Saturday, January 27, 2024

Interview with Anakin before he became Lord Vader

Interview with Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio. Not my material.

The Dollar Vigilante

Private group 8.0K members

Jack Blaylock

nposSedtor3a80m410478agr7a23iabtlc01 06c28m49lh1 aoc8ect86Oc 

ABSOLUTELY FASCINATING INTERVIEW WITH POPE FRANCIS, (BEFORE HE BECAME THE POPE) SENT TO ME BE A FIREND TODAY:
Chris Mathews interview with Cardinal Bergoglio before he became Pope Francis. It was never aired and if you read it you can see why.
MATHEWS: But don't you blame various governments around the world for poverty?
BERGOGLIO: Some. Yes.
MATHEWS: But you refuse to blame corporations for their role.
BERGOGLIO: Okay, they also told me you have a degree in economics. No buyer, or seller either, enters into any exchange against his will. It is the nature of the economy. Man is frail, and he makes mistakes and sometimes is greedy and they enter into exchanges that don't help them. Sometimes they become poor, but they made choices. There is nothing the Church can do except try to educate people to become good consumers. Chiefly, for me, it is an education solution on that side. And the Church has more schools around the globe than any other faith. I say teach the people to save their souls, and also teach them how not to become poor. And now not to allow the government to trick them into poverty.
MATHEWS: And you blame government.
BERGOGLIO: No, I blame the self-serving politicians.
MATHEWS: So your solution to poverty is to change the nature of politics?
BERGOGLIO: Please feel free to broadcast this; I don't want to be pope. Friend, you are a socialist and your friends are socialists. And you are the reason for 70 years of misery in Russia and Europe now is seizing in pain from your policies. You believe in the redistribution of wealth and it makes entire populations poor. You want to nationalize everything and bring every human endeavor under your control. You destroy a man's incentive to take care of his very own family, a crime against nature and nature's God. You want social control over populations and incrementally you are making everything against the law. Together this ideology creates more poverty today than all the corporations you vilify have in the history of man.
MATHEWS: I've never heard such from a Cardinal. I'm not sure if you are here to help yourself or disqualify yourself.
BERGOGLIO: Please air this interview. People being dominated by socialists need to know we don't all have to be poor. Some poverty is part of our being cast out of the Garden of Eden. But look at the empire of dependency created by Hugo Chavez. Promising them, tricking them into worship of government and his very own person. Giving them fish but not allowing them to fish. If a fisherman does develop a talent today in Latin America ; he is castigated and his catch stolen by the socialists. He stops?
MATHEWS: You would be the first pope from the Americas .
BERGOGLIO: He stops fishing. I will not be pope, but yes I am from Argentina ..
MATHEWS: And you didn't want to be pope?
BERGOGLIO: God didn't want me to be pope.
MATHEWS: Perhaps he changed his mind.
BERGOGLIO: Ludicrous.
MATHEWS: Okay, I'm sorry. I feel like we are getting off on the wrong path. I'm sorry.
BERGOGLIO: Yes, let's be productive.
MATHEWS: You are a classic conservative Catholic theologian?
BERGOGLIO: Of course there's politics clearly in the Curia throughout the Vatican , but in terms of church teaching, it's not a political institution It's religious.
MATHEWS: I heard people, in fact, media people, "Is this cardinal, is he a liberal? Is he a conservative?"
BERGOGLIO: Tell them please, He's a Catholic. It's no more complicated than that. Catholicism is what it is. You don't have to believe it; you may not. You don't have to follow it; you may not go to Mass. But it's not up to you to modernize us.
MATHEWS: You see no room for reform?
BERGOGLIO: It's not up to any religion, although some do this, 'cause they want the money. They want the membership. But the Catholic Church doesn't do it. It's not up to them to bend and shape and mold itself to accommodate the shrinking depravity of a worldwide culture. It's to provide the exact opposite. It's to provide a beacon out of depravity, socialism and sin, among other things.
MATHEWS: If pope you would be bad news for the left.
BERGOGLIO: I won't be pope. But I am opposed to abortion. I'm opposed to euthanasia. The pro-choice movement is a culture of death. I oppose the demonic same-sex marriage. I oppose gay adoption on the grounds that it is discriminatory to the child. I was exiled by the Cristina Kirchner government, but I hold no grudge. How is this bad news?
MATHEWS: John Paul II rescued you?
BERGOGLIO: He made me the archbishop of Buenos Aires . Yes.
MATHEWS: And so you feel like you owe the Right some sort of repayment?
BERGOGLIO: There are many values? and many types of people. Perhaps it is my interest in mathematics, but I'm the type of human who is interested most in the truth. God gave me a healthy love for the truth. Loyalty is only a virtue if in support of the truth or another important value.
MATHEWS: Cristina Kirchner said you held a grudge.
BERGOGLIO: Funny I've never spoken her name. Not once. And it is a battle of ideas not a battle of two or more people. I'm only concerned with ideas.
MATHEWS: She said you refused to speak up for civil rights violations.
BERGOGLIO: As a spiritual leader, I opposed cultural modernization, and so I became a political enemy. I understand politics as well as I do mathematics
MATHEWS: And the Jesuits, they were eager to cast you out, which they did.
BERGOGLIO: So you are implying that I'm a vengeful priest?
MATHEWS: Do you feel that you need to erase the progress recently made in Latin America ?
BERGOGLIO: I say poverty. You say progress.
MATHEWS: Let's talk about poverty.
BERGOGLIO: Sure, there is voluntary poverty that is virtuous. Many understood the nobility of making themselves independent of the fleeting things of earth. They are distractions from our pursuit of the truth. I have no problem with this. I only oppose involuntary poverty.
MATHEWS: That is what I thought you would say.
BERGOGLIO: Why?
MATHEWS: Because you are a capitalist right?
BERGOGLIO: Yes, I think capital is needed to build a factory, a parochial school, or a church or hospital, all. Do you oppose factories or churches or hospitals?
MATHEWS: Of course not but don't you think the capital is sucked out of peoples hands by greedy business types to pay for these factories?
BERGOGLIO: No, I think people agree, through their economic choices, that some of their money goes to build these. Capital building should be voluntary. Only when the politician confiscates their wealth, to build government factories, government schools, government hospitals; only then do the people not agree. Money given voluntarily is legitimate to build with. Money coerced from the people is not legitimate to build with, because it isn't given voluntarily.
MATHEWS: You are opposed to all government?
BERGOGLIO: No of course not. But it isn't the seat of wisdom in any society I've seen in my life. The best government was created by the Americans, in which they admitted that people are endowed by their creator and most of the administration of society was left to the relationship between God and man. However, slowly that has been eroded by the atheists on the left, who would replace man's relationship with God with a new relationship with an opportunist like Hugo Chavez.
MATHEWS: I just found it fascinating that you were willing to stand up to an entire government in Argentina . You where cast aside. Didn't you care about your career?
BERGOGLIO: Yes, there are people who cave to worldly authority. Even priests.
MATHEWS: But you didn't?
BERGOGLIO: No, I changed nothing. How did I have the power to change anything in church teaching? My opinion? The democrats, seeking votes, only wanted me to change my opinion and legitimize their decadence. I did not, as evidenced by the fact that I was teaching high school math in small isolated town.
MATHEWS: I'm sorry that happened to you.
BERGOGLIO: Why don't you feel for others oppressed for their interest in freedom.
MATHEWS: Freedom isn't punished anywhere, is it?
BERGOGLIO: Certainly it is.
MATHEWS: In Latin America ?
BERGOGLIO: I'm afraid Latin America is lost. The people of the entire area are controlled by a bloc of militant socialist regimes in the region, most prominently Venezuela , Ecuador , Bolivia and Nicaragua . They have a gun pointed at their head. So their heart is now captured. Who will save them at this point?
MATHEWS: So the game is over. Checkmate?
BERGOGLIO: Friend, I've been studying America this month, before the Pope chose to resign. You must not have fear at speaking the truth. It is for the salvation of souls and the recovery of Thomas Jefferson's people. America must not fall to the new painted communism. Even the low information voters don't want America to be sold into slavery. I pray they cast out the money changers in their government! What manner of government is there that condones sin? Abomination upon abomination--giving monies for the murder of children, giving monies for the murder of the elderly! You are an American. Your government, My child, has been infiltrated by men of sin.
MATHEWS: These are pretty radical ideas.
BERGOGLIO: No. Perhaps reactionary. Radical means something different. But a very long time ago, Khrushchev warned, that we cannot expect Americans to fly from capitalism to communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving Americans small injections of socialism until they suddenly awake to find out they have Communism. This is what is happening now in an ancient bastion of freedom. How can America save Latin America when they are slaves to the government themselves?
MATHEWS: I'm having a hard time digesting most of this.
BERGOGLIO: The truth can be painful. You look angry; do you want to stop or ask a question? But you have created a new type of state, the so-called welfare state. This has happened in order to respond to the needs of the politically created poor. However, intervening directly is depriving the original society of its responsibility. Families escape responsibility in the welfare state And churches even escape responsibility. People stop giving to charity and see every poor person as the government's problem. I am a Catholic priest and there are no poor for me to take care of, they are made permanently poor and the property of the politicians.
MATHEWS: I'm not sure this interview is going to work.
BERGOGLIO: You asked and now you will listen, my son. The social assistance state leads to a loss of human energies and an inordinate increase of public agencies, which are dominated more by bureaucratic thinking than by real concern for helping people. Needs are best understood and satisfied by people who are closest to them who act as neighbors and parish members to those in need. It should be added that certain kinds of demands often call for a response which is not simply material but which is capable of perceiving the deeper human need. This is not to mention the welfare states excesses and abuses.
MATHEWS: I think we are done.
BERGOGLIO: Wait. If I speak on the ordination of women, on celibacy, on divorce, will you air this interview and my message?
MATHEWS: No, we are done.
BERGOGLIO: Partially what irritates me to the core is the media's inability to look at anything without looking into the cause of the various problems. People are made poor so they will vote for the very candidates that made them poor.
MATHEWS: Have a nice day and thanks for your time.
CAMERA OFF / END TRANSCRIPT

Jack Blaylock
Author
In the interview I posted, he appears to champion the free market and capitalism. WTF?

Jack Blaylock
Dan Domer - unfortunately I now can't find the source. I may have posted that in too much haste - I was speed internet-ing that day, and now can't remember or find who sent it to me.

-------------------------------------------------------------
If you liked the content and wish to contribute something via Bitcoin then you can send your donation to this address.

Thursday, February 24, 2022

Why does Ukraine matter?

Via the FB page of Earl Anthony Mertz. Not my material.

For those who ask: “Why does Ukraine matter?"

For those who want to know Russia's POV



For the rest of us ...

This is why Ukraine matters.

It is the second largest country by area in Europe by area and has a population

of over 40 million - more than Poland.

Ukraine ranks:

1st in Europe in proven recoverable reserves of uranium ores;

2nd place in Europe and 10th place in the world in terms of titanium ore reserves;

2nd place in the world in terms of explored reserves of manganese ores (2.3 billion tons, or 12% of the world's reserves);

2nd largest iron ore reserves in the world (30 billion tons);

2nd place in Europe in terms of mercury ore reserves;

3rd place in Europe (13th place in the world) in shale gas reserves (22 trillion cubic meters)

4th in the world by the total value of natural resources;

7th place in the world in coal reserves (33.9 billion tons)

Ukraine is an important agricultural country:

1st in Europe in terms of arable land area;

3rd place in the world by the area of black soil (25% of world's volume);

1st place in the world in exports of sunflower and sunflower oil;

2nd place in the world in barley production and 4th place in barley exports;

3rd largest producer and 4th largest exporter of corn in the world;

4th largest producer of potatoes in the world;

5th largest rye producer in the world;

5th place in the world in bee production (75,000 tons);

8th place in the world in wheat exports;

9th place in the world in the production of chicken eggs;

16th place in the world in cheese exports.

Ukraine can meet the food needs of 600 million people.

Ukraine is an important industrialised country:

1st in Europe in ammonia production;

Europe's 2nd’s and the world’s 4th largest natural gas pipeline system;

3rd largest in Europe and 8th largest in the world in terms of installed capacity of nuclear power plants;

3rd place in Europe and 11th in the world in terms of rail network length (21,700 km);

3rd place in the world (after the U.S. and France) in production of locators and locating equipment;

3rd largest iron exporter in the world

4th largest exporter of turbines for nuclear power plants in the world;

4th world's largest manufacturer of rocket launchers;

4th place in the world in clay exports

4th place in the world in titanium exports

8th place in the world in exports of ores and concentrates;

9th place in the world in exports of defence industry products;

10th largest steel producer in the world (32.4 million tons).

Ukraine matters. That is why its independence is important to the rest of the world.

Independence from both NATO and RUSSIA

------------

SELECT COMMENTS

------------

There's no independence for Ukraine . There's only East or West puppetry . It's harder to kick Democrats out of the Ukraine than to kick them out of America.

They were the bread basket of the old Soviet Union.

They've not been independent. Victoria Nuland of our state dept hired snipers to fire into protestors/police/both "sides" in Maidan Square in 2014, and then installed a bunch of corrupt violent thugs that were literal Nazis that let the Bidens steal from Ukrainians and use it as a piggy bank. I'm glad to see Putin go in. He needs Ukraine as a defense/buffer against the US/NATO/thugs and robbers. Ukraine "leaders" shit in their nest playing both sides...dealing dishonestly with Trump...Marie Yavonivitch was a liar and thief. Good luck to Putin, Russia, and Ukraine. They belong together. If Ukraine really offered a top military/gov job to the sniveling Uriah Heep (Vindman) they obviously aren't competent to govern themselves.

And all the fuss over oil and gas pipe line to Germany

-------------------------------------------------------------
If you liked the content and wish to contribute something via Bitcoin then you can send your donation to this address





Saturday, January 5, 2019

Rebuttal to an Altruistic Poem

I received a poem of sorts on WhatsApp today and composed an Objectivist AnCap sort of rebuttal to it.

First the poem and introductory message ...

What a  hard hitting poem. ...
————————————
Sometimes in the dark of the night 
I visit my conscience  
To see if  it is still breathing 
For its dying a slow death
Every day.

When I pay for a meal in a fancy place 
An amount which is perhaps the monthly income 
Of the guard who holds the door open
And quickly I shrug away that thought
It dies a little 

When I buy vegetables from the vendor 
And his son "chhotu" smilingly weighs the potatoes 
Chhotu, a small child, who should be studying at school 
 I look the other way
It dies a little.

When I am decked up in a designer dress
A dress that cost a bomb 
And I see a woman at the crossing
In tatters,trying unsuccessfully to save her dignity 
And I immediately  roll up my window
It dies a little 

When I buy expensive gifts for my children 
On return,  I see half clad children 
With empty stomach and hungry eyes 
Selling toys at red light 
I try to salve my conscience by buying some, yet
It dies a little 

When my sick  maid sends her daughter to work 
Making her bunk school 
I know I should tell her to go back 
But I look at the loaded sink and dirty dishes 
And I tell myself that is just for a couple of days 
It dies a little 

When I hear about a rape
or a murder of a child,
I feel sad, yet a little thankful that it's not my child
I can not  look at myself  in the mirror
It dies a little 

When people fight over caste creed and religion
I feel hurt and helpless
I tell  myself that my country is going to the dogs
I blame the corrupt politicians 
Absolving myself of all responsibilities 
It dies a little 

When my city is choked
Breathing is dangerous  in the smog ridden metropolis
I take my car to work daily 
Not taking  the metro,not trying car pool 
One car won't make a difference, I think 
It dies a little 

So when in the dark of the night
I visit my conscience 
And find it still breathing 
I am surprised 
For, with my own hands 
Daily, bit by bit, I kill it, I bury it.

And now my rebuttal to it ...

Socialist Poem (Most likely New York Democrat) ...

When I pay for a meal in a fancy place I employ more people than I would if I ate a simple one
The high price of the meal is what makes the guard's salary affordable.

When I buy vegetables from the vendor 
And his son "chhotu" smilingly weighs the potatoes 
Chhotu, a small child, who learns more about real life (especially Arithmetic and Economics) than the future social justice snowflakes studying at their Ivy League schools

When I buy expensive gifts for my children I employ people who work in the toy industry
I see half clad children who could have worked had it not been for the socialist anti-child labour laws
With empty stomach and hungry eyes because the government regulates everything and doesn't allow people to economically transact freely in the market
Selling toys at red light because their employer would be arrested if she hired them at her shop where they could work safely.

When my sick  maid sends her daughter to work , Making her bunk school , she made her own choice of hiring cheaper labour instead of paying a substitute to cover for her for that day. I know if I tell her to go back I will have to hire someone else to do the dishes or do it myself taking time away from a higher paying task that I am doing or that I or someone who likes me has earned money for in the past to spend on my relaxation now.  If I pay my maid despite that , it means I am working to pay my maid for relaxing, which makes me her slave. And I am not anyone's slave - least of all that of a socialist who wants to manipulate my conscience. Let the maid's daughter also earn her way through life. There is nothing lost in dignity by working for money you earn honestly even if it is cleaning a loaded sink of dirty dishes.

When I hear about a rape or a murder of a child, I feel sad, yet a little thankful that it's not my child but I can look myself in the mirror because I do not condone such behaviour and believe that everyone has the right to bear arms and use them in self defense.

When people fight over caste creed and religion, they are usually doing it to get what they want through force - either directly by themselves or indirectly through the violent entity known as the government instead of peacefully negotiating and respecting each other's privte property rights. I feel hurt and helpless when people vote away their power to socialists because democracy is just socialism in slow motion and socialism in turn is just mob rule in slow motion. 

I tell  myself that my country is going to the dogs
I blame the corrupt politicians because I forget the words of Frederic Bastiat — 'The state is that great fiction by which everyone tries to live at the expense of everyone else.'

When my city is choked because of zoning laws put in place by government bureaucrats who want to wield power just for its own sake or because they think they are know-it-all gods or for the bribes or for all of it, Breathing becomes dangerous  in the smog ridden metropolis
I take my car to work daily for this reason.
Not taking  the metro,not trying car pool because I like my privacy and I can afford it because I have earned it with my work in the past.

So when in the dark of the night
I visit my conscience 
And find it still breathing happy and alive 
I am surprised that others don't understand how they are being taken for a ride by those who worship the false God of government

Sunday, December 6, 2015

Price Gouging by Private Companies during a Crisis - Case 2 : Restaurant


This picture was posted on FB in protest against the Saravana group of restaurants for their (perceived) huge price markup. The floods in Chennai / Madras and the resulting shortages are one reason for this, The other of course is price gouging. The truth it turns out is that these are their normal 'AC' prices. Also those who were shocked at the 'amount' on the right side of the bill forgot to divide it by the 'rate'. When you do that it appears reasonable. But all that was lost in the hype and outrage generated. As you may imagine, a lot of people were pissed off with this even though the actual impact on their own lives is very little.

Why ?

Because they feel that Saravana has a duty to them. They feel that it should sell them affordable cheap food at all times at any cost.

Why?

Because they feel so. After all, they are special precious snowflakes or cupcakes to whom the world owes a debt for merely existing.

What Saravana may have failed to realise is that if they do not counter this viral post, it will cause bad publicity and will do Saravana more harm in the long term than the Jeevajothi incident where P. Rajagopal, who owns Saravana escaped punishment for the murder of Santhakumar. The hypocrisy of the masses is appalling. It is a generalisation, but most city dwellers are IMO a despot worshiping  population (ancient Rome anyone?), apathetic about someone else's life . So many of them are bothered about the alleged opportunistic pricing of some food items like a dosa or a meal or a coffee, but not the murder of an innocent man.

Had this been a case of price gouging, the shaming done by the free market, is a better deterrent than price controls implemented and exercised by government legal machinery which can be captured by bribing those in power. The murder of a man is not justified but he gets away with it. The supposed price hike is but he gets shamed for it.

Toute nation a le gouvernement qu'elle mérite.
Every nation gets the government it deserves
Joseph-Marie, comte de Maistre (1 April 1753 – 26 February 1821)

Among a morally inept and denial embracing populace, it shows that justice can't be better served merely through unrestricted commerce if individual and property rights are not protected. Without those protections, we do not have laisse faire capitalism. What we have is a proto or quasi fascism instead.


Price Gouging by Private Companies during a Crisis - Case 1 : Airlines



Bastiat von Mises : Capitalism manages resources better through prices which are a signal for scarcity and abundance. The laws of supply and demand are at work at all times

Critic 1: In the above context, it is not an accurate reflection of market forces but of price gouging.

Bastiat von Mises : Jet airways and other private carriers have made air travel cheap for many ordinary Indians. They need to stay profitable or they will go out of business. Price 'gouging' is perfectly acceptable as long as they are not using fraud or force to prevent others from providing the same goods and services. Jet airways (and other private companies and individuals) also have to pay the taxes needed to keep Air India running despite its colossal losses.

Critic 1: It is not that the private airlines are doing charity to help ordinary folks experience flying but are forced by the same market forces that you vouched for earlier. In addition to shareholders, businesses have moral and ethical obligations to customers they serve. Exploiting helplessness caused by extraneous events is fraud in those dimensions. This is not an opportunity to compensate private airlines for taxes they pay assuming they make profit or subsidizing Air India.

Critic 2 : Bastiat von Mises, this is first time I've heard anyone say price gouging in acceptable. Kool-aid anyone ? 😂😂

Critic 2 : Bastiat von Mises, proponents of unregulated free-markets forget some basic problems with the application of the theory in the real world -- markets do not have perfect information, markets can and are manipulated, and real humans use markets -- not perfectly rational and self-interested beings. That is why all sensible financial markets are regulated to some degree. Case in point --

http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2015/5/free-market-dogma-has-jacked-up-our-electricity-bills.html

Bastiat von Mises : Critic 1, Yes it is not charity that forces private airlines to cut prices. It is market forces , i.e competition. The same argument applies when they jack up prices. You win some, you lose some.

Air India is able to provide fares below market prices during crisis times not because they are charitable either but because they are slow to respond to the market situation. They are also cheap during these times but costly for the rest of the year as compared to private carriers. Even if they are cheap it is not because they are efficient in the operations but because they are subsidised by tax money. The only moral and ethical obligation a business has to it's customers is to not commit fraud or default on a service. Those who criticise private carriers should refuse to take their services even when it is cheaper - if you are paying from your own pocket as opposed to your employer's pocket. No point in making others pay for one's own ideals. The opportunity is not to compensate them but for the private operators to make hay when the sun shines. I see nothing wrong with it . They are not charitable organisations.

Bastiat von Mises : Critic 2, the unregulated free market drives efficiency and minimises waste. Adam Smith calls it the invisible hand of the market.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invisible_hand

Free markets are not a theory to be applied on an engineering problem. They are a law of nature like physics - immutable. We ignore them at our peril.

Markets do not have perfect information, true. The premise here is that IF they did, they would automatically take the best possible decisions. Nope. Each participant will make the best decisions for themselves based on game theory. Everyone is afraid of the future and wants to somehow trust something. We are all desperate for someone to rip us off by giving us assurances. Sometimes it is a parent, sometimes a religious person, sometimes a god, politician, movie maker, etc. What markets have is free agents who interact with each other freely. Suggesting that an all knowing central authority whether a religious one or a political one or an economic one or of any other nature knows and will make rules for all is totalitarian. Humans have an inability to face the future that only an intelligent and sentient species that depended in it's evolutionary past on a reliable climate for a stable supply of nutrition has. BTW that explains any calendar of any civilization.

Critic 1 Bastiat von Mises, If you go back to the snapshot I put you will realize that Air India is also engaged in price gouging. Moreover I don't believe government should be in airline business. Since I had been an extensive domestic air traveler during 92 ~ 97 I have seen the dark side and enjoyed the choices and freedom offered by liberalization of airline industry.

However there is nothing called an unregulated competitive economy optimal for everyone. In the context of airlines engaging in price gouging:
"Current economic theory does recognize that if there is an "externality" the outcome won't be optimal, and most economists would agree that in such cases we need government intervention". This is a link to a recent article titled 'Faith in an Unregulated Free Market? Don't fall for it' - http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/11/upshot/faith-in-an-unregulated-free-market-dont-fall-for-it.html?_r=0

Bastiat von Mises : The only function of a government is to protect individual and property rights. Externalities like the environment are commonly held property and so a company violating it beyond the accepted levels of that jurisdiction are guilty of trespassing. As regards those who sold fake drugs or drugs with only placebo effects are guilty of fraud or misrepresentation. Regarding protecting people from their own stupidity, I believe the government has no role to play. Protecting them from fraud - yes.

Critic 2: Bastiat von Mises, you're missing the point. Markets are not free in the real world. Powerful players will and do interfere in the market all the time. Take for instance high speed trading, highly leveraged equities and do on. Trusted sources lie. People are irrational. That's why the free market ideal is a disaster.

Critic 2: Same thing with communism.

Critic 2: Unregulated, pure ideology driven economics leads to false expectations and bad results.

Critic 2: Your idea of a government as a police force and nothing else is quite Orwellian. It does not exist today for a very good reason. Society suffers badly under such systems.

Bastiat von Mises : Critic 2 , As regards the electricity article, some of the higher costs may be due to various reasons. There is no such thing as a market failure. Only to a failure to meet the desired conditions of the critic.

Bastiat von Mises : I cannot comment on this as I do not have the data available with me and I only have first principles to start with .. however I would like to speculate a few possible reasons.

1. The states' govt run companies found it hard to produce electricity in a manner that is cost effective and so passed the buck (or should I say the lack of ability to make one) on to the private sector to avoid losing favour with the electorate.

2.  The companies running the electricity generating facilities were a cartel and rigged prices. But this is possible only in a economy where you have to ask permission to a govt to produce anything' . i.e where there is a license and permit raj.

3. I strongly suspect that states where the costs to end customer are lower are those with a budget deficit

Critic 2: I give up.

Bastiat von Mises : Markets I agree are not free in the real world today. That is why I ask for them to be freed. Powerful players can interfere in the market in a way that is detrimental to customers ONLY with the force of government backing. No one can force us to part with our money or health with our full knowledge unless they use force.

Bastiat von Mises : Trusted sources do lie - like governments that bail out banks and car manufacturers who are 'too big to fail'. Many Individual people may be irrational. But they pay the cost for their follies themselves and serve as a signaling mechanism to peers and others in their vicinity. This is society becoming more rational over generations and how a system becomes anti-fragile over time - through evolution and not through intelligent design.

Bastiat von Mises : Government driven policies by an elite chosen few are in a true sense leverage on a national level as opposed to at a smaller corporate or individual level. That is the real Orwellian mechanism at work and not the free market - which is not ideology driven as asserted earlier. Government as a police force is a necessary evil and needed only to protect private property and individual rights. Not for anything else.

Saturday, April 26, 2014

Aam Aadmi Party

NaMo might not inherit our Weimar Republic with it's RBI sanctioned fiscal deficits and currency printing presses. The silent one's successor is likely to be someone who eerily reminds me of another idealist who wrote about his struggles in a book titled "Mein Kampf".

Many people in India are rejoicing at the rise of the AAP as they are fed up with decades of incompetent and corrupt rule (mostly - but not exclusively - by the Congress Party). Apparently an IITian ex-IRS officer and his elves will save the day.

Aam Aadmi means Ordinary Man in Hindi. Aam also means Mango in Hindi, leading to the bilingually comprehensible moniker "Mango Man" for the average person. The AAPists claim to fight for the common man just like Socialists. They feel that the system is not to blame but the persons who have occupied the thrones of power so far were to blame for it's failures. They are so fervently patriotic that the term "Nationalist" would fit them well. . Is it wrong to call them "National Socialists" ?

Little does anyone 'want' to realize that they are to blame for their faith in an unnatural and inefficient system. The people of India keep trying to fit the data to the curve. It's time to Stop Blaming Capitalism for Socialism's Failures . Embracing Politics to solve society's problems is like changing the brand of the syringe to alter the properties of the medicine.

Imprinting is a political phenomenon as well. Stop seeing the sarkar as your mai-baap. Very few people in India are willing to take the Red Pill and grow up to political adulthood. No system is perfect. Which is why Laissez Faire Capitalism is what you should adopt as your Economics.

But maybe this is too much to ask for in a world where everyone wants Astrology to be an accurate science and the Astrologer to make a living by revealing to them the future - without telling others.

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Why voting for Gary Johnson in 2012 makes sense !

www.garyjohnson2012.com

I'm sure a lot of you have been told that your votes will be wasted if they are not cast for either one of the dynamic duo lovingly called together as "Obamney" !

Ron Paul's supporters are under pressure from the gangsters in the Republican party to unconditionally support an unpalatable Mittney in order to avoid "fracturing the vote". Appeals to act in Unity for the "greater good" and snide remarks to "not throw a tantrum" are made in a patronising tone of voice. This after shamelessly treating them so poorly and stealing the nomination from them. The GOP Polit Bureau Bosses think they have a right to expect, nay demand, loyalty from a section within the GOP against a common adversary. They simultaneously need someone to blame if they lose the Election to one of the most incompetent and underperforming incumbent Presidents in the history of the United States. Of course it won't be their fault for not playing fair at the Republican Primaries and not offering anything different from Obama for the voter to choose from !

Check out this cool 'Interactive' Infographic. It sadly shows only the 2 candidates foisted on us by the mainstream media ! Play with it and check out how the 2 candidates fare against each other in your state.

Another place to look is here.


If you support Romney or Obama in a Swing State / Battleground State where it is too close to call, please vote for the person you support. If that is not the case, then please give Freedom a presence - if not a chance - by Voting for Gary Johnson in 2012. Let's check your psephological options ...

1) If you are an Obama supporter in a strongly Obama leaning State (like Hollywood influenced liberal California for example), then you have nothing to fear by giving your vote to Gary Johnson in 2012 since Obama will not lose that State to Mittney.


2) If you are an Obama supporter in a strongly Mittney leaning State, then your vote is wasted anyway, so give a vote for Gary Johnson in 2012 to make a point. Check out Obama's performance just in case you have your doubts.


3) If you are a Mittney supporter in a strongly Mittney leaning State, then you have nothing to fear by giving a vote for Gary Johnson in 2012.



4) If you are a Mittney supporter in a strongly Obama leaning State, then your vote is wasted anyway, so give a vote for Gary Johnson in 2012 to make a point. Watch this video just in case you are not too sure about that.



5) If you are a passive Ron Paul supporter, vote for the next best thing i.e Gary Johnson - instead of voting for the lesser of the 2 evils this year.


6) If you are a fanatical Ron Paul supporter AND you live in a state where you can't write-in his name, then please vote for someone very similar whom you can give a realistic chance of winning. Vote Gary Johnson in 2012. Please remember that even Ron Paul has suggested he might vote for Gary.


7) If you are from New Mexico, you just have to vote for Gary Johnson in 2012 :-). You know his record better than anyone else.



8) If you are senior or retired person who is worried about your medical expenses under either Obama or Romney then you should see this !



In Summary here is your Choice Matrix ...

 CHOICE
MATRIX
Your State is Very Likely to
Vote : 
Obama / Democrat
Your State is Very Likely to Vote : Mittney / RepublicanSwing State OR 'Too Close to Call'
Democrat but not happy with  ObamaVote for Gary as Obama the Democrat will win your state anyway. Register a Protest Vote.Vote for Gary even if you love Obama the Democrat as your candidate will lose your state anywayMake your vote useful. Don't waste it in a losing cause.Sure ! Go Ahead, Vote for your man Obama
Republican but not a supporter of MittneyVote for Gary even if you love Mittney the Republican as your candidate will lose your state anywayMake your vote useful. Don't waste it in a losing cause.Vote for Gary as Mittney the Republican will win your state anyway. Register a Protest Vote. Click Here if you are a Conservative.Sure ! Go Ahead, Vote for your man Mittney
Ron Paul SupporterDon't waste your vote as a "Write-In" voter. Even Ron Paul has suggested he might vote for GaryHelp the Libertarian Party get that 5% even IF you think they won't win. Gary has said that he would not have run against Ron Paul had he won the Republican nomination. Reward him for that. You agree with him 95% of the way anyway !The GOP's RNC stole the nomination from Ron Paul. Make them pay dearly for this ! If you think Obama is the Devil, don't forget that Mittney is no better.
Undecided Voter !If you are undecided it means you are unhappy with both candidates but you are unsure about swimming against the tide. Try Gary!
Seriously. Even if you don't know anything about the 3 candidates, don't you think it is better for America to have one more influential choice?
New Mexico Voter !Do I have to even preach to the Choir ? You know what this guy can do. Help him do to the Country as President what he did for your State as Governor. This is one State that MUST go to Gary !

If you are still unwilling to let your candidate lose but want to support Gary, then look at the 'Interactive' Infographic again. This should help you decide if you can ditch one of the 2 mainstream media candidates you still support without helping his opponent !


Use it to decide if you can afford to vote for Gary Johnson instead of your "preferred lesser evil"
if
1) You strongly support either Obama or Mittney over the other
AND
2) You are from a state whose choice of presidential candidate is a "supposedly" long foregone conclusion. NOT "too close to call"

There are ofcourse other reasons to Vote for Gary Johnson in 2012 - EVEN - if you think he won't win ! Given below are the long term non-psephological  reasons !
  1. Your vote can help to end the 2 Party Monopoly - albeit slowly.
  2. Your vote forces policy makers and the media to pay attention to the spirit of Freedom - both Economic and Social Freedom.
  3. Your vote will help act as a measure of the growing influence and increasing strength of the (predominantly Ron Paul led) FREEDOM rEVOLution.
  4. Your vote will give the Libertarian Candidates equal ballot access and federal funding (ok this one sucks - no one should get any funding) !

Why Romney & Obama Won't Debate Gary Johnson