Dark Side of Capitalism

Sadly capitalism does have its danger. The problem is that the honest pursuit of profit in business can be over taken by greed. When this happens the results can be as bad as any totalitarian system, this takes two main form exploitation and cronyism.

Exploitation occurs when the owner and managers of a business stop seeing employees as people and starts seeing them only as resources to be used. This can take the form of unreasonably low wages with long hours and us safe working condition. The presents of any of these three in a job dose not exploitation make. A job may have low wages simply because the job is not worth much. Long hours are a necessity of many well paying jobs, and some work like mining is inherently dangerous. However it is combination of all three that add up to exploitation

The worst form of exploitation is the sweet shop where all three exist in abundance. Furthermore in the case of sweet shops workers are housed in company dormitories and forced to by necessities from an over priced company store. This condition reduces the workers to little more than slaves.

Cronyism is where business and government become closely related to the point where a business can use the government against competitors. This occurs when a prosperous business starts giving money to candidates for elected office to get favors in return. These favors some time take the form of favoritism in getting government contracts. However these favors often take the form of government regulation that helps put the favored business’ competition out of business or at least make it harder for them to compete.

The worst form of cronyism is a big business being bailed out by the government; while there smaller competitors are allowed to go out of business. This even worst when as in the case of the 2008 economic collapse the companies that got bailed out are the same companies that caused the problem to begin with.

While capitalism is not with out its problems it is still the best and freest economic system there is. With capitalism is the largest possible portion of a population can become prosperous. The United State is prime example of this where even in economic bad times the poorest among us are still among the richest people in the world.

An Introduction to Capitalism

Capitalism is also called the free market is defined as the economic system where the means of production is in private hands. The idea is that you are free to market your goods and services on the open market. Even in trying to find a job you are offering you skills, talent and labor on the open market.

Capitalism is the natural result of freedom. It is the economic system results from people being free to choose their own course in life as opposed to being forced down a path by the government, religion or other governing entity.

While capitalism comes with no guarantees, the potential rewards are endless. Under capitalism you are not forced to stay in your current employment but can seek other employment or strike out on your own and start you own business.  In a pure capitalist system there is nothing but your own personal limitation; most of which are self induced; to hold you back. Put simply the only thing standing in the way you own prosperity is yourself. Even the richest person around can’t stand in your way unless you let him.

If you look to some one else to give you prosperity you will be disappointed regardless of the economic system. So capitalism is the system in which the most people are prosperous. You can actually succeed because of what you know and can do rather than who you know.

Reduced to its simplest terms capitalism equals freedom, and any other system is a form and degree of slavery.

Natural Rights

The U.S. Declaration of Independence says:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

This the Declaration of Independence’s statement of natural rights, including Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. This original list also includes property; it was left out of the Declaration of Independence to avoid sounding materialistic.

The concept of Natural Rights presupposes that man kind was created by God. The pushing of Evolution theory while attacking Biblical Creation has brought this concept of Natural Rights under attack. If we were not created there is no Creator to endow us with Natural Rights. If we were created the only rights we have come from government and can be taken away from us at the whim of that government.

As a result is no surprise that the growth of Evolution has been followed by a corresponding increase in the power and size Government.

Taxes, they are Taxing.

Taxes are necessary evil for funding government, but not all taxes a created equal. There are more types of taxes than can be mentioned here but  three types of taxes are particularly immoral because of degree of control they give over the citizens of the nation. Sadly America has all three in place and entrenched.

Here is a list of the three most immoral taxes in no particular order.

1. Estate taxes. Also called the “death tax” this is a tax on a person’s net worth at death over a million dollars. This immoral because is prevents people from passing on the fruits of the labor to the children because the Government confiscates half it. What makes it worst is that this is not cash on hand but total net worth. There plenty small business owners and farmers who have under $100,000 annual incomes, but land or business assets that put them over the top. In many cases the family of the deceased is force to cell the land or business even if it’s their only source of income just to pay the death tax. What makes it even worst is that the real rich can avoid the death tax all together by putting their assets in to family trust funds.
2. Property taxes. This tax is immoral when applied to a person’s home because in make their continuance in their home dependent on being able to pay the government a tax even if they have long since paid off any mortgage.
3. Income tax. This tax is immoral because in makes you lively hood dependent on the Government not over taxing you. What make the U.S. income tax even more immoral is forced withholdings. By taking a person’s money before they even see it withholdings takes all control of paying the tax out of the hands of most tax payers making a revolt against even the most confiscatory rates. The only option the poor taxpayer has is to stop working. Even worse by deliberately taking more than what mast people owe in taxes, the average taxpayer is forced to give the Government an interest free loan every year that they then need to fill out a government form to get back.

The most moral form of taxation are consumption taxes particularly on non necessities. This is because taxpayer has total control over his or her taxes. As a result if a consumption tax people can punish the Government by reducing their consumption of goods.

While taxes are necessary evil, some forms of taxation are more evil than others.

What is the Purpose of Government?

The U.S. Declaration of Independence states:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,

So the purpose of Government is to secure our God given rights and not to take care of us or give us things. In practice this means providing legal protection to the individual from those that would take their life, liberty and property away, be they foreign Governments or local thugs. Basically this comes down to setting the rules so that people can live passably with each other.

The problem is that Government has a tendency to grow and when it gets to big the Government becomes the thugs people need protection from. In the U.S. today we are at that point where Governments at levels local, state, and Federal is becoming biggest threat to the life, liberty and property of the American people.

The Nature and Creation of Wealth

Wealth is often equated to money, but while money is a form of wealth it is not the only form of wealth. A person can have a huge income and because of how the spend it, have no wealth at all. A person can also have no income and because of what they have accumulated have a lot of wealth.

The best definition of wealth is the total amount of assets that a person has. By this definition most people a wealthier than they think, because true wealth includes such immaterial things such a person talents, knowledge and experience. In most cases these can be used to make money one way or another and so have financial value.

Contrary what some people think the total amount of wealth is not constant. It is created and destroyed all the time. However it not Government that creates wealth but individuals working to produces thing, both material and immaterial. Government can redistribute wealth, but they usually end destroying much of it in the process. Government can also destroy wealth by so regulating the means of producing as to reduce the amount of wealth created by a given amount of effort or reduce once profitable type’s efforts to worthlessness.

Gulliver’s Travels on Mars

Gulliver’s Travels on Mars

This is a space based parody on Gulliver’s Travels. This fictional account is satire of the foolishness of current U.S. Government spending, taxation and barrowing.

Like Gulliver’s Travels it’s a fun way of making a point about current events. The sad irony of the Gulliver’s Travels is that much of its satire is a valid today as it was when first written. Like Gulliver’s description of lawyers as men trained to prove that which is not.

Eight Facts About Liberalism: Fact 8

Liberals can not tolerate and often seek to destroy those in opposition to them.

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There are many example of this but here are two current ones.

Since being nominated to be John McCain’s running mate in the 2008 presidential election, Sarah Palin has been attacked without mercy by liberals. They have not only attacked her but her entire family as well; including her down syndrome son. The reason is that she is seen as a serious contender for the GOP presidential nomination and a candidate that has a real chance of defeating Obama in 2012.  Simply put, liberals see her as a threat and so they seek to destroy her.

Without a doubt talk radio is a major force in opposition to Obama and his leftist policies. At first the liberal reaction was to bring back the so called fairness doctrine. The “fairness doctrine” requires a radio station to give free equal time to opposing views of those views expressed on the station deemed by the government as controversial. This requires so much time and expense that stations avoid any thing potentially controversial, such as conservative talk radio. Talk of the “fairness doctrine” immediately raised red flags and so liberals started talking about localism. Under localism the FCC would establish local comities populated by liberals that would be empowered to stop the renewal of radio station licenses that they felt was not acting in local public interest. The point is that both “fairness doctrine” and localism is that liberal what to silence their opposition on talk radio.

Eight Facts About Liberalism: Fact 7

Liberals never accept blame for the consequences of their actions.

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When liberal policies are proven not to work as advertised, liberals are never seen apologizing or trying to repeal the policy. Usually they just claim that more of the failed policy is need or that they need to take more of your money to fund it better. A prime example of this is in public education, where the more they fail the more money they demand.

A classic example of this is the fact that the Obama administration continues to blame Bush for state of the economy. Yes the recession started under bush but since Obama’s bailout package was passed it has gotten worst. Despite this Obama continues to blame Bush and does not accept any blame.

Eight Facts About Liberalism: Fact 6

Liberals seek to remove the consequences of irresponsible behavior usually at the expense of others.

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There are many examples but here are a few.

Welfare gives people an income without ever having to work at the expense of those that do work.

Government bailouts of companies protect companies with irresponsible policies, from bankruptcy at the expense of companies, and people who do behave responsibly and stay in business and keep their jobs.

The ultimate example is abortion, where to remove the consequences of premarital sex millions of human babies are murdered every year.

Eight Facts About Liberalism: Fact 5

Liberals seek to bring about their idealized view without regard for the harm done to others.

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There are numerous examples of this. The most blatant of these is abortion, which has caused the murder of millions of human babies. Whenever liberals talk about tax increases they never seem to consider whether or not people can afford the extra taxes.

Obama has been trying to get a cap and trade bill through the U.S. congress. It would raise taxes on energy to the point of driving jobs out of the U.S. during the worst recession since the Great Depression. During a time when a lot of people are already hurting, any body who has even the most basic knowledge of economics can tell that such a tax increase would make things worst, but the liberals who pushing this bill don’t seem to care about such things.

Many more examples could be offered but these points show that liberals don’t care how people are harmed by their policies.

Eight Facts About Liberalism: Fact 4

Liberals seek to bring about their idealized view without regard for what others want.

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Liberals simply do not care if other people want their idealized world and they are willing to force it down their throats if need be. Many of the liberal policies that exist in the U.S. are the result of law suits being brought by a few people to force unwanted change on a community.

Liberals have no problem with taking tax dollars from people to fund things  that those people consider morally wrong such as abortion. Those same people often need to spend more money to fight those things that they are forced to pay for with their taxes. Even worst liberals will raise  taxes forcing people to stop giving to those charities they would like to give to, to give more money to the organizations those charities are trying to fight.

Eight Facts About Liberalism: Fact 3

Liberals deal with problems by forcing change, usually through government, with no consideration of the causes of the problem. 

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I have chosen three examples of this fact. These are the economy, education, and health care. I chose these examples because virtually everyone agrees that they are problem areas.

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Education

When the public schools in a given area are not providing a sufficient education the liberal solution is to spend more money, without ever looking into what the public schools are doing wrong.  The proof that the problem is not a lack of money is existence of private schools that consistently provided a better education than public schools in the same area, while spending less per student.

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The Economy

The solution proposed by liberals for dealing with the current economic downturn has been to bailout large failing companies, without any concern for the policies and regulations that caused the problem to begin with.

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Health Care

Liberals have been pushing for socialized medicine (universal healthcare) for over 10 years. The excuse given is the expense of healthcare. Once again they are trying to force change by government dictate, without regard for why healthcare is so expensive.

One major factor in the cost of healthcare is the cost of malpractice insurance. In some cases the premiums exceed $100,000 a year, and yet there is no mention by President Obama or any other liberal politicians about dealing with the frivolous malpractice laws suits and the outrageously large settlements that cause the need for such huge premiums.

Another factor is the cost of getting new drugs on the market. These costs are incurred by having to deal with government regulation. Once again this issue is not even being addressed by the President or any one else supporting his plan.

The simple fact is that liberals do not talk by about why healthcare has gotten so expensive. They just insist that so called universal healthcare needs to be passed and passed before the 1000+ page bill can even be read.

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Conclusion

These are just three examples of areas where liberals try to force solutions to problems without considering why the problem exists.  There are many other examples. To see the truth of this fact all one has to do listen to what liberals say or rather what they don’t say.

Eight Facts About Liberalism: Fact 2

If there is any disagreement between the idealized view and reality, reality is considered to be at fault and in need of correction.

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There are policies that liberals repeatedly push and maintain even though history repeatedly proves them wrong. No place is this more evident than in tax policy.

Despite historical evidence to the contrary liberals always insist that tax increases will increase revenue. This is because their idealized view fails to recognize the fact that tax rates affect economic activity and that at some point tax revenues reach a peak. This is a case where their idealized view disagrees with reality, but yet they keep trying to make the idealized view work.

Eight Facts About Liberalism: Fact 1

Liberals have an idealized view of the way the world should be that has no bases in reality.

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The idealized world envisioned by liberals is basically socialistic. In its purest form, every member of the society would reap the benefits of that society equally.  The problem with this ideal society is that it goes against the fact that people are not equal in ability, drive, and many other factors.

This ideal society does not exist; however it is not for a lack of people trying it. This notion has been experimented with on several occasions and these experiments have always resulted in shortages of food and other resources. The main flaw in the theory is that some people quickly realize that they can be lazy and still get an equal portion of goods and so they stop working. Meanwhile, the naturally industrious quickly get tiered of their labor going to support the dregs, while being more industrious profits them nothing, and so they stop working.

The results are always the same because such a system encourages laziness and discourages productivity.  This occurs because whenever the productive are sacrificed for the benefit of the lazy, productivity decreases and laziness increases. This means that this idealized society is totally contrary to the reality of human nature.

Top Eight Facts About Liberalism

The following list consists of eight facts about liberalism that every one should know. You may call yourself a liberal without believing any of these but that does not change the fact that they are at the heart of what today is called liberalism. This list applies mainly to liberals as a group and the liberal elite, not necessarily the average person who calls them self a liberal. The liberal elite are found mainly in academics, news media and politics.

1. Liberals have an idealized view of the way the world should be that has no bases in reality.


2. If there is any disagreement between the idealized view and reality, reality is considered to be at fault and in need of correction.


3.  Liberals deal with problems by forcing change, usually through government, with no consideration of the causes of the problem.

4.  Liberals seek to bring about their idealized view without regard for what others want.
 

5.  Liberals seek to bring about their idealized view without regard to the harm done to others.


6.  Liberals seek to remove the consequences of irresponsible behavior usually at the expense of others.

7.  Liberals never accept blame for the consequences of their actions.


8.  Liberals can not tolerate and often seek to destroy those in opposition to them.

Each of the points in this list will be expanded on in future articles so if you have a comment on a particular point please wait for the article on that point. This article will be updated to include links to the expansion articles. So if you want to see the explanation articles book mark this one or go to the main page of this Blog

Why Washington Budget Cuts are not Cuts

Whenever politicians in Washington talk about budget cuts most people tend to think that cutting spending means reducing the amount being spent. Not so in Washington D.C. Since the 1970’s the Federal Government has been using what called Base Line Budgeting.        
        
Under Base Line Budgeting what is called a cut is actually a projected reduction in the rate of increase usually the projection is made over ten years. This because Base Line Budgeting has automatic built in increases in spending over and above the previous year. As a result any reduction in this projected future spending is there by considered a cut even though the actual amount of spending is still increased. Further most of the alleged cuts are more than five years in the future and hardly ever actually occur.

The fact that this is the case can be shown in the deal to raise the debt limit passed on August 2, 2011. It raises the debt limit $2.5 trillion with projected cuts of $2.5 trillion. So if these were real spending cuts there would be no reason to raise the debt limit.

It turns out that freezing spending at current levels would produce $9 trillion in projected cuts so any talk of cuts from the Federal Government less than $9 trillion can not include real cuts because in Washington cuts are not cuts.

Money

We all use it but what really is money. First of all while
money is a form of wealth, is not equivalent to wealth. Reduced to its simplest
terms money is simply a medium of exchange. What ultimately gives money value
is the willingness of people to exchange it for something else. This is true
even of gold, its only real source of value other than as a medium of exchange
is the fact that it can be made into things.

The danger of un-backed paper or electronic money is the
tendency to produce more than is justified by the available goods and services.
When this occurs the result is that the value if that money goes down driving
up prices. This is called inflation. Doing this is actually a theft of value because the value of
the money one already has is reduced and that value is transferred to those
issuing the currency. Because the government is usually the ultimate
beneficiary of inflation, it can be considered a hidden tax. It is hidden
because you do not write the check or file a form, nor does it change amount of
money in your hand or bank account. All you see is that things cost more and
that can happen from causes other than inflation.