Greed
by Admin on Apr.03, 2015, under Truisms
“Politicians never accuse you of greed for wanting other people’s money – only for wanting to keep more of your own money,” Joseph Sobran.
Democratized Plunder
by Admin on Mar.31, 2015, under Uncategorized
Or, Democracy is Not the Same as Freedom.
Interesting article by the same title: PDF.
A couple excerpts:
“What is practiced in the democratic nations of the world is what in 1896 the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto called “bourgeois socialism” — the use of the state by a vast array of special-interest groups for trade protectionism, income subsidies, monetary manipulation, and domestic regulations to stifle competition.”
“The task of government is to secure the individual in his freedom from violence and coercive interference, to protect his life, liberty, and property from aggression. When it goes beyond this his liberty has been abridged, even when that government is democratically chosen.”
Another quote I like: “Democracy is not freedom. Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to eat for lunch” by Judge Andrew Napolitano.
Get Rich. And Quickly.
by Admin on Feb.26, 2015, under Do the Math
It’s pretty clear to me that the American government is going to grow and grow and grow, and drift left and left and left as it does. “Regular Americans” are toast; actually, chattel. There will be the in-crowd rich, and there will be poor. And not much in between. The very principles that created a vibrant middle class, you know, the “old white guy” stuff from the 18th century (you might as well say Middle Ages to true believers), are in deep dog doodoo. Limited government, freedom, liberty, capitalism, you know, that stuff. It’s all going down the crapper at lightning speed.
I ponder every day whether the boat can be turned at this point. Lately, I answer myself with a no. What it’s going to take now is similar to what it takes for an addict. We’ve got to hit rock bottom before we wake up and do something about our plight (which we put ourselves in). That’ll take a while. We’ve created much wealth over the 250+ years, and it will take some time to deplete it all. But depleted it will become. Physics wins every time. So does doing the math.
Shortly after coming to this conclusion (and I go back and forth a lot), I get to the next logical spot. Get rich. Get rich ASAP. It’ll be your only defense.
To those who fought the good fight, good luck. To those who supported big government (knowingly or not), good luck at the Pearly Gates; you’ll need much.
With Government, You Get Exactly What You Deserve
by Admin on Feb.24, 2015, under Uncategorized
You can blame whomever you want for blowing up the health care system, making fuel too expensive, taking too much in taxes, letting evil reign, etc.
Do you know where I place the blame? On you. If you voted for it, you’re getting exactly what you deserve. Weren’t paying attention? Too bad. Got lied to? Too bad. There were plenty of people telling the truth – you just didn’t want to listen to “them”.
I fear the American Experience has about run its course. The very exceptional country we were is vanishing. It’s a crying shame. But, as a group, it’s what we elected to do.
Evil
by Admin on Feb.20, 2015, under Truisms
First, do you believe in evil? Seems like an odd question, but a necessary starting point. Some don’t believe in evil. Folks who don’t believe in evil won’t be reached by this argument.
The argument? The only answer to evil is to defeat it. Eliminate it.
There was a time when we (Americans) eliminated evil (e.g. Hitler) instead of tolerate it.
The former works, the latter does not.
Don’t Sucker for “Net Neutrality”
by Admin on Feb.19, 2015, under Uncategorized
You may not be old enough to remember how “great” is was that telephone service was heavily regulated (to the point of monopoly, AT&T) from the 1930s into the 1980s. Fifty years of practically zero advancement, high prices, “at least you’ve got service” service, etc.
The in the 1980s the phone industry was deregulated and “Ma Bell” was busted up. Did you notice what happened?! Answering machines, voicemail, cell service, satellite phones, and on and on.
Under no circumstances let government touch the internet. The internet is the only truly free “world” these days. Let’s keep it that way.
Unless, of course, you want to have to get a business license to open a business on the internet.
“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction”
by Admin on Feb.17, 2015, under Truisms
Ronald Reagan
And it appears to me that we’re at maybe .5 generations away right now.
U-6, Meet Clifton; Clifton, Meet U-6
by Admin on Feb.05, 2015, under Uncategorized
By gosh and by golly, the CEO of Gallup, Jim Clifton, just discovered that there’s a U-6 version of the unemployment picture which paints a much more accurate picture than the number touted ad infinitum, U-3. Much more accurate. And the picture is far worse than followers of the main know. Of course, I wrote about this not too long ago: “? Million Americans Not Working“.
Welcome to reality, Mr. Clifton.
What happened?
by Admin on Feb.03, 2015, under Uncategorized
Rush Limbaugh posed an interesting question today… “Why do we need to vaccinate our kids today against diseases we’d wiped out in this country?”
You can figure this out on your own. I’ll collect your answers Monday morning. Pass/Fail.
Book Fave: Dracula
by Admin on Jan.28, 2015, under Book Faves
I’ve just started reading Bram Stoker’s Dracula to Serafina (and Lynn who takes to listening in sometimes). We’re only 20 pages in. It’s very significant reading. The vocabulary is immense, the sentence structure is complicated, and the imagery is astounding. And Serafina is engaged. It helps that she played “The Child” in a stage version of Dracula (with Cuesta College Theater Dept, last October, see some pics), and that makes for interesting discussions comparing the original writing to the play. I haven’t read anything as demanding in a very long time; loving it.
Be warned: there are significant adult themes and horrifying (imagine that, in a horror story!) descriptions of sexual predators and mental illness. Not for the faint of heart, and not for any aged person who doesn’t have a basic grip on the world. Fortunately, it’s never explicit (IMO), everything is done with imagery, leaving the mind to fill in the blanks as it can. Your mileage may vary. The lowest age I saw mentioned as appropriate was 8th grade, and some suggested “adults only”.
When we get done, I’ll come back and update this post with any additional thoughts I may have about the experience of reading this with a well-grounded 4th grader.