“The coordination of men’s activities through central planning or through voluntary cooperation are roads going in very different directions, the first to serfdom and poverty, the second to freedom and plenty.” – F. A. Hayek
Capitalism (aka) Self-Ownership Is The Only Moral Economic System, by Gary Galles, at mises.org. Private property rights and voluntary exchange are the foundation of free market capitalism. Property rights means you own what you produce. Voluntary exchange means each individual can exchange what he produces for what another individual produces under the terms which they mutually agree, with no intervention from third parties Excerpt from the article:
“As Ludwig von Mises explained it, private property is the basis for “joint action and cooperation in which each participant sees the other partner’s success as a means for the attainment of his own,” in sharp contrast to any “us versus them” zero- or negative-sum view of social interaction which treats someone’s gains as others’ losses. In capitalism (which is actually inconsistent with the government created or enabled crony capitalism we see all around us), even those who would be tyrants, if given the opportunity, must focus their efforts on providing willing service to others to induce their voluntary cooperation. In contrast, the drive for power that animates these Democrat Presidential hopefuls who condemn a capitalism they plainly don’t comprehend would increasingly turn others into their unwilling servants.”
The Socialist Fantasy, by John Stossel, at townhall.com. Socialism is government ownership of the means of production. But what do you call a system where government, although allowing property rights, controls what you can do with what you produce through rules, regulations and confiscation via taxation? Crony capitalism or crony socialism. We do not have free market capitalism in the US right now. We have a hampered market. But Government central planners don’t have to own the means of production to wreck an economy. All they have to do is increase their interference, and eventually a country’s standard of living starts to decrease. Even though government intervention isn’t the definition of socialism, government intervention is the road which leads to”serfdom and poverty”.
How Countries Fall Into The Welfare Trap, by Antony P. Mueller, at mises.org. Excerpt from the article:
“People like the welfare state because they suppose that it comes at no costs and provides many benefits. If people knew how much the present consumption of social benefits entails less prosperity in the future, the population would have a critical attitude towards the welfare state and politicians would have a harder time selling their fraud. Just as a society that ranks security over liberty loses both, a society that attributes a higher value to social benefits than to wealth creation ends up with neither wealth nor benefits.”
Liberalism’s Last Stand – Brexit, by Tom Luongo, at tomluongo.me. Brexit is a modern-day version of the American Revolution. Only this time it is the British people who don’t want to take orders from the bureaucrats in the European Union. Adding another layer of bureaucratic intervention on top of what exists already in the British government was a bridge too far. The people have spoken. But the bureaucrats in Brussels don’t want to give up their power. Just like King George didn’t want to give up his power over the colonies. Excerpt from the article:
“Now with the European Union facing a populist uprising across the continent they have reached the turning point with Brexit. And the conundrum is enormous.”
“Brexit is the single most important political event of this century……So, paying close attention to it is important. That’s why it has so divided people. It represents an existential threat to the inevitability of modern liberalism. The European Union is the symbol of that inevitability. Because once that inevitability is breached the EU will begin to unravel before our eyes.”
Electoral College: Why We Must Decentralize Democracy, by Ryan McMaken, at mises.org. The articles above show us why we need the Electoral College. Power needs to be taken away from government and dispersed to the individual. Politicians and bureaucrats always want more power. The history of the 20th century shows what happens when power is centralized. Stalin, Hitler, Mao, Pol Pot, Castro! Oh that’s right….it can’t happen here. The left is afraid of Trump abusing power just as the right was afraid of Obama abusing power. Shouldn’t both sides agree that the government has too much power if an abuse of power by the person holding the seat could harm them.
The Recycling Movement Fails, by Michael Shedlock, at lewrockwell.com. After decades of being guilt tripped into recycling, we are finding out that it is too costly.
Goodbye To The Internet: Interference By Governments Is Already Here, at zerohedge.com. Excerpt from the article:
“Government regulation combined with corporate social media self-censorship means that the user of the service will not know what he or she is missing because it will not be there. And once the freedom to share information without restraint is gone it will never return. On balance, free speech is intrinsically far more important than any satisfaction that might come from government intrusion to make the internet less an enabler of violence. If history teaches us anything, it is that the diminishing of one basic right will rapidly lead to the loss of others and there is no freedom more fundamental than the ability to say or write whatever one chooses, wherever and whenever one seeks to do so.”
3 Reasons Why Facebook’s Zuckerberg Wants More Government Regulation, by Ryan McMaken, at mises.org. The three reasons are 1) Regulations will give Facebook more monopoly power. 2) Zuckerberg and Facebook will help write the new rules. 3) Regulations will limit Facebook’s legal exposure. Big business wants government regulation because regulations make it more difficult for start-up companies to succeed. When a business gets big, it no longer supports competition. It seeks monopoly power. Which can only be granted by Big Government.
The Air Bag Body Count Upticks – And Will Again, by Eric Peters, at ericpetersautos.com. Government central planners work for their own self interest. Excerpt from the article:
“There are hundreds of thousands of cars in circulation with air bags Uncle knows are defective; knows have killed and so – great leap of logic – are probably going to kill again.”
“Yet Uncle does not hurl a fatwa granting permission for the people who were forced by Uncle to buy these air bags to even temporarily disable them until they can be replaced with new air bags that may also kill them, but which at least aren’t known to be defective.”
“But remember when VW was forced to park vast fleets of perfectly safe – and clean – diesel-powered cars (the entire 2016 model year run) on account of “cheating” on EPA emissions certification tests. These cars never hurt anyone – or even the environment – but Uncle went ballistic. Because he’d been hurt.“
States Sue Trump Administration Over Changes To Michelle Obama’s School Lunch Standards, by Jana J. Pruet, at theblaze.com. Why didn’t they sue when Michelle Obama interfered with school lunch standards in the first place?
The Latest Scheme To Turn Gun Owners Into Criminals, at zerohedge.com. The gun grabbers never give up.
Resisting Born-Alive Bill, Democrats Are Desperate To Hide Truth About Abortion, by Georgi Boorman, at thefederalist.com. If a blob of tissue is born alive, is it still considered a blob of tissue or is it a baby? Here is the best line from the article. “Legal abortion is fundamentally a mother’s entitlement to kill her child….They actually believe that abortion is the right to a dead baby.”
Doctors Are Now Giving Hormone Treatments To Children As young As 8 Who ‘Identify’ As Transgender, by Sara Taylor, at theblaze.com. What about the oath…First do no harm! This is child abuse. An 8 year old doesn’t have the mental capacity to understand what transgender even means.
Ex-Senate Employee Pleads Guilty to Theft Of Personal Data, at seattletimes.com. Petty tyrants use intimidation to get what they want.
Jury Rejects Harry Reid’s Lawsuit Against Fitness Band Maker He Blamed For Injuries, at cbsnews.com. Is anyone surprised that Harry Reid would sue for damages?
Actual Putin Puppets: Moscow Pitting Climate Activists Against American Energy Industry, at zerohedge.com. The USSR backed the peace movement during the cold war. Putin is a former KGB agent. Therefore the Russian government backed the anti-fracking movement. I’m shocked! Russian collusion?
Mueller’s Record Of Framing Innocent People To Protect The Guilty, at zerohedge.com. This article tells of the abuses of power by unelected bureaucrats (deep state). This is an eye opening article.
With Mueller Hopes Gone, So Goes Progressive Unity, by Victor Davis Hanson, at amgretness.com. Victor Davis Hanson sums up the Mueller investigation. Great read.
SATIRICAL HEADLINES
Venezuela Praised For Achieving World’s First Zero-Hour Work Week, at babylonbee.com.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Economics Degree Recalled, at babylonbee.com.
Jussie Smollett Receives Prestigious NAACP Award For His Work Creating Jobs For Nigerian-Americans, at babylonbee.com.
Unsure What ‘Heartbeat’ Is, Hollywood Actors Come Out Against Heartbeat Bill Just To Be Safe, at babylonbee.com.
Man Arrested While Attempting To Smuggle Dhick-Fil-A Sandwich Into San Antonio Airport, at babylonbee.com.
Moved By Sight Of Homeless Man Asking For Food, Local Christian Prays Light Would Turn Green, at babylonbee.com.
Trump: ‘Any Shooting Actually Inspired By Me would Have Left Thousands Dead, at theonion.com.
CARTOONS
From theburningplatform (more classics here)
AUSTRIAN ECONOMICS ADDICT 