The socialist society would have to forbid capitalist acts between consenting adults.
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Author: Redactor
Thanks to the president, it’s the meme of the moment. Take it up a notch. With an understanding of the economics involved.
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Henry Adams, Feb 16
On February 16, 1838, Henry Adams was born. One of the long line of Adamses, grandson of John Quincy Adams, Henry became a world-famous historian and critic of American politics. He also wrote several novels, including the classic, “Democracy.”
On February 16, 1918, the Council of Lithuania unanimously adopts the Act of Independence, declaring Lithuania an independent state.
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Robert Nozick
Individuals have rights and there are things no person or group may do to them (without violating their rights). So strong and far-reaching are these rights that they raise the question of what, if anything, the state and its officials may do. How much room do individual rights leave for the state?
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Robert Nozick
To each as they choose, from each as they are chosen.
The U.S. President wants to up the national minimum wage to $9 per hour.
Republicans tend to lose at such policy debates, sometimes by daring to tell the truth: That minimum wage laws tend to raise unemployment. But that doesn’t impress politicians, who can’t be bothered to look beyond the surface of such issues.
They present the minimum wage hike as a guarantee that higher wages get paid all around, that wages only go up, rather than what actually happens: some wages go up to meet the law, and others evaporate, as people are let go, jobs downsized, and new jobs go uncreated.
So why would congressional Republicans use the same old rhetoric to balk at the president’s plan?
Sometimes irony works. Republicans should take all the Democrats’ premises — we want higher wages, more wealth, etc., etc. — and up the ante:
“Yes, raising wages would be great! But why are you all such tightwads? Raise the minimum to $49 an hour! Or make the lowest rate comparable with congressional pay: $85 per hour!”
Then compromise and say they will only vote for the raise if the rate hike is a serious amount, not the president’s paltry $1.75 increase.
At that point, a more honest conversation will start up.
For the ugly truth is that the harmful effects of the current and rather low minimum wage laws rest mainly on folks who aren’t very likely to vote, or to notice why it is they are unemployed. But raise the rate to $49 per hour, or even $19, and the scam becomes obvious to all but the most dense.
Even Democrats would insist on a lower rate.
And then Republicans should demand that Democrats explain why. And reveal the perverse logic behind minimum wages for all to see.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
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Rutherford B. Hayes women Supreme Court
On February 15, 1879, American President Rutherford B. Hayes signed a bill allowing female attorneys to argue cases before the Supreme Court of the United States.
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H. L. Mencken
One horse-laugh is worth ten thousand syllogisms. It is not only more effective; it is also vastly more intelligent.
On February 14, 1859, Oregon was admitted into the American union as the 33rd of the United States.
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Oh, For a Smarter Obama
There are some things that can be endured only with irony, or a lot of drink (and I don’t drink).
Last night, as I listened to Barack Hussein Obama’s fifth “State of the Union” Address, I chose irony:
Obama just said he wants a smarter government, not a bigger one. So, surely, the new slogan will be: FREEZE GOVERNMENT SPENDING! Washington Will Simply Work Smarter for the Same Money! Now we’re united. Go Obama!
Live-blogging on Facebook in this manner allowed me to breeze through the rest of the tedium pretty well: my blood pressure didn’t rise one bit.
But this “smarter government” theme is actually a serious issue.
The problem with current government is not the IQs of the folks in our bureaucracies or running for office. The problem is the systemic effects of the incentives and disincentives that modern, barely limited government present to us all. We don’t need smarter government to improve conditions, we need wiser governance. And the wise person knows when to leave well enough alone.
Actually, there’s a lot of intelligence out there. And knowledge. But these are dispersed amongst “We, the People.” Government concentrates power, but it cannot concentrate knowledge or IQ in any multiplicative way. When people live under the right incentives — as provided by liberty and the rule of law — they become more responsible, they learn from their mistakes, and they even achieve some great things.
Government must learn to back off to allow this — or at least freeze spending!
I wonder if President Obama is smart enough, wise enough, to learn that.
Probably not as long as enough people laud him for saying inane things about “smart government.”
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.