A Message to My Liberal Facebook Friends

I have something to say to my statist Facebook friends (yes, I know, you like to call yourselves “liberal” or “progressive”).  I am glad you are my friends (and not just FB friends) but you are not helping to improve the tone of political discourse with your daily mindless posts.  And in case you are thinking I am talking about you and only you, I assure you I am not.  Because, you see, it is ALL of you.  You all post the same mindless crap.   It is like there is some statist puppet master pulling your strings.  Whenever I see “Stop watching FauxNews, think for yourselves” posted five times by five different FB friends on the same day, I have to chuckle at the irony.  Gay marriage, chicken sandwiches, the latest gaffe from Romney, what some nobody Republican dog catcher foolishly said about something, are all insignificant and by posting this crap you are acting like middle school girls who like to talk about frivolous things.  So enough of the snarky look-how-smart-I-am-because-I-found-a-funny-picture-showing-how-stupid-those-Republicans-are posts.    And, it doesn’t help your case when you resort to name calling (nutjobs, baggers, sociopaths) and constant carpet F-bombings, you come across as insecure middle school boys who want to act all tough.   Honestly, rarely do any of my conservative or libertarian FB friends do any of this stuff.  But from my dear statist friends, it is an everyday thing.  It would be one thing if you actually wanted to talk about policy (as opposed to political gotcha), but you have shown no interest in having a true political discussion.

So let’s be clear, this election is about one thing and one thing only – how can the entitlement debt bomb be defused.  It is undeniable to anyone who is paying attention that unless we do something about the federal debt, our children will be condemned to a lower standard of living.  And, yes, I agree we need to bring home the troops and stop getting ourselves involved in wars with countries that have not attacked us.  I agree we can no longer afford an empire. But guess what, we have to cut entitlement programs because entitlements make up 62% of the federal budget and will completely consume the budget by 2045.  Entitlements and interest will consume the total federal budget by 2025. 

It has been estimated that the total unfunded entitlements liability (future required payments) exceeds $100 TRILLION dollars. Yes, that was trillion with a T.  So what my statist friends need to understand is that every new thing you demand from the government has a cost.  Nothing is free.   

And the answer is not to raise taxes.  If the federal government took 100% of the income of the top 1% (those making over $384k a year) it would not balance the budget let alone pay down the debt.  The total confiscation of the income of the  top 1% would provide only $750 billion while the annual federal deficit is projected to be $1.1 trillion.  And of course with a 100% tax rate the top 1% would “go Galt” and stop working or leave the country.

So do we begin to have a rational discussion about how to save this country from financial collapse or do you want to continue to post mean-spirited snarky crap?  If it is the latter, then you are no better than all the hack politicians who have destroyed this country.  I know you are better than they are, please show it.  

On spending money you don't have

I spend money, 

I don't have.

To buy things,

I don't need.

To impress people,

I don't know.

I found the above poem on a discussion board.  I don't know who to attribute it to but I thought it was too good to not share.  As my children get older I find myself counselling them about not falling for the trap of celebrity worship, reckless consumerism, and deriving self-worth from material things.  Just as government can enslave us through reckless spending and borrowing, we can enslave ourselves by our own reckless buying and borrowing.  There is a lot of freedom in living debt free.  And character can be built through delayed gratification.  

Indoctrinating the Grasshopper Generation

This interview scares me but it doesn't surprise me.  That liberal indoctrination of youth in many public school classrooms and through varied media platforms (movies, TV, Internet) should not be a surprise to anyone.  I once read that most adults don't stray too far from the political views they held prior to the age of 20.  Similar to many religious organizations, the statists realize that if you get them young they will likely hold onto those beliefs.  


In the interview below Jack Chambless, an economics professor from Valencia College in Florida, tells of an assignment he gave his students on the first day of class.  He asked them to write an essay on what the American Dream meant to them and what they expected from government to help them realize the American Dream.  He said only 10% said they wanted the federal government to stay out of their lives as much as possible. 80% said they wanted the federal government to pay for their education, find them a job, help them buy a house, and give them money in retirement. Professor Chambless suggests that his students are simply parroting back what they have been indoctrinated to say from their years in public schools.  


As I said, this interview scares me because I suspect Professor Chambless is correct.




FYI:  Here is a link to an article from The Blaze about a teacher handing out a flyer that promoted communism as a being superior to capitalism. 

Speak with Conviction

This video of a Taylor Mali poem makes a very good point about how today's youth's lack of conviction is evident in their way of speaking.

Why Inequality is Not Necessarily Bad

In this video Law Professor Richard Epstein explains why inequality is good. While his argument is solid, I wouldn't have stated it that way. I would have said liberty is good and you can't have liberty without allowing for economic inequality as a possible outcome. However, when those with economic power extract economic rent from government through bailouts and other special rights then it is bad. But the solution is not to give government more power as many of the OWS crowd want but to limit the scope of government so it is not economically beneficial to lobby for corporate and union handouts. We need to end privatized profits and socialized loses. If a company or a union (GM, Chrysler, UAW, NEA, Bank of America, and so forth) makes bad decisions then they need to pay the price, not taxpayers. Corporatism, not capitalism, is what people should be upset against.

Watch Does U.S. Economic Inequality Have a Good Side? on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.

Is the US a Democracy or a Constitutional Republic?

When I was a young boy a visiting relative asked me if the US was a democracy or a republic.  I said democracy.  The led to a 30 minute lecture on why we are a constitutional republic.  She was correct, of course.  The founders never intended for the US to be a democracy.  They feared democracy because a true democracy does not have safeguards to protect liberty.  Here is a well done video from the Bill of Rights Institute.

Atlas Shrugged Movie Part 1 DVD Release

With Atlas Shrugged Part I set for release on November 8, I thought I would share this YouTube review by BookofNick.  He does a really good job.