Must Reads For The Week 9/15/18

Posted September 17, 2018 by austrianaddict
Categories: Must Reads For The Week
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The Intellectual Poverty Of The New Socialists, by Richard A. Epstein, at hoover.org. This is a great article. Here are some excerpts: “The New Socialists try of course to distance themselves from the glaring failures of the Old Socialists, who suffered from two incurable vices. First, they ran the economies of such places as Cuba, Venezuela, the Soviet Union, and virtually all of Eastern Europe into the ground. Second, they turned these states into one-party dictatorships governed by police brutality, forced imprisonment for political offenses, and other human rights abuses. When viewing the proposals of the New Socialists, one looks for any kind of explanation for how their proposals for the radical expansion of government control over the economy aimed at mitigating income inequality will protect both personal liberty and economic well-being.”

“The New Socialists in the United States live in a world of intellectual self-denial. They think that they can control the distribution of all the good things in life without undermining the economic and social institutions needed for the creation of that wealth in the first place. The words “competition,” “scarcity,” and “free entry” do not make it into their constricted lexicon, and their absence explains why they botch the analytical issues concerning “freedom” thoroughly…… ignoring the simple truth that scarcity means that all of us cannot have all that we want all the time……. Sadly, some individuals must grovel before their bosses to keep their jobs. But in a competitive economy, free entry allows many more individuals to quit their jobs for better opportunities, or even to be recruited away by another employer.”

“Competition leaves people with choices. But under the New Socialism, people will really discover what it means to be unfree when they only have this choice: work for the state and spend your falling wages on government-supplied goods—or starve. And to whom does the unhappy citizen turn when there is only one healthcare provider, one landlord, and one education system?”

“There is a deep intellectual confusion and moral emptiness in New Socialism. On the one hand, it denies the major advances in longevity and human flourishing that have been made in recent years by the worldwide spread of market institutions…… And New Socialism attributes to market institutions the failures that fall squarely on the regulatory programs of traditional liberals—e.g. minimum wages, rent control—that hamper economic growth and personal freedom. The New Socialism has no more chance of success than the Old Socialism. You may as well try to cure diabetes by administering extra-large doses of government-subsidized sugar.”

Education Is Not A Right, by Jose Nino, at mises.org. Education is an economic good not a right. It has to be produced by someone before it can be consumed. Economic goods are not rights. The second amendment guarantees your right to keep and bear arms from being infringed by Government. It doesn’t force someone to provide a gun for you. And it doesn’t force you to purchase a gun. Education being a right would mean that the Government couldn’t infringe on your decision to either get or not get an education. Nothing more.

Private schools and home schooling are examples of an economic good (education) being provided in the market and not by a state-run education monopoly. With today’s technology, think about the possibilities of educating people using fewer scarce resources. Scarce resources once used to build and maintain high school campuses, to maintain the education bureaucracy and to transport students to and from school could be reallocated to a more productive economic activity. The total cost of our modern “free” K-12 education system is much higher than what the cost would be if education was provided through the market process. But since our education system is a mammoth bureaucracy. What is the chance of it giving up its monopoly position? But just as fracking took down the OPEC monopoly when the price of oil rose to $140 a barrel, so to technology and entrepreneurship can make a huge dent into the State education monopoly as the price becomes more burdensome.

Victor Davis Hanson’s Analysis of ‘Trump’ vs. ‘The Resistance’

The Circus Of Resistance, by Victor Davis Hanson, at americangreatness.com. Here is an excerpt from the article: “Certainly, there are principles behind Trump’s moves, but they are not always those of the Washington establishment, whose agendas the media reflects. Trump’s initiatives are often long overdue moves that would never have happened in either a “sober and judicious” Democratic or Republican administration, however much they might have been polled and discussed.”

“Trump has mostly one principle: he was elected to pursue a conservative populist agenda without too much worry what the Washington establishment said or did, whose record on the economic front since 2008 and in foreign policy was not especially stellar. In that sense, he is far more principled in carrying out his promises than many past presidents whose stump speeches on taxes, illegal immigration, trade, educational reform and a host of other issues were either never reified or flat-out broken.”

“So far, for all the crudity and Twitter antics, we have not had a “read my lips” or “you can keep your doctor” moment in the sense of a deliberate effort to break a campaign promise.”

Is Trump Chaos An Impeachable Offense, by Victor Davis Hanson, at nationalreview.com. Excerpt from the article: “Trump is destabilizing the status quo, as he promised to do. The keepers of the status quo cry foul.”

“…for the D.C. political-media status quo it was more of a problem to tell the truth, address reality, and make the necessary difficult adjustments than to shrug, continue on, and maintain the façade of normality. Then a president came along with no prior investment in the economic and foreign-policy establishment, and apparently no desire to create any, or to worry much about his own ignorance of past conventional wisdom. And so in breakneck speed he began cancelling deals, renegotiating asymmetrical agreements, and questioning protocols of decades past — and he did so without adopting the comportment of past presidents and the advice of either the administrative state or the Washington political-media establishment. The ensuing reaction was that the Trump medicine was said to be worse than the preexisting disease, although no one could really explain why that was so.”

“So we are left only with “Trump did it,” and therefore he should be impeached, declared insane, sued, forced to resign, or face an intervention from “loyal” patriot aides because of his impulsiveness and lack of “first principles” that had given us the above status quo. Even the recent anonymous New York Times op-ed author offered no real explanations of what exactly Trump has done wrong that would warrant anti-democratic removal other than to concede that Trump has done things that most felt were long overdue. And he made changes in a rude and uncouth manner that the establishment did not like — just as a nude emperor in invisible clothes does not like it when an outsider observes that he is naked.“

THE RESISTANCE

Presented with no comment!

Pompeo Tears Into John Kerry Over Iran Meetings: “Unheard Of” Level Of Undermining White House, at zerohedge.com.

“It Was All A Set-Up” – Pentagon Whistleblower Exposes Russia Probe Reality, at zerohedge.com.

New Strzok-Page Texts Discuss FBI “Media Leak Strategy” Within Hours Of Washington Post Bombshell, at zerohedge.com.

TO WHOM DO YOU RELATE?

“Panic And Dismay”: Leaked Video Reveals Distraugh Google Execs Grappling With Hillary Clinton’s Loss, at zerohedge.com. This is priceless. The article tells you where to go in the video to see the highlights. But go to 16:45 and watch as a female exec suggests everyone get a hug. When they show the audience. Look at all the people wearing beanies with propellers on them. Like The Beany and Cecil cartoon. Seriously!

Life, Liberty & Levin: Katie Pavlich and Candace Owens, at Reasonable Insanity.

Now listen to Miss Pavlich and Miss Owens. Compare this to what you saw and heard on the Google video?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFXVF_V_0bc

 

Twitter Suspends Benghazi Hero After He Excoriates Obama, at zerohedge.com. In a speech at U of Illinois, Obama said: “The republican party……..has embraced wild conspiracy theories like those surrounding Benghazi…..”

In response to Obama’s statement. Kris Paronto, who was in the middle of the fight in Benghazi, tweeted,“Benghazi is a conspiracy @BarackObama?! How bout we do this, let’s put your cowardly ass on the top of a roof with 6 of your buddies & shot rpg’s & Ak47’s at you while terrorists lob 81 mm mortars killing 2 of your buddies all the while waiting for US support that you never sent ! #scum.”

Here is the excerpt that sparked the response. Watch this video with the understanding that this is “acting Presidential”. The cadence. The tone. The pauses. The posture. The body movements. The words.

“Acting Presidential” is just one part of the establishment status quo that people voted against in 2016. “Acting presidential” is part of the propaganda process.

I’ll take Trump “acting non-presidential” every time.

SATIRICAL HEADLINES

Google Rep Issues Heartfelt Apology for Anti-Conservative Bias While Wearing ‘Kill All Republicans’ T-Shirt, at babylonbee.com.

He’s Still Got It! Funnyman Jim Carrey Jokes Americans Should ‘Say Yes To Socialism’, at babylonbee.com. What! He is serious?

Man Identifies As Woman, Immediately Receives 23% Pay Cut, at babylonbee.com.

Gay Man Bravely Comes Out As Fan Of Chick-Fil-A, at babylonbee.com.

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Must Reads For The Week 9/8/18

Posted September 11, 2018 by austrianaddict
Categories: Must Reads For The Week
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

NYT Flashback: “If Donald Trump Targets Journalists, Thank Obama”, at zerohedge.com. Just as Obama set the stage for the executive actions by the next President. He also set a precedent for how to treat the press. The press didn’t worry about the use of executive power by Obama because they shared his world view. The press doesn’t like Trumps use of executive power because his world view doesn’t align with theirs. Here is an example of DOJ abuse of power under Obama.  Sharyl Attkisson computer hacked by DOJ . 

An Uber-Like Service Might Help escape Britain’s Socialist Health System, by George Pickering, at mises.org. The long wait times by patients in the British government healthcare system has produced a situation that allows new technologies to be used to see doctors sooner. In a socialist economic system, waiting lines are how scarce resources are rationed. But the passage of time allowed something new to come into existence that shortens the waiting (rationing) lines.

Criminalizing Childhood: School Safety Measures Aren’t Making Students Any Safer, at zerohedge.com. Excerpt from the article: “From the moment a child enters public schools to the moment he or she graduates, they will be exposed to a steady diet of draconian zero tolerance policies that criminalize childish behavior, overreaching anti-bullying statutes that criminalize speech, school resource officers (police) tasked with disciplining and/or arresting so-called “disorderly” students, standardized testing that emphasizes rote answers over critical thinking, politically correct mindsets that teach young people to censor themselves and those around them, and extensive biometric and surveillance systems that, coupled with the rest, acclimate young people to a world in which they have no freedom of thought, speech or movement.”

Camile Paglia On The Indispensability Of Men, Who Do The Dangerous, Dirty Work That Makes Our Economy Possible, by Mark J. Perry, at carpediemblog. Here is an excerpt from Camile Paglia’s article titled: “It’s a Man’s World, and It Always Will Be” (subtitled: The modern economy is a male epic, in which women have found a productive role — but women were not its author):”

“Men are absolutely indispensable right now, invisible as it is to most feminists, who seem blind to the infrastructure that makes their own work lives possible. It is overwhelmingly men who do the dirty, dangerous work………Every day along the Delaware River in Philadelphia, one can watch the passage of vast oil tankers and towering cargo ships arriving from all over the world. These stately colossi are loaded, steered and off-loaded by men. The modern economy, with its vast production and distribution network, is a male epic, in which women have found a productive role – but women were not its author. Surely, modern women are strong enough now to give credit where credit is due!”

Milking Taxpayers, by Dan Mitchell, at danieljmitchell.wordpress.com. Consumers and taxpayers are the ones who pay the cost of Government subsidies for the dairy industry.

Richard Epstein On The Intellectual Poverty And Intellectual Self-Denial Of The ‘New Socialists’ by Mark J. Perry, at carpediemblog. Excerpt from the article by Richard Epstein: “The New Socialists try of course to distance themselves from the glaring failures of the Old Socialists, who suffered from two incurable vices. First, they ran the economies of such places as Cuba, Venezuela, the Soviet Union, and virtually all of Eastern Europe into the ground. Second they turned these states into one-party dictatorships governed by police brutality, forced imprisonment for political offenses, and other human rights abuses………The New Socialists in the United States live in a world of intellectual self-denial. They think that they can control the distribution of all the good things in life without undermining the economic and social institutions needed for the creation of that wealth in the first place.”

Stealing By Government, by Dan Mitchell, at danieljmitchell.wordpress.com. Civil asset forfeiture is theft of private property by the state without due process.

FEDERAL RESERVE MISCHIEF

Central Banks Enrich A Select Few At The Expense Of Many, by Thorsten Polleit, at mises.org. Central Banks were created for the purpose of growing Government. Governments can only tax so much out of the private economy before people revolt. Printing money is a stealthier way for governments to procure funds for expansion.

The Fed’s QE Unwind Hits $250 Billion, at zerohedge.com. This slow unwind is hiding the theft that took place by the previous inflation of the money supply.

Can Deflation Fix The Damage Done By Inflation?, by Frank Shostak, at mises.org. This is a must read of the must reads. When the Fed lowers interest rates, below what they would be in a free market, and increases the money supply (counterfeits money), it starts the economy down the road of wasting scarce resources. Here is an excerpt from the article: “It is argued that because we do not exactly know the state of the economy at any point in time, it is quite possible that the central bank’s loose stance could be excessively loose which may result in a so-called overheating. This means that the loose policy will push the economy strongly above the trajectory of a stable non-inflationary growth.”

“Conversely, a tighter stance could be excessively tight thereby risking to plunge the economy below the trajectory of stable non-inflationary economic growth — a severe economic slump.”

“The view that the economy could be seen as a space ship is a misleading metaphor, since the economy is about human beings that use their means to achieve various goals. Given that economy is about human beings, no central authority can replace the free unhampered market that enables individuals achieving their goals in their best possible way.”

SATIRE OR REAL?

Which of these really happened?

Kavanaugh Accused Of Being ‘Too Judgemental’ To Be Effective Judge, at babylonbee.com.

Democrats Demand Kavanaugh Submit To DNA Test To Prove He’s Not Actually Hitler, at babylonbee.com.

PETA Finally Frees Animal Crackers From Their Cages, at barstoolsports.com.

It’s the PETA article. There must not be much real animal abuse going on if PETA put time into freeing these cookie animals from their cages. I was worried that the poor Zebra was going to get eaten by the Lion because a cage no longer separates them. Until I remembered that, cage or no cage, all these animals are going to get eaten by me.

CARTOONS

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Political Cartoons by Pat Cross

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Must Reads For The Week 9/1/18

Posted September 3, 2018 by austrianaddict
Categories: Must Reads For The Week
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

THE COLLEGE SCAM

What You Really Pay For In College: Credentials, Not Education, by Doug French at mises.org. Traditionally, getting a high priced piece of paper, aka a college degree, was important to employers. It showed “that students have the discipline to suffer through the boredom to conform to what society expects and what employers want.” The changing economy and the high cost of college education is changing this traditional way of looking at employees.

11 Rage-Inducing Facts About America’s Wildly Out-Of Control Student Loan Debt Bubble, at zerohedge.co. Here are three important points from the article.

#1 The student loan debt bubble has now grown to 1.4 trillion dollars.

#2 In 2007, the total amount of student loan debt in the U.S. was just 545 billion dollars.

#9 From 2007 through 2017. “college tuition costs jumped 63 percent, school housing surged 51 percent and the price of textbooks by 88 percent.”

The increase of borrowed money being used for college education is the reason the costs of college education has increased so much. It is a bubble.

No College, No Problem: Silicon Valley’s Student Loan Solution, at zerohedge.com. Many companies are beginning to rethink the importance of a college education as a requirement for employment. This is a good trend.

OTHER STUFF

Boy Punished For Calling His Teacher Ma’am’,  And A Mother Was Investigated For Letting Her 8 Year-Old Walk The Dog, by Micheal Snyder, at lewrockwell.com. This is not satire from The Onion. It is just two examples of public school education insanity.

Crushing The “Blame Climate Change From Wildfires” Narrative In 1 Simple Chart, at zerohedge.com. More acreage was burned in the early 20th century than today and it is not even close.

Immigrants and Disease, at theburnigplatform.com. By law immigrants and refugees are mandated to go through medical screening. If they don’t pass, they are not allowed to enter. But it is impossible to medically screen illegal immigrants.

The Looming Threat of Video Game Regulation, by Matthew McCaffrey, at mises.org.  Here are the two reasons from the article that regulation of all industries takes place. “1) Politicians and regulators trying to control and manage the emerging industry. 2) Industry leaders using regulation to their own advantage and to the detriment of competitors.”

Facebook Engineer’s Stunning admission” “We Tear Down Posters Welcoming Trump Supporters”, at zerohedge.com. This is an admission of what we already knew. This is not an infringement on free speech because these are private companies. Free speech shall not be infringed by Congress as stated in the First Amendment. The answer is for an entrepreneur to supply a Facebook like platform that is truly uncensored.

The Energy Race Is On (Improving Fossil Fuels vs. Political Favorites), by Greg Rhemke at masterresource.org. This is really good. It is a must read for a reason.

Chart Of The Day: Oil Output In Texas vs. Venezuela, 1994-2018, by Mark J. Perry, at carpediemblog. This is really a contrast between socialism and capitalism.

SATIRICAL HEADLINES

Socialists Gather On Labor Day To Protest Concept Of Labor, at babylonbee.com.

Liberal Activist Explains Notion Of Tolerance To Man She Just Called A “Worthless [Expletive]’, at babylonbee.com.

Ocasio-Cortez Praises Venezuela For Making Everyone A Millionaire Through Hyperinflation, at babylonbee.com.

Ocasio-Cortez Severely Burned After Accidentally Touching Book On Basic Economics, at babylonbee.com.

CARTOONS

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John McCain: Public Servant or Self Servant

Posted August 30, 2018 by austrianaddict
Categories: Miscellaneous
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MESA, AZ - JUNE 4: Senator John McCain (R - AZ) appears at a town hall meeting on June 4, 2010 in Mesa, Arizona.

Why has the passing of Senator John McCain turned into a political tennis match? Since Senator McCain was a politician, everything he did was, by nature, political. Lets try to take an unbiased look at Senator McCain’s life and see what we come up with.  Being unbiased will be difficult because I am biased against politicians in general, and political insiders in particular.

MILITARY SERVICE

Flying missions over Viet Nam and taking flack from AAA is something that takes a special kind of person. Heck, taking off and landing on an aircraft carrier takes a great amount of fortitude. He was shot down and captured by the enemy. He was tortured while spending 5 plus years in the infamous Hanoi Hilton.

This is serving your country at a level that cannot be denigrated in any way. He deserves to be honored for his service in the military. I salute him.

But what a person does at one point in his life doesn’t inoculate him from criticism for what he does the rest of his life. Many like to talk about John McCain”s life of public service. Service in the military is real service. Getting into politics doesn’t automatically grant a merit badge for public service. Your actions speak louder than what you say.

PUBLIC SERVICE OR SELF SERVICE?

I see John McCain through the same lens as I see his contemporary John Kerry. Both used their military service to further their political career. John Kerry threw his medals over the White House fence to prove his bona fides in becoming a Democrat. John McCain wore his medals on his chest to prove his bona fides in becoming a Republican. They both became insiders working to prop up and grow the size, and power of Government.

I am amazed how individuals go into politics to serve the public but seem to serve themselves. How many politicians become multimillionaires after decades of being hailed as “public servants”. How politicians become multimillionaire making only a couple hundred thousand a year amazes me (not really). Of course it helped both Kerry and McCain that they married into money.

Does anyone remember ‘The Keating Five’? Probably not. The MSM rarely talks about McCain’s role in the savings and loan crisis from the late 80’s. If you want to know more about McCain, the Keating Five, and Charles Keating, read this article from 1988: McCain: The Most Reprehensible Of The Keating Five. Charles Keating was owner of Lincoln Savings and Loan. He gave money and perks to McCain and his family. These payments could be considered a quid pro quo if McCain and 4 other senators, including John Glenn, could keep regulators away from Keating’s Lincoln Savings and Loan skimming operation.

Here is an excerpt from the article:

“No one forgets that John Glenn was the first American astronaut to orbit the Earth. You won’t let anyone forget that you were a prisoner of war. But you have played that tune too long…..Clearly, both you and Glenn sold your fame for Charles Keating’s money.”

“It was a Faustian bargain. It was also a bad joke on the rest of us and a disaster for many old people who lost their life’s savings to Keating. The money was never really Keating’s to give. But he never would have got his hands on it if you and the rest of the Keating Five didn’t halt the government takeover for two long years while Keating’s people continued their looting.”

“And now, the tab for the Savings and Loan heist must be paid from taxpayers pockets.”

In 2002 McCain wrote a book titled, “Worth The Fighting For”. He did a C-SPAN book TV interview. Here is the part of the interview where he is questioned about Charles Keating, the Savings and Loan crisis and the Keating Five.

What do you think of his performance?

MAVERICK OR POLITICAL INSIDER?

McCain was known for his bipartisanship and willingness to work across the aisle. This reminds me of a quote by Thomas Sowell: “The only thing worse than partisan legislation is bipartisan legislation.”

In 2002 McCain teamed up with Senator Russ Feingold to pass the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act aka  McCain-Feingold Act. In 2010 the Supreme Court ruled in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission that it was unconstitutional because the First Amendment right to free expression applied to corporations. His bipartisan legislation violated free speech.

The media and Democrats used McCain’s bipartisanship as a pugil stick to beat Republicans over the head. The media and the Democrats thought of McCain as a ‘useful idiot’ in the advancement of their agenda. And he was blind to it even when it was right in front of his eyes. He wasn’t the lovable Maverick when he was running for President against Obama in 2008. The media hammered him. But after he lost, they eventually kissed and made up. He was getting what he valued from them. And they were getting what they valued from him.

WHAT DID HE VALUE AT THE END?

I’ve learned from reading ‘Human Action‘ by Ludwig von Mises that people act purposefully to attain a desired end. Put another way, what you value is revealed by your action. What insight can we gain about what John McCain valued if we look at his actions over the last year or so of his life?

Remember last year when congress was voting on repealing the Affordable Care Act? McCain had promised his constituents that he would vote for its repeal. It worked out that his vote would be the deciding vote for repeal. He made his grand entrance and turned his thumb down as if he was Caesar in the movie Gladiator deciding the fate of a warrior. He did this to spite Trump. He valued his hatred for Trump more than he valued his promise to his constituents.

McCain’s running mate in 2008, Sara Palin, was told through back channels not to come to his funeral. He has placed partial blame for his loss in 2008 on her. I know he hated Trump and didn’t want him at his funeral. But Sara Palin? She had nothing but praise for John McCain in her tweets upon hearing of his death.

If you knew you were going to die in a year would spend it clinging to your power as long as you can? And playing politics with people you didn’t like? Or would you spend it in a less selfish way?

Every human being is selfish by nature. But at some point most people learn to get over themselves. Although some people never get over themselves even at the end. What do John McCain’s actions tell us about him?

 

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Must Reads For The Week 8/25/18

Posted August 27, 2018 by austrianaddict
Categories: Must Reads For The Week
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

GOVERNMENT CENTRAL PLANNERS KNOW WHAT’S BEST

Chicago Hopes To “Solve” Record Pension Deficit With Creative Solution: More Debt, at zerohedge.com. Is it a good idea to use a new credit card to pay off your maxed out credit card? Paying off debt with more debt doesn’t work in the real world. Oh by the way, decisions by these same big government central planners are what caused the pension problem in the first place.

Walk Softly – Big Brother Wields A Big Stick, at theburnigplatform.com. Financially sinking State governments are making it difficult for residents to move out of their States. They are trying to escape these high taxes. Central planners must think you and I are permanent residents of their State.

DO THESE ARTICLES HAVE ANYTHING IN COMMON? Dem Congressional Candidate Has Spent Decades Pushing For Population Control, by Paul Bois, at dailywire.com. This central planner doesn’t understand that in order for the leftist ideology to survive you need a growing population to prop up the Ponzi scheme that is the our socialist welfare system. This idea couldn’t possibly lead to a different problem in the future, could it? Read this article. Uproar Over “Wacky” Plan To Start Baby Boom In China By Taxing Adults Under 40, at scmp.org. China had a one-child policy for four decades. It ended three years ago. This one-child policy has produced an aging population and a shrinking workforce. China needs more people to produce enough to prop up their communist Ponzi scheme. They are trying to incentivize individuals to have more children. They are doing this by subsidizing families who have more than one child with money taxed away from people under forty years old. Communist central planning created the problem they are now trying to solve.

San Francisco “Poop Patrollers” Make $185,000, at zerohedge.com. San Francisco’s central planners created the $#!++y mess they now have to clean up. Unfortunately they are cleaning up the symptom their previous economic policies produced. Economic central planning comes at a high cost that central planners ignore. Until they no longer can.

Ocasio-Cortez Claims Solidarity With Cab Drivers – While Campaign Buys Rides From Uber, at economicpolicyjournal.com. Please read Alexandria’s statements in this article. Now ask yourself; “Do I want this self avowed socialist central planner making policies about economic activity”? She doesn’t understand the basic law of supply and demand. And she graduated from Boston University College of Arts and Sciences with a bachelors degree in economics and international relations. I bet her economic ignorance says more about this college than it does about her.

CENTRAL PLANNING PRODUCING THESE PROBLEMS

South Africa’s Land Confiscation: Socialism By Another Name, by Ryan McMaken, at mises.org. Property rights not being protected leads to dire economic consequences. Allowing land to be confiscated and given away creates a couple of problems. 1) Three things needed for economic growth; investment, capital and entrepreneurship will decline if property right are not protected. A lower standard of living will follow. 2) The knowledge (human capital) the previous farmers had accumulated can’t be transferred to the new squatters. Agriculture production will decline. But once again government central planners know best.

“What A Disaster”: Chaos Returns To Venezuela One day After Massive Devaluation, at zerohedge.com. Decades of socialist central planning has put Venezuela in a position from which it can’t escape. Hyperinflation is being tried as a last resort. It won’t work. The economic situation in Venezuela is where government central planning of an economy eventually leads to if it is not stopped.

Destroying the Venezuelan economy has lead to migration problems for neighboring countries. Ecuador, Peru Tighten Entry Requirements For Venezuelans As Influx Swells, by Alexandera Valencia, at usnews.com. And this article.Brazil Deploys Troops To Venezuela Border After Migrant Chaos – “This Is Going To Turn Into War!” at zerohedge.com.

OTHER STUFF

The Big Self-Driving Car Problems: Artificial Intelligence Can’t Deal With Pedestrians, at economicpolicyjournal.com. When I told a friend of mine about a news article that was wondering why a self-driving car got into a wrecked. He said: “Seriously! Maybe it wrecked because no one was driving”. I have asked this question before; what do self-driving cars do when a deer runs across a four lane highway? This article brings up the same point about the unpredictable elements a self-driving car can’t be programmed to deal with. This is an example of why it is hard to centrally plan anything that involves human action. A self driving cars isn’t like a chemistry experiment where every element always act the same way. Also, what happens when the technology, which is created by flawed human beings, malfunctions. A driver has some options when his brakes fail. A self driving car has no options when the technology has a hiccup.

Instructor Tries To Quarantine Gun Owners In Back Of Class, by Frances Floresca, at campusreform.org. The good news is the university overruled the teaching assistant.

Some Inconvenient Gun Stats For Libs, at theburningplatform.com. The US is third in murders throughout the world. If you remove, Chicago, Detroit, Washington D.C, St Louis, and New Orleans the US is then 189th out of 193 countries in the entire world. What do these five cities have in common? Strict gun control laws.

Antifa Violently Attacks Man Holding Flag – Except He’s A Bernie Supporter, at zerohedge.com. No comment needed.

If Paul Manafort Is Going To Prison, Tony Podesta Should Be Joining Him, at zerohedge.com. Lady Justice has pulled off her blindfold. Now the only thing that matters is what side are you on. Are you part of the status quo or are trying to dismantle the status quo. In America today, does the rule of law exist?

Standards Go Out The Window As Employers Struggle To Fill Jobs, at zerohedge.com. There are more jobs than willing workers. Employers are overlooking previous requirements such as college degrees and work experience. At this moment anyone who is not employed probably isn’t a motivated worker. Most people today complain about receiving poor service from businesses. This makes my point because bad service usually means full employment.

Does A Fall In Unemployment Lead To Stronger Economic Growth? by Frank Shostak, at mises.org. More people being employed doesn’t lead to economic growth. Stronger economic growth leads to more employment. A job has to be a productive job for the economy to create wealth.  A job created by Government spending or a job created by Federal Reserve money printing destroys wealth.

REACTIONS TO TRUMPS TRADE POLICIES

I have been against Trumps tariffs because their cost is paid by your own citizens. Economic laws also tell us they hurt economic growth. I understand that Trump is trying to get countries to lower tariffs and trade restrictions by threatening them with corresponding tariffs and trade restrictions. This is a dangerous gambit.

Here is how I think Trump sees this situation. He thinks the U.S can take, lets say, thirty punches before it feels the pain. He also thinks that the EU, Mexico, Canada and China et al, can only take ten or fifteen punches before they feel the pain. He thinks these other countries also know this. He believes they will make concessions before real harm is done.

It is like a game of poker except he doesn’t bluff. I think these countries are beginning to understand Trump isn’t bluffing. A month ago the EU renegotiated some tariffs and trade restrictions. If you look at that along with these two articles: (China To Send Delegation For US Talks To Avert Trade War, at theguardian.com. and Trump Announces US-Mexico Trade Agreement As He Terminates NAFTA; Canada Left Out, at zerohedge.com.) He may be moving these countries off of their stances on tariffs and trade restrictions. I tip my hat if he pulls this off before the negative economic consequences take root.

CARTOONS from therightreasons.net.

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Must Read “Leftovers”

Posted August 21, 2018 by austrianaddict
Categories: Leftovers
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

MSM SINS OF OMISSION AND COMMISSION

The MSM reveals what it values not only by what stories it decides to cover, but how it cover it.

Feinstein’s Ties To China Go Way Deeper Than An Alleged Office Spy, at thefederalist.com. Did you know Senator Feinstein had a spy on her staff? Probably not if all you listen to is the MSM. But the real question is; did her husband, investor Richard Blum, benefit financially from the political ties his wife had with China? This is an example of why people want to drain the swamp. Feinstein and her husband became wealthy after she became a member of the political swamp. This is political privilege that you and I don’t have. This is why the swamp has to be drained.

New Mexico Judge Releases Jihadi Terrorist Camp Suspects Despite Pleas By Sheriff, FBI, at zerohedge.com. Here is another story the MSM has covered up by not covering it. If the MSM considers you a member of a protected group, you get shielded from scrutiny. The judge essentially gave these suspects a get out of jail free card when she ordered a signature bond with no bail. Is this judge a member of the swamp?

Antifa’s Violent Confrontations With Police, Journalists Mar Otherwise Peaceful Rally Counterprotesters, at foxnews.com. The media do what they do best. Hype a situation above the true reality. MSM sides with Antifa and against pro-white nationalists. MSM calls the opposition “counter protesters” instead of calling them Antifa. Even though Antifa physically attacked the press, all was forgiven. Didn’t journalist, Stalin apologist, and useful idiot Walter Duranty say, “you can’t make an omelette without breaking a few legs eggs”. The MSM either doesn’t understand or doesn’t care that both White-Nationalists and Antifa are branches from the same tree of tyrannical government central planning. Communism, Nazism, Fascism, Socialism are branches that produce the same poisonous fruit. Central control through government force.

Iraqi Refugee Accused Of Being ISIS Killer Arrested In California, at cnn.com. How did this guy get into the US in 2014? The MSM doesn’t want anything to do with this story.

STORIES I THINK ARE IMPORTANT

I am revealing what I think is important by what I’m posting.

From The “You Can;t Make This Stuff Up” Department, by Don Boudreaux, at cafehayek. Politicians in Europe want to control the growth in technological progress. They think they can stop the creative destruction of the market. What arrogance to think that you have the power, let alone the knowledge, to accomplish such a feat. This is “The Road To Serfdom”.

This Week In Economic History: Nixon Imposes Wage And Price Controls, at economicpolicyjournal.com. In August of 1971 Nixon took the US of the last vestiges of the gold standard, and implemented wage and price controls. This is a degree of economic central planning that Bernie Sanders would love. Economic central planning  didn’t work then and it won’t work now. I know, I know, it wasn’t tried by the right person. Nixon was an evil guy.

Democrats More Positive About Socialism Than Capitalism, at gallup.com. The question Gallup asked didn’t define Socialism or Capitalism. It just asks if the person’s opinion of each was positive or negative. Most people have no idea what socialism is. Although it sounds great. I remember how good it made me feel when I believed in Santa Claus. And I remember when I found out that Santa didn’t exist. Socialism is the make-believe world of Santa. Capitalism is the real world.

Forget Security Clearance, John Brennan Should Be Prosecuted, by Tho Bishop, at mises.org. Brennan’s CIA spied on Congress by hacking into Senate Intelligence computers. He then lied about the spying (read here). Excerpt from the article: “The conduct of Brennan’s CIA wasn’t limited simply to the Senate. Though in his current capacity as an MSNBC contributor, Brennan is now a passionate defender of the 1st Amendment and free press, his agency also hacked and spied on American journalists reporting on CIA torture.”

If Trump wants to drain the swamp. He should revoke the security clearances of all former deep staters (individuals who worked for the FBI, CIA, NSA, DOJ etc).

“You Put Your Politics Before Us” – Benghazi Survivor Lashes Out At Brennan As Former CIA Boss Says “May Sue Trump” Over Security Clearance, at zerohedge.com. The CIA, FBI and NSA helped cover up what really happened in Benghazi. No one has a right to a security clearance. Keeping your clearance after you no longer “serve” is a perk of being a member of the deep state. This has everything to do with protecting the ability of deep staters to benefit financially. It has nothing to do with Brennan”s free speech. No one is keeping him from speaking. In fact this guy won’t shut up.

Tesla Sues The Government Of Ontario For Ending EV Incentives, at zerohedge.com. Elon Musk is a scam artist. Tesla can’t survive in the market unless it is subsidized by the tax payer.

Alberta Man Changes Gender On Government ID’s For Cheaper Car Insurance, at cbc.ca. Incentives matter. Ask Elizabeth Warren aka Pocahontas. She benefited by “fudging” the truth aka lying. I love the fact that this guy is using the government’s  absurdity against them.

London Mayor Wants A Car Ban, Since Regulating Guns And Knives Failed, at zerohedge.com. When is this guy going to figure out that guns, knives and cars don’t kill people. People kill people. This is government out of control. Excerpt from the article: “Well, since all the other laws aimed at preventing violence have failed, why not just keep banning things? Pretty soon, everything will be illegal in the UK and the people will wonder when they actually became slaves to the government.”

“We enter parliament in order to supply ourselves, in the arsenal of democracy, with its own weapons. If Democracy is so stupid as to give us free tickets and salaries for this bear’s work, that is its affair. We do not come as friends, nor even as neutrals. We come as enemies. As the wolf bursts into the flock, so we come.“ Joseph Goebbels.

Bake The Cake: The State Of Colorado Is Still Persecuting Baker Jack Phillips, by Ryan McMaken, at mises.org. It is hard to escape being in the cross hairs of the State. Mr. Phillips just won his Supreme Court case against the Colorado Civil Rights Commission and now they are after him again. The state is an instrument of force. If you are on the wrong side of the individual or individuals who are wielding the sword, you are screwed. They have unlimited resources and you don’t.

 

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Must Reads For The Week 8/18/18

Posted August 19, 2018 by austrianaddict
Categories: Must Reads For The Week
Tags: ,

Aretha Franklin, the Queen of soul, passed away this week. What a UNIQUE talent. No one could or can do Aretha except Aretha. I spent some time on youtube this week listening to some of her performances. WOW. Enjoy these songs from the queen of soul. Especially the last three!

I SAY A LITTLE PRAYER

DAY DREAMING

UNTIL YOU COME BACK TO ME

GOOD TO ME AS I AM TO YOU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOvgc8u21Dg

SOUL SERENADE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8h_zPdf6FY8

ANGEL

I don’t feel like posting any of the articles I normally post after listing to Aretha sing. Some times you have to escape the BS. that goes on in the world. For me, listening to this is an eraser on the blackboard of life. Go to youtube and start listening to some of Aretha’s music. Your heart and soul will get to a better place if you do.

 

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Must Reads For The Week 8/11/18

Posted August 12, 2018 by austrianaddict
Categories: Must Reads For The Week
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

US Spending On Interest Hits All Time High As Budget Deficit Soars To $684 Billion, at zerohedge.com. Government spending and debt go up no matter which party is in control. The government confiscates over $4 trillion a year from the real economy. You would think that would be enough money to run are government, but you would be wrong. The problem is government spends too much. Government’s ability to borrow and print money allows it to fund its growth above what it can confiscate from its citizens in taxes. Our debt will never get paid off unless government spending is cut. What are the chances of that?

Scientist Blast Media “Misinformation” Linking Wildfires To Global Warming, at zerohedge.com. Environmentalists and their accomplices in the media blame global warming for everything. In this case it is wildfires. If you dig a little deeper into the issue you will find other factors could be possible causes of these fires. Global warming has all the trappings of science without all the rigor. Here is another article about the wildfires. You decide. Destructive Forest Fires Are Do To – What? by Paul Driessen at townhall.com.

New York City Approves Cap On The Number of Uber And Other App Based Companies, at zerohedge.com. Does the NY Taxi and Limousine commission ever consider the fact that their previous restrictions on the number of taxi medallions (licenses), was the reason for the artificial rise in the price of one medallion to over $1 million. This artificially high price created the conditions for Uber and other ride-sharing apps to enter the market. The bubble price of over $1million for a medallion has collapsed to under $200 thousand. Why?  Because the ride sharing apps could provide cheaper and better service. The market eventually corrected the artificial bubble price for taxi services, by allowing unforseen competitors to compete for market share. Simple supply and demand tells us that restricting the number of Uber, and other ride sharing drivers, will increase the price consumer will have to pay for rides. When you restrict supply the price moves higher. Read about the history of NY taxi monopoly in this article, ‘CAR WARS’ Return Of The Jitneys, at austrianaddict.com.

Visualizing The Print-pocalypse Of American Newspapers, at zerohedge.com. This is an example of the creative destruction of the market. The internet has changed the way we get information. Do you think news papers like the NY Times will ask for a government bailout on the basis that they are protected by the first amendment?

Worlds Biggest Toilet-Building Spree Is Under Way In India, by P.R. Sanjai, at bloomberg.com. We take the flush toilet for granted. While San Francisco is literally turning into a $#!t hole (read here), India is making a push to install more toilets. Excerpt from the article: “India accounts for more than half of the world’s 1.1 billion people who practice open defecation. Open defecation contaminates food and drinking water, and spreads diarrheal diseases that cause chronic malnutrition and childhood stunting. India’s push for more toilets is the biggest, most successful behavior-changing campaign in the world,” Many U.S cities, like S.F., are allowing open defecation. What are city leaders thinking?

Mob Targets Portland ICE Workers, Police Ignore Calls For Help – Under The mayor’s Orders, at theblaze.com. This is an example of the break down of the rule of law. The mayor allowed this siege to go on for 38 days. The mayor’s fidelity to his job was overridden by his politics. It is hard to believe this went on in the US. Or is it?

Angry White Atifa Mob Attacks Black Social Activist, Shouts, F^*+ White Supremacy!, at theblaze.com. They are shouting F^*+ your white supremacy to Candice Owens! Can anyone relate to the actions of the people in this mob? Let them keep doing things like this. It does nothing to help their cause. Whatever that cause is.

Federal Judge Rules That Albuquerque’s Asset Forfeiture Created An Unconstitutional Profit Incentive, at reason.com. Is anyone shocked that police would react this way to the incentives created by asset forfeiture laws?

Colleges Offer To Take Percentage Of Future Income As Alternative To Student Loans, at zerohedge.com. Students who got hooked into student loan debt now have a choice. Heads they win, tails I lose.

“Free, Independent” Boston Paper Urges Collusive National Media ‘War’ Against Trump, at zerohedge.com. Excerpt from the article: “Marjorie Pritchard, who oversees the Boston Globe’s editorial page, said the decision to seek the coordinated response from newspapers was reached after Trump appeared to step up his rhetoric in recent weeks. “I hope it would educate readers to realize that an attack on the First Amendment is unacceptable,” she said. “We are a free and independent press, it is one of the most sacred principles enshrined in the Constitution.”

Does a free and independent news paper collude with other free and independent news papers? The press wraps themselves in the First Amendment. I bet most journalists have probably never read the first amendment.

Here is the First Amendment: “CONGRESS shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof: or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

One quick question. Does freedom of the press rank behind freedom of religion and freedom of speech in importance because it is listed third in the First Amendment?

This amendment doesn’t protect the press from criticism. Every citizen, including the President, has the right of free speech. Every citizen, including the President, can criticize the press. Most citizens don’t have a big enough platform for the press to even worry about when criticized. But the President has a big platform if he so chooses to use it. The press has their panties in a wad because they have always been able to bully Republican Presidents. Trump doesn’t play that game, and the press doesn’t know how to deal with someone who stands up to their bullying. Although the press thinks that Trump is the bully and they are standing up to him. It will be interesting to see how this street fight turns out. Because Trump shows no signs of backing down from this fight and the press doesn’t seem to know how to handle it.

West Hollywood Passed Resolution To Remove Trump’s Star On Walk Of Fame, at zerohedge.com. Did they vote to get rid of Bill Cosby’s star?

500+ Renowned Scientists Jointly Share Why They Reject Darwin’s Theory of Evolution, by Arjun Walia, at lewrockwell.com. Darwin’s theory is not standing the test of the passage of time.

SATIRICAL HEADLINES.

Che Guevara Honored With Star On Hollywood Walk Of Fame, at thebabaylonbee.com. Mass murderer Che is lionized by the left.

Liberals Remind Nation Satire Only OK When Mocking Conservatives, at thebabaylonbee.com. This is how the rules of the political game used to be. No more.

World Health Organization Warns Against Eating Fish and Keeping Active Following Death Of World’s Oldest Woman, at theonion.com. Correlation is not causation.

Millennial Drops Support For Socialism After Learning How Hard It Is To Ge Avocado Toast In Venezuela, at thebabaylonbee.com. Socialism is only cool when it hurts someone else.

CNN To Launch Real News Spinoff Site, at thebabaylonbee.com. No comment necessary.

CARTOONS

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Observations From The Margin

Posted August 1, 2018 by austrianaddict
Categories: Observations From The Margin
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Observation Tower

-Could a transgender girl (a male who feels he is female) winning a girls high school sporting event be considered “gender appropriation”?

-If the progressive left is against “cultural appropriation”. Should they support “gender appropriation?

-Does the fact that environmentalists are trying to get rid of plastic straws tell us that there are no real environmental problems left for them to fight?

-Anyone who acts surprised that Russia attempted to meddle in the 2016 election is either ignorant about what went on between the U.S. and the USSR during the cold war era, or is faking their bewilderment. Trying to influence the politics of the other side was standard operating procedure for the CIA and the KGB.

-Steve Kerr colluded with his players and coaches to beat the Cavs in the NBA finals. Jessie James colluded with his gang to rob banks. So, is collusion a crime?

-Is the Russian collusion investigation actually a Russian Show Trial?

-I define the “Deep State” as bureaucrats in government agencies (CIA ,FBI, DOJ, NSA, IRS, State Department, DOE, etc) who do not answer to the electorate or elected officials. Deep State bureaucrats are always trying to grow their power. They also defend their power from those who wish to decrease it. Deep State bureaucrats are capable and willing to either destroy their enemies or protect their allies. So, should Trump revoke the security clearances of these former members of the Deep State; John Brennan, James Clapper, James Comey, Andrew McCabe, Michael Hayden and Susan Rice? Would you if you were President? Just as there is no such thing as a former Marine, is there such a thing as a former member of the Deep State? Remember what Sandy Berger did for Bill Clinton after he was out of office?

-The size and power of government has increased under the control of the “big government” D’s or the “small government” R’s. It only varies in degree. The reason government grows is because insiders in both parties accumulate wealth and power as the size of government increases. The establishment of each party has tried to convince us that their D and R game is real. This is similar to promoters of a game between the Harlem Globe Trotters and the Washington Generals trying to convince us that it is a real competition and not a show. The difference is, it is difficult to see that the D and R game is not a real competition between bigger and smaller government.

-We are seeing the establishment D’s and R’s being challenged for control of their parties. True socialist central planners like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are challenging the establishment D’s in an attempt to move them toward total government control over economic activity (free healthcare, free education and free housing). While President Trump and the House freedom caucus are challenging the establishment R’s to move them toward less control over economic activity (shrinking bureaucracies, deregulation and lowering taxes). This movement will give citizens a real choice between government centrally planning and a free market economy, instead of having to choose between varying degrees of government central planning.

-In a real competition between socialist central planning and free market capitalism, free market capitalism wins. The problem starts after it wins. It produces such a high standard of living, that individuals forget how the standard of living was produced in the first place. Individuals begin to think that there is a better system of distributing the wealth that has been produced. Socialism is the ideology that economically ignorant individuals gravitate toward. As socialist policies are implemented they begin to upset the economic process that produced the original high standard of living. A downward spiral starts.

-Ludwig von Mises and F. A. Hayek can put more insight into fewer words than I can. So I will let them take center stage.

Ludwig von Mises – “Men must choose between the market economy and socialism….some agency must determine what should be produced. If it is not the consumer by means of demand and supply on the market, it must be the Government by compulsion.”

F. A. Hayek – “It has already been suggested that it is not necessary, for the working of this free market capitalist system, that anybody should understand it. But people are not likely to let it work if they do not understand it.”

Ludwig von Mises – “Anti capitalistic policies sabotage the operation of the capitalist system of the market economy. The failure of interventionism does not demonstrate the necessity of adopting socialism. It merely exposes the futility of interventionism. All those evils which the self-styled “progressives” interpret as evidence of the failure off capitalism are the outcome of their allegedly beneficial interference with the market.”

F. A. Hayek – “While it may not be difficult to destroy the spontaneous formations which are the indispensable bases of a free civilization. It may be beyond our power deliberately to reconstruct such a civilization once these foundations are destroyed.”

Ludwig von Mises – “Modern civilization is a product of the philosophy of laissez faire, it cannot be preserved under the ideology of Government omnipotence.”

 

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Must Reads For The Week 7/21/18

Posted July 22, 2018 by austrianaddict
Categories: Must Reads For The Week
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Broke Chicago Considering “Testing” Guaranteed Basic Income Program, at economicpolicyjournal.com. If an individual spends more than he is taking in. And his spending includes the debt he has incurred (house, car, college loans, credit cards etc). Should he add more debt by spending more? No.

The idea of a universal basic income is no different from the welfare programs that are already in place. It is just dressed up with a different name.

This is like taking water from the deep end of the pool and dumping it into the shallow end. The new spending doesn’t increase economic activity. Because you are taking what someone has produced and giving it to someone to spend on consumption. No part of this transfer will be spent increasing the capital structure in the process of production. In fact there will be a loss in economic activity because of this transfer.

In order for an individual to consume a good that he desires he must either: 1) produce it himself 2) produce a good that someone else wants and exchange it for the good he wants 3) take what he wants by force (theft) 4) receive the good as a gift from its owner. Over the years individuals using government power have tricked us into believing that they are performing an act of giving (#4), when in fact they are performing an act of theft (#3). The only person who can perform an act of charity is the owner of the property that is gifted. Since government owns nothing that it hasn’t first taken by force, than government giving is not an act of charity.

Obama Floats Support For Universal Basic Income, at freebeacon.com. Here is what President Obama said: “It’s not just money that a job provides. It provides dignity and structure and a sense of place and a sense of purpose. So we’re going to have to consider new ways of thinking about these problems, like a universal income, review of our workweek, how we retrain our young people, how we make everybody an entrepreneur at some level.”

Lets look at what is highlighted. Mr. President, what happens if you give an individual a universal basic income? On the one hand you are giving him the money, and you are taking away his dignity, structure and a sense of place and purpose with the other hand.

When he uses the term “we”, he means the “anointed” individuals in government will come up with the ideas that the “benighted masses” must follow.

He also added: “We’re going to have to worry about economics if we want to get democracy back on track,”

The President has no knowledge of economics. He ignored the laws of economics for his 8 years as President. He thought he could wish away the laws of economics with his utopian decrees backed by the force of government. It didn’t work. He doesn’t understand that people producing and exchanging in a free market, and not government decrees, create the “workweek”, and “training for young people” and “entrepreneurship”. In fact his Government intervention created the results he doesn’t like and wants to change. Having said that, he wouldn’t have liked the results of what a free market would have produced either.

He is like 90% of politicians and bureaucrats. They get into positions of power so they can implement their utopian idea of what the world should look like. Of course they have to use government power to force their idea on individuals who don’t share the utopian ides.

On the extreme end of government power, tyrants like Stalin, Mao, Hitler, Castro, Pol Pot and others used the force of government to bring about their utopian ideas of how the world should work. At the cost of millions of individuals who didn’t want to comply. Most politicians and bureaucrats are mini tyrants. But tyrants non the less.

George Washington said: “Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force, like fire it is a dangerous servant, and a fearful master.”

Washington was in a unique position to understand and be fearful of the power government possesses. Most people today are not in that position.

Predation Never Justifies Predation, by Don Boudreaux, at cafehayek.com. This is about government intervention into free trade. Here is the money quote from the article:

“Beijing’s tariffs and subsidies, in effect, seize the property of some Chinese citizens in order to transfer it to other Chinese citizens. But because these Beijing-engineered seizures take from no American anything to which an American has a property right, what ethical justification is there for Uncle Sam to create identical tensions in the U.S. by seizing the property of some Americans in order to transfer it to other Americans?”

“In what moral universe does A’s forcible transfer of B’s property to C justify X’s forcible transfer of Y’s property to Z? How is justice served if, in response to A’s wrongful creation of tensions between B and C, X creates like tensions between Y and Z?”

6 Reasons Why Trade War With the Chinese Is Pointless, by Patrick Barron, at mises.org. Excerpt from the article: “So, let’s use logic to consider the effects of China’s economic interventions on itself and its trading partners who do nothing to retaliate against China in any way.”

“1) China uses its capital in an inefficient way.”

“2) Monetary expansion to fund an industry causes overall higher prices and malinvestment.”

“3) China’s overall economy will be less developed, weakening the impact of subsidies to targeted industries.”

“4) American products get cheaper and gain market share.”

“5) American industries benefit from the general expansion of all levels of production.”

“6) Chinese subsidies actually become subsidies to Americans’ standard of living.”

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says Unemployment Is Low “Because Everyone Has Two Jobs,” Which is not How Unemployment Rates Work, at reason.com. Unemployment is calculated by dividing the number of unemployed people by the number of people in the labor force. And by the way only 5% of workers have more than one job.

Can The State Reduce Poverty? by Henry Hazlitt, at mises.org. Excerpt from the article: “All schemes for redistributing or equalizing incomes or wealth must undermine or destroy incentives at both ends of the economic scale. They must reduce or abolish the incentives of the unskilled or shiftless to improve their condition by their own efforts; and even the able and industrious will see little point in earning anything beyond what they are allowed to keep. These redistribution schemes must inevitably reduce the size of the pie to be redistributed. They can only level down. Their long-run effect must be to reduce production and lead toward national impoverishment.”

PC And The Bureaucratization Of The Economy, by William Anderson, at mises.org. Excerpt from the article: “In the former U.S.S.R. and other communist countries, one’s political status has been one of the main determiners of someone’s employment and standard of living. One cannot argue that such a state of affairs made life better for consumers and workers in these states and one certainly cannot argue that imposition of such political directives will do anything but harm our own economy.”

“The larger point here is once companies abandon or limit their entrepreneurial focus and seek political or some other kind of conformity, they succumb to the sclerosis of bureaucracy.”

SATIRE: HEADLINES SAY IT ALL

Ruth Bader Ginsburg Encased In Carbonite Until Next Court Session, at babylonbee.com. She has to hang in for a few more years. The left can’t lose this seat.

Socialist Professor Refuses Salary, Frees Himself From Bonds Of Capitalism, at babylonbee.com. This guy is practicing what he preaches.

Does World Cup Enforce The False Construct Of Borders Imposed On Us By The Ruling Elite, at theonion.com. Do Borders matter?

Liberals Argues Rules Of Basketball Are Flawed After Losing Pickup Game, at babylonbee.com. I guess it isn’t fair that the rules of basketball are biased toward people who have an ability to make shots.

Woodpecker Having Difficulty Remembering Tree Where He Got The Really Good Bugs That One Time, at theonion.com. Concussion protocol anyone. Does the woodpecker have standing to sue God.

PAUL BUNYAN vs THE CHAINSAW.

How much human labor does this machine save?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4HQ_9Xy10w

HT carpediemblog. 

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