All That Is Necessary

It Is My Life, Not Yours

I read too much news.  It is depressing most of the time.  Every day you read about people trying to control other people, mostly through the threat of force.  I realize that has been the way of human life since we appeared on this planet.  Life was short, hard, and brutal.

But a few hundred years ago an incredible collection of men came together and brought forth a new way of existence.  Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, Madison, Jay, and other giants drew up a document that would create the greatest, most free, most powerful nation to ever exist on this planet.  Perfect?  Of course not.  But the best structure to ever exist to-date.

Why so great?  Because it recognized that people are born with a creator-given right to life, liberty and property.  Not government-given!  Every person born on this planet is an individual with all the rights mentioned above.  It is government that has taken them away over our history. 

As Jefferson warned us, the tendency of government is to grow and freedom diminish.  That has happened to the USA.  We are no longer free.  We may be "more free" than most other countries, by we are definitely not as free as we used to be.

This makes me angry.  (An angry white male!  Uh oh!  Notify the Gestapo, um, I mean Homeland Security.)

What also angers me is that voters have forgotten that the Constitution was written to strictly limit the power of the Federal government.  My, how times have changed.  We have become a nation of freeloaders and babies incapable of standing on our own two feet.  Freedom?  Too scary.  We vote for servitude instead.

I want to live my life based on my natural rights.  As long as my choices do not take away the rights of another person, leave me the hell alone.  It is MY life to live, not yours to govern.

Americans Come in ALL Colors

Just saw this political ad by way of The Jawa Report.  This woman is running for Congress in Utah as a Conservative.  This commercial makes me almost want to move to Utah so I can vote FOR her!

As you can see, she also happens to be black. But guess what? Freedom-loving conservatives don't care about the color of one's skin. It is the content of her character and her beliefs that matter. Go figure.

Real Americans come in ALL colors and persuasions.

Pat Condell On European Democracy

Mr. Condell is fired up in this one.  Great video.

Choice is Hard

Having to make a decision, or choice, is hard. You must use available information, or search out this information on a particular matter, think about the information, and then, based on your own unique set of circumstances and beliefs, make the decision that is best for you, and live with the consequences.

This is why most people would rather be told what to do.  This is why most people want the government, mosque, town hall, ANYONE, to make the decision for them. 

Government has not grown on its own.  Yes, politicians ALWAYS want more power, but they rely on the lazy "non-individuals" to grant them that power.  Take pretty any government program. The purpose is usually to allow a person to abdicate the need for decision making and pass that duty on to a government official.

I think that may be why Islam is so popular in a lot of the world.  In Islam there is no thinking allowed, no choice, no individualism.  There is only sharia law based on the Koran and related teaching.  Islam is the extreme, but other systems are close like some other deeply fundamental religions, communism, etc. 

People give up the natural right to freedom all too easily these days, and then demand others to give up their freedom as well.  They must know, deep down, they are making the wrong choice, so they require others to do so, too.  When you submit to your slave-master you do not want to see others enjoying any sort of freedom.

Look around the world today.  You can see the result of the fall of freedom, of liberty, of choice. 

Yes, choice is hard.  Slavery is easy. 

"You can choose a ready guide in some celestial voice.
If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.
You can choose from phantom fears and kindness that can kill;
I will choose a path that's clear
I will choose freewill."

(The band Rush - Freewill)

 

Real Hope Is Possible - Energy

I've read a few places that while 20 years ago we only produced about 50% of our energy needs, today, in just the last few years, we are up to over 70%.  NO THANKS TO THE GOVERNMENT!  All due to new technology put in place by PRIVATE INDUSTRY on newly discovered oil and gas fields, or older fields that are now feasible.  This is big stuff!

This improvement in supplying our own energy is despite constant obstacles put in place by the federal government.  If the federal government would get the hell out of the way there is real hope, real hope, for our future as far as energy is concerned.  We could quickly become energy independent.  We have massive energy deposits all over the country that the government will not allow to be tapped.

You want real hope?  It is there.  Vote wisely next November.

Bastiat's 'Broken Window' For Today's Youth

Frederic Bastiat wrote a piece in 1850 titled "That Which is Seen, and That Which is Not Seen". 

I thought it might be a good idea to takes each of the sections of the paper and re-write them using modern language, terms, circumstances and dollars.  The whole thing is well worth your time to read at the above link.  My version will be quicker, though maybe not as satisfying.  It is written with the hope more people will think about the economy and governance with freedom in mind.

The first section is THE BROKEN WINDOW:

I'm sure you've seen the convenience store where a car inevitably manages to drive right into one of those big plate glass windows.  Not a pretty sight.  And no doubt you've said, in consolation to the manager - "It is an ill wind that blows nobody good. Everybody must live, and what would become of the glaziers if panes of glass were never broken?"  OK, maybe you didn't say it the way Bastiat said it, but you probably thought that at least the glass company will get some work.

Wrong!  That is not the way to think about it, even though most people do so, particularly the ones currently in charge in D.C.

Those windows are big and expensive.  Suppose it cost $500 to repair the damage.  You figure the glass company now has $500 it didn't have before.  You are correct.  You can see that the glass company has an additional $500.  All this is that which is seen.

This might lead some to think that if breaking one window generates new business, than we should break more windows!  Generate a LOT of new business.  NO!  You are only thinking about that which you can see.

What you do not see is that now that the convenience store had to spend $500 on a new window he cannot spend that $500 on other things.  He cannot buy more stock for his store or a new bicycle to ride to work.  (He lives close to the store.)  If this accident had not occurred he could have spent that money in other ways.

OK, pay attention, this is key.

Thinking of the overall situation, you can see the glass company got $500.  You cannot see the bike store will not get $500.

$500 was spent to repair a window.  The owner now has $500 less just to get back to his original position.

If the window had not been broken the owner would still have his window AND a new bike.

Looking at the big picture, with the broken window, society has lost the $500 it cost to repair it.  With no broken window, society still has the window and a new bicycle.

Here is Bastiat's explanation.  (It is plain in any age.)  When we arrive at this unexpected conclusion: "Society loses the value of things which are uselessly destroyed;" and we must assent to a maxim which will make the hair of protectionists stand on end - To break, to spoil, to waste, is not to encourage national labour; or, more briefly, "destruction is not profit."

You must always take into account that which you cannot see.  In this instance you see the convenience store owner has a window again.  You see the glass company has $500.  You do not see the bike store has lost $500.  It is the "bike store" that remains in the shadow, never seen.  "Society" is out the new bike.

We see this idea even today.  Recently "renowned" economists were stating that the destruction by the recent hurricanes would lead to economic growth.  Billions will have to be spent to only bring us back to where we were before.  That is money that cannot be spent on other things.  Nope.  Destruction is not profit.

Also, even though we are talking about destruction of a window, this also applies to government restrictions on the store owner.  What must be spent complying with rules and regulation is as lost to society as that new bike.

(I do recommend you read the original in the link above.  My attempt should be considered the "fast food" version.)

The Main Reason For All Our Troubles

What is the main reason for all the troubles we face in the USA, and what citizens all over the world face?

GOVERNMENT!

I don't care what sort of government you have, communist, socialist, crony-capitalism(USA), whatever.  Virtually all problems can be traced to the impact of government once it goes beyond the very minimal duties required of it.  Even our Constitutional system, which was as close to as perfect a system as the world have ever seen, was almost immediately under attack by the very people who wrote it.

Government does one thing - control.  Under its control it forces private citizens to hand over money or assets to a central authority at the point of a gun, federal state and local.  The central authority then spends this wealth as it sees fit.  Over time the central authority grows and grows.  It never willingly shrinks.  After it gets the money it goes on to rules and regulations. 

As government takes more control of the economy things deteriorate.  Government produces nothing, it only consumes.  It is a dead weight, a drag on the economy.

In the USA we started off with a relatively "clean slate" after much sacrifice.  We have lost freedoms ever since.  Now we are at the point where government is so massive and so powerful that the individual is lost.  Don't believe me?  Today, as you go through you day, pay attention to all the rules and regulations you have to comply with, how much you pay in taxes on everything you buy and any money you make.  Then tell me you are free.

Damn, depressing post.  But all of it true.

I Just Mentioned Stupidity And Guess What?

I had just told you to expect more stupidity from the Ruling Class, that would be the government in D.C., and its minions.  Then I stumble across this article:

Energy in America: Keystone XL's Oil Sands Pipeline Up in the Air

Just read these highlights and cry a little:

"TransCanada wants to build a 2,000-mile pipeline from the oil sands of Alberta to refineries in Texas, known as the Keystone XL.

While supporters say it would create up to 20,000 construction jobs, generate tens of billions of dollars a year in tax revenue and improve energy security, opponents argue it would harm the environment and feed the nation’s addiction to oil.

Before TransCanada can build the new pipeline, it needs approval from the U.S. State Department.

“We’re ready to build this pipeline,” Robert Jones of TransCanada said, “to create tens of thousands of direct jobs.”

The State Department issued its Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement in April citing the benefits of the project and its “limited impact” on the environment.

But in June the Environmental Protection Agency wrote the State Department a letter criticizing the review as “inadequate” because “significant impacts were not evaluated.”

Among the EPA’s concerns: Spill impacts, greenhouse gases and the pipeline route that goes right through a critical aquifer in Nebraska, including the Ogallala Aquifer that serves 30 percent of the nation’s agriculture."

We have a ready, willing and able source of oil right over the border in Canada that will send almost a million barrels a day(!) to Texas for refining and our idiotic, stupid government is killing it.  Tens of thousands of jobs, billions in revenue, very little real environmental risk at a time our economy is in the toilet.

Makes you want to throw up at the stupidity.

Oh, and if we don't take this opportunity?:

"Alberta’s Energy Minister, Ron Liepert, says oil sands production is ramping way up as the price of crude remains high.

“I can assure that if the United States feels the TransCanada pipeline is not important to get oil to the Gulf Coast,” Liepert said, “there are other markets in the world."

This is just too much.

Pat Condell On UK Riots

Love this:

We Can Take One Of Two Paths

Saw this in one of the comments over at The Market Ticker:

"More than any time in history mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness, the other to total extinction. Let us pray that we have the wisdom to choose correctly."

Woody Allen