Capitalism and Prices

Prices have a twofold function in the planning of capitalism. First, they enable the individual planner of capitalism to perform economic calculations. That is, they enable him to compute the money cost and/or money revenue of various modes of conduct. They tell businessmen to produce the products and use the methods of production that are anticipated to be the most profitable. They tell consumers to consume in the ways that, other things being equal, occasion the lowest cost. And they tell wage earners to work at the jobs that, other things being equal, pay the highest wages.

The second, corollary function of prices is that they coordinate the plans of each individual under capitalism with the plans of all other individuals. That is, prices serve to make each individual adjust his own plans to the relevant plans of all other individuals in the economic system.

Source: Capitalism: A Treaty on Economics (1998) by George Reisman.

Miscellaneous Thoughts Part 26

• It is better to have an irrational free-market than an irrational government.
• If the term “illegal alien” is a racist term then what about white Canadians crossing the border illegal from the north? The term can be applied to them as well.  Right? Just wondering out loud.
• The Left only hates the wealthy if they have not donated to a leftist Democrat candidate for political office.
• It’s not wise for Americans to invest in any country that is hostile to the US, unstable, or that has a low economic (possibly political) freedom rating.
• Humor: Sometimes spirits will attach themselves to objects. Like diamond earrings, gold watches, rare paintings, 100 dollar bills. You know objects like that.
• President Obama once said: “The individual at some point, must be able to say, ‘I have enough money.’” Well, I believe gov’t at some point, must be able to say, ‘I have enough power.’ The wealthy aren’t a threat to my freedom. But a powerful gov’t can be. It makes the laws.
• If gov’t “helped” the private sector by building roads and bridges then who made the tools and materials to build the roads and bridges? Not gov’t that’s for sure. 
• The Left believes that voter photo-id laws discriminate against the poor. To see Obama speak you must have a valid photo id. So, what does that say about Obama?
• Children’s book idea: Jordan the Accordion. An unhappy accordion searches for a polka band to play in. I see the book going number one in children’s books.
• Obama wants to see Romney’s tax records. Did he want to see Secretary of Treasurer Timothy Geithner’s tax records? Or even care about them? Probably not.

The Thoughts of David Hume

Commerce and liberty; liberty and refinement; refinement and the progress of the human spirit were all interrelated.

“It is impossible for the arts and sciences to arise, at first, among any people unless that people enjoy the blessing of a free government.”

Liberty was a fine thing, but it required a counterbalancing principle—something to remind us that human beings are creatures of their passions and that, left entirely to themselves, they become their passions’ slaves.

“In all governments,” Hume wrote, “there is a perpetual intestine struggle, open or secret, between Authority and Liberty, and neither of them can ever absolutely prevail in the contest.”

Authority that is absolute and uncontrolled ends by destroying society itself;

Source: How the Scots invented the Modern World: the true story of how western Europe's poorest nation created our world & everything in it (2001) by Arthur Herman.

Declaration of Independence from ObamaCare

When America declared its independence from King George III 1/3 was for independence, 1/3 was against, and 1/3 didn’t care either way. I wonder if that three-way split describes peoples opinions about ObamaCare.

Bill O’Reilly said the republicans need to come up with an alternative to ObamaCare and not just criticize it. How about this crazy idea: Why not buy your health insurance like every other insurance? It solves the portability issue, and drops down costs by increasing competition (someone will sooner or later create a website where you can comparison shop for health insurance like you do when buy car insurance). You can even have tax breaks and keep health saving accounts (HSAs) if you want. ObamaCare puts limits on those HSAs. Oh, yea if you wish to pay for your own health insurance out of your own pocket that’s fine. After all health insurance is a service. The Left calls it a right—thus socialized medicine is created like Frankenstein’s monster. ObamaCare calls paying-out-of-pocket a “free rider.” I call that your right. It’s your money after all.

Right now your job pays for your health insurance. But why should they? It is really their responsibility? That’s a cost to them. Why not make them pay for car insurance and life insurance too? All ObamaCare does is take it out of the hands of businesses and put it in the hands of the gov’t—total power play. I say put it directly in the hands of the private citizens. Let them decide how much health insurance they want. But then again the Left will say gov’t can decide better than the private citizen.

Is The Left Narcissistic?

According to the Organized Wisdom website these are the traits of narcissism:

1. You sometimes feel like you're the most important person in the room.  Definitely. The Left always feel they are the most important in any place or time. They feel they are the smartest and rational and everyone else is subhuman.
2. You often fantasize about the inevitable success, power, beauty, and romance that will enter your life. Not sure about beauty and romance, but success and power probably. Fantasizes about power definitely.  The Left always think they should be in power and will do just about anything to get and stay in power. All politicians are like this to a certain extent. Nature of the game I suppose. But the Left is more obsessive about power.
3. You believe that you're special, and that only a certain type of person can relate to you. The Left think they are more enlightened (especially the Elite) than everyone else and therefore can only socialize with other elitist radicals.
4. You are happiest when all eyes are on you and you're receiving praise. The Left don’t like anyone criticizing their policies, but love it when you agree with their policies.
5. You feel like you deserve better treatment than others, and that you should always get your way.  Yea, they do. Because they think they are always right and they’re policies are always right. And because they say they care, you better go along with what they tell you to do. After all sheep doesn’t question the shepherd.
6. You have gotten others to help you get what you want.  Through manipulation, coercion, and deception. That’s how the Left does it.
7. You  sometimes hurt people's feelings because you're not sensitive enough to other people's problems. This is because the Left doesn’t see people as individuals but as part of a class or group. Individual feelings and thoughts don’t matter.

The Digital Citizen's Bill of Rights

From the Gardian.co.uk (June 13):

Republican Darrell Issa, who led the charge against Sopa, is back with the first draft of a bill of rights for digital citizens House oversight committee chairman and firebrand Obama administration critic Darrell Issa is touting his first draft of a Digital Bill of Rights for internet denizens, and he's asking for the public's input.

Here is the Bill of Rights first draft:

1. Freedom – digital citizens have a right to a free, uncensored internet

2. Openness – digital citizens have a right to an open, unobstructed internet

3. Equality – all digital citizens are created equal on the internet

4. Participation – digital citizens have a right to peaceably participate where and how they choose on the internet

5. Creativity – digital citizens have a right to create, grow and collaborate on the internet, and be held accountable for what they create

6. Sharing – digital citizens have a right to freely share their ideas, lawful discoveries and opinions on the internet

7. Accessibility – digital citizens have a right to access the internet equally, regardless of who they are or where they are

8. Association – digital citizens have a right to freely associate on the internet

9. Privacy – digital citizens have a right to privacy on the internet

10. Property – digital citizens have a right to benefit from what they create, and be secure in their intellectual property on the internet [read more]

Pretty good. Not sure what 3. and 7. means. “Created equal on the internet”? Is that like “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”? Which of course is in the Declaration of Independence.

“Access the internet equally,..”? Again, kind of unclear what that means. I’m sorry but whenever I hear the words “equally” or “equality” unless it is in the Declaration of Independence I get nervous. Socialists and radicals like to talk about equality as in equal sharing. Issa might mean equal rights under the Constitution or as in all men are created equal since he is a conservative. But you never know.

So, You Want To Be A Vegetarian?

Here some things to think about:

GRASS PEA. Like most legumes, it is an excellent source of protein, but it has one serious drawback: it contains a neurotoxin called beta-N-oxalyl-diamino propionic acid, or beta-ODAP. The first symptom of beta-ODAP poisoning, or lathyrism, is a weakening of the legs. Eventually, the toxin kills nerve cells and victims become paralyzed from the waist down. Without treatment, they will die. If they are soaked for a long time in water or fermented in breads or pancakes, they pose little risk. Grass peas are one of the few food crops that can survive a serious drought.

CORN. Traditional recipes called for adding slaked lime or calcium hydroxide, a naturally occurring mineral, to corn. Without it, the niacin in corn cannot be absorbed. This is not a problem unless corn is eaten by itself and makes up most of a person’s diet. When that happens—as it did with early settlers who did not understand the risks—the result is a severe niacin deficiency called pellagra.

RHUBARB. The leaves of this Asian plant contain high levels of oxalic acid, which can cause weakness, difficulty breathing, gastrointestinal problems, and even coma and death in rare circumstances.

ELDERBERRY. Most parts of the plant, including the uncooked fruit, may contain varying levels of cyanide.

CASHEW. Cashews are part of the same botanical family as poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac. The cashew tree produces the same irritating oil, urushiol. The nut itself is perfectly safe to consume, but if it comes into contact with any part of the shell during harvest, it will give the person who eats it a nasty rash.

RED KIDNEY BEAN. Perfectly safe and healthy, except if eaten raw or undercooked. The harmful compound in kidney beans is called phytohaemagglutinin, and it can bring on severe nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. People usually recover quickly, but it takes only four or five raw beans to bring on these extreme symptoms.

POTATO. This member of the dreaded nightshade family contains a poison called solanine, which can bring on burning and gastrointestinal symptoms and even coma and death in rare cases. Cooking a potato will kill most of the solanine in it, but if a potato has been exposed to the light long enough for its skin to turn green, that may be a sign of increased levels of solanine.

Source: Wicked Plants (2009) by Amy Stewart.

So, be careful out there and watch what you eat! (In all fairness, I like peas, corn, cashews, red kidney beans and potatoes.)

What Wisconsin Means

From the Washington Post opinion by Charles Krauthammer:

The real threat behind all  [Gov. Walker’s reforms], however, was that the new law ended automatic government collection of union dues. That was the unexpressed and politically inexpressible issue. That was the reason the unions finally decided to gamble on a high-risk recall.

Without the thumb of the state tilting the scale by coerced collection, union membership became truly voluntary. Result? Newly freed members rushed for the exits. In less than one year, AFSCME, the second-largest public-sector union in Wisconsin, has lost more than 50 percent of its membership.

It was predictable. In Indiana, where Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) instituted by executive order a similar reform seven years ago, government-worker unions have since lost 91 percent of their dues-paying membership. In Wisconsin, Democratic and union bosses (a redundancy) understood what was at stake if Walker prevailed: not benefits, not “rights,” but the very existence of the unions. [read more]

Isn’t that interesting. It’s all about power with the Left.

Hat tip: The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation newsletter.

Obama’s Third-Party History

From National Review Online (June 7):

On the evening of January 11, 1996, while Mitt Romney was in the final years of his run as the head of Bain Capital, Barack Obama formally joined the New Party, which was deeply hostile to the mainstream of the Democratic party and even to American capitalism. In 2008, candidate Obama deceived the American public about his potentially damaging tie to this third party. The issue remains as fresh as today’s headlines, as Romney argues that Obama is trying to move the United States toward European-style social democracy, which was precisely the New Party’s goal.

Recently obtained evidence from the updated records of Illinois ACORN at the Wisconsin Historical Society now definitively establishes that Obama was a member of the New Party. He also signed a “contract” promising to publicly support and associate himself with the New Party while in office. [read more]

The New Party was a political organization founded in 1992 by Daniel Cantor and Joel Rogers, with the objective of electing leftist or socialist individuals to public office in several states; the goal was to move the Democratic Party further to the left, with the ultimate objective of creating a major third party whose platform is Marxism.

Obama being a member of a radical third party is not too surprising. In his autobiography he said he hung around with radicals and Marxists. Let’s not forget that he told a private citizen when he was campaigning for POTUS that spreading the wealth around was a good idea.

Who also belonged to this far-Left party?

• Gloria Steinem
• Cornel West, current advisor to Obama's campaign

President John Adams’ Thoughts on Power, Gov’t, and Liberty

His thoughts are in bold face.

Because power corrupts, society's demands for moral authority and character increase as the importance of the position increases.

So, true. He is basically explaining why we need moral leaders in power.

Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.

Fear is the foundation of most governments.

The happiness of society is the end of government.

Power always thinks it has a great soul and vast views beyond the comprehension of the weak; and that it is doing God's service when it is violating all his laws.

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.

But a Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever.

Children should be educated and instructed in the principles of freedom.

Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people.

Property must be secured, or liberty cannot exist.

The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the law of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence.

In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three or more is a congress.

Gotta love that one! Even back then! It’s no wonder that the Left doesn’t like the Founders with quotes like these.

US Special Ops commander: We’ve sent troops into North Korea

From Daily Caller.com (May 28):

U.S. Army Gen. Neil Tolley, commander of U.S. Special Operations Forces in South Korea, told an audience in Tampa that U.S. and South Korean forces have been sent into North Korea to spy on the communist country’s vast collection of underground tunnels and military installations.

The extraordinary admission, which went unreported by U.S. media, came on May 22 during the Special Operations Forces Industry Conference. Tolley said his command has identified 20 airfields and 180 munitions factories that are partially underground, along with thousands of subterranean artillery positions.

North Korea, he said, has dug tunnels underneath the Demilitarized Zone separating it from the South. “There were four tunnels under the DMZ,” Tolley observed, according to a Tampa Tribune blogger. “Those are the ones we know about.” [read more]

Tunnels under the DMZ, huh? Either the N. Koreans are trying to escape their country (which I don’t blame them) or the new leader of N. Korea is up to no good.  Those special ops guys really earn their pay.

The Advantages of Localism in Welfare

This extract is from Daniel Hannan’s 2010 book The New Road to Serfdom. A Letter of Warning to America:

First, large bureaucracies create unintended consequences. Where states and counties can tailor their policies to suit local needs, a uniform system that covers 300 million people is bound to contain loopholes, tempting into dependency some who were never envisaged as claimants.
Second, proximity facilitates discernment. Person A may be a deserving widow who has been unlucky, while person B is a layabout. Local caseworkers may see this clearly. But if the universal rules handed down from Washington place the two applicants in the same category, they must be treated identically.
Third, pluralism spreads best practice. The freedom to innovate means that local authorities will come up with ideas and pilot schemes that Washington  would never have dreamed of.
Fourth, non-state agents – churches, charities, businesses – are likelier to involve themselves in local projects than in national schemes, and such organizations are far better at taking people out of poverty than are government agencies.
Fifth, localism transforms attitudes. In Europe, many see benefit fraud as cheating "the system" rather than cheating their neighbors. People would take a very different attitude toward, say, the neighbor whom we knew to be claiming incapacity benefit while working as an electrician if they felt the impact in their local tax bill.
Finally, and perhaps most important, localism undergirds the notion of responsibility: our responsibility to support ourselves if we can, and our responsibility to those around us – not an abstract category of "the underprivileged", but visible neighbors – who, for whatever reason, cannot support themselves. No longer is obligation discharged when we have paid our taxes. Localism, in short, makes us better citizens.

Make good sense to me. But the arrogant elitist politicians who are addicted to power will balk at following or even considering this advice.

Touché: Enhancing Touch Interaction on Humans, Screens, Liquids, and Everyday Objects

This technology is from Disney Research Hub. I guess Disney could use this technology in their theme parks somehow. Here is what the research department say about the technology:

Touché proposes a novel Swept Frequency Capacitive Sensing technique that can not only detect a touch event, but also recognize complex configurations of the human hands and body. Such contextual information significantly enhances touch interaction in a broad range of applications, from conventional touchscreens to unique contexts and materials.

As one of the comments said, this technology could even be used for death people using sign language to communicate with the hearing community. Have the device hooked up to the death person’s hands and an audio output that corresponds to the sign language. For instance, if the death person signs “hello” then a computer-like device could say the word “hello.”

Interesting technology.

Toyota Concept Electric Car Resembles Recliner Chair

From News Max.com (May 1):

Toyota has come up with a personal concept vehicle that can hit 20 mph and resembles a souped-up Barcalounger.

The i-Real electric personal vehicle is controlled by two joysticks and was unveiled at the 2012 Beijing International Automotive Exhibition, London’s Daily Mail reported. [read more]

This vehicle is only meant for customers in China. Only 20 mph huh? I guess it is not meant for highway driving. This electric car is going to make all the environuts happy in China and over here.

Here’s something to ponder: If the demand for electric cars goes up in the future that could put stress on the electric grid just like when everyone put their air conditioners on when it gets very hot out. The only way around this is to make the cars run on solar power. Or the owner has a solar generator he can plug the car into.

And if the battery goes dead in an electric car (or even a hybrid for that matter) the car becomes a dead weight, ie it totally locks up. You can’t even it try to push it like you would with a regular gasoline car. Or in a hybrid if you run out of gas even if the battery is fully charged the car shuts down. Popular Mechanics tested this scenario. The car manufacturers do this to protect the battery because it is so expensive to make.

Miscellaneous Thoughts Part 25

• If the Left can destroy self-discipline, creativity, critical thought (especially about gov’t power) and individuality in people then that will make the people dependent on gov’t. The Left will then state “See the masses cannot rule themselves. We were right all along. The masses need big gov’t to keep them in control.”
• I believe NDErs are messengers for God. They should not be worshiped though. They have just had an incredible mystical experience.  For those Christian skeptics who don’t believe their message remember if God can raise Jesus from the dead, He can raise any mortal from the dead. 
• Giving more money to a gov’t program that doesn’t work is like filling the tank of a broken down car with gas. You are wasting gasoline. Either fix the car or get a new car. Whichever is less expensive.
• Gov’t can’t rush technology. Technology has to mature at its own natural rate. Businesses have to get most of the imperfections out of the product before it enters the market. Also, businesses have to research a product before manufacturing it. And that takes time too.
• The Left sees the economy as a static system (the rich get richer, etc.) because they don’t know how to grow the economy (they know how to grow gov’t though). Because of that belief they think an economy that doesn’t grow is normal.
• Humor: A team leader of a group is great. If the group screws up you can blame another member, and if the group does a great job you can take the credit.
• Humor: There should be a sequel to The Pianist called The Accordionist.  Not!
• Do you think The New York Times ever called President Obama a “white African?” They called George Zimmerman a “white Hispanic.”
• If Romney gets elected and issues an executive order to exempt everyone from Obamacare (which I hope he does) that could be called the Second Emancipation Proclamation. This is assuming the Supreme Court rules Obamacare constitutional.
• To a Leftist, a good decent job is a gov’t job. You could also call it their dream job.

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.