There Is No Such Thing as Equality, and Thank Goodness

From FEE.org:

Typically, Hayek’s chapter titles leave nothing to the imagination. But as I encountered the “Who, Whom” title of chapter eight in The Road to Serfdom, I had to do a doubletake.

Having the modern luxury of Google at my fingertips, I soon learned that Hayek’s title was actually a Bolshevist slogan made popular by Lenin in the 1920s. It was later shortened by Leon Trotsky who used it in his article titled Towards Capitalism or Towards Socialism?

“Who, Whom” refers to the overall question of who will overtake whom. Or, put differently, which ideology will survive: socialism or capitalism.

But what was most unfortunate about this slogan was the corresponding propaganda campaign that was used by these socialists to entice followers to join their ranks; it all became about class struggle and equality. But what socialists view as equality and what equality really means in the marketplace are two entirely different beliefs.

There Is No Equality

Those who believe in the power of markets believe that true equality comes from each individual’s ability to equally pursue his or her dreams without fear of intervention from a governing authority.

But the socialists have distorted this term into something that can never exist, no matter how much they may wish it. The socialists would like to see everyone made equal through some planned economy directed to a specific end. That end being equal pay and status.

Unfortunately, no two people are born the same. Each person has unique skills and experiences that set him apart from all others. The only way in which two people can be made to be the same is through a complete government takeover of every aspect of our lives. Or, in other words, nothing short of ultimate force would bring about this goal. Which is exactly what Hayek warns about in chapter eight of The Road to Serfdom.

What socialists forget, or perhaps never understood to begin with*, is that the free market is the only vessel from which equal access to our ambitions can be achieved without trampling on the ambitions or rights of others.

Under free market capitalism, a man is not prescribed his destiny at birth. The child born in the streets and swaddled in rags can grow up to be an entrepreneur, creating value, jobs, and driving the economy. So long as he has the ambition and will to do so, of course.

But this ability to change one’s stars belittles this notion of class warfare because in true capitalism one can move from one station to the next, making socialism completely irrelevant to the equation.

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So, the question of “who, whom” is rather important because what this slogan really makes one reflect on is who is control of whom. For the socialists, they believe the government should control one’s status in life. For the capitalist, it is the individual and only the individual who is in charge of determining his own destiny.  [read more]

*They never understood to begin with. Socialists never understood human nature.

'Monster' planet discovery stuns scientists

From Fox News.com (Oct. 31):

Astronomers have discovered a planet the size of Jupiter orbiting a star that’s only half the size of the sun — a celestial phenomenon that contradicts theories of planet formation.

NGTS-1b, a massive, 986-degrees-hot ball of gas revolving around a red M-dwarf star 600 light years from Earth, is the largest planet compared to the size of its star ever found.

The discovery contradicts theories that a star so small could form a planet so large. Scientists previously theorized that small stars could form rocky planets, but they did not gather enough material to form planets the size of Jupiter.

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"The discovery of NGTS-1b was a complete surprise to us. Such massive planets were not thought to exist around such small stars,” said the lead author of the research, Dr. Daniel Bayliss of the University of Warwick’s Astronomy and Astrophysics Group. “This is the first exoplanet we have found with our new NGTS facility, and we are already challenging the received wisdom of how planets form.”  [read more]

The vastness of the universe, I think, will always contain mysteries to mankind. And that’s what makes science fun. Whatever scientists assume about Nature, Nature just smiles, and says ‘you really think you know me, huh?’

Scientists edited pig genes and accidentally made bacon healthier

From Fox News.com (Oct. 24):

Bacon is love, bacon is life, and now scientists want to make it even better (?). New research using the groundbreaking CRISPR gene editing process has led to pigs which are genetically tweaked to hold less body fat, and which stay warmer in cooler temperatures. Yes, genetically engineered bacon low-fat bacon could be headed to your breakfast table in the not-so-distant future.

The research, which was conducted by an international group of researchers in both China and the UK, was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and may very well hint at the inevitable future of highly customized farm animals.

Using the CRISPR technique, the scientists added a gene known to be used in controlling body temperature to the embryos of piglets. The gene isn't normally present in pigs, and the researchers wanted to see if it would help piglets -- which don't have much body when they are young -- maintain a warmer body temperature. That, in turn, would help the animals survive with ease in cooler climates while potentially increasing lean meat production.

A total of 13 attempts were made to make mature sow's pregnant with the modified offspring, and three of those ended up being successful. Between the three females, 12 male piglets were born, and as those pigs grew into adults, their body fat was, on average, 24% less than in an unmodified pig. These new pigs, which were able to stay warmer without as much fat thanks to faster metabolisms, appeared perfectly healthy. [read more]

Nice. Don’t you love serendipity? See, GMOs can be a good thing. The above is called a happy accident.

5 of History's Most Ludicrous Taxes

Commentary from Madeline Grant on FEE.org:

“Nothing is certain in life except death and taxes”, as Benjamin Franklin’s old maxim goes. That’s especially true here in Britain, where everything from tampons to televisions is taxed, and even upon death there is one last impost, Inheritance Tax, to pay.

Inheritance Tax (IHT) was one of 20 taxes that the Institute of Economic Affairs recommended abolishing in a report last year, which made the case for a radical simplification of Britain’s complex and often counterintuitive tax system.

IHT, as unpopular as it is ineffective, represents a form of “double taxation”, because the inheritance is derived from income that has already been taxed – during the bequeather’s lifetime. The policy is riddled with loopholes and opportunities for avoidance, including nonsensical exemptions on everything from expensive artworks to agricultural land.

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We also singled out Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT), another poorly considered levy with destructive side effects. It might raise revenue for the Exchequer, but it causes enormous distortions in the process, which is why Stuart Adam of the IFS termed Stamp Duty “a strong contender for the UK’s worst-designed tax”.

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The Wallpaper Tax

This tax was introduced in 1712, during the reign of Queen Anne, to capitalize on the growing popularity of wallpaper as an alternative to tapestry or paneling. In an attempt to target wealthier citizens, the levy was directed at “painted, printed or stained” wallpaper favoured by the middle and upper classes, rather than cheaper plain paper, which remained untaxed.

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The Window Tax

The infamous window tax, supposedly the origin of the term “daylight robbery”, was introduced by William III in 1696, and lasted for over 150 years. And much like Stamp Duty, Window Tax was structured in a perverse and illogical way.

Until last year, Stamp Duty featured what economists call “cliff-edges”, that is, a point at which the tax rate suddenly shoots up. For example the rate of stamp duty, until recently, would jump from 1 per cent to 3 per cent of the entire transaction price at the £250,000 cut-off point – thereby creating an increase in tax liability of £5,000 as the house price crossed this threshold. [read more]

Yea, I agree those are stupid taxes. The other taxes the author writes about are: The Hat Tax, and The Wig Tax, You just can’t make this up.

Slime of 300-million-year-old creature may be used for body armor

From Fox News.com (Oct. 24):

Older than the dinosaurs, slime from a primitive creature could be used for future bulletproof body armor.

The hagfish is more than 300 million years old and it lives out of sight in the deepest depths of the ocean. Without a jaw, this spineless ancient creature scavenges the ocean floor for food.

It feasts on dying animals from the inside out and although it is snakelike, hagfish do not have scales. To defend itself, the hagfish unleashes slime (similar to slime featured in "Ghostbusters") - and it is this slime that has military scientists excited.

Spider silk has long been pursued as an option to building ultralight weight and ultra-strong body armor. Hagfish slime threads are almost as strong and light as spider silk, but could prove far easier to harvest in the necessary large volumes to be practical.

Made of mucus and threadlike fibers, the clear slime’s fibers are ultra-strong and flexible.

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How could it be used for body armor?

The slime is simple, but incredibly strong with very interesting properties with great defense potential.

When the wet fibers are stretched and dried out, the fibers become a sort of soft thread that could be woven to create a range of apparel materials.

Scientists believe that this hagfish slime, and its ultra-strong stretchy thread, could be the key to next-level bullet-proof vests.  [read more]

Sounds disgusting, but hey if it’s promising why not give it a try? More often than not nature has the answer to many problems.

ISIS Hacks 800 School Websites Across the US

From Clarion Project.org (Nov. 8):

Eight hundred school websites across the U.S. were hacked by ISIS on Monday, November 7.

The hack lasted close to two hours, during which time visitors to the sites were redirected to a YouTube video with Arabic audio and pictures of Saddam Hussein. Text also appeared which read, “I love Islamic State (ISIS).”

The websites are all hosted by a company called School Desk (schooldesk.net) and are all connected to a server in Georgia.

School Desk has given a copy of the server to the FBI. Some schools have also hired outside security firms to help track down the hackers.

All the affected websites have been shut down to aid the FBI in its investigation. [read more]

Eight hundred schools is quite a lot. The hosting company needs to update their firewall or maybe a better one.

H/T: An Wnd.com article.

5 Things Marx Wanted to Abolish (Besides Private Property)

From FEE.org:

Karl Marx might not have been a very good guy, but he was refreshingly candid about the aims of Communism. This brazenness, one could argue, is baked into the Communist psyche.

“The Communists disdain to conceal their views and aims,” Marx declared in his famous manifesto. “They openly declare that their ends can be attained only by the forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions. Let the ruling classes tremble at a Communistic revolution.”

Like Hitler’s Mein Kampf, readers are presented with a pure, undiluted vision of the author’s ideology (dark as it may be).

Marx’s manifesto is famous for summing up his theory of Communism with a single sentence: “Abolition of private property.” But this was hardly the only thing the philosopher believed must be abolished from bourgeois society in the proletariat's march to utopia. In his manifesto, Marx highlighted five additional ideas and institutions for eradication.

1. The Family

Marx admits that destroying the family is a thorny topic, even for revolutionaries. “Abolition of the family! Even the most radical flare up at this infamous proposal of the Communists,” he writes. 

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2. Individuality

Marx believed individuality was antithetical to the egalitarianism he envisioned. Therefore, the “individual” must “be swept out of the way, and made impossible.”

Individuality was a social construction of a capitalist society and was deeply intertwined with capital itself.    

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3. Eternal Truths

Marx did not appear to believe that any truth existed beyond class struggle.

“The ruling ideas of each age have ever been the ideas of its ruling class,” he argued. “When the ancient world was in its last throes, the ancient religions were overcome by Christianity. When Christian ideas succumbed in the 18th century to rationalist ideas, feudal society fought its death battle with the then revolutionary bourgeoisie.”

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4. Nations

Communists, Marx said, are reproached for seeking to abolish countries. These people fail to understand the nature of the proletariat, he wrote.

“The working men have no country. We cannot take from them what they have not got. Since the proletariat must first of all acquire political supremacy, must rise to be the leading class of the nation, must constitute itself the nation, it is so far, itself national, though not in the bourgeois sense of the word.”

5. The Past

Marx saw tradition as a tool of the bourgeoisie. Adherence to the past served as a mere distraction in proletariat’s quest for emancipation and supremacy.

“In bourgeois society,” Marx wrote, “the past dominates the present; in Communist society, the present dominates the past.” [read more]

If you accomplish all five you will have total societal chaos. But Marx and others who follow his dangerously stupid ideas think they can create a new person by changing human nature. But human nature cannot change. It can only be managed by self-discipline which Marx wants to get rid of.

The far-Left has elements of each of these ideas.

The alt-Right has wants to abolish individuality too. They are anti-Christian also. Definitely not conservative.

Scientist proposes wild explanation for why we haven't discovered aliens yet

From Fox News.com (Oct. 25):

We know our galaxy is huge, and that there’s an untold number of other galaxies out there in the unimaginably large universe. We also know that there’s bound to be plenty of planets in those galaxies, and at least a portion of them are bound to be habitable by some form of life. So, why haven’t we detected, spotted, or at least heard the faint whispers of another intelligent civilization outside of Earth? A planetary scientist from Colorado’s Southwest Research Institute believes he might have the answer, and it’s literally chilling.

Speaking at a meeting of the American Astronomy Society Division for Planetary Sciences Division, Alan Stern proposed an incredible answer to the question which has long puzzled astronomers and first contact hopefuls: aliens aren’t living outside.

It sounds like total bunk to us since humans are spread across just about every nook and cranny of planet Earth, but there’s a very real possibility that life could form, evolve, and even gain advanced intelligence without ever seeing the surface of their own planet. This would be most likely on frigid ocean worlds where underwater thermal vents would provide the heat energy to sustain life, and with the sheer number of frigid ocean worlds we already know exist, there’s no shortage of opportunities for this to happen. [read more]

I suppose it’s possible. But if an intelligent species never sees the stars of their universe I wonder if they will ever contemplate other intelligences in the universe.

Black Holes and Revelations

From Discover Magazine.com (November issue):

It sounds crazy. In recent years, scientists have confirmed a remarkable link between two kinds of objects that should, by all rights, have nothing to do with each other: black holes and strange metals. The former are the famous guzzlers of deep space, able to swallow anything — including stars, planets and even light itself — that gets too close. The latter are closer at hand, though less familiar: the stuff left behind when so-called high-temperature superconductors, materials with no electrical resistance, get too hot to superconduct anymore.

The exact nature of this relationship remains unknown, but at a basic level, it looks like many of the same rules of physics apply to both black holes and strange metals. And scientists on both sides of the connection have already started using it to learn more about their respective fields. It’s such an astonishing discovery that even the man who made it had a hard time believing it. [read more]

Happy Veterans Day!

From Break Point.org (Nov. 11, 2015):

It’s one of the most famous hymns in Christendom: “Eternal Father Strong to Save.” It’s often called “the Navy hymn” because it’s sung at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis.  But how many of us know the story behind this moving hymn?

The hymn’s author was an Anglican churchman named William Whiting, who was born in England in 1825. As a child, Whiting dodged in and out of the waves as they crashed along England’s shoreline. But years later, on a journey by sea, Whiting learned the true and terrifying power of those waves. A powerful storm blew in, so violent that the crew lost control of the vessel. During these desperate hours, as the waves roared over the decks, Whiting’s faith in God helped him to stay calm. When the storm subsided, the ship, badly damaged, limped back to port.

The experience had a galvanizing effect on Whiting. As one hymn historian put it, “Whiting was changed by this experience. He respected the power of the ocean nearly as much as he respected the God who made it and controls it.”

The memory of this voyage allowed Whiting to provide comfort to one of the boys he taught at a training school in Winchester.

One day, a young man confided that he was about to embark on a journey to America—a voyage fraught with danger at that time. The boy was filled with dread at the thought of the ordeal to come. A sympathetic Whiting described his own frightening experience, and he and the other boys prayed for the terrified student. And then Whiting told him, “Before you depart, I will give you something to anchor your faith.”

Whiting, an experienced poet, put pen to paper, writing a poem reminding the boys of God’s power even over the mighty oceans. It begins:

“Eternal Father, strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave.”
Who bidd’st the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee
For those in peril on the sea!

Scholars believe Whiting was inspired in part by Psalm 107, which describes God’s deliverance from a great storm on the sea: In verses 28 and 29, we read: “Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble [and] he made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed.”

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Veterans Day is a reminder that we should be praying regularly for those who put themselves in harm’s way for our sake, for their families, and for those who suffer the after effects of combat.  [read more]

The Wisdom of Winston Churchill 8

Totalitarianism is only state-organized barbarism.

The truth is uncontrovertible. Panic may resent it; ignorance may deride it; malice may destroy it, but there it is.

Tyranny is are foe, whatever trappings or disguise it wears, whatever language it speaks, be external or internal, we must forever be on our guard, ever mobilized, ever vigilant, always ready to spring at its throat.

The UN was set up not to get us to Heaven but only to save us from Hell.

The first duty of the university is to teach wisdom not a trade; character not technicalities.

War is horrible but slavery is worse.

Source: The Wit & Wisdom of Winston Churchill: A Treasury of More Than 1,000 Quotations and Anecdotes (1994) by James C. Humes.

The False Ideas Intellectuals Peddle at College Campuses

From The Daily Signal.com (Oct. 11):

As George Orwell said, “some ideas are so stupid that only intellectuals believe them.”

Many stupid ideas originate with academics on college campuses. If they remained there and didn’t infect the rest of society, they might be a source of entertainment, much in the way a circus is.

Let’s look at a few stupid ideas peddled by intellectuals.

During the Cold War, academic leftists made a moral equivalency between communist totalitarianism and democracy.

Worse is the fact that they exempted communist leaders from the type of harsh criticism directed toward Adolf Hitler, even though communist crimes against humanity made Hitler’s slaughter of 11 million noncombatants appear almost amateurish.

According to Professor R.J. Rummel’s research in “Death by Government,” from 1917 until its collapse, the Soviet Union murdered or caused the death of 61 million people, mostly its own citizens.

From 1949 to 1976, Communist China’s Mao Zedong regime was responsible for the death of as many as 78 million of its own citizens.

On college campuses, the same sort of equivalency is made between capitalism and communism, but if one looks at the real world, there’s a stark difference.

Just ask yourself: In which societies is the average citizen richer—societies toward the capitalist end of the economic spectrum or those toward the communist end?

In which societies do ordinary citizens have their human rights protected the most—those toward the capitalist end or those toward the communist end?

Finally, which societies do people around the world flee from—capitalist or communist? And where do they flee to—capitalist or communist societies?  [read more]

Walter E. Williams who wrote the commentary also goes into other false ideas like multiculturalism, and white privilege. Interesting article.

North Korea's perfect weapon

From Fox News.com (Oct. 24):

North Korea is capable of unleashing a chaotic attack on Australia or the United States without launching a single missile.

Instead the secretive nation could potentially unleash chaos with a cyber attack targeting critical infrastructure such as an electricity grid.

That’s according to Dr Greg Austin, a professor in the Australian Centre for Cyber Security at the University of New South Wales in Canberra, who said North Korea’s cyber capabilities could have a big impact.

He said the possibility of Pyongyang shutting down Sydney’s electricity grid through cyber power remained highly unlikely but protecting key infrastructure against such an attack was something the government should be prepared for.

Dr Austin stressed North Korea didn’t have the technology to launch a sustained cyber war against our critical infrastructure.

“If North Korea decided to launch an attack against Australia, it could shut down the Sydney power grid for a couple of days, but that’s about it,” he said. [read more]

Yea, it isn’t a bad idea for America to upgrade its cybersecurity. Not only N. Korea do we have to be worried about but China and Russia too. And possibly Iran.

In other N. Korean news: North Korean defector describes 'life of hell' for Christians

The Wisdom of Winston Churchill 7

Perhaps it is better to be irresponsible and right than responsible and wrong.

The price of greatness is responsibility.

Too often the strong silent man is silent because he doesn't know what to say.

Victory will never be found by taking the line of least resistance.

Man in this moment of his history has emerged in greater supremacy over the forces of nature than has ever been dreamed of  before. He has it in his power to solve quite easily the problems of material existence. He has conquered the wild beasts and he has even conquered the insects and microbes. All is in his head. He has to conquer his last and worst enemy--himself.

Socialism assails the pre-eminence of individual.

Socialism is contrary to human nature.

"All men are created equal." says the American Declaration of Independence. "All men shall be kept equal." says the Socialists.

We want a lot of engineers in the world but we do not want a world of engineers.

Taxes: A grave discouragement to enterprise and thrift.

Source: The Wit & Wisdom of Winston Churchill: A Treasury of More Than 1,000 Quotations and Anecdotes (1994) by James C. Humes.