The bailout package I’ve been saying was $800 billion is $700 billion. When the news first broke, there was some confusion about it. Now there’s a lot of confusion as we listen to the principals like the Secretary of Treasury and the other guy testifying before congress, as well as members of Congress. They are asking questions and voicing opinions.
Yesterday, one member of Congress labeled the bailout financial socialism. It’s the first time I’ve heard a member of Congress use the word socialism. But calling the bail out financial socialism is misleading and has an inference socialism only refers to taking one kind of property, i.e., money. The basic premise of socialism is an opposition and rejection of ownership of private property, period. It means the centralized government owns and controls all private property, including money.
Last night, I flipped around on all the news channels, listening to the news media talk about the bail outs. No one knows whether or not it will pass through Congress or not. Most think it will. However, a large number of American citizens are up in arms about it, calling, texting and contacting the politicians in Washington. This is a routine staging of how centralized government works.
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Out Of Gas, Out Of Money, Out Of Patience (Issue 87)
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This past week, we heard news about the big free fall dip in Wall Street and the financial markets around the world. Plus, the news about more than $800 billion in government bailouts. Then, by the end of the week, we heard about the recovery and rising upwards on Wall Street. So the pendulum is swinging and no one knows precisely which way it will swing next.
I heard one economist report that this latest bailout alone will cost every taxpayer in this country $8,000. Now, you are not going to receive a due notice, it will be absorbed in things like sales taxes and payroll taxes by those still receiving a paycheck.
Newspaper articles report the rapid rise in those collecting unemployment checks and other government doles like food stamps. There is already a significant rise of taking from producers to redistribute to non-producers. As disturbing as this is, in one way of thinking, if by earning by the sweat of one’s brow for income is going to be taken in large chunks for the benefit of others (non-wage earners), it’s understandable why some choose to sit on their rear and just collect government handouts. As objectionable as it sounds, political government’s interference into the capitalistic, free enterprise system has caused it.
The voluntary exchange of goods and services in a capitalistic society does not mean that capitalism always equates to individual freedom. Many in prison operate the capitalistic system. People in China operate a version of capitalism, but far from having personal freedom. Freedom and private ownership of property is a total concept. Some versions of capitalism have been described as “disaster capitalism.”
However, for one to live and operate in a free society, it is essential to be able to exercise a voluntary exchange of goods and services unhampered and unrestricted by a centralized government—an economy that operates for profit, for producers to have control of the profit from the things they produce. When government preempts that and swipes large chunks off the top, that’s legal plunder and bondage.
What is happening currently is a very bold move by the government, so contrary to the principles upon which this country was founded. Freedom is achieved, sustained and maintained when there is mutual respect for the boundaries of the property of others. For the government to arbitrarily take your money (your property) without remorse or compunction, they are saying we have no respect for you. They are saying they do not recognize any boundary for that which belongs to you and they will take more and more because they have the power to do so.
Today McCain was quoted as saying, “government should stop bail-outs.” The question is why he has and other members of Congress not stopped it? In the meantime, the candidates are in a frenzy speaking about what they will do FOR you if elected president. The focus should be on what they have already done TO you. How can they do for you when there is absolutely no respect for you and the boundaries of your ownership? Respect means honoring your rights to have and keep your property. Does a thief have any respect for you when he robs you? Does a fox have any respect for the chickens when he cleans out the hen house?
How many have stopped to think about the disrespect the government has for you when they load you up with another $800 billion worth of debt almost overnight?
The act of our creation endowed us with a brain to reason. Other species were not endowed with this gift. Is it reasonable to accept such a large swipe as $800 billion from the pockets of producers? Where is reason when we fail to stand up and reject such mind-boggling amounts of taking to give to others? It is the most glaring act of disrespect I have ever seen in my lifetime.
I was sitting in an economics class in the sixties when the professor asked me what I knew about economics. My response was, “I only know one thing. When your outgo is more than your income, your upkeep will become your downfall.” He suggested that might be a matter of cash flow. He was a professor of the Austrian School of Economics and very smart. I was very ignorant about the subject of economics. And to this day, still do not know very much about the subject, but I studied and read a lot and learned a few things. Elementary stuff, dear Watson.
Throughout history, the accepted medium of exchange has been gold and silver. They have intrinsic value. Along came President Roosevelt in the thirties and gold and silver was removed from the backing of the U.S. dollar. He changed the monetary policy.
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Time To Tally Up As Things Belly Up (Issue 80)
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Who ever thought it would be dangerous and even life threatening to eat a tomato?
I wrote the article below last year and here we are in the middle of 2008 with things only worsening dramatically within the past six months.
The dollar is sinking like a brick in a bathtub, fuel prices are rising like the Japanese Sun, and food supplies are diminishing and rising in costing every time we go to the grocery store. All this has happened in only six months after I wrote the following article.
To understand the difference in value judgments and principles, I’m going to cite a rather over simplification of a can of soup.
