Ponzi Statism

According to Wikipedia...

"A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation that pays returns to separate investors from their own money or money paid by subsequent investors, rather than from any actual profit earned. The Ponzi scheme usually entices new investors by offering returns other investments cannot guarantee, in the form of short-term returns that are either abnormally high or unusually consistent. The perpetuation of the returns that a Ponzi scheme advertises and pays requires an ever-increasing flow of money from investors to keep the scheme going."

If you replace the promise of cash returns for government "services" then the definition above doubles as the definition of a welfare state...

A Welfare State is a fraudulent investment operation that pays social services to separate investors from their own money or money paid by subsequent investors, rather than from any actual profit earned. The welfare state usually entices new citizens by offering social services that are either abnormally efficient or unusually inclusive . The perpetuation of the services that a welfare state advertises and pays requires an ever-increasing flow of money from citizens to keep the scheme going.

The End of The Beginning of the End

"This really is Act V of the fiscal welfare state, in which monetary policy becomes the shameless handmaiden of fiscal policy in order to sustain an unsustainable kind of riskless society with massive benefits for everyone paid for by a few."

Read the whole thing.

Running out of other People's Money

Margaret Thatcher once famously quipped that the problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money to spend.

Greece is in the middle of proving that the people who support the socialist ideal will turn on the government they created as soon as that eventuality comes to fruition.

The Third World

In our backyard.

Aside from the issue of national sovereignty there is no discernible difference between the cleptocratic nature of many "First Nations" and many of the banana republics and their theiving leaders in Central Africa.

It's interesting that the people on the reserves don't get fired up over this, but hey... it's not like its their money anyway is it? They just wait and hope when its time to take their turn they can have a chance to feed deeply off the white mans guilt too.

And here I was going to try to stay positive and even festive what with x-mas being so close...

Oh well, "the best laid plans of mice and men", and all that.

Anti-contextual

"Every day... I can greedily, rightfully, seize every ticking moment, and never give one of them back."




"I don't live to live through anyone, ever."

On the surface these commercials are great. There is no equivocation, the sense of life is individualistic and unapologetic. They are classy and they appeal to the kind of strength of character that accepts such ideals... On the surface.

But context is important and in this case the context includes the fact that this company just received one of the most massive bailouts in history. That this is the second such bailout for this company in the last 30 years.

I don't think that these rather Objectivist appeals to individualism are an accident either. Atlas Shrugged is poised to have its best selling year to date, Tea Parties protesting the largest expansion of the welfare state in the US since the "New Deal" were held across the country.

The company is most definitely trying to appeal to that backlash, and it is just as fervently hoping that you and I and all the rest of the people out there don't notice their hypocrisy. They are counting on their audience being as anti-contextual as they are.

"Shhhhhhhhhhhh," they say... "forget the bailout... Forget the fact that your choices made us unable to survive on our own so we told the government to force you to support us. Forget that this already happened in 1979, forget that to us the ideas in these commercials are just a crass advertising ploy"... Yes, forget all that...

But then maybe that is the point, and part and parcel of their problem. As long as this company, and others like it remain anti-contextual themselves, as long as individualism, self reliance and rational self interest are only marketing gimmicks to them, then they are doomed to be moochers, looters, scavengers and thugs, taking the money they are not worthy of earning by force and denying us our freedom and choice through the barrel of a government gun.

No Tax for Pan-Am

1.4 billion

Bread and Circuses, that's what it was called back during the fall of the Roman Empire. The idea at the time was that the political leadership of the Empire could distract the citizenry, and make them to forget the realities of their day-to-day lives by staging elaborate games and spectacles in the colleseum.

Fast forward 2000 years... Now, in the middle of a recession, when people in the manufacturing heartland of Ontario (of which Hamilton is a part) are suffering from lay offs and plant closures all three arms of the government, municipal, provincial and federal, led by Dalton "Nero" McGinty think it's a good time to take more money from taxpaers to fund a sporting event?

Ridiculous!

No Tax For PanAm...

Are We There Yet?

“The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws.”
Ayn Rand

If you read the news today or have been reading it for the last while you are virtually assaulted by the systemic use of tax money to bail out here, or subsidize there. The workers cry out for it, the Unions beg for it, the businessmen complain that they can not survive without it and the politicians dole it out.

When this is done a majority of consumers sagely nod their heads, Unions and businessmen grimly set their jaws and make a show of “getting to work” and Politicians on the left and on the right preach the gospel of regulation, control and “social responsibility”.

It’s systemic, invasive, pervasive and sickening.

So, as the title of this post asks… Are we there yet? Is it necessary for honest rights respecting folks to be criminals in order to live their lives as men?

Your Money

Stolen from you. Given to Them.

Circling the drain.

Questions?

Gauchos in Jackboots

Round Two, the Cold war of the Americas.

Anyone who thinks that this is anything less (or any less important) is just lying to himself.

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...”

Obama's Smackdown

Thank you Anne Wortham.

H/T mpt's Web Site

NEWSFLASH!!!

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A RIGHT TO A JOB!

People whine and bitch about the contractually assured bonuses of CEO's and the government eggs them on... then there's this.

From the article:

“What makes me glum about it all is that it's extremely difficult to get around the political necessity of subsidizing employment at an extraordinarily high cost per job..."

WTF is there to 'get around'? How about the concept that government is not, was not, and was never intended to ensure anyone, at any time, for any reason, was employed! It's not their job!

I'll say it again... There is no such thing as a right to a job! The only thing government should be ensuring is individual rights and that isn't on the list.

$1.5 million per job holy freaking deficits Batman! We would actually save money by just giving each and every GM employee a million dollars!

This isn't capitalism, this isn't conservatism, this isn't even rational.

Make Them Say IT

Out Loud!


The good Dr. is quickly becoming one of my favorites...

The American debt road trip

Driving down the road at 174 MPH?

Good.

This is a good news story. The only way it could be better is if it would lead automatically to personal responsibility, but I fear that isn't going to be.

"Status matters, because all our funding is tied to how many status Indians we have in our nation," said Beaver, 69, whose 1,000-member community expects to see its last status Indians born in 2032.

Do these people hear themselves when they talk? When the rest of Canada is worried about industries and companies going out of business, and keeping their jobs. When the concern of rural communities is their children moving away to find work in the bigger cities these people are worried about being cut off from the federal teat.

When the majority of Canadians are worried about being able to work for what they need these people are worried about having to work for what they need.

We don't need status Indians, or status anyone else for that matter. We need all individuals in this country treated exactly the same regardless of birth, race, creed or colour.

JUST THINKING: By the way Chief, if you want to keep the land your band currently squats on let your people buy property and have property rights.

The government of Canada recognizes property rights in principal if not explicitly (see the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms) and would certainly allow you to own the land you occupy... Of course you'd have to join the rest of the country and pay taxes for it.

Robbing Harper - Steals From You to Give To Them

So now my money is going to be given out to Kids in the Caribbean so that they can go to university in Canada paid for by my taxes?

WTF?

I might sound insensitive here but perhaps these countries should be putting their own students through fricking university and my money should be left in my pocket so I can put MY two kids through university.

I find myself looking forward to the next election, and wondering if these guys have a candidate in my riding...

Silly Me...

I should have bought a Chrysler or GM...

Oh, wait! Maybe I did...

Nope, I didn't. I chose a Toyota, because Chrysler and GM didn't produce the kind or quality of vehicle I wanted.

Thanks to the government I will get to make payments on them though.


So let me get this right, it is now the responsibility of government to honour the warrantees of private companies to individual consumers?

And this current cleptocracy calls itself "Conservative"? WTF ever happened to limited government?

Let the Shrugging Begin...

Dear Mr. Liddy...

"I take this action after 11 years of dedicated, honorable service to A.I.G. I can no longer effectively perform my duties in this dysfunctional environment, nor am I being paid to do so. Like you, I was asked to work for an annual salary of $1, and I agreed out of a sense of duty to the company and to the public officials who have come to its aid. Having now been let down by both, I can no longer justify spending 10, 12, 14 hours a day away from my family for the benefit of those who have let me down."

That's depressing, but the most depressing thing was that this guy berates Libby for not standing up to Congress and then folds like a cheap suit saying he'll donate all his hard earned pay to charity.

Think about it...

The very idea that led to his betrayal by his company and his government in the first place is the idea that his success, his effort and his skill is an embarrassment!

The concept being snuck into this equation is that because he is skilled, driven and successful he owes "those suffering from the global economic downturn"! Because he is able, successful, smart, productive and driven his entire life is mortgaged!!!

What a travesty.

He should have given the whole lot a single finger salute and moved himself and his entire family to some Caribbean tax haven till the US comes back to it's senses, capitalism, the constitution and the rule of law.

Contract? What Contract?

What happened to contract law in the USA?

"New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo says 15 employees who received some of the largest bonuses from American International Group have agreed to return more than $30 million US worth of payments."

America...
Land of the fleeced, home of the berated.

"Cuomo said he doesn't plan to release the names of the employees who agreed to return the bonuses, and said there is no implied threat that if an employee doesn't consent to returning the bonus that their name will be released.

Cuomo had sought the names of the employees who received bonuses from Liddy through a subpoena. He said his office is continuing to assess the security of the employees."

Yeah, Riiiiiiiight...

Link

Once Upon a Time...

"Canadian actors made a case for new media funding at a hearing today before the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.

The performers helped kick off the first day of hearings on regulating online content by urging the CRTC to make Internet service providers follow the same rules as television and radio broadcasters and protect Canadian content online.

"This is a battle for the future. What we want is a place for Canadian storytellers and our stories," said Richard Hardacre national president of ACTRA"

Link

Here's a story for you.

Once upon a time Canadians had one small piece of freedom left, it was called the internet. Then some whiny ingrate, wannabe "artist" hack and his can't-make-a-living-without-subsidies looser friends tried to screw that up too.

You want people to pay attention to "Canadian Art"? Consistently make something worth looking at, watching and listening to.

Oh, and failing that you can still keep your greasy hands of my internet!