Free kibbles

FASCISM:

Ownership probably doesn't mean what you think it means:

"Ownership means that you have legal "title" to a resource, good, or commodity. Control means that you have the ability to determine how a resource, good, or commodity is used. While it would seem as though these two always go together, such is not the case. People generally have ownership and control over their labor and personal property (clothing, furniture, canned goods, etc.). But in some circumstances ownership is absent of control and control exists without ownership."

Having a title may exclude other individuals from having control of your property, but the government exercises tremendous control over property. Think about every regulation on the books. That's government control. We have so many regulations on the books, especially regarding business, that the government exercises tremendous control of corporations. That's called economic fascism which we suffer under in the US.

"The essence of fascism, therefore, is that government should be the master, not the servant, of the people. Think about this. Does anyone in America really believe that this is not what we have now? Are Internal Revenue Service agents really our "servants"? Is compulsory "national service" for young people, which now exists in numerous states and is part of a federally funded program, not a classic example of coercing individuals to serve the state? Isn't the whole idea behind the massive regulation and regimentation of American industry and society the notion that individuals should be forced to behave in ways defined by a small governmental elite? When the nation's premier health-care reformer recently declared that heart bypass surgery on a 92-year-old man was "a waste of resources," wasn't that the epitome of the fascist ideal-that the state, not individuals, should decide whose life is worthwhile, and whose is a "waste"?"

Fascism except where it's classic socialism. Fascism and socialism are closely related collectivist ideologies. The power of taxation makes the government the master, and it must be taken away in order for the people to be free. Government must be funded solely by voluntary contributions from the people.

"From an economic perspective, fascism meant (and means) an interventionist industrial policy, mercantilism, protectionism, and an ideology that makes the individual subservient to the state. "Ask not what the State can do for you, but what you can do for the State" is an apt description of the economic philosophy of fascism."

I hate that Kennedy quote.

"Virtually all of the specific economic policies advocated by the Italian and German fascists of the 1930s have also been adopted in the United States in some form, and continue to be adopted to this day. Sixty years ago, those who adopted these interventionist policies in Italy and Germany did so because they wanted to destroy economic liberty, free enterprise, and individualism. Only if these institutions were abolished could they hope to achieve the kind of totalitarian state they had in mind.

Many American politicians who have advocated more or less total government control over economic activity have been more devious in their approach. They have advocated and adopted many of the same policies, but they have always recognized that direct attacks on private property, free enterprise, self-government, and individual freedom are not politically palatable to the majority of the American electorate. Thus, they have enacted a great many tax, regulatory, and income-transfer policies that achieve the ends of economic fascism, but which are sugar-coated with deceptive rhetoric about their alleged desire only to "save" capitalism."

The deception has been wildly successful. I can't help but think many Americans will soon share this sentiment: They thought they were free. People who claim American isn't fascist because it doesn't have the racism are either ignorant or dishonest. Economic fascism is the core of fascism. In fascism, government picks winners and losers at the point of its gun. This create deep divisions in the people as they fight to be chosen as winners and to make some other people losers. In these battles, people naturally align with those similar to themselves and against those who are different. The result is racism, and the more aggressive the government, the more virulent the racism. Racism isn't a cause of fascism, it's an inevitable consequence of it.

TAX AND SPEND:

I don't know if this is much of a silver lining, but at least when the government collapses, the police state will end.

"The Madoff case is classic. All that government regulation, so little awareness! The reports got filed on time. The SEC was tipped off to chicanery. Yet nothing was done. Why not?

Mises told us why not. The government does not know how to price anything rationally. It cannot determine which cases are worth pursuing and which are not. There are no official guidelines that provide insight.

Here is the operational rule. Bureaucrats pursue those cases that justify their continuing employment. This goal includes the survival of their bureaucracies.

Civil Service laws protect most Federal employees. Bureaucratic immunity from budget cuts protects the bureaucracies. So, bureaucrats pick the easy targets in the same way that lions pick zebras: the young, the old, and the sick."

Nice example.

"[Hayek] argued that the amount of decentralized and highly specialized knowledge in society is enormous when compared to the knowledge available to a government committee. This should be obvious to anyone. What was not obvious to Western intellectuals was his conclusion: government planning is unable to match the efficiency of individual planning in a free market society."

This is the fatal flaw of central planning.

"To run a really successful tyranny, the leaders must have increasing wealth as well as more reliable data. They need wealth to hire the programmers, the data collectors, and the police."

"Yes, governments have access to ever-growing quantities of data. But the public has far greater access to low-cost information that it uses to increase the overall complexity of society. The task of monitoring what is going on becomes ever-more utopian. The government is always falling behind, for the reasons Hayek described. The greater the complexity of society, the less able the State is to monitor it, assess it, and use the data to control it."

They also need more and more guns which also cost money too. It can't go on.

"The police State is going bankrupt. It has issued more promises to voters and more promises to pay investors in Treasury debt than it can possibly fulfill. When it goes belly-up, as the USSR did, and as Red China did, the Keynesian system will be exposed as the little man behind the curtain – with a badge, a gun, and a printing press."

Great metaphor.

More on Republican spending cut hypocrisy:

"Perhaps the campaign’s most telling exchange took place on Fox News two weeks ago, when the Tea Party-embracing Senate candidate in California, Carly Fiorina, was asked seven times by Chris Wallace to name “one single entitlement expenditure you’re willing to cut” in order “to extend all the Bush tax cuts, which would add 4 trillion to the deficit.” She never did. At least Angle and Paul have been honest about what they’d slash if in power — respectively Social Security and defense, where the big government spending actually resides."

I can't help but laugh.

GLOBAL WARMING AND ENERGY:

The enviromarxists take aim at the nascent space tourism business before it even gets off the ground. This is an easy target to hold back human development. An activity currently only for the super-rich. It sucks that Branson is listening to them.

POLICE STATE:

The number of people who reject  the TSA nude-scanners and gropes grows. Letters matter.

Does this make you feel safer?

"Vodka shots proved to be the undoing of seven police marksmen who turned up for training at a rifle range so drunk they missed all targets."

If you think this is anything other than the norm, you're fooling yourself.

WAR:

Blaming US officials because some loon waterboarded his girlfriend is absurd. I understand this guy doesn't think Americans should waterboard terrorists, but making this link ruins any credibility his arguments might have.

Jonah Goldberg calls for Obama to murder Julian Assange. According to Goldberg, Americans who kill 10s of thousands of Afghans are heroes, but the man who informs the people about it should be murdered.

POLITICS:

This headline tells a lot about Obama:

"Obama: Appeals for common ground, yet jabs GOP"

In other words, his words are meaningless. He can't be trusted. He'll say whatever he thinks will help his agenda. He's an phenomenally successful politician. They all lie, cheat, and steal to get more power for themselves. They'd sell their mothers to cannibals if they thought it would get them more power. And Obama is one of the worst.

Yet another mistaken admonition to not vote:

"The first reason is that voting is an unethical act, in and of itself. That's because the state is pure, institutionalized coercion. If you believe that coercion is an improper way for people to relate to one another, then you shouldn't engage in a process that formalizes and guarantees the use of coercion."

Bull****. This is only true if you vote for candidates who support coercion. Often you can vote for candidates who support removing the government's power of coercion. I was happily surprised to see all the libertarians I get to vote for this year. I haven't seen this many libertarians on my ballot since I left Texas nearly ten years ago. Ignore these people who say don't vote. What they really mean is don't vote for coercion. Instead, vote for people who will take away government's power of coercion. Vote libertarian.

MEDIA:

Interesting insight into the Stewart/Colbert rally for Obama:

"It’s funny that no one seems to have noticed that the Jon Stewart rally was the whitest thing to have hit Washington since the 1925 Klan march."

Funny how that propaganda thing works. Rally draws tens of thousands. Thats an order of magnitude less than Glenn Beck's rally drew. Do you think the media will report the difference? Of course not. The media will pretend these tens of thousands are way more important than the hundreds of thousands Beck drew.

LOCAL:

OMG, here's a situation that could only be created by government:

"Franklin Mayor Carl Bray made news after a Sept. 1 run-in with Springboro police in which he was cited for riding his motorcycle on a sidewalk to get around an accident.

The incident became exacerbated because of Bray’s actions with the police officer when a Taser device was pointed at him."

Of course somebody on a motorcycle would try and bypass an accident on a sidewalk if possible. Why shouldn't he? What's wrong with that? Think about this. Is this something that he should be electrocuted and possible killed over? We've created an insane, malevolent police state that is unable to recognize how dangerous it is.

MISC:

The Dept. of Justice files brief saying genes should not be patentable. Even a broken clock is right twice a day. Maybe the government won't use that tool to steal our bodies.

Incredible, interactive European history map shows evolution of peoples throughout Europe.

If you're one of few corporations controlling hundreds or thousands of government granted monopolies you can get together and control an entire marketplace like Intel, Toshiba and Samsung.

Nebraska kicks previously unbeaten Mizzou's butts. I'm tired of hearing about how unbeatens should be automatically placed at the top of the heap. Baloney. Strength of schedule matters. Think about it. There's ten teams at the bottom of the NCAA every year. Suppose a decent team scheduled all ten of the bottom teams one year. It would almost certainly go undefeated with huge wins in its favor. Should it be ranked number one because of it? Of course not. If you want to be in the hunt for a national championship, play some competitive teams. Don't whine about how your conference is too weak and no tough teams out of conference will play you. Move to a better conference.