The Lessons of Socialism

This interview is the last part of a three part interview series called “So, what’s wrong with Socialism?” The lady being interviewed is Zina Brodovsky.

In the first interview she talks about how she realized socialism was a lie and how the gov’t is involved in everything.

As for the second interview she talks about the Soviet Union making a hero out of a teenage boy who turned his father in for saving food for his family instead of giving it to the collective. Keep in mind in schools children are taught that the gov’t  is their true family.  She even verifies this fact.  Afterwards his father was executed by the gov’t. She also talks about people got so hungry that they started to eat their own babies.

I strongly suggest the reader not only watch the last video but the other two as well.

The Collective Bargaining System

You can read the article where this chart comes from at Western Free Press.com.

Milton Friedman on Socialized Medicine

What he says is right on the mark even way back then. Then again socialism is socialism.

America this could be your future. Let’s pray to God it’s not.

The European Fiscal Crises and Lessons for America

I originally saw this video on the Western Free Press.com website.

America’s leaders better take this student’s advice before it’s too late.

Slavery and The Free-Market System

“While it occasionally happened that a private slave owner [in the antebellum
U.S. South] killed his slave. .. socialist slavery in Eastern Europe resulted in the
murder of millions of civilians. Under private slave ownership the health and life expectancy of slaves generally increased. In the Soviet Empire healthcare standards steadily deteriorated and life expectancies actually declined in recent decades. The level of practical training and education of private slaves generally rose. That of socialist slaves fell. The rate of reproduction among privately owned slaves was positive. Among the slave populations of Eastern Europe it was generally negative.”

                       Hans-Hermann Hoppe, Democracy: The God That Failed.

The fundamental difference between free and slave labor is that freemen have an incentive to produce as much as possible. The slave, in contrast, will most likely perform the bare minimum necessary to avoid punishment. For this reason slave labor, as an institution, is inferior to an economy based on free labor---even from the point of view of the non-slaves.

But didn't it take the benevolence of the federal government to free the slaves? Yes. but only because other government ordinances had artificially maintained slavery in the antebellum South. [Another minor point: notice that it didn't take a bloody civil war anywhere outside the United States to free slaves; the institution faded away peacefully as capitalism swept the w0rld.]

Source: The PIG to Capitalism.

A Paradox of Priorities

Here is something to ponder from The PIG to Capitalism:

The very same people who remind us over and over that a person's income is no measure of his or her intrinsic worth are the ones who complain the loudest over this country's “priorities" when it comes to salaries. But if we are already agreed that a person's salary has no relation to moral worth or social importance,  then why is a teacher (or nurse, or firefighter, etc.) entitled to more money than a professional athlete?

Good question.

24 Outrageous Facts About Taxes In The United States That Will Blow Your Mind

1. The U.S. tax code is now 3.8 million words long.  If you took all of William Shakespeare's works and collected them together, the entire collection would only be about 900,000 words long.
2. According to the National Taxpayers Union, U.S. taxpayers spend more than 7.6 billion hours complying with federal tax requirements.  Imagine what our society would look like if all that time was spent on more economically profitable activities.
3. 75 years ago, the instructions for Form 1040 were two pages long.  Today, they are 189 pages long.
4. There have been 4,428 changes to the tax code over the last decade.  It is incredibly costly to change tax software, tax manuals and tax instruction booklets for all of those changes.
5. According to the National Taxpayers Union, the IRS currently has 1,999 different publications, forms, and instruction sheets that you can download from the IRS website.
6. Our tax system has become so complicated that it is almost impossible to file your taxes correctly.  For example, back in 1998 Money Magazine had 46 different tax professionals complete a tax return for a hypothetical household.  All 46 of them came up with a different result.
7. In 2009, PC World had five of the most popular tax preparation software websites prepare a tax return for a hypothetical household.  All five of them came up with a different result.
8. The IRS spends $2.45 for every $100 that it collects in taxes.
9. According to The Tax Foundation, the average American has to work until April 17th just to pay federal, state, and local taxes.  Back in 1900, "Tax Freedom Day" came on January 22nd.
10. When the U.S. government first implemented a personal income tax back in 1913, the vast majority of the population paid a rate of just 1 percent, and the highest marginal tax rate was just 7 percent.

You can read the rest of the blog entry at The Economic Collapse Blog.com.

A Twelve-step Plan for Understanding the Free Market

The following excerpt is from The Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism (2007) by Robert P. Murphy:

1. Admit that government "solutions" are the problem.
2. Have faith that human beings can interact peacefully, and that economic blessings are available for all.
3. Surrender to the fact that certain social ills cannot be eradiated by force or political “will.”
4. Ask yourself. “D0 I want to advocate self-sufficiency and voluntary means,  or do I want to look to politicians every time I d0n’t like something?"
5. Survey the past record of governments when it comes to economic "planning" or other alleged improvements.
6. Learn to look for the hidden costs of government intervention rather, than the superficial benefits.
7. Understand the role of market prices. and why tampering with them interferes with the job they have to perform.
8. Study history. Examine whether governments that violated private property rights stayed out of their citizens' other affairs.
9. Before condemning a market outcome as unjust, first understand why it occurs.
10. Study other "spontaneous" social institutions. such as language and science, where no one is “in charge" and yet the outcome is quite orderly.
11. When politicians propose a new program,  remember how much they said it would cost at the outset. Compare that number to the actual amount spent.
12. Go through the newspaper and discover how government meddling causes or exacerbates the conflict in virtually every story.

Schools ban children making best friends

From the thesun.co.uk (Mar. 27):

TEACHERS are banning school kids from having best pals — so they don't get upset by fall-outs.

Instead, the primary pupils are being encouraged to play in large groups.

Educational psychologist Gaynor Sbuttoni said the policy has been used at schools in Kingston, South West London, and Surrey.

She added: "I have noticed that teachers tell children they shouldn't have a best friend and that everyone should play together.

"They are doing it because they want to save the child the pain of splitting up from their best friend. But it is natural for some children to want a best friend. If they break up, they have to feel the pain because they're learning to deal with it." [read more]

Talk about a bunch of collectivist crap. I hope this stupid policy doesn’t come to America. This self-esteem movement has gotten way out of control.

So, the teachers are afraid the kiddies will break up with their best friends. Guess what. It’s called life. They might experience break ups later on in life like divorce, etc. You can’t protect them from social upsets. The teachers could tell a kid who broke up with their best friend they will find other friends and the pain will eventually go away. Their life isn’t over because they had a fall out.

Who’s to say if friends break up they won’t get back together again? These are kids after all. They don’t hold grudges like adults do.

This is like schools not keeping score during a game because it might hurt the loser’s feelings. You know the kids are silently keeping score.

If I Were The Devil by Paul Harvey

Scopes.com said this essay was written in 1964:

If I were the Prince of Darkness I would want to engulf the whole earth in darkness.

I'd have a third of its real estate and four-fifths of its population, but I would not be happy until I had seized the ripest apple on the tree.

So I should set about however necessary, to take over the United States.

I would begin with a campaign of whispers.

With the wisdom of a serpent, I would whispers to you as I whispered to Eye, "Do as you please."

To the young I would whisper "The Bible is a myth." I would convince them that "man created God," instead of the other way around. I would confide that "what is bad is good and what is good is square."

In the ears of the young married I would whisper that work is debasing, that cocktail parties are good for you. I would caution them not to be "extreme" in religion, in patriotism, in moral conduct.

And the old I would teach to pray — to say after me — "Our father which are in Washington."

Then I'd get organized.

I'd educate authors in how to make lurid literature exciting so that anything else would appear dull, uninteresting.

I'd threaten TV with dirtier movies, and vice-versa.

I'd infiltrate unions and urge more loafing, less work. Idle hands usually work for me.

I'd peddle narcotics to whom I could, I'd sell alcohol to ladies and gentlemen of distinction, I'd tranquilize the rest with pills.

If I were the Devil, I would encourage schools to refine young intellects, but
neglect to discipline emotions; let those run wild.

I'd designate an atheist to front for me before the highest courts and I'd get
preachers to say, "She's right."

With flattery and promises of power I would get the courts to vote against
God and in favor of pornography.

Thus I would evict God from the courthouse, then from the schoolhouse,
then from the Houses of Congress.

Then in his own churches I'd substitute psychology for religion and deify science.

If I were Satan I'd make the symbol of Easter an egg

And the symbol of Christmas a bottle.

If I were the Devil I'd take from those who have and give to those who
wanted until I had killed the incentive of the ambitious. Then my police state
would force everybody back to work.*

Then I would separate families, putting children in uniform, women in coal
mines and objectors in slave-labor camps.*

If I were Satan I'd just keep doing what I'm doing and the whole world go to
hell as sure as the Devil.

CS Lewis couldn’t have said it better.

 

*This is basically what the Soviet Union did.

The Literal Genie

Or if you prefer the evil or really stupid genie.

In his book 2010 book Hacking: The Art of Exploitation, 2nd Edition, author Jon Erickson describes an analogy/joke of a genie to a computer. The genie free from his bottle offers the man who set him free three wishes:

"First," says the man, "I want a billion dollars."

The genie snaps his fingers and a briefcase full of money materializes out of thin air.

The man is wide eyed in amazement and continues, "Next, I want a Ferrari."

The genie snaps his fingers and a Ferrari appears from a puff of smoke.

The man continues, "Finally, I want to be irresistible to women."

The genie snaps his fingers and the man turns into a box of chocolates.

The analogy isn’t bad except it wasn’t a complete analogy.

First, the man said he wanted a billion dollars but not in a briefcase. Therefore if the genie was a computer program, the genie would just materialize the money by itself.

Next is the Ferrari. That’s fine except since the man did not stipulate where to put the Ferrari, the Ferrari could have landed on top of the man for all we know. So, could have the money. That could have been the default location for any wish.

Last is the “irresistible” wish. He could also been turned into a bunch of diamonds. Or even some handsome actor. The response could be random.

Then again instead of having a default for each wish the genie could ask the wisher to be more specific.

The genie is also assuming all the first two objects the man wishes for are not toys.

Quotes and Thoughts from John Adams

Quotes:

Government is nothing more than the combined force of society, or the united power of the multitude, for the peace, order, safety, good and happiness of the people.... There is no king or queen bee distinguished from all others, by size or figure or beauty and variety of colors, in the human hive. No man has yet produced any revelation from heaven in his favor, any divine communication to govern his fellow men. Nature throws us all into the world equal and alike....
The preservation of liberty depends upon the intellectual and moral character of the people. As long as knowledge and virtue are diffused generally among the body of a nation, it is impossible they should be enslaved....
There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty.
….the legislative, executive and judicial power shall be placed in separate departments, to the end that it might be a government of laws, and not of men.
Wisdom and knowledge, as well as virtue, diffused generally among the body of the people being necessary for the preservation of their rights and liberties; and as these depend on spreading the opportunities and advantages of education in various parts of the country, and among the different orders of the people, it shall be the duty of legislators and magistrates in all future periods of this commonwealth to cherish the interests of literature and the sciences, and all seminaries of them, especially the university at Cambridge, public schools, and grammar schools in the towns; to encourage private societies and public institutions, rewards and immunities, for the promotion of agriculture, arts, sciences, commerce, trades, manufactures, and a natural history of the country; to countenance and inculcate the principles of humanity and general benevolence, public and private charity, industry and frugality, honesty and punctuality in their dealings, sincerity, good humor, and all social affections, and generous sentiments among the people.
I must judge for myself, but how can I judge, how can any man judge, unless his mind has been opened and enlarged by reading.¹
If the people are as wise and honest in the choice of their rulers, as they have been in framing a government, they will be happy, and I shall die content with the prospect for my children.
[Advice to his son:] A young man should weigh well his plans. Integrity should be preserved in all events, as essential to his happiness, through every stage of his existence. His first maxim then should be to place his honor out of reach of all men. In order to do this he must make it a rule never to become dependent on public employments for subsistence.
[Talking about the French Revolution:] I know not what to make of a republic of thirty million atheists.²
Adams told another correspondent. In revolutions, he warned, “the most fiery spirits and flighty geniuses frequently obtained more influence than men of sense and judgment; and the weakest man may carry foolish measures in opposition to wise ones proposed by the ablest.”
My fundamental maxim of government is never to trust the lamb to the wolf.
Reason holds the helm [of the human mind], but passions are the gales.
The rights of one generation of men must depend, in some degree, on the paper transactions of another. The social compact and the laws must be reduced to writing. Obedience to them becomes a national habit and they cannot be changed by revolutions that are costly things. Men will be too economical of their blood and property to have recourse to them very frequently.
If [the] empire of superstition and hypocrisy should be overthrown, happy indeed will it be for the world; but if all religion and all morality should be over-thrown with it, what advantage will be gained? The doctrine of human equality is founded entirely in the Christian doctrine that we are all children of the same Father, all accountable to Him for our conduct to one another, all equally bound to respect each other's self love.

The executive, the governor, should, Adams thought, be chosen by the two houses of the legislature³, and for not more than a year at a time.
Adams was utterly opposed to slavery and the slave trade and….favored a gradual emancipation of all slaves.
Adams would call slavery a “foul contagion in the human character.”   He never owned a slave as a matter of principle, nor hired the slaves of others to work on his farm, as was sometimes done in New England.
Thirteen separate states would have thirteen equal votes, a concept Adams strongly opposed. He advocated voting in proportion to population.
It was the establishment of an independent judiciary, with judges of the Supreme Court appointed, not elected, and for life (“as long as they behave themselves well”), that Adams made one of his greatest contributions not only to Massachusetts but to the country, as time would tell.
He did not believe all men were created equal, except in the eyes of God, but that all men, for all their many obvious differences, were born to equal rights.
Adams had strong views on the matter of recompense for officeholders. He was adamantly opposed to the notion espoused by some that in the ideal republican government public officials should serve without pay. Adams had written earlier while in London, then the consequence would be that “all offices would be monopolized by the rich; the poor and the middling ranks would be excluded and an aristocratic despotism would immediately follow.” He thought public officials should not only be paid, but that their salaries should be commensurate with their responsibilities and necessary expenses.
Greatest was his worry that the country would expect too much of him [as vice president].
If Adams was concerned about making ends meet, Washington had had to arrange a loan to cover personal debts and the expense of moving to New York.
Rank and distinction were essential to any social organization, be it a family, a parish, or a ship, Adams would say. He cared intensely about the future of the republic and, as he had tried to explain in his Defense of the Constitutions, he saw men of education, ability, and wealth as “the natural aristocracy,” the great strength and blessing of society, but potentially also a great threat to liberty, if their power and energies were misdirected.
“The French Revolution,” he wrote to a Dutch friend, Francis van der Kemp, “will, I hope, produce effects in favor of liberty, equity, and humanity as extensive as this whole globe and as lasting as all time.” Yet, he could not help foresee a tragic outcome, in that a single legislative assembly, as chosen by the French, could only mean “great and lasting calamities.”
France was “in great danger.” Ahead of anyone in the government, and more clearly than any, Adams foresaw the French Revolution leading to chaos, horror, and ultimate tyranny.
Source: John Adams (2001) by David McCullough.

¹A kindred spirit.
² Like the old Soviet Union for example.
³This is the parliamentary system Great Britain and other countries have today.

President Obama signs Executive Order allowing for control over all US resources

From the Examiner.com (March 17):

On March 16th, President Obama signed a new Executive Order which expands upon a prior order issued in 1950 for Disaster Preparedness, and gives the office of the President complete control over all the resources in the United States in times of war or emergency.

The National Defense Resources Preparedness order gives the Executive Branch the power to control and allocate energy, production, transportation, food, and even water resources by decree under the auspices of national defense and national security.  The order is not limited to wartime implementation, as one of the order's functions includes the command and control of resources in peacetime determinations.

Additionally, each cabinet under the Executive Branch has been given specific powers when the order is executed, and include the absolute control over food, water, and other resource distributions. [read more]

Does this fall under “never let a crisis go to waste” I wonder?

What the heck do we need a Congress for? Not emergency management I guess. Obama to the rescue!

A Sampling of Les Shroud’s Survival Advice

Trust your guide, but don’t rely on him or her. In other words, you must be self-reliant.

Disaster often strikes in mysterious ways. And you may be separated from your travel companions at any time. Just as you shouldn’t rely completely on your guide, you shouldn’t rely completely on your partner or partners.

[Surviving] requires clear-headed, rational thinking, mental toughness, and a positive attitude. It requires a never-yielding will to live.

Survival can be harsh at the best of times. If you become one with anything or anyone while you are trying to survive out there, it is with yourself.

Survival is not about “man versus wild.” Nor, at the other extreme, is it about “becoming one” with nature. The key to survival is the middle ground of “going with the flow” of nature.

But make no mistake about it. Nature must be respected, watched, listened to, and considered constantly, if you expect to survive.

Source: Survive! Essential Skills and Tactics to Get You Out of Anywhere—Alive (2008) by Les  Stroud with Michael Vlessides

 

The moral of this “story” is that the gov’t isn’t going to save you. Just about everything he said is against the Left’s philosophy. In a survival situation not only does mankind rule himself he must be able to rule himself to survive.

Wyoming Native American tribe gets rare permit to kill bald eagles

From Fox News.com (March 14):

CHEYENNE, Wyo. –  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has taken the unusual step of issuing a permit allowing an American Indian tribe in Wyoming to kill two bald eagles for religious purposes.

The agency's decision comes after the Northern Arapaho Tribe filed a federal lawsuit last year contending the refusal to issue such permits violates tribal members' religious freedom. Although thousands of American Indians apply for eagle feathers and carcasses from a federal repository, permits allowing the killing of bald eagles are exceedingly rare, according to both tribal and legal experts on the matter

Federal law prohibits the killing of bald eagles in almost all cases. The government keeps eagle feathers and body parts in a federal repository and tribal members can apply for them for use in religious ceremonies.

The bald eagle was removed from the federal list of threatened species in 2007, following its reclassification in 1995 from endangered to threatened. However, the species has remained protected under the federal Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act. [read more]

Maybe it is just this particular tribe but I thought Native Americans are supposed to respect the wildlife? At least that’s what the Left always says. That the Native Americans are in “tuned” with nature. You know since this tribe was allowed to kill two bald eagles what’s to stop them from wanting to kill more in the future? After all they aren’t going to stop practicing their religion. I did a little research this “religious purposes” is a Sun Dance ceremony done every year usually around the Summer Solstice. The eagle plays a large part in the Sun Dance for it is one of the Plains Indians' most sacred animal (so, they kill it? Hmm.)   That’s right other Native American tribes (over a dozen) partake in this ceremony too. So, what’s to stop them from saying “hey, you let this tribe kill bald eagles what about us?” Then the bald eagle will go back on the endangered species list. I guess being threatened is not as bad as being endangered.

Talking about religion since when has the gov’t under this regime er administration ever respected religious rights? Oh, I’m sorry I forgot. I’m bad. They just don’t respect Christian  rights is all. All the other religions rights are to be respected. 

I wonder since the bald eagle is America’s national bird and a symbol did this fact have any influence on the Wildlife Service’s decision? Just asking.

Excerpts from “Philosophy: Who Needs It”

Existentially, the rise of the welfare state broke up the country into pressure groups, each fighting for special privileges at the expense of the others—so that an individual unaffiliated with any group became fair game for tribal predators. Psychologically, Pragmatism lobotomized the country’s intellectuals: John Dewey’s theory of “Progressive” education (which has dominated the schools for close to half a century), established a method of crippling a child’s conceptual faculty and replacing cognition with “social adjustment.” It was and is a systematic attempt to manufacture tribal mentalities.

There are only two means by which men can deal with one another: guns or logic. Force or persuasion. Those who know that they cannot win by means of logic, have always resorted to guns.

The mental process underlying the egalitarians’ hope to achieve their goal consists of three steps: 1. they believe that that which they refuse to identify does not exist; 2. therefore, human ability does not exist; and 3. therefore, they are free to devise social schemes which would obliterate this nonexistent.

Defiance, not obedience, is the American’s answer to overbearing authority. The nation that ran an underground railroad to help human beings escape from slavery, or began drinking on principle in the face of Prohibition, will not say “Yes, sir,” to the enforcers of ration coupons and cereal prices. Not yet.

If America drags on in her present state for a few more generations (which is unlikely), dictatorship will become possible. A sense of life is not a permanent endowment. The characteristically American one is being eroded daily all around us. Large numbers of Americans have lost it (or have never developed it) and are collapsing to the psychological level of Europe’s worst rabble.

The academia-jet set coalition is attempting to tame the American character by the deliberate breeding of helplessness and resignation—in those incubators of lethargy known as “Progressive” schools, which are dedicated to the task of crippling a child’s mind by arresting his cognitive development.

We cannot fight against collectivism, unless we fight against its moral base: altruism. We cannot fight against altruism, unless we fight against its epistemological base: irrationalism. We cannot fight against anything, unless we fight for something—and what we must fight for is the supremacy of reason, and a view of man as a rational being.

Source: Philosophy: Who Needs It (1982) by Ayn Rand.

Socialism 101 Part 7: The Philosophy of Auguste Comte

Following the trend of the Christian development since the Renaissance, the power [the 19th century philosophers] named was: the neighbor (or society, or mankind).

The result was a new moral creed, which swept the romanticist circles of Europe from the time of the first post-Kantians, and which continues to rule Western intellectuals to the present day. The man who named the creed is the philosopher Auguste Comte. The name he coined is altruism.

The medieval adoration of God, says Comte, must now be transmuted into the adoration of a new divinity, the “goddess” Humanity. Sacrifice for the sake of the Lord is outdated; it must give way fully to sacrifice for the sake of others.

Source: Ominous Parallels.

Hitler’s War on Reason

If men uphold reason, they will be led, ultimately, to conclude that men should deal with one another as free agents, settling their disputes by an appeal to the mind, i.e., by a process of voluntary, rational persuasion. If men reject reason, they will be led, ultimately, to conclude the opposite: that men have no way to deal with one another at all—no way except physical force, wielded by an elite endowed with an allegedly superior, mystic means of cognition.

In some (usually unverbalized) form, [a dictator] knows that he cannot demand unthinking obedience from men, or gain their consent to the permanent rule of brutality, until he has first persuaded his future subjects to ditch their brains and their independent, self-assertive judgment.

What Germany needs, [the romanticists] concluded, is a new kind of institution: not cold, cognition-centered “learning-schools,” but feeling-centered “Lebensschulen” (life-schools). Encouraged by liberal progressives and conservative nationalists alike, the romanticist educators proceeded gradually to supply this need—first in the empire, then in the Republic. (Thus the schools were ready for the Nazi educators, when their time came.)

In epistemology, as a result, subjectivists hold that a man need not concern himself with the facts of reality; instead, to arrive at knowledge or truth, he need merely turn his attention inward, consulting the appropriate contents of consciousness, the ones with the power to make reality conform to their dictates.

Source: Ominous Parallels.

Socialism 101 Part 6: The Philosophy of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

Reality, declares Hegel, is inherently contradictory; it is a systematic progression of colliding contradictions organized in triads of thesis, antithesis, synthesis—and men must think accordingly.* They should not strive for old-fashioned, “static” consistency.

Hegel describes the above as a new conception of “reason,” and as a new, “dialectic” logic.

In Hegel’s version, reality is a dynamic cosmic mind or thought-process, which in various contexts is referred to as the Absolute, the Spirit, the World-Reason, God, etc. According to Hegel, it is in the essential nature of this entity to undergo a constant process of evolution or development, unfolding itself in various stages.

The ethics and politics which Hegel derives from his fundamental philosophy can be indicated by two sentences from his Philosophy of Right: “A single person, I need hardly say, is something subordinate, and as such he must dedicate himself to the ethical whole. Hence if the state claims life, the individual must surrender it.”

Since everything is ultimately one, the group, he holds, has primacy over the individual. If each man learns to suppress his identity and coalesce with his fellows, the resulting collective entity, the state, will be a truer reflection of reality, a higher manifestation of the Absolute.

It [the collective State] is itself an individual, a mystic “person” that swallows up the citizens and transcends them, an independent, self-sustaining organism, made of human beings, with a will and purpose of its own.

As a manifestation of the Absolute, it [the State] is a creature of God, and thus demands not merely obedience from its citizens but reverential worship.

Source: Ominous Parallels.

 

*Karl Marx borrowed from this in his dialectic materialism theory.

Socialism 101 Part 5: The Philosophy of Immanuel Kant

[Kant’s] method of attack is to wage a campaign against the human mind. Man’s mind, he holds, is unable to acquire any knowledge of reality.

In any process of cognition, according to Kant, whether it be sense experience or abstract thought, the mind automatically alters and distorts the evidence confronting it.

Reason is impotent to discover anything about reality; if it tries, it can only bog down in impenetrable contradictions.

Since reason, logic, and science are denied access to reality, the door is now open for men to approach reality by a different, nonrational method. The door is now open to faith.*

And no matter how powerful the rational argument against their faith, that argument can always be dismissed out-of-hand : one need merely remind its advocate that rational knowledge and rational concepts are applicable only to the world of appearances, not to reality.

Kant also found it necessary to deny happiness, in order to make room for duty. The essence of moral virtue, he says, is selflessness—selfless, lifelong obedience to duty, without any expectation of reward, and regardless of how much it might make one suffer.

Morality, according to Kant, possesses an intrinsic dignity; moral action is an end in itself, not a means to an end. As far as morality is concerned, the consequences of an action are irrelevant.

Many false ethical theories have been advanced, in Kant’s view, but “the principle of one’s own happiness is the most objectionable of all. This is not merely because it is false... Rather, it is because this principle supports morality with incentives which undermine it and destroy all its sublimity....”

Source: Ominous Parallels.

 

*Misplaced faith can be bad and sometimes hazardous to a person’s health or to the health of a country. Like for instance faith in a political leader like Hitler or Stalin. Or a leader who talks about “social or economic justice.” That’s blind faith. That’s what I believe the author is talking about. Only faith in God is the only right kind of faith.

What Kant is talking about isn’t religion so much but a delusional philosophy. Most main stream religions teach physical reality exists but there is also a spiritual reality too. Any religion where you can’t question or use reason or even to have doubts is not a religion but a cult.

Miscellaneous Thoughts Part 24

• The Stanford Mock Prison experiment is an example of how power corrupts.
• Any legislator or president that presents a bill that majorly affects the economic or social systems (like Obamacare) of America should be treated like an amendment to the Constitution.  None of this “we have to pass it first to find out what’s in it” crap. 
• The only knowledge gov’t wants to have is how to retain power.
• One man to another: We divorced on reconcilable differences. She was an insane progressive and I wasn’t. 
• When a business grows it has a tendency to hire more employees. When a gov’t grows, its power grows too. And so does its corruption. Which can lead to tyranny.
• Good intentions is like William Tell saying oops when he shot his son’s forehead instead of the apple. Oops doesn’t change things. The son still has an arrow stuck in his forehead.
• Audible.com is a good website for audible e-books. I especially liked the audible  version of Gray’s Anatomy. Think about it.
• Maybe what we need in America’s Congress are people that are humble, patriotic, and have a good credit score. Being brilliant is nice, but being able to think about side-effects would be better. After that’s why there is a Library of Congress in Washington. So, you can learn what you need to know.
• During the presidential campaign Obama is not only going to take off the gloves but he is going to put on brass knuckles instead. After all it is the Chicago way.
• To any girl who wants the gov’t to cover her birth control: Ever heard of self-control? Close your legs. That won’t cost you or the taxpayers a dime. You are not an animal after all.

How Gov’t Licensing Works

You have a big business or even a bunch of smaller business that form a cartel. Businesses don’t like competition. They prefer to a monopoly on a product or service or to own a big market share of the product or service (which I will call “output” for brevity for lack of a better term). So, the business(es) decide to do something about this output problem.

They contact their local gov’t official—state, city or even federal lawmaker. The lobbyist for the business(es) tell this lawmaker that their particular business is really technical or it is really complicated and that no-one else can do it unless they get a license from the gov’t.* Oh, yea of course there will be a big fee for the license plus whatever education you have to do in addition to the license.

After all the customers have to be protected right? That’s what the license is for. So, the customer knows this business is legitimate. This is what the lawmaker is being told. What the lobbyist is actually thinking is: It’s not the customer I am concerned about it’s other competitors. I want to make it hard for other competitors to start a business. To persuade the lawmaker even more the business(es) tell the lawmaker if you get this license into law they will monetarily support you in the next election.

Now, am I being cynical? Possibly. Not every business lobbies for licenses of course.  But licenses (especially the stupid one) happen for two reasons: One, the business(es) who want the license  are too stupid or too lazy to compete with other businesses. So, they have the gov’t do their work for them. Two, the lawmaker believes the argument the business is making. Since most lawmakers are not businesspeople they probably will fall for the argument. Add to this that if the lawmaker believes the business is some sort of Elite that has to be protected then the license will be introduced.

People complain that life is unfair. That’s true. But it is really unfair when gov’t starts issuing dumb licenses.

 

 

*Never mind that these business(es) didn’t have to have a license in the first place. 

Socialism 101 Part 4: The Philosophy of Plato

Plato is the father of collectivism in the West. He is the first thinker to formulate a systematic view of reality, with a collectivist politics as its culmination.

What follows in regard to human action, according to Plato, is a life of self-sacrificial service. When men gather in society, says Plato, the unit of reality, and the standard of value, is the “community as a whole.” Each man therefore must strive, as far as he can, to wipe out his individuality (his personal desires, ambitions, etc.) and merge himself into the community, becoming one with it and living only to serve its welfare.

The function and authority of the state, according to Plato, should be unlimited. The state should indoctrinate the citizens with government-approved ideas in government-run schools, censor all art and literature and philosophy, assign men their vocations as they come of age, regulate their economic—and in certain cases even their sexual—activities, etc.

The blueprint [of the totalitarian ideal] includes the view that the state should be ruled by a special elite: the philosophers. Their title to absolute power, Plato explains, is their special wisdom, a wisdom which derives from their insight into true reality, and especially into its supreme, governing principle: the so-called “Form of the Good.”

[The Form of the Good] can be grasped, after years of an ascetic preparation, only by an ineffable mystic experience—a kind of sudden, incommunicable revelation or intuition, which is reserved to the philosophical elite. The mass of men, by contrast, are entangled in the personal concerns of this life. They are enslaved to the lower world revealed to them by their senses. They are incapable of achieving mystic contact with a supernatural principle. They are fit only to obey orders.

Source: Ominous Parallels.

If you don’t believe Plato influences the socialists and the Left, there is a magazine/website called “The New Republic.” Plato wrote a book called “The Republic.” That’s where he talks about the Form of the Good. Coincidence? I don’t think so.

Yea, I know there is a conservative blog called “The Free Republic.” But it is the Left who always wants to change the structure of society and make the economic system “fair.” At least their definition of “fair.” That’s where you get the “new” in “New Republic.”

Interesting Facts about the National Socialist Party

The Nazis were not a tribe of prehistoric savages. Their crimes were the official, legal acts and policies of modern Germany—an educated, industrialized, civilized Western European nation, a nation renowned throughout the world for the luster of its Intellectual and cultural achievements.

The German university students were among the earliest groups to back Hitler. The intellectuals were among his regime’s most ardent supporters. Professors with distinguished academic credentials, eager to pronounce their benediction on the Führer’s cause, put their scholarship to work full time; they turned out a library of admiring volumes, adorned with obscure allusions and learned references.

The political implementation of “subservience to the Whole,” according to the Nazis, is subservience to the state—which requires of every German the opposite of self-assertion. Hence the ruling principle of Nazism, as defined by a group of Nazi youth leaders. The principle is: “We will.” “And, if anyone were still to ask: ‘What do we will?’—the answer is given by the basic idea of National Socialism: ‘Sacrifice!’ ”¹

[The idealism] is expressed in the slogan “Gemeinnutz geht vor Eigennutz” (“The common good comes before private good”).

“Du bist nichts; dein Volk ist alles” (“You are nothing; your people is everything”), states another Nazi slogan, summarizing the essence of the Nazi moral viewpoint.

To liberate humanity from intelligence, Hitler counted on the doctrines of irrationalism. To rid men of conscience, he counted on the morality of altruism. To free the world of freedom, he counted on the idea of collectivism.²

These three theories together constitute the essence of the Nazi philosophy, which never changed from the start of the movement to its end.

“Do you know what I am hoping?” a girl in a Nazi breeding home told an American interviewer, her eyes shining. “I am hoping that I will have pain, much pain when my child is born. I want to feel that I am going through a real ordeal—for the Führer!”

And about the gas chambers….

“For there was light music. An orchestra of ‘young and pretty girls all dressed in white blouses and navy-blue skirts,’ as one survivor remembered, had been formed from among the inmates. While the selection was being made for the gas chambers this unique musical ensemble played gay tunes from The Merry Widow and Tales of Hoffmann. Nothing solemn and somber from Beethoven. The death marches at Auschwitz were sprightly and merry tunes, straight out of Viennese and Parisian operetta.

“To such music, recalling as it did happier and more frivolous times, the men, women and children were led into the ‘bath houses,’ where they were told to undress preparatory to taking a ‘shower.’ Sometimes they were even given towels.

Once they were inside the ‘shower-room’—and perhaps this was the first moment that they may have suspected something was amiss, for as many as two thousand of them were packed into the chamber like sardines, making it difficult to take a bath—the massive door was slid shut, locked and hermetically sealed….”

Source: Ominous Parallels. The End of Freedom in America (1982) by Leonard Peikoff,

 

¹Sort of sounds like the “Yes we can!” slogan.

²”Does this sound familiar? It should. It’s what the Left especially the far-Left is trying to accomplish today. By the way if you did not know, “Collectivism” is the same as socialism. Just like progressivism is the same as liberalism. President Reagan used the term “collectivism” a lot.

"Dr. Hussein's Uncle Sam" Poem

This poem is printed on T-shirts you can purchase from the Patriot Depot.com website:

I do not like this Uncle Sam,
I do not like his health care scam.
I do not like these dirty crooks,
or how they lie and cook the books.
I do not like when Congress steals,
I do not like their secret deals
I do not like this Speaker, Nan.
I do not like this "YES WE CAN."
I do not like this spending spree.
I'm smart, I know that nothing's free.
I do not like this kind of hope.
I do not like it, Nope, nope, nope!
I do not like your smug replies
when I complain about your lies.
So for the future make a note:
"I do intend to vote, vote, VOTE!"

My exact sentiments.

Socialism 101 Part 3

You would be forcibly fed, clothed, lodged, taught, and employed whether you like it or not. If it were discovered that you had not character and industry enough to be worth all this trouble, you might possibly be executed in a kindly manner.. 

-- Fabian Socialist George Bernard Shaw

 

In the world wide theater where Marxists wage class war, the Communists can be regarded as front line troops; while the Socialists serve as the big guns in the rear, firing over the heads of the men in forward positions and enabling them at a well-chosen moment to seize their objective rapidly.

Politically, it was the pattern of events in Czechoslovakia, in the Hungary of Bela Kun, even· in Russia itself, where Socialist governments prepared the ground for a Communist seizure of power.

While Woodrow Wilson could not actually be named a Socialist, he was the first Chief Executive of the United States to accept Socialist minded intellectuals as aides and advisers and to present Fabian Socialist programs as his own.

Source: Fabian Freeway (1966) by Rose L. Martin.

-----------------------------------------

In fact, the scheme of government-business partnerships and economic regulation set up by FDR’s National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) could easily have served as a model for how Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini were addressing the Great Depression in their countries. That’s why Hitler and Mussolini admired FDR. Mussolini put it well when he said that he admired FDR because he, like Mussolini, was a “social fascist.”

The NIRA empowered representatives from management and labor in industries all across America to set their own wages, prices, and working conditions within their respective industries. Once a code was established for a particular industry, it would be submitted to the president, whose signature on the code would give it the force of law. All the businesses within that industry were expected to abide by the terms of the code, on pain of criminal prosecution by the feds.

Financial manipulation by the federal government’s central bank, the Federal Reserve System, caused the stock-market crash in 1929. That led to the Great Depression. Rather than admit that government [my emphasis] was the root cause of the economic crisis, Roosevelt and his cohorts blamed it on “the failure of free enterprise.”*

Then, they used the economic emergency (that the feds caused) as an excuse to implement the most revolutionary change in American history — the adoption of an economic system that combined features of both socialism (such as Social Security, which originated among German socialists in the late 1800s) and fascism (such as government-business partnerships, which were important both in Nazi Germany and fascist Italy). And it was all sold to the American people as “saving free enterprise,” which obviously was an easier sell than “embracing socialism and fascism.”

Adding to the pressure to “go along” with the cartels and codes was a powerful political campaign led by a former U.S. army general named Hugh Johnson, whom FDR had appointed to serve as chairman of the National Recovery Administration, which put the NIRA into effect. The general immediately made it clear that those who opposed the NRA and its famous symbol “the Blue Eagle” were not true, patriotic Americans. Everyone was encouraged to display the Blue Eagle in their store windows, and consumers were expected to boycott unpatriotic Americans who refused to go along with the new scheme.

Source: Economic Liberty and the Constitution by Jacob G. Hornberger.

 

*Sounds like our current president. Then again most if not all Leftists think like this. They always believe gov’t can never do wrong. (Yea, another footnote. I am trying them out.)

Union Violence Exposed

 

This video is from the Right to Work Committee. What they are talking about sounds more like mob extortion. It should be against the law. I signed the petition.

Abortion Questions

In total, China aborted 160 million girls because boys are valued more than girls. Where are the feminists in this country protesting this number?

If in the near future mankind discovers a homosexual gene and China (or anyone or any other country)  decides to abort gays and lesbians will the gay community protest that action?

Or a white woman aborts a fetus of another race if she is raped for instance. Is this okay for the pr0-choice person who happens to be that race? I mean that is her choice right? Or it could be she dated a black man, they had intercourse, and later on they broke up. In the meantime she got pregnant with the man’s baby. Since, her parents are racists they objected to her dating any black guys. Now, they want her to abort the baby. For all you pro-choice advocates is this situation okay?

How about any anti-life person protesting any of those scenarios? Or is the so-called pro-choice stance sacrosanct? Just curious.

The Left’s Vision vs. America’s Founding Principles

1. In the early 20th century a group of intellectuals known as progressives rejected the founding principles [of America].
2. In response to the challenges of industrialization and urbanization, progressives sought to transform society.
3. Progressivism denies the possibility of self-evident eternal truths.
4. Progressivism also denies the limits on government and sees separation of powers as an obstacle to reform.
5. Because of their rejection of the declaration, progressives understand a right as something government grants to a citizen, rather than something a citizen has by nature, which government protects.
6. In order to increase their power to remake society, progressives have tried to undermine private associations in which morality is shaped, and used schools for this end.
7. Progressives have promoted the idea of a “living” Constitution, a doctrine that strips the document of any original meaning and allows it to be interpreted in any way a judge sees fit.

Source: We Still Hold These Truth. A Leader’s Guide. (2010) by The Heritage Foundation.

The Heart of Ronald Reagan’s “Three-legged Stool”

President Reagan talked about the “three-legged stool”of conservatism: Strong free-market system, strong traditional/family values, and a strong military. He said if one leg was missing the stool could not stand on its own. His three-legged stool analogy is a good analogy for America too.  If one of those attributes are missing America won’t survive for long.
At the heart of all those factors is freedom. The free-market system (capitalism if you prefer) is a by product of freedom. Traditional/family values teaches that mankind is the only creature with free will and morals*. Traditionalists cherishes freedom but freedom without morality is just anarchy. That’s why the Founding Fathers always talked about liberty instead of just freedom.
A strong military protects freedom from tyrannical powers. Which keeps the free-market system alive. The free-market system make all our lives better and easier. Traditional values keeps society from going into chaos. Otherwise it would just be a jungle.  That’s why we need all three legs.

*Actually, the two are linked together. Without free will there would be no morals, because you couldn’t choose between right and wrong like the non-human animals. They operate completely on instinct.

An Example of Price Fixation by a Union

From Capitalism and Freedom (1982) by Milton Friedman:

To some extent, labor unions have served as a means of enforcing monopoly in the sale of a product. The clearest example is in coal. The Guffey Coal Act was an attempt to provide legal support for a price-fixing cartel of coal-mine operators. When, in the mid-thirties, this Act was declared unconstitutional, John L. Lewis and the United Mine Workers stepped into the breach. By calling strikes or work stoppages whenever the amount of coal above the ground got so large as to threaten to force down prices, Lewis controlled output and thereby prices with the unspoken co- operation of the industry. The gains from this cartel management were divided between the coal mine operators and the miners. The gain to the miners was in the form of higher wage rates, which of course meant fewer miners employed. Hence only those miners who retained employment shared the cartel gains and even they took a large part of the gain in the form of greater leisure. The possibility of the unions playing this role derives from their exemption from the Sherman Antitrust Act.

This price fixation was great for the union members and especially great for the union leaders (they could continue to exact the same level of union dues) but not so for the coal-mine customers. Then again unions only care about their members not the customers or anyone else outside the union. That’s where union bosses drive their income from---the members.

The Coal Act was FDR’s attempt to nationalize the coal industry. That’s probably why the Supreme Court found it unconstitutional. Then in 1937 the act got a face lift and was passed in Congress. It was basically the same as the 1935 act but had some minor changes. Later on in 1943 it was allowed to expire.

Global Warming Models Called Into Question By New Study

From Investors.com (Nov. 25):

Climate: The left's proposed solutions for the world's ills are based on the idea that carbon dioxide is a climate-heating poison that must be scrubbed from the global economy at all cost. Yet another study shows this is foolish.

The study in the journal Science found that global temperatures appear to be far less sensitive to the amount of CO₂ in the atmosphere than originally estimated.

The study's findings are simple and devastating. "This implies that the effect of CO₂ on climate is less than previously thought," said Oregon State University's Andreas Schmittner, the study's main author. [read more]

That scientist of the study sounds like one of those “global warming deniers.” At least that’s what the environmental extremists would call him.  The study in the journal Science  is an abstract. You have to pay for the rest of the study or go to the author’s website and read the pdf version. A word of warning: The study is very technical. You would have to have a masters in meteorology to understand most of it. Even the title of the study (as usual) is wordy: “Climate Sensitivity Estimated From Temperature Reconstructions of the Last Glacial Maximum.” Really? Could the authors shortened it up a little?

Let’s face it the only global warming we get is caused by the sun. It’s called summer.

The Agendas of the 1930s Fascists

According to Thomas Sowell’s 2009 book Intellectuals and Society here was the agenda of the Nazis and Mussolini’s Italy:

1. Government control of wages and hours of work.
2. Higher taxes on the wealthy.
3. Government-set limits on profits.
4. Government care for the elderly.
5. A decreased emphasis on the role of religion and the family in personal or social decisions.
6. Government taking on the role of changing the nature of people, usually beginning in early childhood.

And the Left and the Nazis have nothing in common? Really? Did you know that the evil German guy with the mustache back in the 1930’s once belonged to the Communist party for a short time? He considered Communism not as an adversary but as a competitor. You know like two countries are economic competitors. Or two sports teams as competitors.

There was a pact between Germany and the Soviet Union when WWII first started. The German gov’t  broke the pact because it’s evil ruler wanted to have all the power to himself. The selfish bastard! Didn’t he know that the nice Soviet Union wanted to dominate the world too? Geez. This pact is something Russia would like to forget. The war might have ended differently if Germany hadn’t broken the pact.

All the bullet points in the agenda were part of the old Soviet Union and are still espoused by the Left today. Point 4 is social security and Medicare. Point 6 is right out of Marxism when Marx talked about creating a “New Man.”

When you come down to it, the common denominator among  fascism, socialism, and communism is less individual freedom until eventually you have tyranny.

The State as Organ Harvester

From WND.com (Nov. 15):

Officials running a federal program that is considering redefining death are going to be seeking further public comment after members of the Christian Medical Association raised alarms about several problems, including what they believe would be an open door to pressure families to donate organs before their loved one has died.

The proposal could move the federal government closer into alignment with what has been proposed by longtime Barack Obama adviser Cass Sunstein.

Obama's "regulatory czar" was revealed in 2009 to have pushed strongly for the removal of organs from those who did not give their consent to becoming an organ donor.

In his book, "Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth and Happiness," Sunstein and co-author Richard Thaler presented the possibility of the "routine removal" of organs because "the state owns the rights to body parts of people who are dead or in certain hopeless conditions, and it can remove their organs without asking anyone's permission." [read more]

Under Obamacare this is perfectly logical in a twisted way. When the State owns your body it owns your organs. Therefore it doesn’t need permission from anybody to harvest them even if it has good intentions.  Your “life, liberty and pursuit of happiness” not mention your rights are now controlled by the State.

Here is something else to think about. If the State owns your body what happens to any “do not resuscitate” orders? Are they now mandatory? Especially if the State doesn’t want to cover your medical bills anymore and wants your organs. It might allow DNRs for the “important” people or the elites though.

The Judeo-Christian Philosophy and The Free-Market

Here’s how the Judeo-Christian philosophy influenced the free-market:

1. The Judeo-Christian respect for manual labor, summed up in a number of biblical injunctions. One example: When God warns Noah of the coming flood and tells him he will be saved, it is not God who saves him. “Build thee an ark of gopher wood,” he says, and Noah builds an ark to divine specifications.   
2. The Judeo-Christian subordination of nature to man. This is a sharp departure from widespread animistic belief and practices that saw something of the divine in every tree and stream (hence naiads and dryads). Ecologists today might think these animistic beliefs preferable to what replaced them, but no one was listening to pagan nature wor­shippers in Christian Europe. 
3. The Judeo-Christian sense of linear time. Other societies thought of time as cyclical, returning to earlier stages and starting over again. Linear time is progressive or regressive, moving on to better things or declining from some earlier, happier state. For Europeans in our period  the progressive view prevailed. 
4. In the last analysis, however, I would stress the market. Enterprise was free in  Europe [of the past]. Innovation worked and paid, and rulers and vested interests were limited in their ability to prevent or discourage innova­tion. Success bred imitation and emulation; also a sense of power that would in the long run raise men almost to the level of gods. The old legends remained—the expulsion from the Garden, Icarus who flew too high, Prometheus in chains—to warn against hubris. (The very no­tion of hubris—cosmic insolence—is testimony to some men’s preten­sions and the efforts of others to curb them.)

Source: The Wealth and Poverty of Nations. Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor. (1998) by David S. Landes.

As for the first point, if the gov’t gave Noah specs to build the arc, the arc would have sunk or worse fell apart. The gov’t would have given Noah the materials for the ark at a cost of $100,000,000,000 or more. Heck, if big gov’t would have warned Noah of the flood it probably would not have come.

Referring to the 2nd point, the enviro-fascists are lot more like the pagans back then—worshiping mother nature than God.

Ancient China and the Free-Market

David S. Landes talks in his book The Wealth and Poverty of Nations. Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor (1998) why sinologists say ancient China did not reach its economic potential:

• The absence of a free market and institutionalized property rights.  The Chinese state was always interfering with private enterprise—taking over lucrative activities, prohibiting others, manipulating prices, exacting bribes curtailing private enrichment. Bad government strangled initiative, increased the cost of transactions, diverted talent from commerce and industry.
• The quasi-confinement of women to the home made it impossible, for example, to exploit textile machinery profitably in a factory setting.
• Sinologist Etienne Balazs would stress the larger context. He sees China’s abortive technology as part of a larger pattern of totalitarian control. The author quotes Mr. Balazs saying: “The ingenuity and inventiveness of the Chinese, which have
  given so much to mankind—silk, tea, porcelain, paper, printing, and more—would no doubt have enriched China further and probably brought it to the threshold of modern industry, had it not been for this stifling state control…. It is a regime of paper work and harassment….. It is the State [my emphasis] that kills technological progress in China.”

In my humble opinion, is the State in any country that can kill technological progress. The State doesn’t understand technology and/or business when it tries to control the economy. Since the State will probably never understand technology and economics it would be better off to leave hands off. But since the State contains people who are usually controlling  and arrogant (a nasty combination) this probably will never happen unless you get legislatures who are not power hungry and who are humble. Good luck with that.
The Chinese gov’t now is not much better. They have now what they call “state capitalism.” This is just another name for national socialism. If this sounds familiar think back to Germany in the 1930’s. You know the evil guy with the mustache who we’re not supposed to mention in polite company anymore. Yea, that guy. He created national socialism. It’s not a new idea.

The Four Roles of Leadership

In his book The 8th Habit. From Effectiveness to Greatness. (2004), Stephen R. Covey describes the four roles of leadership which are:

1. Modeling. Inspires trust without expecting it. (Personal moral authority)
2. Pathfinding. Creates order without demanding it. (Visionary moral authority)
3. Aligning. Nourishes both vision and empowerment without proclaiming them. (Institutional moral authority)
4. Empowering. Unleashes human potential without externally motivating it. (Cultural moral authority)

What’s interesting is President Ronald Reagan had everyone of those roles. Why? Because he believed that man can rule himself. Which is what the four roles are about. People choose to follow the vision and therefore order is created (role # 2).  If the vision is morally good for the country they will believe and follow it.

The progressives like Obama will never have those roles because they believe that man cannot rule himself and therefore cannot be trusted to make choices for themselves. Because of that belief people have to be treated like a children or worse like sheep. The Ruling Class will expect trust (after all they are the elite), demand order, proclaim a vision, and try to motivate people. But if the vision is false all that will be to no avail.

The Downward Spiral of Codependency

What happens when you manage people like things? They stop believing that leadership can become a choice. Most people think of leadership as a position and therefore, don’t see themselves as leaders. Making personal leadership (influence) a choice is like the freedom to play the piano. It is a freedom that has to be earned-only then can leadership become a choice.

Until then, people think that only those in positions of authority should decide what must be done. They have consented perhaps unconsciously, to being controlled like a thing. Even if they perceive a need, they don't take the initiative to act. They wait to be told what to do by the person with the formal title, and then they respond as directed. Consequently, they blame the formal leader when things go wrong and give him or her the credit when things go well. And they are thanked for their 'cooperation and support."

This widespread reluctance to take initiative, to act independently, only fuels formal leader' imperative to direct or manage their subordinates. This, they believe, is what they must do in order to get followers to act. And this cycle quickly escalates into codependency. Each party's weakness reinforces and ultimately justifies the other's behavior. The more a manager (bishop, church leader) controls, the more he/she evokes behaviors that necessitate greater control or managing. The codependent culture that develops is eventually institutionalized to the point that no one takes responsibility. Over time, both leaders and followers confirm their roles in an unconscious pact. They disempower themselves by believing that others must change before their own circumstances can improve. The same cycle reappears in families between parents and children (neighborhoods, church congregations, school clubs, etc.).

Source: The 8th Habit. From Effectiveness to Greatness. (2004) by Stephen R. Covey.

I agree with what Mr. Covey said. Not only does this happen in neighborhoods and churches, but can happen with gov’t too. The Ruling Class (RC) creates social security which tells people they don’t have to save for their old age. The RC creates welfare so people don’t have to look after their families. And when gov’t can’t afford programs like these (like in Greece) people riot because there is very little personal responsibility left.

When a leader treats his subordinates or constituents like children that’s what they will become in the end. And maybe that’s what the leader wants too. That’s the whole point of Mr. Covey’s essay.

Government as Venture Capitalist

Since the Obama administration wants to act like venture capitalist I wanted to learn more about these venture capitalists. So, I did a little research on the subject.

First, what is a venture capitalist? Investopedia.com defines a venture capitalist (VC) as “an investor who either provides capital to startup ventures or supports small companies that wish to expand but do not have access to public funding.” The entry continues by saying “venture capitalists usually expect higher [my emphasis] returns for the additional risks [my emphasis] taken.” In other words a VC is not investing in the company so much to help the company but to make money themselves. Otherwise they wouldn’t be risking their own money. When gov’t invests in a company it’s different. Gov’t isn’t in the business to make a profit. They invest in a company to create jobs. And since Washington can print money there is not much risk for them to invest in a company like Solyndra. Whatever they lose they can make up by raising taxes.

When you are investing in a startup or small company who wishes to expand there’s a risk involved. With a established small company there is fewer risks than with a startup. That’s just basic reasoning. A smart VC looks at the management of the company. He or she wants to know if the management can run a business that generates high return for its investors. The VC also wants a list of experienced, qualified people who will play central roles in the company's development. As the article where I got this info says: “they [the VCs] prefer to invest in a bad idea led by accomplished management than a great business plan supported by a team of inexperienced managers.”

Also, a VC wants a market size that is $1 billion or more in revenues. Because of this VCs want a detailed market size analysis as part of the company’s business plan.

Thirdly, VCs want a company that produces a great product and can compete with other businesses similar to themselves. They look for a company that solves a problem that no-one else has solved in the market place. They look for a company that can make product or do a service that no-one can do without. And if they find a business that is a near monopoly all the better.

Finally, the VC has to be aware of any risks the company has. Like for example:

• Could regulatory or legal issues pop up?
• Is this the right product for today or 10 years from today? 
• Is there enough money in the fund to fully meet the opportunity?
• Is there an eventual exit from the investment and a chance to see a return?

Keep in mind it is the VC’s money he is investing. He doesn’t want to make reckless investment and lose it all.

If you ever watch the reality show Shark Tank all five of those “sharks” on the show are VCs. Just about everything I described above, the sharks ask about people coming to them for money they want for their business. What’s funny is that most entrepreneurs on the show ask for a lot of money from the sharks but at a low rate of return. The sharks almost always tell these people you are not giving me enough return for the risk involved. What’s the moral of the story? The sharks just want to make money. Period. It’s that simple.

The reason the Obama administration make lousy VCs is because they have no business experience. They don’t even have a business mind-set and never will get one. Everything I described above they probably think is mean, cruel, and exploitive. Making money just for the sake of making money. That’s just plain greed to them. And the VCs are taking advantage of the small business owner.

Like I said, since the money the gov’t is risking  isn’t really their own and they can always get more from taxes do you think they are going to research a company and ask the right questions? Why should they when there is no incentive for them to do that. And if they think investing in a business so it can create jobs is a noble deed whether or not the business is prosperous or not just compounds the problems. Yes, a business hiring people is great. But if it goes out of business (and fires everyone) because of bad management or just not enough customers then that is worse. So much about being noble. 

One last note. In his blog The Venture Capitalist Aptitude Test, Guy Kawasaki describes a test that a wannabe VC can take to see if he can succeed as a VC. First, if you have work background in engineering and/or sales that’s a plus. Obama doesn’t. If you are in managing consulting, or are a investment banker, an account or have an MBA that counts against you. Well, Obama thinks he is an investment banker. Or is at least acting like one. The author explains more in his blog about why having a background in engineering and sales is a good thing to have. Basically, you have to know about what you are investing in. Also, remember this: The two occupations most important to any business is engineering and marketing. That is, for a business to succeed it has to make a product (or a service) and sell it. Otherwise, the business fails. 

Then the author goes into first-hand experiences like “worked at a failed startup, so that you understand three things: first, how hard it is to achieve success; second, that the world doesn’t owe you a thing; and third, what it’s like to be fired or laid off.”

Finally, he talks about having necessary knowledge about a business to be a successful VC.

If you could sum up this interesting article it would be this: Know your product or service you want to invest in and know how a successful business works. If you don’t have either knowledge then you better think twice about being a venture capitalist.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

These rights are overall pretty good like for example Article 17. Some of the rights mirror what’s in the Constitution: Articles 11, 18 through 20. These rights come from the United Nations. But there are some articles I question like:

Article 23: The right to work and form unions.

Article 24: Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.

Article 25: Right to a standard of living.

Article 26: Right to free education.

Article 27:

(1) Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.
(2) Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.

Article 29: Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.

Articles 23 through 26 looked it was influenced by communists and/or socialists.

Is Article 27 needed (especially the first part)? I mean Article 20 should take care of that. Part 2 is talking about intellectual property rights. I am currently reading an e-book (The Public Domain: Enclosing the Commons of the Mind (2008) by James Boyle) on that topic. It is really a complex subject to grasp.

What is Article 29 about? “Duties to the community”? That would make Ayn Rand spin in her grave. Sounds like the “it takes a village” nonsense. That smacks of socialism.

Jon Huntsman’s American Jobs Plan

1. Tax Reform.
   • Individual Taxes.
     • “Zero Plan”. Rates of 8%, 14% and 23%.
     • Eliminate the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT).
   • Corporate Taxes.
     • Reduce the Corporate Rate from 35% to 25%.
     • Shift from a Worldwide System of Taxation to a Territorial System.
     • Implement a Tax Holiday for Repatriation of Corporate Profits.
   • Eliminate the Taxes on Capital Gains and Dividends.
2. Regulatory Reform.
   • Repeal President Obama's Unconstitutional and Unaffordable Health Care Plan.
   • Repeal Dodd-Frank.
   • Streamline the Food and Drug Administration's Approval Process.
   • Enact Comprehensive Patent Reform.
   • Repeal Sarbanes/Oxley.
   • End the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Gross Regulatory Overreach.
     • Roll-back Ozone Standard Revision.
     • Roll-back Joint Fuel-Efficiency Rules.
   • Expedite the Environmental Permitting Process.
   • Gov. Huntsman will immediately instruct the NLRB to stop pursuing this politically-motivated attack on free enterprise, and if they fail to do so, he will replace them.
   • As President, Gov. Huntsman will demand the Commodities Future Trading Commission undertake serious cost-benefit analysis before implementing any regulations.
   • Privatize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
   • Mandate Cost-Benefit Fundamentals at Agencies.
3. Energy Independence.
   • We must expedite the review and approval of safe and environmentally-sound energy projects, including the development of North American oil and gas reserves; oil and gas in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska; shale gas and oil in the U.S.; and Canadian oil sands.
   • We must eliminate subsidies and regulations that support foreign oil and inhibit clean, domestic alternatives such as natural gas, biofuels and coal-to-liquid fuel.
4. Trade.
   • The United States should take the lead in initiating free trade agreements with Japan, India and Taiwan, among others. We must begin to send a message to the world that we will once again lead on trade liberalization.
   • Support the Doha Development Round of World Trade Organization Negotiations.
   • Lead in Reaching a Successful Conclusion of the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Not too bad a plan. The three-tier zero plan sounds progressive too me. Although, less progressive than what we have now. Since it is three-tier I suppose the rates correspond to the lower-class, middle-class and upper-class. Getting rid of the AMT is a good idea. I like reducing the corporate tax and getting rid of capital gain taxes and dividend taxes, although the corporate tax could be lower like 15%.

Interesting idea to reform patent regulations. First candidate to suggest that.

He does have a foreign policy. Huntsman supports Israel and considers Iran a threat.

The Myth of Crime Prevention

In trying to scare the public about the Republicans not supporting Obama’s “jobs” bill, this what the VP said:

“It’s not temporary [the administration’s stimulus] when that 911 call comes in and a woman’s being raped, if a cop shows up in time to prevent the rape. It’s not temporary to that woman.”

So, the basic formula is this: Any policeman can stop any crime from happening to any victim. Like that CBS drama series “Person of Interest.” Except in that show the two men preventing crime are not policemen. One is a genius computer programmer that wrote a program that monitors everyone and the other is an ex-Green Beret and CIA agent.  Or like the movie “Minority Report”.  Then again the show and the movie are fictional.

It’s a myth that Biden is trying to create. Then again he may believe it. Very rarely can police force can stop a first crime. Or else there would be no crime at all right? This is not a knock against law enforcement. It’s just a matter of logistics.  Especially, if the crime is a crime of passion, a crime of opportunity or even a serial crime like in Biden’s example a serial rapist the police probably won’t catch the criminal the first time. Even a premeditated crime is hard to stop unless the perpetrator tries to hire someone to do his dirty work and ends up talking to a policeman. Or if there are more than one criminal (like in a planned bank robbery) and one of the criminals tells on another.

Even if the police department was next door to the woman being raped there would be a delay before the police would show up. The truth of the matter is you really have to defend yourself because the police cannot be everywhere. Nor can they read minds. If the woman is being raped in Biden’s example by the time she calls 911 then the crime has already been done. The police couldn’t stop the crime when they get there. All they can do is arrest the rapist if he is still around. Or arrest him later on if and when they find him.

Oh, by the way, what Biden meant by “temporary” was police departments only get subsided one time for a year.

Mitt Romney’s Plan for Jobs and Economic Growth

1. FIVE BILLS FOR DAY ONE
   • The American Competitiveness Act- Reduces the corporate income tax rate to 25 percent.
   • The Open Markets Act- Implements the Colombia, Panama, and South Korea Free Trade Agreements
   • The Domestic Energy Act- Directs the Department of the Interior to undertake a comprehensive survey of American energy reserves in partnership with exploration companies and initiates leasing in all areas currently approved for exploration
   • The Retraining Reform Act- Consolidates the sprawl of federal retraining programs and returns funding and  responsibility for these programs to the states
   • The Down Payment on Fiscal Sanity Act- Immediately cuts non-security discretionary spending by 5 percent, reducing the annual federal budget by $20 billion
2. FIVE EXECUTIVE ORDERS FOR DAY ONE
   • An Order to Pave the Way to End Obamacare- directs the Secretary of HHS & all relevant federal officials to let states to design their own health care solutions.
   • An Order to Cut Red Tape- directs all agencies to immediately initiate  the elimination of Obama-era regulations, and then caps annual increases in regulatory costs at zero dollars.  
   • An Order to Boost Domestic Energy Production- directs the Dept. of Interior to implement a process of for rapid issuance of drilling permits.
   • An Order to Sanction China for Unfair Trade Practices- directs the Dept. of the Treasury to list China as a currency manipulator in its biannual report and directs the Department of Commerce to assess countervailing duties on Chinese imports if China doesn’t move to float its currency.
   • An Order to Empower American Businesses and Workers- reverses the executive orders issued by Obama that tilt the playing field in favor of organized labor.
3. TAX POLICY.
   • Individual taxes.
     • Maintain marginal rates at current levels.
     • Further reduce taxes on savings and investments.
     • Eliminate the death tax.
     • Long-term goal: pursue a flatter, fairer, simpler structure.
   • Corporate taxes.
     • Lower the corporate tax rate to 25%.
     • Transition to a “territorial” tax system in which income is taxed only in the country where it is earned.
4. REGULATORY POLICY.
   • Repeal and replace Obamacare and Dodd-Frank.
   • Review and eliminate Obama-era regulations.
   • Cap new regulatory costs at zero dollars.
   • Require Congress to approve all major regulations.
   • Reform legal liability system.
5. TRADE POLICY.
   • Expanded markets.
     • Implement pending Free Trade agreements.
     • Conclude Trans-Pacific Partnership and pursue additional agreements.
     • Create Reagan Economic Zones.
   • Confronting China.
     • Improve enforcement at the border.
     • Pursue and protect legal rights.
     • Impose targeted tariffs or economic sanctions.
     • Designate China a currency manipulator & impose countervailing duties.
     • Insist on reciprocal government procurement.
6. ENERGY POLICY.
   • Significant regulatory reform.
     • Streamline and fast-track permitting processes.
     • Overhaul outdated legislation.
     • Reform nuclear regulation.
   • Increase production.
     • Inventory our nation’s resources.
     • Explore & develop our oil reserves.
     • Partner with our neighbors.
     • Extract shale gas.
   • Research and development.
     • Focus on basic research.
     • Design long-term funding sources free from politics.
7. LABOR POLICY.
   • Defend the free-enterprise system. Romney will appoint to the NLRB experienced individuals with a respect for the law and an even-handed approach to labor relations.
   • Guarantee workers free choice. He opposes “Card Check.” Romney will submit to Congress legislation, similar to the Secret Ballot Protection Act, that would require the use of the secret ballot in all union elections regardless of the preference of the union, employees, or employer.
   • Protect free speech. Mitt Romney will send Congress a bill prohibiting the use of mandatory union dues for political purposes.
   • Respect the rule of law.
8. HUMAN CAPITAL POLICY.
• Retraining workers.
  • Consolidate redundant programs.
  • Give authority to the states.
  • Create Personal Reemployment Accounts. Each eligible participant would have control over an account that contained funds to be put toward retraining.
  • Encourage private-sector participation.
• Attracting the best and the brightest.
• Raise visa caps for highly skilled workers.
• Retain graduates of our universities. Romney will also work to establish a policy that staples a green card to the diploma of every eligible student visa holder who graduates from one of our universities with an advanced degree in math, science, or engineering.
9. FISCAL POLICY.
• Cut, cap and balance. Romney will immediately move to cut spending and cap
  it at 20 percent of GDP. As spending comes under control, he will pursue further cuts that would allow caps to be set even lower so as to guarantee future fiscal stability.
• Enact entitlement reform. One option that should not be on the table is raising the payroll tax or expanding the base of income to which the tax is applied. Romney will push for the conversion of Medicaid to a block grant administered by the states.
• Reduce the federal workforce. Romney will not only halt this growth, but work to cut the current size of the federal workforce by 10 percent through attrition.
• Undertake fundamental restructuring.
• Pursue a balanced budget amendment.

Got to say this about Romney’s plan—it sure is comprehensive. Don’t think he left anything out. As for his executive orders all he needed to do is issue an executive order to exempt everyone from Obamacare (before Obamacare is reversed—as a backup plan) and to reverse all of Obama’s executive orders. I don’t believe any of them were good. You have to be careful about issuing executive orders. If you do too many it makes you look like a dictator and not a president. Especially if you are not letting Congress do their job. Then again some presidents may not care what they look like to the American people.

Not a bad plan. Not sure about the Human Capital policy. The Personal Reemployment Accounts sound like Bush’s Health Savings Account. Being educated is good if there are good jobs out there where you can use your education. Otherwise you are just educated and unemployed. Additionally, if you help out the highly educated foreigners that will just increase competition for Americans already looking for work. Nice for the employers, but not so nice for the job seekers. Don’t get me wrong. I am not against immigrants coming to America legally, but it seems to me they are already being hired and don’t really need much help. Presidential candidates should focus on growing the economy first. Everything else will follow.