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?

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Greenspan exposed

Another great article from the Mises Institute, this one exposing the former Fed boss Alan Greenspan. Unfortunately for America, Greenspan tried to nullify the fundamental laws of economics. Once of his worst sins was printing money, and printing money, and printing money. The "Great Printer" printed so much in the 90's that the NASDAQ went up ten times in ten years! That's not really supposed to happen, and it all began to unravel in 2000.

So when your friends tell you it was the "free market" that caused all of our problems, just have them go to mises.org or here to find out the truth.

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Capitalism at its finest

Walt Disney was a wealthy man. Why? Because he pleased millions of people. One of his dreams, Disney World, is a true testament to the power of the most moral economic system on the planet: capitalism.

Having just returned from my first visit there, I am still blown away. The food was great, service awesome, shows and rides incredible. And it costs Disney World a fortune to provide all of that to the world. The payroll at the Magic Kingdom alone is $1.1 billion a year. The amount spent on maintenance: $100 million!

Anyone who advocates socialism should spend a few days at Disney World. No government in the world can plan the parks the way the Disney corporation has. Without the incentive that capitalism provides, a government-run theme park would be a disaster. The government can't even run a simple railroad (AMTRAK) properly - so how could they plan theme parks that employ thousands? The old saying will always hold true: markets work, central planning doesn't.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Big Brother wants you slimmer

The ever-expanding and meddling state is at it again. Soon, they will control all aspects of our lives, just as George Orwell wrote in 1984. Amazingly, the war on the fat, which began recently, continues with a possible obesity tax. As reported in the Financial Times (courtesy of prudentbear.com):

New York state could impose an “obesity tax” on high-calorie soft drinks such as non-diet versions of Coke and Pepsi as public concerns over obesity turn potentially fattening foods into a politically acceptable target for taxation.

Soon nothing will be safe from the clutches of the state. That's one reason why I fight it and wear my Albert Jay Nock t-shirt (purchased from the Mises Institute) which bears the slogan: "Our enemy the state."

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Ron Everitt wants reparations

Ron Everitt, who calls himself Maulana Karenga, is the man who started the holiday known as Kwanzaa. He's an interesting character for sure, and he wants to violate your property rights by taking your money. As he wrote in 2005 about reparations:

" . . . reparations also requires compensation in various forms. Compensation can never be simply money payoffs either individually or collectively. Nor should the movement for reparations be reduced to simply a quest for compensation without addressing the other four aspects. Indeed, compensation itself is a multidimensional demand and option and may involve not only money, but land, free health care, housing, free education from grade school through college, etc."

Interestingly, he spent almost four years in a California state prison for assaulting and torturing over a two-day period two women from an organization he founded. The conviction was for felony assault and false imprisonment. According to the wikipedia account on him, he embraced Marxism while in prison.

I'll admit I don't know enough about the man, but I'm sure I don't want to celebrate a holiday started by some guy born on a poultry farm in Maryland and who embraces communism while wanting to violate my property rights.

By the way, everybody, Merry Christmas!