Archive for the ‘Government and Politics’ category

« AUSTRIAN ECONOMICS ADDICT home page
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

The Breakdown Of The Rule Of Law

June 22, 2016

The breakdown of the rule of law leads to a breakdown of a civil society.

We define the rule of law as general rules, known in advance, and pertaining to the rulers as well as the ruled. Unfortunately the rule of law does not deter our politicians and government betters. They make micro managing laws that are so numerous we can’t possibly know them in advance. They act as a ruling aristocracy who are above the laws they make.

When we the masses don’t know the rules of the game, on the one hand, and see our rulers getting away with breaking them, on the other, we start to push back. At first we use our 1st amendment rights to free speech and peaceably to assemble, and petition the Government for a redress of grievances. The problem starts to escalate when this doesn’t produce a desired result. We then start to resist slowly at first. This leads to an escalation on the side of Government which than leads to a reciprocal escalation by us. We are now in an upward spiral of resistance – response – resistance.

Americans don’t like to be told what to do. Each person has a different level of tolerance toward Government coercion. More and more people are reaching their limit and we are witnessing the push back.

Although government has been usurping power for a century, it has really increased under the last three Presidents. President Obama has expanded the power of government more than Bush did and Bush expanded it more than Clinton did. The number of laws on the federal registry has grown so large, a motivated government lawyer can dig deep enough in the federal registry and find a law that you have broken. Where will this lead? I hope it can be resolved peacefully.

SOME EXAMPLES

Oklahoma Cops Find A New Way To Take People’s Money, at huffingtonpost.com. As bad as civil asset forfeiture laws are, this escalates it exponentially. The ability to seize assets by scanning a persons debit and bank cards at the spot of the arrest is against the fourth and fifth amendments of the Constitution.

–4th –The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath of affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

–5th–No person shall……. be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law;…..

People will not stand for this.

Ex Missouri Cop Gets 4 Years For Tasering Teen and Dropping Him On His Face, at kansascity.com. Watch this video. This teens heart stopped because the cop held the taser on him for more than 20 seconds. This was far longer than what his training taught him. He than cuffed and dragged the teen to the curb where he dropped him face first on the concrete. The teen was put into an induced coma to relieve brain damage. Read the details in the article and watch the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvGdEHOaoOI

In war some of the rules of engagement tell our military guys they are not allowed to fire until fired upon. This is in a war zone. What are the rules of engagement for police? Shouldn’t it be at least what our military guys have to fight under? Police aren’t in a war zone even though we are constantly told they are. My friend retired early from law enforcement because he couldn’t believe that the new officers were being taught that everyone was a criminal. When he got in law enforcement he was taught that he was there to serve the public.

The cop in this video escalated this situation right from the start. He tried to intimidate this teen and look what happened. I know this sounds like Monday morning quarterbacking but he went all tough guy right away and there is no turning back once he decided to travel down that road. If you start out in a non threatening way, you can always escalate to another level.

At some point either the cops or we have to stop this upward spiral of resist – response – resist.

Watch the video below. The child was treated better by the gorilla than teen was treated by the cop.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GoI8s6VOsQ

 

What The IRS Just Revealed Should Start A Wave Of OUTRAGE, at allenwest.com. The IRS used its power to keep people from exercising their rights to “peaceably assemble and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances“. Everyone is afraid of the IRS, ergo they can intimidate people easily. Even though working for the IRS isn’t a political position, there is an incentive for the IRS to protect big Government from anyone who wants to shrink it. Because if it wasn’t for big Government there would be no need for the IRS. Lois Lerner should be in jail, not enjoying her 6 figure “retirement” on the tax payers dime.

Wake Up America, by Andrew Napolitano, lewrockwell.com. Excerpt from the article. “Now the FBI wants access to everyone’s internet browser history, as long as its agents are looking for spies or terrorists; and again, it proposes that rather than present probable cause to a judge and seek a warrant as the Fourth Amendment requires, one FBI agent can be authorized to issue a search warrant to another.” Our congress is about to give the FBI this power! I’m reminded of a quote by Joseph Sobran; “The Constitution is no threat to our current form of government.”

Ugly Bloody Scenes In San Jose As Protesters Attack Trump Supporters Outside Rally, at washington.com. These are not protests against Trump (which are protected by the 1st amendment). These are rioters who are physically assaulting individuals and damaging private property, which is against the law. The cops stood and watched. Americans normally don’t act like this. This is how third world countries settle disputes.

Is the rule of law breaking down? You be the judge.

 

Related Article – Political Correctness, A Civil Society, And The Rule Of Law, at austrianaddict.com.

Categories: Government and Politics
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Comments: Be the first to comment

A Lesson From Atlas Shrugged II

June 16, 2016

When the time comes will we have enough people who will stand up against tyrannical Government like Henry Rearden in Atlas Shrugged II?

Henry Rearden owns Rearden Steel. Under the Fair Share Law he is required to sell to the Government. When he refuses, he has to go to court. His speech in front of the court starts around 8:00. It is outstanding.

Here are some excerpts from a conversation Rearden has with a Government bureaucrat who is sent to convince him to sell steel to the Government.

Bureaucrat – Please understand it is my job.

Rearden – It’s a job you chose…. I’ve just never met a looter with your kind of dedication and endurance.

Bureaucrat – I’m not a looter!

Rearden – No! You’re not here to take something from me you didn’t earn yourself?

Bureaucrat – You can’t just reject a Government order for your materials.

Rearden – Why can’t I.

Bureaucrat – It’s an essential needs project.

Rearden – Essential to whom.

Bureaucrat – It’s very important, it’s for the State Science Institute. Rest assured Mr. Rearden, It’s in the public interest.

Rearden – You tell your people that I will not sell any Rearden metal to the State Science Institute at any time, for any price, for any purpose whatsoever.

Bureaucrat – Mr. Rearden, no one has ever refused to sell a strategic material to the Government. It’s against the Fair Share Law. You have to sell it to them.

Rearden – I’ll make it simple for you. Tell them I won’t accept payment. Now their welcome to come down here with their trucks and guns and seize as much metal as they want.

Bureaucrat – That would be theft.

Rearden –Damn son, you’re brighter than you look……….. One of these days you’re going to have to decide whose side you’re on.

Bureaucrat – You know Mr. Rearden times have changed. We all have to be flexible. You can’t be tied down by rigid principles.

Rearden – Try pouring a ton of steel without rigid principles.

I KNOW I KNOW, THIS CAN’T HAPPEN HERE!

WHO IS JOHN GALT?

 

Related Article – Why Do People Think The Government Is The Economy? at austrianaddict.com.

Categories: Government and Politics
Tags: , , ,

Comments: Be the first to comment

Socialism Sounds Great

June 1, 2016

The definition of socialism is, government ownership of the means of production. Many countries we call socialist today, don’t actually own the means of production, they just encumber the private owners of the means of production with rules, regulations, and taxes to the point that the businesses have limited freedom to make decisions concerning their business. Government is the silent partner with businesses today. Silent from the stand point of what the public sees, but boisterous from the businesses point of view. “Socialism” today is nothing more than a modern day version of fascism, corporatism, mercantilism, or simply interventionism.

Thomas Sowell

SOCIALISM FOR THE UNINFORMED

In this article, Socialism For The Uninformed (read here), Thomas Sowell gives his insight into, not only what modern-day socialism is, but where it leads. Here are some excerpts from the article.

“Socialism sounds great. It has always sounded great. And it will probably always continue to sound great. It is only when you go beyond rhetoric, and start looking at hard facts, that socialism turns out to be a big disappointment, if not a disaster.”“While throngs of young people are cheering loudly for avowed socialist Bernie Sanders, socialism has turned oil-rich Venezuela into a place where there are shortages of everything from toilet paper to beer, where electricity keeps shutting down, and where there are long lines of people hoping to get food, people complaining that they cannot feed their families.”

“With national income going down, and prices going up under triple-digit inflation in Venezuela, these complaints are by no means frivolous. But it is doubtful if the young people cheering for Bernie Sanders have even heard of such things, whether in Venezuela or in other countries around the world that have turned their economies over to politicians and bureaucrats to run.”

“The anti-capitalist policies in Venezuela have worked so well that the number of companies in Venezuela is now a fraction of what it once was. That should certainly reduce capitalist “exploitation,” shouldn’t it?”

“But people who attribute income inequality to capitalists exploiting workers, as Karl Marx claimed, never seem to get around to testing that belief against facts — such as the fact that none of the Marxist regimes around the world has ever had as high a standard of living for working people as there is in many capitalist countries.”

“Facts are seldom allowed to contaminate the beautiful vision of the left. What matters to the true believers are the ringing slogans, endlessly repeated.”

“…..But the very idea of subjecting their pet notions to the test of hard facts will probably not even occur to those who are cheering for socialism and for other bright ideas of the political left.”
“The great promise of socialism is something for nothing. It is one of the signs of today’s dumbed-down education that so many college students seem to think that the cost of their education should — and will — be paid by raising taxes on “the rich.”

“Here again, just a little check of the facts would reveal that higher tax rates on upper-income earners do not automatically translate into more tax revenue coming in to the government. Often high tax rates have led to less revenue than lower tax rates.”

“In a globalized economy, high tax rates may just lead investors to invest in other countries with lower tax rates. That means that jobs created by those investments will be overseas.”

“None of this is rocket science. But you do have to stop and think — and that is what too many of our schools and colleges are failing to teach their students to do.”

 

 THE LEFT’S SUPPORT OF STATE OVER PROSPERITY
-In this article, Chili, Venezuela, And The Left’s Support Of State Over Prosperity (read here), Dan Mitchell shows the difference between Chili and Venezuela over the last 40 years. Look at the data in the charts from this article. It shows that when a government allows more economic freedom than currently exists, production increases. Since production is the creation of wealth, the country becomes wealthier. When a government takes economic freedom away where it has existed in the past, production decreases. Lower production leads to less wealth creation and ultimately a poorer country. Chili and Venezuela are countries going in very different directions.
 -Here are some excerpts from the article.
 -“Chile’s success starts in the nid-1970’s when Chile’s military government abandoned socialism and started to implement economic reforms. In 2013 Chile was the world’s 10th freest economy. Venezuela, in the meantime, declined from being the world’s 10th freest economy in 1975 to being the world’s least free economy in 2013.”
 -“Chile is not a perfect role model, to be sure, because of an unsavory period of military rule. But the good news, is that economic liberty has led to political liberty. whereas the opposite has happened in Venezuela.”
 -“…..as the people of Chile grew richer, they started demanding more say in the running of their country. Starting in the late 1980’s the military gradually and peacefully handed power over to democratically elected representatives. In Venezuela the opposite has happened. As the failure of socialism  became more apparent, the government had to resort to ever more repressive measures in order to keep itself in power.”
 -“Yes, it’s very desirable for all citizens to benefit from economic growth. But if you look at the charts in the article, it’s abundantly clear which nation is producing better outcomes from average citizens.
this is fundamental flaw of Statists. By fixating on redistribution and equality, this leads them to policies that re-slice a shrinking economic pie.“
 Related Article – Why Socialism Won’t Work? Human Nature, at austrianaddict.com.

Related Article – Milton Friedman – Socialism Is Force, at austrianaddict.com.

 Related Article – America’s Socialist Origins, by Prager University, at austrianaddict.com.
 Related Article – Capitalism vs. Crony Capitalism, at austrianaddict.com.

Categories: Econ. 101, Government and Politics
Tags: , , , , , ,

Comments: Be the first to comment

Thomas Sowell: Commencement Season

May 25, 2016

As only he can do, Thomas Sowell breaks down the purposes of most commencement speeches in this article titled, Commencement Season (click here). Here are some excerpts from the article.

“Two themes seem to dominate Commencement speeches. One is shameless self-advertising by people in government, or in related organizations supported by the taxpayers of donors, saying how nobler it is to be in “public service” than working in business or other “selfish activities”. In other words, the message is that it is morally superior to be in organizations consuming output produced by others than to be in organizations which produce the output. Moreover, being morally one-up is where it’s at.”

“The second theme of many Commencement speakers, besides flattering themselves that they are in morally superior careers, is to flatter the graduates that they are now equipped to go out into the world as “leaders” who can prescribe how other people should live. In other words, young people, who in most cases have never had either the sobering responsibility and experience of being self-supporting adults, are to tell other people – who have had that responsibility and that experience for years – how they should live their lives.”

“In so far as the graduates go into “public service” in government…..They are to help order other people around.”

“….what commencement speakers are suggesting is that inexperienced young graduates are to prescribe, or help dictate, to vast numbers of other people who have the real world experience that the graduates themselves lack.”

“To the extent that such graduates remain in government – “public service” – they can progress….. never acquiring the experience of being on the receiving end of their prescriptions or dictates. That can mean a lifetime of people with ignorance presuming to prescribe to people with personal knowledge.”

Does this sound like President Obama! (my comment)

“However well-educated the students might be in particular narrow fields – and, in too many cases, they have not gotten even that – what the graduates might have, at best, is a foundation for acquiring the real world experience necessary to complete their education and fulfill the ancient admonition, “With all you getting, get understanding.”

“Presumption is not understanding. It is the antithesis of understanding.”

“It was my good fortune not to have gone to college until I was several years older than most people. At an age when too many young people have been told too often how brilliant and exceptional they are – presumably to promote “self-esteem” – I was working at unskilled labor jobs and struggling to buy food and pay my room rent.”

“I learned the hard way that the good grades I had earned before dropping out of school were of no use to me in my low-level jobs. No one told me how brilliant I was. They were too busy correcting my mistakes.”

“It was painfully obvious that adults around me understood much more about their work – and about life. This taught me inescapable lessons and respect for people who had no academic pretensions but a lot of common sense.”

“It would take a lot more than lofty Commencement speeches to undo those lessons. We all have windfall gains and windfall losses. But, all in all, I feel lucky compared to those graduates who are so vulnerable to slick Commencement speakers.”

CONSLUSION

Dr. Sowell has written many books (to see list click here) about the “towering presumptions” of the anointed in government. Here is a quote by Dr. Sowell that sums up what he thinks about the anointed:

“People who are very aware that they have more knowledge then the average person are often very unaware that they do not have one tenth of the knowledge of all of the average persons put together. In this situation, for the intelligentsia to impose their notions on ordinary people, is essentially to impose ignorance on knowledge.”

Here is a shorter summation by Dr. Sowell:

“Credentialed ignorance is still ignorance”

 

Related Article –George Will Outlines What Should Be In Every Commencement Speech, at austrianaddict.com.

Related Article – Michelle Obama vs. Thomas Sowell On The Politics Of Race, at austrianaddict.com.

Related Article – Best Commencement Speech Ever, Adm. McCraven Gets My Vote, at austrianaddict.com.

 

 

 

 

Categories: Government and Politics, Miscellaneous
Tags: , , ,

Comments: Be the first to comment

Education System Is A Monopoly Of The Political Left

May 18, 2016

Thomas Sowell

In this recent article by Thomas Sowell titled, Dry Rot In Academia (click here), he makes this statement: “Today one can literally go from kindergarten to becoming a graduate student seeking a PH.D., without ever hearing a vision of the world that conflicts with the vision of the left.”

I’ve coached in high school for decades. My players, most of whom end up just being students in college, tell me about the professors they have. The conversation usually starts something like this, “coach you won’t believe the professor I have for ……” The evidence is overwhelming that academia is biased toward big government central planning. These elites either don’t understand how free markets work, or don’t trust individuals to make their own decisions in a free market.

Here are some excerpts from the article.

“Conservative critics who object on grounds that the views of the left are wrong miss the point. Regardless of whose views become a monopoly, education suffers…. As a young Marxists in college during the 1950’s heyday of the anti-Communist crusade led by Senator Joseph McCarthy, I had more freedom to express my views in class, without fear of retaliation, than conservative students have on many campuses today.”

“Even liberal professors can be adversely affected by the narrow groupthink that prevails. Without an opposition to keep them on their toes, they can develop sloppy habits to dismissing or even demonizing differing viewpoints, instead of practicing and teaching their students how to come to grips with opposing beliefs.”

“There are many examples of the intellectual and moral dry rot on the many campuses across the country where groupthink of the left substitutes for education.”

 

George Will

In this article by George Will titled, Due Process Is Still Being Kicked Off Campus (click here), he states this: “Academia’s descent into perpetual hysteria and incipient tyranny is partly fueled by the fiction that 1 in 5 college students is sexually assaulted and that campuses require minute federal supervision to cure this. Encouraged by the government’s misuse of discredited social science…colleges and universities are implementing unconstitutional procedures mandated by the government.”

These colleges are violating the fourth and fifth amendment rights of students who have had accusations made against them. First of all administrators don’t have enough knowledge to do the job that the legal system is supposed to do. Colleges are going to get their pants sued off for these violations. But it won’t make the people whole whose lives have been ruined.

“The 2006 Duke lacrosse rape case fit the narrative about campuses permeated by a “rape culture.” Except there was no rape. In 2014, the University of Virginia was convulsed by a magazine’s lurid report of a rape that buttressed the narrative that fraternities foment the sexual predation supposedly pandemic in “male supremacist” America. Except there was no rape. Now, Colorado State University at Pueblo has punished the supposed rapist of a woman who says she was not raped.”

“Title IX of the Education Amendments enacted in 1972 merely says no person at an institution receiving federal funds shall be subjected to discrimination on the basis of sex. From this the government has concocted a right to micromanage schools’ disciplinary procedures, mandating obvious violations of due process.”

“In 2011, the Education Department’s civil rights office sent “dear colleague” letters to schools directing them to convict accused persons on a mere “preponderance” of evidence rather than “clear and convincing” evidence. Schools were instructed to not allow accused students to cross-examine their accusers, but to allow accusers to appeal not-guilty verdicts, a form of double jeopardy.”

“Although a “dear colleague” letter is supposedly a mere “guidance document,” it employs the word “must” in effectively mandating policies…..these letters shred constitutional guarantees…..academic administrators nowadays are frequently supine when challenged – it would risk a costly investigation and the potential loss of the 11 percent of their budget that comes from Washington.”

WORDS OF WISDOM

My friend, who had two kids graduate from college tells everyone; “College is the most dangerous place you can send your kids. Not because of any risk of violence. The risk is when they come back, you will not know who they are, unless you’ve constantly communicated with them.”

Related Article – Georg Will Outlines What Should Be In Every Commencement Speech, at austrianaddict.com.

Related Article – Best Commencement Speech Ever? Adm.McCraven Gets My Vote, at austrianaddict.com.

Related Article – Michelle Obama vs. Thomas Sowell On The Politics Of Race, at austrianaddict.com.

Categories: Government and Politics, Miscellaneous
Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Comments: Be the first to comment

Bias In The Unbiased Mainstream Media

May 12, 2016

I was talking to my friend, an admitted liberal (not the classic liberal, but the modern-day liberal), about main stream media bias. He didn’t think there was media bias. When I told him that over 80% of journalists vote for democrats, he still didn’t think that made a difference in their reporting. I asked him; if 80 plus percent of journalists thought like me, would the news be reported differently? He said yes it would be reported differently. I said I guess in his unbiased opinion, only liberal journalists can be unbiased observers.

Human beings have a bias toward their particular world view. Since journalists are human beings, they are biased. There is nothing wrong with admitting it. Full disclosure of a journalists world view should be mandatory. It would help people handicap the stories they read from biased journalists.

Most of the bias is not just what they write. A bigger part of a journalists bias is what he leaves out of a story, or what story he decides not to report. Sins of commission and omission so to speak.

Here are a few recent articles that show blatant journalistic malpractice. Of course I’m only putting in the stories that favor my view that journalists are biased.

I pull back the curtain, you decide what to think about what you see.

 

–Ben Rhodes Reveals How Obama Duped America On Dangerous Iran Deal, by David Reaboi, at thefederalist.com. Even this headline missed the main point of the story. It should read “…How Obama Duped A Complicit American Media Into Carrying The Water On Iran Deal”. Politicians trying to push their narrative through the press isn’t anything new. Unfortunately the narrative gets no scrutiny when a Democrat is doing the spinning as compared to a Republican. I’m not here to defend Republicans. All I wish is that Journalists would treat all politicians like they treat Republicans. I just want a level playing field (Did I just say that. Please shoot me.) I want every politician and bureaucrat to be treated as if they are lying every time they open their mouths.

–Former Facebook Workers:We Routinely Suppress Conservative News, at tammybruce.com. Facebook workers, in the “trending” news section, are dictating what news items 167 million Facebook users in The U.S. have access to at any given moment. I thought this listing of news stories was generated by an unbiased algorithm?

Sheriff Rips Media For Concocting A Racial Narrative Into Crime Report, at lawnewz.com. Here is a sin of omission. A 17-year-old black male is arrested for sexting. The media story makes it seem like there was racial overtones in his arrest. CBS affiliate KSLA in Shreveport failed to mention that a 16-year-old white female was  arrested, pertaining to the same case, before the black male. Sheriff Julian Whittington held a press conference and called KSLA on the carpet for their bias. In my opinion, this story fit the world view of the journalists. It confirmed their bias, and they went with it.

This kind of action by journalists has happened too many times in the past to simply be considered an isolated mistake and swept under the rug. There is a pattern here. Do you remember the George Bush National Guard Story, The Duke Lacrosse Case, Trevon Martin, The Cambridge Police Acting Stupidly, Hands Up Don’t Shoot, The UVA Rape Case, just to name a few off the top of my head. A wise man once said “trust but verify”.  I say verify and remain skeptical.

 

Related Article – The Media Slowly Being Dragged Into Covering Abortion Doctor Kermit Gosnell’s Murder Trial, at austrianaddict.com.

 

 

Categories: Government and Politics, Miscellaneous
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Comments: Be the first to comment

Government: Is It Ever Big Enough? by Prager University

April 26, 2016

Will Government ever stop its intrusion into our lives?

How can the growth of Government be stopped?

Here some excerpts from the video.

“A government powerful enough to give you everything you want, will also necessarily be powerful enough to take away everything you have. Including your freedom. Government power must be limited because the alternative is unlimited Government.”

(Modern day) “Liberals believe that if there is a societal problem they believe the best solution is a new Government program. If it fails to achieve its goal, which it invariably does, the solution is a bigger Government program – More – and when does more become enough? The honest answer is NEVER“.

SHACKLE  THE GOVERNMENT TO SOUND MONEY

The Constitution was supposed to control the size of government. Since “the Constitution is no threat to our current form of government,” as Joseph Sobran has said, the only way to shrink Government is to get back to sound money. As long as Government can fund itself via The Fed’s electronically printed counterfeit money, there isn’t much that can be done. Cutting the size and scope of government is the real solution to the problem, but we all know that shrinking government is almost impossible because of our political process. No matter who gets in control of congress and/or the presidency, government keeps growing.  In this article by Paul-Martin Foss titled, Sound Money And Fiscal Policy (read here at mises.org), he talks about the relationship between the growth of government and a central banks ability to print money. Here are some excerpts from the article.

“Sound money….. is the most important check on government spending. If money is sound, meaning that the government cannot inflate the money supply at will, then government spending will be limited. Remember that governments can fund their operations through three methods: 1.) Taxation; 2.) Bonds, or borrowing; 3.) Inflation.”

“Taxation is self-limiting because at higher tax rates there will be massive tax avoidance and tax revenues will fall, or the government might be voted out or overthrown if people are angry enough. Bonds have to be repaid, which comes from future taxation, so we are back to the self-limiting aspect of tax funding. Bonds also require interest payments, and if a government isn’t creditworthy then the interest payments may make borrowing money prohibitively expensive.”

“This leads us to the third and preferred method, inflation. By creating more money, the government decreases the value of each monetary unit. But it normally does so in a slow enough manner as to be barely perceptible to the average person. And where does this newly-created money go? Why, to the government’s coffers, of course. There it gets spent on wars, welfare, and other boondoggles. In the meantime, the newly-created money causes the prices of goods to increase, driving up the cost of living for the average person. In this way, inflation is a stealth tax. Its effects are just as insidious as direct taxation in that it takes money from citizens and deposits it into government coffers, but it does so in such an imperceptible way that very few people realize that they are being fleeced. That allows governments to spend far more money than they otherwise would be able to by relying on taxes and borrowing alone, which is why governments prefer it.”

Sound money and the Fed are subjects not many people had heard about, let alone understood, until Ron Paul shed light on them during his run for president. More people have to understand the concept of sound money, on the one hand, and how the Federal Reserve produces counterfeit fiat money on the other, if there is any chance of reigning in Leviathan.

 

Categories: Government and Politics
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Comments: 2 Comments

Rights Versus Wishes – Walter E. Williams

April 20, 2016

In this article titled Rights Versus Wishes, the great Walter E. Williams explains the difference between rights, defined historically, and rights, defined by the political left. Many many people have told me they think healthcare is a right. When I say healthcare is not a right, they are shocked. I go on to explain what I mean by “a right”. I tell them healthcare is not a right, it is an economic good that is produced by individuals in the market. It is the property of the individual who produced it, and you have no “right” to that individuals property. Unless they give it to you, out of goodness of their heart, or you mutually agree on a fee for service, the only way you can acquire it is by theft.

The difficulty in talking with people about issues starts when a particular word or phrase means something different to both parties. If there is no agreed upon meaning of words, we talk past each other and nothing gets accomplished. When I talk to people, I’ll ask them what does (ie) “a right” mean to you in order to find a starting point to have a conversation. You can’t talk logically to a person unless you have a starting point understood by both parties.

EXCERPTS FROM THE ARTICLE

“In the standard historical usage of the term, a “right” is something that exists simultaneously among people. As such, a right imposes no obligation on another. For example, the right to free speech is something we all possess. My right to free speech imposes no obligation upon another except that of noninterference. Similarly, I have a right to travel freely. Again, that right imposes no obligation upon another except that of noninterference.”

“Contrast those rights to free speech and travel with the supposed rights of medical care and decent housing. Those supposed rights do impose obligations upon others…..If one does not have money to pay for a medical service or decent housing and the government provides it, where do you think the government gets the money?”

“…Congress does not have any resources of its own, the only way for Congress to give one American something is to first take it from some other American. In other words, if one person has a right to something he did not earn, it requires another person’s not having a right to something he did earn.”

“…this bogus right to free speech and travel imposes obligations on others to supply me with an auditorium, microphone and audience. My right to travel freely would require that others provide me with resources to purchase plane tickets and hotel accommodations. If I were to demand others sacrifice so I can exercise my free speech and travel rights….most Americans would say, “Williams, yes, you have rights to free speech and traveling freely, but I’m not obligated to pay for them!”

“....I do not have a right to take one person’s earnings to give to another. Because I have no such right, I cannot delegate it to government. If I did take your earnings to provide medical services for another, it would rightfully be described and condemned as an act of theft. When government does the same, it’s still theft, albeit legalized theft.”

“If you’re a Christian or a Jew, you should be against these so-called rights. When God gave Moses the eighth commandment — “Thou shalt not steal” — I am sure that he did not mean “thou shalt not steal unless there is a majority vote in Congress.” The bottom line is medical care, housing and decent jobs are not rights at all, at least not in a free society; they are wishes. As such, I would agree with most Americans — because I, too, wish that everyone had good medical care, decent housing and a good job.”

Related Article – The Economics of Healthcare vs The Right To Healthcare, at austrianaddict.com.

Related Article – The Reality Of Obamacare, Socialism In Installments, at austrianaddict.com.

 

Categories: Government and Politics
Tags: , , ,

Comments: Be the first to comment

What Are Your Options When Both Political Parties Are Based On Socialist Ideals

April 19, 2016

This video, by LibertyPen, is an appearance Margaret Thatcher made on Firing Line in 1977, which was two years before she became Prime Minister of Great Britain. She was talking about ‘Capitalism and a Free Society’. The whole video is great but the part that really jumped out at me starts at 4:27. Mrs. Thatcher talks about the difference between American politics and British politics. Below is the money quote from the video. Oh how times have changed.

“I think in many ways American politics are very different because you have two parties based on a free society, or free enterprise society and economic freedom. We have one party based on that, one main party, and another one based on socialism.”

Mrs. Thatcher’s statement about American politics couldn’t be uttered in 2016. Today we can safely say the Democratic parties ideals are in harmony, if not goose step, with socialistic ideals. And since around 2000, the Republican party has and is basing its actions on socialistic ideals, even though its platform doesn’t reflect its new direction. The inside the Washington beltway Republican establishment talks a good game when it comes to smaller government but its actions don’t back up its rhetoric. If what a person values is revealed by his actions, then we can safely say that both parties value ideals that are based on socialistic thinking.

Over the last seven years President Obama has increased the size and scope of Government with no opposition, and in some cases help, from the “small Government” Republican party. When both parties increase the power of Government, what are the options for people who understand individual liberty, the rule of law and free markets?

Since it is hopeless to change the Democrat party, your options are, either start a third-party, or take over the Republican party and purge it of the big government established leaders like Boehner, McConnell, McCain, Graham, Cantor et al. Since election cycles are every two years, this will take a long time. I think the third-party option has a higher cost in terms of time and credibility. Incrementally taking over the Republican party is the best option, and the seeds of this take over have already taken root around the country. How important is this job? This quote from F.A. Hayek spells it out.

F. A. Hayek: “The battle for freedom must be won over and over again. The socialists of all parties must be persuaded or defeated if they and we are to remain free men.”

Where would we be today if the insurgency against big government hadn’t started in 2009 with the tea party and liberty groups? The gains by Republicans at the State and local levels (click here Republican Stranglehold On State Government) is a direct result of the grass-roots insurgency. The insurgency is led by people who believe in such radical ideas as individual liberty, free markets, and constitutional limits on government. It will take time for this limited government insurgency to trickle up to the Federal level. Senators Cruz, Lee, and Paul, along with the forty or so members of the freedom caucus that forced Boehner out of the House speakers position were born out of this bottom up change.

Bottom up change has a better foundation than top down change. Most peoples world view is based on the shifting sands of emotion not logic. Changing a persons vision of the world is difficult, which is why it happens at the individual level. It is personal. It starts and ends one conversation at a time, one person at a time, and it isn’t easy.

Just remember, as you start to walk through a tunnel, it gets darker and darker with every step. Just keep in mind that when it’s darkest, you are half way to your destination. Don’t give up. Keep moving forward, because you don’t realize how far you’ve traveled when you’re in the dark middle of the journey. Take some motivation from this quote by Ludwig vonMises.

Ludwig von Mises: “The history of mankind is the history of ideas. For it is ideas, theories and doctrines that guide human action, determine the ultimate ends men aim at, and the choice of the means employed for the attainment of these ends. The sensational events which stir the emotions and catch the interest of superficial observers are merely the consummation of ideological changes. There are no such things in rather misleading terms, a “turning point in history” is the coming on the scene of forces which were already for a long time at work behind the scene. New ideologies, which had already long since superseded the old ones, throw off their last veil and even the dullest people become aware of the changes which they did not notice before.“

Categories: Government and Politics
Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Comments: Be the first to comment

Menos Marx – Mias Mises (Less Marx – More Mises)

March 28, 2016

The global economic slowdown provides an opportunity to spread the ideas of Austrian economics and individual liberty. People know something is wrong but they don’t know the cause. Government intervention by politicians and bureaucrats, along with our central bankers policy of money printing and zero interest rates is what caused these economic distortions.

It is easy for political leaders to sell the belief that the solutions come from bureaucratic central planners. People can see concrete things built from the plans of engineers and architects, so it makes sense in our minds that plans can bring about the ends sought by the planners.

Getting people to understand that order can be created spontaneously when individuals pursue their own plans and cooperate voluntarily with each other in what we call a free market, is much more difficult because of its abstract nature. The concepts of money and interest rates aren’t easy to wrap your head around. When they are manipulated by central banks, it’s even harder to grasp.

Education about economic principles has to come from the bottom up (0ne on one), because we know the truth can’t come form politicians and bureaucrats.

In this article, Hope In Brazil As Millions March Against Rouseff, by Tho Bishop, at mises.org, we see growth of bottom up change. Here are some excerpts from the article: “Due to the work of Helio Beltrao and Mises Brasil, Ludwig von Mises and Austrian economics have made unprecedented gains within the country. As I noted last year, Mises is the most searched economist in all of Brazil. Meanwhile the media was forced to take notice as signs reading Menos Marx, Mais Mises (Less Marx, More Mises) were seen being waved during an earlier round of anti-Rousseff (President Dilma Rousseff) protests.”

“Ludwig von Mises: “In the long run even the most despotic governments with all their brutality and cruelty are no match for ideas. Eventually the ideology that has won the support of the majority will prevail and cut the ground from under the tyrant’s feet.”

MORE HOPE FOR LATIN AMERICA?

Here is a video from libertypenblog.blogspot.com. John Stossel talks to Gloria Alvarez who is a free market activist in Latin America. Here are quotes from the video:

Gloria Alvarez: “..In Latin America we still don’t know how economics works. We have seen Cuba fail and it should be enough to see Cuba failing…….and since we don’t know history because Latin Americans are oblivious to what happened in the Soviet Union, in China…..”

Stossel asks, “How did you learn this”

Gloria Alvarez: “….I studied in a libertarian university…UFM….It has von Mises library…”

 

Miss Alvarez, Latin Americans aren’t alone in their ignorance of history or how economics works. We Americans have become blissfully ignorant. And we have no excuses because we have a culture of liberty and free markets. How much farther down the Road to Serfdom do we have to travel before we wake up?

Click here to see video Gloria Alvarez speak at CPAC.

Related Article – People Want A President Who Will “Get Something Done“, at austrianaddict.com.

Related Article – Private Property vs. Collective Ownership: One Deals With Scarcity Better Than The Other, at austrianaddict.com.

 

 

Categories: Econ. 101, Government and Politics
Tags: , , , , , , ,

Comments: Be the first to comment

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »