You can preach a better sermon with your life than with your lips.
Oliver Goldsmith
Guest Quotation for the Day
We in Serbia call him Barack Obmana(on Serbian,obmana means ,,dellusion'' ) - from Libertarian Catholic on FG
Image of the Day
 |
| No, Obama: NOT a To-Do List |
I haven't had time to read Rothbard's major works, mostly excerpts on various topics in the history of US economics, but this is a brilliant sample. FDR's disastrous policies during the Depression are straightforward reflections of what Rothbard illustrates here, including the lie that falling prices are a bad thing. Today I can buy a vastly more powerful PC for roughly the down payment on the first desktop PC I bought as a professor--and that was with more expensive dollars. Lower prices did not kill the industry. I have little patience with "progressives" or "left-libertarians" who argue that corporations run America and assorted nonsense. As Rothbard points out here, governments have always been at the core of the problem because they have a monopoly on force--only they can prohibit competition or keep cartel members "honest". Crafty crony capitalists put lipstick on a pig; they'll seduce gullible leftist "progressives" (like Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton) and academics with political spin on the "public interest". The political whores aren't necessarily sellouts to the companies; they're simply naive and economically illiterate: they really, really believe in the spin, but in reality they fail to see the wolf in sheep's clothing--the purported "reforms" are simply an anti-competitive measure that harms consumers as a whole.
Take the Uber kerfuffle playing out in NYC and elsewhere or restaurant assaults on food trucks. The typical fear mongering about criminals operating Uber cars or food trucks being a license to food poisoning. The idea is "without government", who would be there to protect the consumer? First of all, be clear: everything that government does to filter competitors, by delaying or prohibiting or otherwise imposing burdensome restrictions (e.g., food trucks may have limited parking options, time limits, etc.), is anti-competitive in nature, which serves to protect incumbent businesses and impoverishes consumers without robust volumes, variety and pricing of goods and services. Second, whether or not government regulates, businesses that harm consumers through faulty or dangerous goods and services are liable through our court system, and for small businesses, legal bills could put the company out of business. It would be suicidal for a small business not to be preventive, e.g., minimize the risk of food contamination, following best practices, etc. Third, companies like Uber know to anticipate the customer's needs, wants and concerns. Obviously they carefully screen their drivers, ensure the cars are well-maintained, etc. This has nothing to do with government stamping its approval on a business. Companies that kill their customers have an impossible time staying in business, whether or not they have a Statist imprimatur. Independent third parties could provide validation inspections without government involvement, not unlike how CPA firms attest to fair financial statements.
Facebook Corner
(LFC). The government owned (monopoly) water producer in my county issued an advisory yesterday stating that its water is currently unsafe to drink. Yet there are laws against "price gouging," so there is little incentive for Kroger to move bottled water inventory from its stores in unaffected areas to stores in affected areas. The predictable result: a bottled water shortage and empty shelves.
The fascists would rather make all of the people equally thirsty. Seriously, banning voluntary transactions? The people trust the same government that mismanaged its water supply to pick the right market price out of their asses? Rent a truck and head for an alternative county Sam's Club... High prices attract suppliers; suppliers cut prices in a glut, etc. Econ 101 law of supply and demand.
(Drudge Report). [I Pay My Own Way, Unlike Bush, Walker or Clinton...]
Without Donald "Four Bankruptcies" Trump, who would retards vote for?
The last time I checked, you pompous jerk, self-promoting, economic illiterate, incompetent buffoons cannot buy the Oval Office.
(IPI). The Illinois Department of Corrections reports that 62 percent of inmates are parents. Seldom is a family better off with a nonviolent mom or dad is behind bars.Alternatives to prison must be deployed.
Why should I be surprised that the morally corrupt fascist supporters of the prison industrial complex are in a state of denial over one of the highest imprisonment rates in the world, in the alleged "land of the free"? In today's overregulated society, some authors argue the typical American unknowingly commits up to 3 felonies a day, where the law has become vague and intent is increasingly divorced, even the son or daughter of a fascist can be arbitrarily charged and convicted.
Alternatives for prison? How about alternatives for criminal decisions and actions.
Most of this thread is full of fascists. We have among the highest incarceration rates IN THE WORLD, well beyond any other democratic republic. So either you fascists believe we are intrinsically the most criminal people on earth or there is something very screwed up with our laws and justice system. Anyone with a functional brain knows it's the latter.
They can't be very good parents if they are in jail. When you become a parent it is time to make sure you don't break the law to end up in jail.
The problem is the legal system, lady. Look up the facts--we send MULTIPLES proportionately than any other republic. Stop pretending "the law" is not the problem.
They already have an alternative, it called not getting arrested.
They have an alternative; it's called living in a country without a prison industrial complex.
Political Cartoon
 |
| Courtesy of Michael Ramirez via Townhall |
Kenny Rogers, "Love the World Away"
