townhall
Musical Interlude: My Favorite Vocalists

Billy Joel, "My Life"

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