Mar 24

Socialist Talking Points About Libertarianism Eviscerated by Cato Institute

Milton Friedman

Remember Michael Moore’s movie “Capitalism: A Love Story”? Or the book by socialist Naomi Klein called “The Shock Doctrine”? Both relied on a claim (which probably originated in Klein’s “Shock Doctrine”) that the free-market philosophy of economist Milton Friedman was instrumental in the Chilean coup in 1973 which enthroned fascist Augusto Pinochet. Naomi Klein claims that Milton Friedman was an economic advisor to Pinochet.

In fact, as Cato Institute’s Johan Norberg pointed out in 2008, Milton Friedman never advised Pinochet and never accepted a penny from the Chilean regime. The entirety of Naomi Klein’s arguments were fabricated from a 6-day trip Friedman took to Chile in March 1975. Friedman did give public lectures, invited by a private foundation. He met with Pinochet for around 45 minutes, and wrote Pinochet a letter afterward, “arguing for a plan to end hyperinflation and liberalize the economy. That was the same kind of advice Friedman gave to communist dictatorships like the Soviet Union, China, and Yugoslavia, yet nobody would claim [Friedman] was a communist.” Norberg, “The Klein Doctrine,” Cato Institute Briefing Papers, No. 102, MMay 14, 2008.

But Naomi Klein–known in government-trusting circles as an intellectual figure–invested entire chapters in her book, “the Shock Doctrine” in a claim that Milton Friedman was an advisor to Pinochet and that Friedman’s market philosophy was responsible for the authoritarian rule of Pinochet. Such claims have been widely repeated, including by Michael Moore.

Mar 24

Urban Institute: Social Security Transfers Wealth From Poor to Rich

worship2_dees

A 2004 study by C. Eugene Steuerle, Adam Carasso and Lee Cohen of the Urban Institute, entitled “How Progressive is Social Security and Why?,” found that Social Security is a massive transfer from poor groups to rich Americans.

Although “Social Security was designed to redistribute income from those with higher lifetime earning to thos with lower lifetime earnings,” the results have been JUST THE OPPOSITE. “[L]ess-educated, lower-income, and nonwhite groups benefit little or not at all from redistribution” from Social Security.

In reality, the Social Security program redistributes incom from “shorter-lived groups (such as men and the less educated) to longer-lived groups (such as women and the better educated) through annuities whose lifetime value depends upon life expectency.”

Single women “(including many divorced women), . . . fare much more poorly than married women–a fact hidden in the data on all women.”

Mar 23

American Universities Have Become Orwellian Thought-Control Zones Where Diverse Views Are Rarely Allowed

dayrage_dees

Brown University is like many others. Expensive, and overwhelmingly socialist in its messaging and content delivery. Reason Magazine recently reported on a debate at Brown University that featured a typical socialist, government-trusting professor (of which there are many hundreds if not thousands) debating libertarian-feminist Wendy McElroy. The Brown University students were so sheltered from non-government, alternative views that the organizers of the event set up a shelter area with stuffed animals, coloring books, bubbles, Play-Doh, calming music, pillows, blankets and cookies so that students could hide from McElroy’s views.

Reason Magazine reported that students at preschools and daycare facilities were better able to embrace diverse views. In fact,

To say that the 18-year-olds at Brown who sought refuge from ideas that offended them are behaving like toddlers is actually to insult the toddlers—who don’t attend daycare by choice, and who routinely demonstrate more intellectual courage than these students seem capable of. (Anyone who has ever observed a child tackling blocks for the first time, or taking a chance on the slide, knows what I mean.)

Mar 23

FBI Agents Are Now Paid More than Doctors or Lawyers

statlib

Trusters of government can often be heard griping about the “one percent.” Often, these delusional government trusters call for more government; more government regulators of industry, more laws and regulations to control businesses, and slave-plantation-level taxation on industry. Yet increasingly, the one percenters can be found in the ranks of government bureaucrats. Consider that the average five-year FBI agent makes more than $120,000 annually in salary alone. And that figure does not include the benefits. The Lewrockwell.com report is here.

There are many communities in the west where the largest houses are owned by federal bureaucrats. It is as if federal policymakers are seeking to remake America in the model of nineteenth-century British colonialism, where huddled masses of peasants would be made to service the desires of an imperial governor in a gilded mansion.

Mar 23

A video of a helicopter recovery of a dead climber from Grand Teton


by Dr. Roger I. Roots,
Founder of Lysander Spooner University

Last year I attempted (unsuccessfully) to climb Grand Teton via the “upper Exum” route. I had twice previously summited by way of the easier ‘Owen-Spaulding’ route. While trudging uphill above the area known as ‘the meadow,’ I observed a helicopter flying around above.

I also remember being passed by a very fit hiker bearing a pack that seemed to indicate he was with the Jackson Hole Guide Service. I am not often passed on high mountain trails.

Just below the ‘Lower Saddle,’ I encountered a man and a woman descending. I remember thinking they seemed unfriendly at the time. I asked if they knew anything about the helicopter flying around above, and they indicated they were ‘waiting’ to find out what it was about.

Upon reaching the lower saddle, I was immediately confronted by a uniformed park ranger who asked me about my intentions. He told me that the Exum route was off-limits and that I would need to climb Grand Teton by way of the Owen-Spalding route. The ranger indicated there had been a climbing fatality along the beginnings of the upper exum route.

An hour or so later, I was up above a pair of rangers who were wrapping the dead body of a climber for helicopter removal. I filmed–unexpertly–this helicopter recovery.

Mar 23

More cash-strapped Americans turn to tax refund advances

torn_dees

If you save anything in modern America, you are an utter fool. The Federal Reserve Bank has set interest rates at near zero for years now, and almost all of the world’s central banks are also pouring out paper currency at near-zero (or below-zero) interest rates.

In the modern world–erected wholly upon a financing model designed to benefit the expansion of government power–savers are punished, while debtors are rewarded. Increasing percentages of Americans (especially Americans at the bottom of the socio-economic structure) are cashing out 401ks, stripping retirement accounts of value, and becoming renters rather than owners.

Now we read that more and more Americans are seeking tax refund advances. The link is here.

And remember that many poor Americans will find in 2015 that even their expected refunds are smaller than ever before, due to the Obamacare penalty.

Stay tuned!

Mar 21

Decades of Extravagant Spending on Public Education Have Produced Few Good Results

untitled

Cato Institute’s Daniel Mitchell describes U.S. spending on public schools in this way: “Never Have so Many Paid so Much to Achieve so Little.” Incredibly, Americans are made to pay more for schooling than the parents of any other society. Yet American students–ranked head to head with students in other countries–perform very poorly. The graph above illustrates how much public spending has achieved so little.

Mar 21

Why do so many U.S. weapons fall into enemy hands? Will We Soon Be Attacked By Them?

Ron Paul

Why do people who call themselves “conservatives” and who claim to advocate “limited government” worship big military? Former Congressman Ron Paul wonders why so many dollars worth of U.S. military weapons have supposedly fallen into the hands of “enemies.” “Building weapons and seeing them end up in the hands of the enemy is almost a routine event,” says Doctor Paul.

A recent headline in Mother Jones read: “US Weapons Have A Nasty Habit of Going AWOL.” The report was about $500 million worth of military equipment that is unaccounted for in Yemen.

It is hard to believe this is attributable to incompetence alone (though all government operations tend to be incompetent).

Is there a darker plot behind these “lost weapon” stories? Will we soon be attacked by weapons we paid for?

Stay tuned. . . .

Mar 20

Virtually all Manmade-Global-Warming Science–Almost All of Which Supports Expanding Government–Has Been Funded by Governments

mhiker

According to the book “Merchants of Smear” by Russell Cook, the U.S. government alone spent more than $106 billion in taxpayer funds to research and support alarmist climate research between 2003 and 2010, as well as billions more on ineffective renewable energy boondoggles. Much of the taxpayer-supported alleged scientists refuse to let other scientists, IPCC reviewers, or FOIA investigators view their raw data, computer codes, or computer algorithms. The alarmist “scientists” claim the information is private property, even though taxpayers paid for the work and the results.

Cook’s book also exposes the widely-repeated “97 percent consensus” claim as highly imaginative. The claim, according to Cook, is based on a study by a University of Queensland professor claiming 97 percent of published scientific papers agree humans caused at least half of the 1.3º F (0.7º C) global warming since 1950; in reality, only 41 of the 11,944 papers cited explicitly said this.

Mar 20

A Private-Sector website that directed consumers to different health-insurance options already existed before the Obamacare website flop

still_waiting-251x300

Most of us remember two years ago when the government’s Obamacare website was launched. Americans watched in horror as the website crashed, failed to function and was hacked. At a cost to taxpayers of many tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars.

It was a lesson in how government enterprises perform.

Of course, ANY American with an IQ above 85 could have produced a working website to help consumers identify health-insurance options for less than a million dollars. If he couldn’t do it himself, he could have paid a webmaster to build such a site for, say, a hundred thousand dollars. Almost anyone in the business would have jumped at the opportunity. And the original guy would have pocketed $900,000. ANY AMERICAN COULD HAVE DONE IT FOR A MILLION DOLLARS–and most would have made a handsome profit.

Now we read from former congressman Allen West that THERE ACTUALLY WAS a private-sector website that could do what the Obamacare website failed to do. It was called eHealthInsurance.com.

The ehealthinsurance.com site was in the business of helping consumers find health insurance options on their own. The private-sector site had built-in security protections to keep consumers’ confidential information private. And it was free or cheap. Who knew?