Capitalism vs. Our Current American Economic Model

It seems some folks are unclear on the differences between capitalism and the big business-government crony system we currently have. The two could not be farther apart. When there is corrupt behavior in a capitalist system, competition and civil courts can deal with that. The corruptocratic institutional system we now have has as its purpose the filling of politicians’ pockets and “bureaucraps'” rice bowls. From the consumer’s POV, it’s the worst of both capitalism unrestrained by market forces and the typical socialist model: politicians and their cronies are massively favored, enriched, and protected.

Of course, the 19th Century system that evolved into our current regulatory state was almost as corrupt. The monopolies and cartels “feddle gummint” regulations against monopolies and cartels were designed to deal with were either created or enabled by government intervention in the market. A good example of the regulatory state: create or exacerbate a problem in order to expand the scope of government, allowing perpetuation of the problem at a rate regulated only by the amount of graft.

And so it goes. Meanwhile, the sheeple never wise up, looking to the creators of the problems to solve them, against those creators’ perceived best interests. Suckers.

“Helicopter Nanny State” Wants All Parents to be “Helicopter Parents”

“Don’t Leave Your Kids Near Judgmental Strangers” highlights once again the evils of “No Child Alone–EVER!” societal/judicial constructs.

Frankly, I think parents who are unjustly harassed by nosy parker buttinskis should go on the offensive and sue ’em (defamation? Something like that), demanding p-sych evaluations, background checks, and more. Put the (steel-toed, spike-soled) shoe on the other foot. . . and give ’em a really swift, hard kick in the “fundamentals” with it.

Repeatedly. Until, they go away and stay away.

Thomas Sowell for Emperor?

I’d vote for Thomas Sowell for Emperor, but his character has something missing from King Putz and his ilk: One of the prerequisites for a GOOD “emperor”– that if offered the gig, he’d turn it down, legitimately do everything he could do to avoid having “imperial” powers, instead of, like modern pseudo kings, assume illegitimate power over others.

Yeh, Thomas Sowell would make a better emperor than Marcus Aurelius, at least partially because he has no desire at all for the job.

Timely, once again:

Recessional

Rudyard Kipling

G0D of our fathers, known of old,
Lord of our far-flung battle-line,
Beneath whose awful Hand we hold
Dominion over palm and pine
Lord God of Hosts be with us yet,
Lest we forget – lest we forget!
The tumult and the shouting dies;
The Captains and the Kings depart:
Still stands Thine ancient sacrifice,
An humble and a contrite heart.
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget – lest we forget!

Far-called, our navies melt away;
On dune and headland sinks the fire:
Lo, all our pomp of yesterday
Is one with Nineveh and Tyre!
Judge of the Nations, spare us yet,
Lest we forget – lest we forget!

If, drunk with sight of power, we loose
Wild tongues that have not Thee in awe,
Such boastings as the Gentiles use,
Or lesser breeds without the Law
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget – lest we forget!

For heathen heart that puts her trust
In reeking tube and iron shard,
All valiant dust that builds on dust,
And guarding, calls not Thee to guard,
For frantic boast and foolish word
Thy mercy on Thy People, Lord!

Warning Signs

1.) The book blurb for a self-pub contains orthographic and grammar errors as egregious as this, first sentence of a blurb did,

“A global flu pandemic has wiped out ninety nine [sic] percent of the worlds [sic] population.”

The first page of the book includes, among other offenses, “He staggered back, unable to breath.”

You might well, with signs like this, think, “Hmmm, Cupcake, if you haven’t bothered to learn basic English, why should you expect to have English speakers/readers buy your book?”

Oh, and if “Cupcake” thinks so highly of his own subliterate capabilities (and is so dismissive of his readers) as to eschew paying a competent line editor to mend his execrable grasp of grammar and vocabulary, well, that’s another strike against him and his “literary” non-efforts.

(And yeh, the butchery of English continued in that case, until I finally exited the snippet and sought some mind-cleansing in better-written text.)

Note: there is a lot of non-fiction written nowadays that is just as bad as in the fiction referred to above. Damn democratic influences in the arts! *heh*

Taxes Are Theft?

Every now and then, I see the “Taxes are theft” meme crop up again. It’s simplistic and wrong. Taxes are only theft when government begins to apply revenue thus gained in violation of its essential purpose: the protection of individual rights and liberties. As long as government hews closely to its legitimate purpose, and taxes are not obtained through coercion, taxes are not theft.

Of course, this means that taxes are theft. . . *sigh*

Marco Rubio Gives Me a Rash

I don’t trust Marco Rubio any farther than I can walk on water.

Rubio would make a decent vice president, with Cruz holding his leash and occasionally rubbing his nose in his messes, but his serial misrepresentations (OK, outright lies: saying one thing in English and another in Spanish, for example) of his own positions on alien invaders qualifies him only for a couple of terms being “paper trained,” IMO.

Like most proponents of amnesty for alien invaders (and despite his “nuanced” lies, that’s exactly what he holds for), he also sets straw men up as the only alternatives to his amnesty (no matter what he disingenuously calls it) proposals.

Moreover, He makes some good “Christ talk” from time to time, but his lies say his “Christianity” is suspect.

Do note: Rubio talks a good game on many policy issues, and even when making moral arguments, but his outright lies on the issue of alien invaders and amnesty call all his “good game talk” into question, for

He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. ~ Luke 16:10

Rubio has proven he cannot even be trusted to keep his lies straight, and that’s no little thing.

Historically Clueless, Unable to Reason

This is how the writer of a PM article sums up the revelation of one Cold War contingency plan:

“The document is a frightening alternative history of what could have been, during one of the most tense eras in our nation’s history. Thankfully it didn’t come to this. There’s no telling to what extent the Eastern Bloc may have retaliated.” [emphasis added]

Moron. The plan as described would have virtually obliterated any possible response before it could be initiated. That was the point: to develop a plan for an overwhelming response to an attack.

MAD was not insane. It relied on a basic human need for self-preservation. As such, it may have stretched dependence on rationality, but its very credibility was integral to winning the Cold War. . . which the US did, before throwing the fruits of victory to the winds.

Here’s the article.