This is my simple religion.
There is no need for temples;
no need for complicated philosophy.
Our own brain, our own heart is our temple;
the philosophy is kindness.
Dalai Lama
Chart of the Day: Misery South of the Border
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| Via Cato Institute |
Slovakia and Economic Freedom
The IRS Structuring Scam and Civil Forfeiture
To All the Girls I Loved Before
I remember singing Harrison's "Something" in high school choir, but I'll never forget one magic evening when the song happened to play over the radio, and I sang along, serenading my lady; she subsequently sang another love song a cappella back to me. It was a very spontaneous thing and a fond memory. [The relationship didn't work out (it was long distance).]
Choose Life: Jamie Brewer As a Fashion Model
Great job, sweetie!
Ryan McMaken, "How Truly Free Markets Help the Poor": Thumbs UP!
As a matter of coincidence, I was reading a National Geographic issue from a few months back (August); the editor had an issue forward when she recalled joking with a Cleveland school administrator that with snowy winters, the kids must enjoy their snow days off. The administrator took on a serious face as he explained they try to minimize snow days, because otherwise the poor kids wouldn't get a decent meal. The accompanying article discussion on Hunger in America had a predictable "progressive" slant about SNAP (food stamp) benefit cuts lead many poor families visiting food pantries or soup kitchens near the end of the month. You can all but infer partisan finger pointing at the GOP Scrooges balancing the budget on the backs of the hungry... (I'm not going to get in the middle of that kerfuffle, except to note the GOP generally opposes expanding the criteria for program eligibility and they prefer to see temporary vs. long-term assistance.)
Whereas "progressives" pat themselves on the back for supporting the "full" funding of these programs, let's point out the so-called War on Poverty has been a miserable failure, and if anything, we've achieved a vicious cycle of government dependence and an urban underclass. We free market types don't oppose helping the poor--in fact, Adam Smith and Herbert Spencer published works on moral philosophy. The difference is we believe in the private sector and voluntary transactions. NG doesn't really explore the issue, but they did point out a proliferation of charity outlets (they probably see this as evidence of government failing a prime directive). I've featured a number of stories of the government getting in the way of food charity: e.g., a man in Florida being arrested over feeding the homeless, NYC's Health Department balking over unregulated donations of leftover/day-old foods, no distribution of government surplus cheese if you have a cross on the wall, etc.
It's not just that government gets in the way of other people helping the poor and creates regime uncertainty (e.g., consider hospitals which had adjusted criteria under the assumption that states would accept liberalized Medicaid eligibility under ObamaCare), but government gets in the way of people trying to cope with their circumstances. McMaken notes many issues I've highlighted in countless post segments: minimum wages, the Fed's failure in maintaining currency stability, payroll taxes, zoning laws, occupational licensing, various government mandates, etc. There are a few other things I would add to the observations: e.g., trade liberalization, which can provide even poorer Americans better prices and selection; and anti-business attitudes (e.g., WalMart or Korean mom-and-pop grocers).
Wedding Proposals
I haven't done one of these in a while; I always love the innovative twists the gentlemen think of in popping the question.
Lots of white board... A year in the making
Colorful...
Without reservation
Facebook Corner
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| Courtesy of Eric Allie via IPI |
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| Urban legend quote from progressive troll responding to IPI cartoon |
The quote certainly is not properly sourced and many Hitler scholars were not aware of it. And even Wikipedia notes that FDR opposed unionization of WPA workers.
(Mises Institute). See Read image above.
There was a short period after the American War for Independance when we had freedom and a free market society, but it didn't last long. The wealthy soon learned how to buy favoratism from the government to inhibit competition. This Crony-capitalism has become corporatism, and controls almost every aspect of our lives. There's already attempts by corporations to prohibit free clean water, and if the trend continues we'll be paying for the air we breath.
This is crackpot leftist garbage that tries to put the cart ahead of the horse. Corporations, unlike government, cannot force transactions; corporations compete. What happens is the political whores try to manipulate the economy through the government. Not one of you uninformed jerks have ever read Ron Paul or others.
(separate comment)
It's bad enough the OP is an incompetent reader of American history. Free market after the Revolution my behind! You never learned (no doubt in a public school) that there were tariffs among the states under the Confederation--which is exactly why this power was stripped by the Constitution.
Before we whip out a plan to rid our system of socialism we need to do two things: Define the lines of what we are cutting out and understand the sources of its origin so that it doesn't return.
Personally, I think words like socialism and capitalism act more as religious/political banners than as names for real distinct systems.
We all gotta ride in on our own horse. But we need to make sure that it is our horse and that we picked the right one from the barn.
This is not rocket science. We have the polar opposites of liberty/capitalism and authoritarianism. Government taxation and regulations are fundamental constraints on liberty. Whether authoritarianism is dressed up under some theoretical social ownership construct or monarchy makes litte difference; even a slave owner feeds and shelters his slaves.
What happened in America? I think two fundamental developments which liberated a small footprint federal government: first, there was the sixteenth amendment, which removed the Constitutional prohibition on direct taxation; the feds now had a vast taxing authority to fund a permanent expansion of the government; second, after FDR threatened to pack SCOTUS, we had the diastrous Carolene Products decision, which introduced the infamous Footnote 4. Footnote 4 essentially allowed the legislative majority wide discretion in trumping economic liberty.
And how exactly are we going to remove "socialism from our midst?"
Or is this just another religious platitude like, "if only we could learn to be more Christlike--then we would have heaven on earth," and other such tropes.
We need more understanding and truly workable plans--and less posturing and platforms.
What do we do to turn back the clock on our unsustainable fascialist government? The first step is to educate people that over two thirds (and climbing) of the federal government budget is on entitlement spending and adverse effects of the regulatory empire. Second, we have to work on capping the budget, if possible through constitutional means. Third, we need radical decentralization of authority and funding, e.g., privatization or at least devolution from federal to state/local authority. This includes divesting the federal government from its own socialization of segments of the economy, e.g., mortgages, student loans, and healthcare.
Political Cartoon
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| Courtesy of Nate Beeler via Townhall |
James Taylor, "You've Got a Friend". This has to be Taylor's signature tune and only #1 on the Hot 100.
