I just saw a photo on the wall street journal of protesters holding up a giant banner saying "Capitalism Isn't Working" and it made me think of how pointless it is to make statements without context. I would ask these protesters to finish the statement by answering one specific question. That question? Compared to what?
There has blossomed this bizarre mindset that is the downside of the amazing growth the world has seen in the last thirty years and that is one that is unable to make comparative analysis. I mean there is no doubt that capitalism is going through a transition and that mistakes and judgement lapses that have caused real pain to real people have happened. But there has never been a time in humankind where every period of expansion hasn't resulted in a period of contraction. It's very peculiar how protesters don't seem to understand this very simple context adjustment. Do they believe that by some sort of well meaning fiat we can wish away the negative consequences and just kumbaya into a world of never ending growth? What is important here is context and that context can provide some startling realizations. The story of mankind is one of upward trajectory over Milena. Does anyone think that Feudalism or Imperialism or Nativisim would mean a warmer more fuzzy world today? Does anyone seriously believe that even in desperately poor countries their people are in most ways worse off? There is a burgeoning middle class in India that almost eclipses the entire population of the United States. Most of the suffering in the world today is caused by governments that AREN'T capitalist.
If capitalism isn't working (and there is no doubt that there is some grist in the gears) then what is the protesters solution? We have a long sorry history of every conceivable type of "ism" related to economics that has ended in abysmal failure that far exceeds even the worst capitalist crisis. Most other forms of economic control revolve around centralizing power and we have over 100 million corpses buried around the world to show how well centralized power and control works. Even forgetting about Nazism, Communism and Facism the only real alternatives in the world today are Islam and Militarism and it's doubtful most people in world would prefer those alternatives.
Throughout the world centralizing power has resulted in economic contraction, humanitarian suffering and government caused famines that have resulted in needless suffering far beyond anything the misguided protesters can fathom or stomach. From Robert Mugabee to the needless suffering in the Palestinian territories whose government gets billions in aid it spends on weapons to Sudan's Beshir there is no shortage of alternatives to capitalism being tried throughout the world. Even Russia, where an hour outside Moscow homes don't even have electricity, is spending their money on military rather than humanitarian needs.
Capitalism's biggest fault is that it is antithetical to centralized control and the tyranny of the anointed. What politicians and protesters cannot control they despise and demonize and in this case it seems that Barack Obama and Gordon Brown have friends in low places.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
Say What?????
So we now have GM being run by "experts" appointed by the Obama administration essentially. Well Mr. Wagoner, we hate to say we told ya' so but...... Ford had the right idea and deserves to have every American support their decision to fix their own problems and remain largely untethered from governmental intrustion into private markets. What I can say is that President Obama has shown complete disdain for free enterprise once again. When we look at the world around us we can see the glorious results of government run auto companies. I can not wait to get my hands on the "green" fuel efficient version of the YUGO. That's a very exciting idea that all of us should swoon over because the government "knows" what is best.
I for one, will be buying a Ford next as my way of supporting their moxie.
The most disturbing part of the press conference was Obama's statement that we need to reduce our dependence on "foreign oil.". I don't think even Conservatives would disagree on this one. However, Obama himself has hamstrung our efforts to do just that by rescinding Bush's executive order to open Federal Lands to exploration. The $147 barrel of oil completely collapsed at the very prospect of us doing this simple, logical act that would untether us from foregin dependency. Obama believes that the solution is not in greater supply but in tighter regulation and governmental control. So, he is going to design the kinds of cars HE thinks GM should produce, and they will. People will NOT buy them because gasoline is still the cheapest and best source of energy and it's cheap because it's plentiful not scarce. What he failed to mention in his speech is that the cars now sitting unbought on car dealership lots are Hybrids and Prius. This is because American's are greedy, gluttonous and obnoxious and don't care about the planet. Therefore it is up to the "experts" to force us into complaince. People deride those of us who fear socialist tendencies in the Obama administration but it looks eerily like Jonah Goldberg's Liberal Fascists are starting their march from Detroit and will be working their way into many corners of our lives.
That should make us all very, very scared indeed. The people aren't the problem....government is the problem. There is no scandal in the private sector that comes close to the waste, fraud and abuse that happens in government....NONE. The is no more dastardly idea today than the one that says a concentrated number of elites knows best what is good for the rest of us.
I for one, will be buying a Ford next as my way of supporting their moxie.
The most disturbing part of the press conference was Obama's statement that we need to reduce our dependence on "foreign oil.". I don't think even Conservatives would disagree on this one. However, Obama himself has hamstrung our efforts to do just that by rescinding Bush's executive order to open Federal Lands to exploration. The $147 barrel of oil completely collapsed at the very prospect of us doing this simple, logical act that would untether us from foregin dependency. Obama believes that the solution is not in greater supply but in tighter regulation and governmental control. So, he is going to design the kinds of cars HE thinks GM should produce, and they will. People will NOT buy them because gasoline is still the cheapest and best source of energy and it's cheap because it's plentiful not scarce. What he failed to mention in his speech is that the cars now sitting unbought on car dealership lots are Hybrids and Prius. This is because American's are greedy, gluttonous and obnoxious and don't care about the planet. Therefore it is up to the "experts" to force us into complaince. People deride those of us who fear socialist tendencies in the Obama administration but it looks eerily like Jonah Goldberg's Liberal Fascists are starting their march from Detroit and will be working their way into many corners of our lives.
That should make us all very, very scared indeed. The people aren't the problem....government is the problem. There is no scandal in the private sector that comes close to the waste, fraud and abuse that happens in government....NONE. The is no more dastardly idea today than the one that says a concentrated number of elites knows best what is good for the rest of us.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Stem Cell Ethics
Now that the ball has been cast back over the net into the embryonic stem cell camp itis amazing how few people are genuinely interested anymore. Obama waves a pen, signs an order and suddenly a really, really bad idea becomes law. What is at issue isn't the value of being able to use new and multiple cells to advance science. After all, Embryonic Stem cells haven't helped anyone to date be cured of anything. At the core of the debate is controlling the issue of when life begins. If we agree that embryonic stem cells are worthy of protecting then what are we saying an embryonic stem cells is? It is a life. Once we believe that it is worthy of protection the pro-abortion debate becomes mute and suddenly we have a grounds to end Roe V. Wade. I haven't heard this arguement anywhere else but I believe that it is largely true.
Good ideas always attract capital from investors and yet venture capital has largely steered away from embryonic stem cells. This is most likely because adult stem cells and cord blood have shown far more promise in the last few years, both are currently used in treatments, so it makes more sense to invest in something with promise.
The promise of embryonic stem cells is so far into the future that one could make the arguement that we should be focusing our efforts on things that are currently producing exciting results. It's conceiveable that the brilliant minds working on embryonic stem cells could speed any number of new therepies if their efforts were focused on things that are not things that might could maybe be.
I know many people will have volumes to say arguing my thesis but the truth is that not one person has been treated with embryonic stem cells. The arguments about adult stem cells not being as viable or easy to work with have been rendered mute.
embryonic stem cell research has been going on all over the world so one must wonder why the only major breakthrough we heard of turned out to be a fraudulent South Korean researcher Hwang Woo Suk.
Good ideas always attract capital from investors and yet venture capital has largely steered away from embryonic stem cells. This is most likely because adult stem cells and cord blood have shown far more promise in the last few years, both are currently used in treatments, so it makes more sense to invest in something with promise.
The promise of embryonic stem cells is so far into the future that one could make the arguement that we should be focusing our efforts on things that are currently producing exciting results. It's conceiveable that the brilliant minds working on embryonic stem cells could speed any number of new therepies if their efforts were focused on things that are not things that might could maybe be.
I know many people will have volumes to say arguing my thesis but the truth is that not one person has been treated with embryonic stem cells. The arguments about adult stem cells not being as viable or easy to work with have been rendered mute.
embryonic stem cell research has been going on all over the world so one must wonder why the only major breakthrough we heard of turned out to be a fraudulent South Korean researcher Hwang Woo Suk.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Health Care Lies
The truth about health care in this country comes down, like most things that liberals believe, to one of power and control. What is missing is the truth behind the numbers because the truth would do great disservice to their agenda of centralizing control. What is that truth??
That 40% of the people that are "uninsured" are under 24 years of age. Why is this significant? Two reasons, the first being that people under 24 are the largest group to CHOOSE to decline health care. Additionlly, they are most likely to be covered under SOMONE ELSE'S plan. In the restuarant industry where I work about 1 in 12 people elect to choose to be covered. Coverage is available to them, but they CHOOSE to spend their money in other ways. This is much more common than people would like to admit. Inability to participate is different than the freedom to choose to decline. Second is that of the total number of uninsured working FULL-TIME is just under 17% but the number of uninsured who haven't worked or work part time in the past year is a staggering 49%. Now, parse that number back a bit more and realize that a significant number of part time workers are also covered under someone else's plan, like their husband. This is the case in my home. We have amazing insurance but since my wife declined coverage at her job she is considered uninsured.
Additionally 22% of the uninsured earn over $50,000 per year and almost 9% make over $75,000 per year.
So, what we have is a much smaller number of people who are "uninsured" due to circumstance rather than choice. We don't need the government to solve this problem. We need to refocus our efforts on providing aid to the small segment that truly is needy rather than the "wow" statistics that help government quasi-socialists exert ever greater control over our lives.
This is important information because we are heading down a very scary path that has failed miserably around the world. Why we think we are so much better than everyone else at solving problems that have vexed other countries is beyond me.
Government run healthcare will be a disaster of epic proportions. Do we really want our healthcare system to resemble the VA system? That's not a dig on them, they are trying their best but are handcuffed by governmental interference. Our soldiers deserve better. Our people deserve better and our country deserves better.
My data was taken from: www.census.gov/prod/2008pubs/p60-235.pdf
That 40% of the people that are "uninsured" are under 24 years of age. Why is this significant? Two reasons, the first being that people under 24 are the largest group to CHOOSE to decline health care. Additionlly, they are most likely to be covered under SOMONE ELSE'S plan. In the restuarant industry where I work about 1 in 12 people elect to choose to be covered. Coverage is available to them, but they CHOOSE to spend their money in other ways. This is much more common than people would like to admit. Inability to participate is different than the freedom to choose to decline. Second is that of the total number of uninsured working FULL-TIME is just under 17% but the number of uninsured who haven't worked or work part time in the past year is a staggering 49%. Now, parse that number back a bit more and realize that a significant number of part time workers are also covered under someone else's plan, like their husband. This is the case in my home. We have amazing insurance but since my wife declined coverage at her job she is considered uninsured.
Additionally 22% of the uninsured earn over $50,000 per year and almost 9% make over $75,000 per year.
So, what we have is a much smaller number of people who are "uninsured" due to circumstance rather than choice. We don't need the government to solve this problem. We need to refocus our efforts on providing aid to the small segment that truly is needy rather than the "wow" statistics that help government quasi-socialists exert ever greater control over our lives.
This is important information because we are heading down a very scary path that has failed miserably around the world. Why we think we are so much better than everyone else at solving problems that have vexed other countries is beyond me.
Government run healthcare will be a disaster of epic proportions. Do we really want our healthcare system to resemble the VA system? That's not a dig on them, they are trying their best but are handcuffed by governmental interference. Our soldiers deserve better. Our people deserve better and our country deserves better.
My data was taken from: www.census.gov/prod/2008pubs/p60-235.pdf
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