Planned Servitude.

This is perhaps the most frightening pro control, pro regulation, big government, big brother piece of policy I have ever seen.

Read the whole scary thing for yourself.

The other guys? Well I'll just say that their model of servitude is less defined. It's kind of like comparing a Soviet Gulag to France's Devil's Island. On the outside they appear very different but the result is essentially the same.

Re: Ayn Rand: Don't call it a comeback

Is it any wonder that in the factual vacuum Mr Leonard has created with his article “Ayn Rand: Don’t call it a comeback” we find the spirit of one of her most vicious sycophants Ellsworth Toohey peering back at us?

In “The Fountainhead” Toohey paints himself as representative of the will of the masses but as with Mr. Leonard his lack of any personal genius or talent leaves him to try to tear down with words the true genius of others.

Mr. Leonard curses the very people and the very system that made the USA and the western world the bastion of freedom it is. The west is the place to which the truly oppressed and the truly needy of the world flock in droves every year. Why? Because of our freedom, and that freedom is not possible in a place without capitalism, even the weak kneed version we see today.

The Capitalism which fosters our freedom depends on the productive work of men, the ones Ayn Rand called the Atlas’ of the world. Those men work for their own pleasure, for their own self interest, but without the Atlas’ of this world we would not have all that we do. For every thief like Bernie Madof there are 100,000,000 honest businessmen working and creating, making money and paying the wages and ensuring that we, the common man have the unimaginable bounty of goods and services, bits and baubles that makes living here, in the USA and the Western world the absolute envy of every other part of the globe.

It’s a sad, sad thing that this article has been cheered by the same people who go off to work for GE, Microsoft, Ford and a host of other enterprises. Each if these companies rely on the creative genius, the drive and passion of productive men, men like those honoured by Ayn Rand in The Fountainhead, and Atlas Shrugged. This ‘article’ is living proof of the anti-intellectualism and the collectivist ideal that she cursed for her entire life.

Thankfully, any of us with cognitive skills above the level of the paramecium can discount Mr. Leonard and take the example of another of Ayn Rand’s heroes and say to him and all like him…

“But I don’t think of you...”

Socio-economic Mathematics

2 (the most socialized province in Canada)
+
2 (the most restrictive social & business environment in Canada)
4 (economic destruction and apathy)

All of this apparent soul searching and he still isn't able to see the answer.

Your Money is In It…

Because there is no money in it.

The reason why government is so hot and horny to “develop” the green economy, to “build” green jobs and “aid” green business is because there is no way to make a living off of these things.

If there were capitalists of all stripes, of any and all political, environmental and social inclinations would be tripping all over themselves for a piece of this "new market".

Think about it…

In a world where capitalists have us convinced to spend our hard earned dollars on bottled water when the stuff flows out of our taps almost for free, do you not think they would be making money hand over fist off the environmental craze if they could?

Just like Chrysler, your money is going to be put there by force, because no one wants their money to be there by choice.

Government's Full Meal Deal

Dr. Hurd manages to explain the cyclical escalation of government within a modern welfare state.

His point of view is American, but if you consider any western democracy, republic (are there any real ones left?) or constitutional whatever-you-want-to-call-it, you will see with the same sequence.

The only thing missing from our forced fed diet of government control is some greasy pimply-faced government sycophant asking us "Do you want fries with that..." when we leave the voting booth.

First Casualty Of The Left - Truth

This story doesn't document a retelling of the story, nor even a misunderstanding of the original event it is a bald faced, politically motivated fabrication.

What is Ignatieff's intent here?

The article's author suggests the only plausible one, to make this crime the responsibility of the nation... which is to say, make the white man responsible for every "evil" action taken, from the colonization of this land right up to the moment that Christopher Pauchay's innocent daughters drew their last fridgid breath.

This is the Left's ideal. They withdraw personal responsibility in favor of collective responsibility. When the time comes that no one man is responsible as an individual but everyone is responsible collectively for his actions, the government no longer has to concern itself with those pesky individual freedoms (and responsibility). From that point on our rights will be those printing press ones the government dreamed up for the Canadian Charter. Granted and denied at whim.

Life, liberty and property you say? Don't be such a philistine.

Goverment Monopoly's Day Off

I'm trying to think of a single solitary instance where there was a demand for a product in a free market that was not satisfied.

Anyone, anyone...
Bueller???

It doesn't happen. Only when there is a monopoly or there is no longer a supply of materials can such a situation occur.

There is no shortage of uranium.

That leaves only one cause. Monopoly, and that is impossible without the government using its legitimate monopoly of the use of force to create an illegitimate monopoly in the realm of business.

But the issue is wider than just the case against government imposed monopoly, it speaks to the absolute inability of government to be effective in any long term business venture.

I can not imagine any business that controlled 70% of a market allowing it's critical infrastructure to literally disintegrate. Could you imagine Toyota allowing its robotic welders to become inoperable due to neglect?

But it is worse than that. The government, in creating this monopoly said in effect "This is too vital/important/dangerous to leave to business. We must control this substance. We will provide this service, you can rely on us..." then they reneged.

Government and business... separate them NOW!

More Liberty Tools to build a virtual Galt's Gulch

Fighting tyrants is hard, as the anyone watching the news after the Iranian elections should know. Soft tyranny is even harder to fight, how do you storm the CHRC or effectively circumvent the "Fairness Doctrine"?

A new tool is in the works which might help; a browser based "darknet", which might as well be christened the "John Galt" net. Now freedom loving individuals can meet and speak without Big Brother breathing down their necks; a virtual Galt's Gulch so to speak:

http://it.slashdot.org/story/09/06/16/205232/Researchers-Build-a-Browser-Based-Darknet

"At Black Hat USA next month, researchers will demonstrate a way to use modern browsers to more easily build darknets — underground private Internet communities where users can share content and ideas securely and anonymously. HP's Billy Hoffman and Matt Wood have created Veiled, a proof-of-concept darknet that only requires participants have an HTML 5-based browser to join. No special software or configuration is necessary, unlike with darknets such as Tor. Veiled is basically a 'zero footprint' network, in which groups can rapidly form and disappear without a trace. The researchers admit darknets are attractive to bad guys, too, but they say they think these more easily set-up and dismantled nets will be more popular for mainstream (and legit) users."In somewhat related news, reader cheesethegreat informs us that version 0.7.5 of FreeNet has hit the tubes.

Storm.

The Profit Motive

As soon as you allow government to immerse itself in the provision of services for which people are normally paid, or in which businesses or individuals have a vested interest then you have a recipe for corruption, nepotism and cronyism.

A case in point.

The thing is, the only reason that the hiring of these companies was a crime, the only reason why there has to be this air of transparency is because the Government is involved.

Why this is a problem is because the Government forces you to pay and since it steals your money it wants to assure you through the tendering of contracts or some other mechanism that it isn't going to their friends... at least the ones that don't deserve it. It's all done to assure you that your money isn't being stolen twice.

The reason why I say this is the only reason, is because if you voluntarily called a private company providing the same service, as long as you received those services you wouldn't care if the Doctor or Nurse advising you was related to the company owner would you?

I'm sure that there will be an inquiry into this affair. I'm sure it will cost us (you and I, the taxpayers) a lot of money and I'm equally sure there will be recommendations and reports and news stories and on and on and on and on.

You know what else I'm sure about, that Telehealth Ontario is a pitiful attempt by the government to provide "healthcare".

As costs soar our collective dollars are worth less and less so our level of healthcare is reduced. They take our money and try to pass off a 1-800 number as an innovation in healthcare while people wait months for knee and hip surgery. "Don't go to the emergency room, don't go to the clinic, call this 1-800 number and get medical advice over the phone!" Sounds like a really good idea... Riiiiiiiight..

I'm also sure that if there was such a thing as market competition in the medical field in Canada our costs would be going down... Competition does that, and you know what else, if there was market competition and someone wanted to set up a "Telehealth Business" we wouldn't be left paying for a "commission of inquiry" every time the Owner contracted his buddy to work as a consultant.

Business and Government...

Separate them NOW!

Obama's Smackdown

Thank you Anne Wortham.

H/T mpt's Web Site

Perpetual Peasants

We Canadian peasants aren't saving enough for our retirement according to this article. Okay, this is news. The people should know and be warned, perhaps they will strive to put more money away.

Yeah... You know that is not the way the author or the talking heads are going to react on this though.

What is the first conclusion our 'White Knights' in government suggest? Is it that Canadians should be warned that they have to do more or they will not have sufficient funds to carry them through retirement? Um, no.

Is it a call to personal action and personal responsibility? Don't be ridiculous.

"Stand back Peasants!"
"I, Government the Good will do all the hard work for you..."

“More and more people are going to start realizing they don't have enough savings,” Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan predicted.

He and his provincial counterparts joined federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty last week in launching a sweeping reappraisal of retirement savings – one that's set to spark a heated debate about whether to expand the Canada Pension Plan or create some other supplemental scheme."

Yup. The first action of government, any government in Canada these days seems to be to say "Look, we can't trust people to take care of this themselves. They are just too stupid or apathetic or poor... so the Government /sigh/ will have to do it for them. We will have to save them from themselves."

Alright... the /sigh/ was there for dramatic effect. The truth is they aren't sighing they are rubbing their hands together in gluttonous glee, because they are going to get to expand their precious governmental toy. They will get more of your money, they will have more freedom to act on your behalf, they will have more control of you and you will have less.

This automatic and reflexive jump to governmental control or expansion every time a "bad thing" is occurring or might happen is government's secret weapon.

It makes us what the government wants us to be... Perpetual peasants looking to them for answers, solutions and salvation.

The government points at a negative outcome (any negative outcome) and offers to leap to our rescue like a knight in shining armour, and we, sit like peasants cowering in the dirt marveling at their power and the shininess of that armour.

The problem is that most of us poor peasants never realize that the government has the shiny armour because we peasants paid for it, and if they didn't take so much from us we would probably be able to stand up for ourselves, to do for ourselves in whatever way makes sense and fits with how we want to live our lives.