A Pig By Any Other Name

Is there anyone else besides me out there that is sick to death of hearing all these targeted, wealth transfers to the public sector called 'investments'? It used to be there was a somewhat clear separation in the minds of the citizenry between the private sector, the world of risk, consequences, pain and failure, aka 'the real world', and that safe, inefficient, riskless, namby- pamby, early retirement, do-gooder world of the life-long government job, aka 'the public sector'. Alas, there used to be a time when the vast majority of Americans trusted their own basic life experience at the post office, the planning commission office and the DMV and possessed some certainty that this riskless world where no one gets fired for nothing short of the public sexual harrassment of juveniles, couldn't by its intrinsic nature ever operate as efficiently as the true engine of wealth and prosperity, the private sector. But no. Now we American's stand numbly by as, what was perceived by most as a conservative Bush administration, 'invested' hundreds of billions into public education, farm subsidies, expanding medicaid, an entirely new national security department, etc. only soon to be outdone by the new, more enlightened Obama administration's massive increases in funding into ever greater public 'investments' in health care, head start education, green energy and stem cell research . It's time we did away with this egregious misnomer, 'public investments'. From this moment hence I dub all the myriad of unaccountable public sector 'investments'... hippropriations; the cross between a gargantuan, green-eating water-hog and a third party, fiscal misallocation . It's not an 'investment' unless someone loses their job or their personal money if it doesn't work ... END OF STORY!

'Hope' is that magical, mythical, missing ingredient redefined and revered by Democrats that, if we all hold hands, can turn pork into gold .....

Economic Freedom and Individualism Will Prevail

Leave men free and their natural inequalities will multiply almost geometrically, as in England and America in the nineteenth century under laissez-faire. To check the growth of inequality, liberty must be sacrificed, as in Russia after 1917. Even when repressed, inequality grows; only the man who is below the average in economic ability desires equality; those who are conscious of superior ability desire freedom; and in the end superior ability has its way. Utopias of equality are biologically doomed, and the best that the amiable philosopher can hope for is an approximiate equality of legal justice and educational opportunity. A society in which all potential ablities are allowed to develop and function will have a survival advantage in the competition of groups.

From "The Lessons of History," Will Durant, 1968.

Blind Blind Blind

This latest bailout of the auto 'Big 3' illustrates in no uncertain manner one of the fundamental differences between the way the those on the left and those who live in the 'real world' think and operate. Only a blind man could fail to see that the terms for the 17 billion $ loan are by magnitudes more generous than private capital or a bankrupcy court would offer. In the real world, companies and individuals have to pay their own way, make products that people actually want to buy, make contractual arrangements that are beneficial to all parties, do what they say they'll do, or else suffer the consequences. Government, now evolved into an instrument of infinite compassion, can never take a hard line with either business or it's citizenry. Government has come to be synonomous with a therapeutic, leftist world view that sees all of creation as not reponsible for their actions, but victims of circumstances beyond their control to a greater or lesser degree. The 'Big 3' couldn't have seen this huge credit contraction coming; people couldn't be expected to turn down no downpayment adjustable rate morgages; too much pressure on Johnny to pass that exam not to expect him to cheat; no one told me that my stock fund could go down 50%; it's McDonald's fault that I'm 50 lbs overweight; ad absurdum....

Conservatives like myself shake our heads if not cower in despair at how the majority of our citizens can't see what is so obvious. Are they blind? Personal responsiblity is one of the cornerstones of a free, prosperous, democratic society. Government, by spending tax dollars they don't have to insulate individuals and business from the consequences of their decisions and actions, can't but inevitably undermine the fundamental values that keep us safe, economically secure and free to succeed or fail on our own merits. There's no way for the government to help losers without punishing winners. You want more losers? Reward failure. You want less national wealth? Punish winners. It really is that simple.