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When the 2016 political season moved into the primaries I was firmly committed to Ted Cruz. My impressions of Donald Trump, though mixed, were not favorable on balance. Mixed because, on the one hand, I saw Mr. Trump as just another example of culturally inbred Northeast elitist big government rent seekers; on the other, I was fascinated (and puzzled) by his ability to challenge establishment media PC sanctimony without serious consequences. I haven't seen anyone do that -- acknowledging major differences in style and substance -- since Ronald Reagan.
Showing posts with label Capitalism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Capitalism. Show all posts
Monday, November 7, 2016
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Defund Obamacare? Let's Begin by Defunding the RNC
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Those who are often called RINO's by conservatives and libertarians (and a few Libertarians) are, in fact, real Republicans. They are the party, and not in name only. Among the many things they have in common with Democrats (but for different reasons) is a visceral hatred of Tea Party conservatives and their allies. We are talking about 'establishment Republicans' -- who dance at the end of the RNC's [1] strings and those of the rent-seeking Chamber of Commerce and other business
lobbyists. But there is another class of Republicans who are reliably conservative. Besides establishment and conservative Republicans, there are the not-altogether-predictable "swingers" whose principles yield to the pressure of political winds. How can we isolate these factions within the Party without being long-winded or circumspect?
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| Tea Party in Boston Harbor |
Those who are often called RINO's by conservatives and libertarians (and a few Libertarians) are, in fact, real Republicans. They are the party, and not in name only. Among the many things they have in common with Democrats (but for different reasons) is a visceral hatred of Tea Party conservatives and their allies. We are talking about 'establishment Republicans' -- who dance at the end of the RNC's [1] strings and those of the rent-seeking Chamber of Commerce and other business
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| Ted Cruz |
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
The American Project Is Undone
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For many reasons I have not looked forward to writing this essay. Some readers will surely view it as a pessimistic and panicky jeremiad; all Henny-Penny. And I'd love to be wrong; I hope that my arguments will be found wanting and, if not rebutted definitively, at least convincingly. My thesis is this: America has passed the tipping point in its long journey toward Marxist solipcism; that, barring the miraculous or the sudden emergence of a black swan, we cannot return to being a free society.
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| Humpty Dumpty |
For many reasons I have not looked forward to writing this essay. Some readers will surely view it as a pessimistic and panicky jeremiad; all Henny-Penny. And I'd love to be wrong; I hope that my arguments will be found wanting and, if not rebutted definitively, at least convincingly. My thesis is this: America has passed the tipping point in its long journey toward Marxist solipcism; that, barring the miraculous or the sudden emergence of a black swan, we cannot return to being a free society.
Friday, November 30, 2012
Don't Stand If You Can Sit; Don't Work If You Can Steal
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Allowing for cultural exceptions, such as the Protestant Work Ethic, labor is most often motivated by the desire to satisfy physical [1] needs. We don't like to be hungry or cold or thirsty or standing wet in the rain or being unprotected from human enemies and predatory wild things. Human nature, being what it is, we try to find shortcuts (not always a good thing) and efficiencies (usually good), or when we can get by with it, not work at all. But working is not always necessary, particularly in rich societies where stealing may be an attractive alternative.
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| The Great Train Robbery |
Allowing for cultural exceptions, such as the Protestant Work Ethic, labor is most often motivated by the desire to satisfy physical [1] needs. We don't like to be hungry or cold or thirsty or standing wet in the rain or being unprotected from human enemies and predatory wild things. Human nature, being what it is, we try to find shortcuts (not always a good thing) and efficiencies (usually good), or when we can get by with it, not work at all. But working is not always necessary, particularly in rich societies where stealing may be an attractive alternative.
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Fiscal Cliff: Let's Test Obama
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It comes to a choice, I think, between acute and chronic pain.
"Fiscal cliff" [1] ranks right up there with "shovel-ready jobs, reset button and pivoting..." as another simplistic and vacuous metaphor. Nevertheless, the consequences of great tax increases paired with sharply reduced government spending should not be underestimated. Another recession, bankruptcies, defense vulnerabilities and a probable downgrading of US credit seem all but certain. But what if Republicans compromise with the administration in raising revenue through "taxing the rich"? [2]
What if they don't?
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| How Steep the Cliff; How Hard the Fall? |
It comes to a choice, I think, between acute and chronic pain.
"Fiscal cliff" [1] ranks right up there with "shovel-ready jobs, reset button and pivoting..." as another simplistic and vacuous metaphor. Nevertheless, the consequences of great tax increases paired with sharply reduced government spending should not be underestimated. Another recession, bankruptcies, defense vulnerabilities and a probable downgrading of US credit seem all but certain. But what if Republicans compromise with the administration in raising revenue through "taxing the rich"? [2]
What if they don't?
Friday, November 16, 2012
Conservatism Might Be A Good Thing...
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I allude by reference to George Bernard Shaw's famous quotation, Christianity might be a good thing if anyone ever tried it. Actually, Christianity has been tried by a great many people, and with considerable success. And the same is true of conservatism, but in a much more limited way.
I allude by reference to George Bernard Shaw's famous quotation, Christianity might be a good thing if anyone ever tried it. Actually, Christianity has been tried by a great many people, and with considerable success. And the same is true of conservatism, but in a much more limited way.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Romney Retrospective
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I suspect that for many of us on the conservative side Mitt Romney's rise through the primaries had a foreboding familiarity about it. McCain redux. Another politically spineless pretender to conservatism carrying the Republican banner. Another candidate of adaptive principle who would rather be liked than respected.
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| The Romneys in Altoona, Iowa |
I suspect that for many of us on the conservative side Mitt Romney's rise through the primaries had a foreboding familiarity about it. McCain redux. Another politically spineless pretender to conservatism carrying the Republican banner. Another candidate of adaptive principle who would rather be liked than respected.
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Tea Party Terrorism
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I was recently dismayed to learn that, as a Tea Party member, I am, per se, a terrorist. Well, a potential terrorist anyway. And that revelation on no less authority than the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). [1]
A report commissioned by DHS called Hot Spots of US Terrorism tells us exactly who the terrorists are:
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| Che Guevara |
I was recently dismayed to learn that, as a Tea Party member, I am, per se, a terrorist. Well, a potential terrorist anyway. And that revelation on no less authority than the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). [1]
A report commissioned by DHS called Hot Spots of US Terrorism tells us exactly who the terrorists are:
Extreme Right-Wing: groups that believe that one’s personal and/or national “way of life” is under attack and is either already lost or that the threat is imminent (for some the threat is from a specific ethnic, racial, or religious group), and believe in the need to be prepared for an attack either by participating in paramilitary preparations and training or survivalism. Groups may also be fiercely nationalistic (as opposed to universal and international in orientation), anti-global, suspicious of centralized federal authority, reverent of individual liberty, and believe in conspiracy theories that involve grave threat to national sovereignty and/or personal liberty.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Voter ID is Clearly Discriminatory
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Laws that require careful verification of a voter's identity discriminate not so much against blacks, Hispanics or other ethnic groups and the poor as against an entire political class -- cheaters. Known also as Democrats. [1] Polls indicate that as many as 80% of the American public (including many of those said to be injured) favor stringent voter ID laws. The Marxist-Progressive Left, however, behind lamentations and crocodile tears, stands in utter contempt of the righteous public will. Citing a litany of imagined (and therefore real) abuses of helpless 'victims', they howl with feigned outrage. If strawmen, in company with the dead, could vote, Marxists would never lose another election.
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| Karl Marx |
Laws that require careful verification of a voter's identity discriminate not so much against blacks, Hispanics or other ethnic groups and the poor as against an entire political class -- cheaters. Known also as Democrats. [1] Polls indicate that as many as 80% of the American public (including many of those said to be injured) favor stringent voter ID laws. The Marxist-Progressive Left, however, behind lamentations and crocodile tears, stands in utter contempt of the righteous public will. Citing a litany of imagined (and therefore real) abuses of helpless 'victims', they howl with feigned outrage. If strawmen, in company with the dead, could vote, Marxists would never lose another election.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Illegal Immigration: Seen and Not Seen
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As with most things in Western politics, America's illegal immigration question is argued within contending narratives. The Marxist Left points to cultural enrichment, tolerance, virtuous altruism, abundant and cheap labor and "diversity". Conservatives point to enormous burdens on Federal and local governments in the areas of healthcare, public education, law enforcement and revenues. Given that both are imperfect, which narrative is more correct? Does either go beyond what is easily seen?
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| Frederic Bastiat |
As with most things in Western politics, America's illegal immigration question is argued within contending narratives. The Marxist Left points to cultural enrichment, tolerance, virtuous altruism, abundant and cheap labor and "diversity". Conservatives point to enormous burdens on Federal and local governments in the areas of healthcare, public education, law enforcement and revenues. Given that both are imperfect, which narrative is more correct? Does either go beyond what is easily seen?
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