In a civilized society, should anyone or any government ever force anyone to do anything against his or her will as long as that person does not infringe upon the life, liberty, or property of another?

Monday, April 28, 2008

Doctors and politicians think alike

Doctors and politicians think alike - most of each don't understand the market. As you can read here in this article, the Massachusetts health care plan for "all" is in need of more money. The politicians who rammed this through a few years ago, including former governor Mitt Romney, don't understand that you can't repeal the fundamental laws of economics. The inevitable always occurs when you introduce socialism into a system: long lines, shortages, higher costs, less quality, and ultimately, rationing.

Not amazingly, in Sunday's Houston Chronicle (April 27), two doctors wrote a short op-ed calling for more socialism, in this case, a "single-payer" system. The "single-payer" is the government. They state that "free market plans will not work." Well, we used to have a free market in health care and it worked just fine. Then two massive interventions, one in 1965 and another in 1973, destroyed the market and created the terrible situation we have today.

Come on docs, stick to what you know: medicine. Stop dabbling in a field you just proved you know nothing about - economics. The only solution is a complete free-market health care system. Prices will drop dramatically, quality will rise, and the debate will be removed from the American news every night. You don't hear the news debating the continued rise in computer, dvd, shirt, or hamburger costs, do you? Oh yeah, that's right, we have a market in those.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Time to watch Gattaca again

In the movie Gattaca with Ethan Hawke, Jude Law and Uma Thurman, the state has collected the DNA of everyone on the planet. Futuristic for sure, and it could never happen to us, right? Well, the state has just announced they will begin the process in Amerika, I mean America. Read the article here, and remember 2008 when you're getting your mouth swabbed in the future.

Friday, April 11, 2008

People want another New Deal?

Thanks to mises.org for posting a nice, short article about how some are now calling for a new New Deal. Why would we want another round of government agencies that interfere in the market with the inevitable result that we will all be less prosperous? The New Deal was a disaster and prolonged the Great Depression. Its long list of new agencies, bureaus, departments, and commissions spent billions while Americans were waiting on bread lines. The AAA, or Agricultural Adjustment Administration, paid farmers to plow under their crops and murder their livestock!

Please, pundits, learn some history and economics. Stop calling for more government interference in the economy and violations of our property rights. Isn't 70 years of Keynesian economics enough?

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

U.S. shoots itself in the foot once again

History shows that most, if not all, of U.S. intervention abroad eventually comes back to haunt us. As you read this article, ask yourself if it is happening once again. Have we actually made Iran stronger and in a better position than they were in five years ago? Is this yet another example of the U.S. shooting itself in the foot?

(thanks to antiwar.com for the link to this article)