I have nothing to sell you but hope, and that I give you for free.

January 29, 2013 They say we need to increase the "high tech" visa limit (a.k.a. the H1-B visa) and this will be good for the economy. Republicans join in the chorus and sing along.  Don't we need more strong-backed plumbers and hard working sales clerks?  If it's good to import people willing to work for below-market wages just because they have a degree in engineering, why isn't it good to let people with any other skill or trade in?

Young Americans see their parents struggling to keep employed and to earn enough to make the years of their education in science and engineering pay, and they say to themselves, no way am I going to sacrifice so much and work so hard in school just so in school when I can make just as much being an auto mechanic or a manager at McDonald's.  There has to be an solid economic pay off to motivate people to do hard things.

When it comes to this issue, Republicans get all blue-blooded and country clubbed.

Discouraging young Americans from even being interested in math and science is bad for our economy and dangerous for our national security.

There Is No Shortage of Tech Workers
CNBC.com
Thursday, 25 Apr 2013
"Immigration policies that facilitate large flows of guestworkers will supply labor at wages that are too low to induce significant increases in supply from the domestic workforce."
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100674327
 
January 28, 2013 The only way that a minimum wage can be successfully imposed is to simultaneously impose a robust welfare state to take care of all of the people that the minimum wage makes unemployable.

November 13, 2012 The "judgemental religious right" - which I am a part of - created the largest most open, most tolerant society ever in recorded history.  It is the intolerant left that soon after seizing power abandons any shred of religious or ideological tolerance.

The election results had very little to do with political ideology, but rather "the enemy of my enemy is my friend".  When the various coalitions that seized control discover they really can't trust each other-- because they only had one thing in common-- there will be civil war.  If you haven't noticed, gun and ammunition sales are at an all-time high.

June 11, 2012 There is a point of diminishing return for additional pub sect workers‏
Public sector workers can facilitate and enhance the productivity of the private sector, mostly by defending against foreign invaders and settling disputes between citizens.  But not that many are needed for these functions, and there their number quickly reaches a point of diminishing returns for additional workers.  Very quickly.                          

March 16, 2011 "Great minds discuss ideas.  Average minds discuss events.  Small minds discuss people."  - Elenor Roosevelt(?)

Is political self-interest more trustworthy than economic self-interest?

"Mass transit" is just another wealth-transfer scheme politicians use to buy votes.  What mass transit system ever charged its riders what it actually costs to run the darn thing?

January 9, 2011 Evolution can not explain why, after over 100 years of the automobile, there hasn't developed a race of super squirrels that have enough sense to get out of the way!

November 19, 2010 Every time I think I have a good bead on life, the world, the universe and how everything works, something comes along to destroy my delusion.  For example, somewhere back in my distant, dusty history, some grade school teacher or some book told me that ice skates slid on ice because they concentrated the weight of the skater on the narrow blades, which melted the water beneath them.  Well, come to find out, it's not that at all.  What actually happens is that the blades glide on the top surface layer of water molecules of the ice, which act like a liquid.  Hmmmph.  What else did I get wrong?  You know, though, I really didn't get it wrong, I got faulty information from authority figures of my youth, and I never questioned it.  Like, for years I tried to justify the actions of the U.S. government during World War II when they incarcerated American of Japanese descent.  I knew it wasn't "racist" because they weren't incarcerating the Chinese, and last I heard, both the Japanese and Chinese are the same race.  But I just couldn't figure out how they could do this.  Then, much later, and not too long ago, I learned about the American Progressive movement, and that followers of this rather anti-American philosophy had done this before, during World War I.  At that time, it was the German Americans on the receiving end of the persecution.
*
All taxes should be "behavior neutral", that is, there should be only one reason for a tax:  to raise revenue to fund the legitimate operations of government.  Taxes should never be used to coerce behavior.  Ever.  Just like law enforcement should never be a tool to raise revenues (think, speed traps).  Such practices destroy the faith people have in the legitimacy of government:  they destroy public trust.  The death penalty should be reserved for all elected public officials, government employees, and judges who take bribes or abuse their authority in a way that destroys the public trust in government.  When people are burdened, shackled even, with so many laws that they can do nothing but work, drink, and copulate; so many laws that just to survive they routinely have to break some law or another, their consciences are seared to all laws, and all behavior becomes acceptable if it can be gotten away with.

November 15, 2010 Proverbs 17:26 To impose a fine on a righteous man is not good; to flog noble men is wrong.

October 5, 2010  Atheists rail against Christianity... Islam, not so much.  Hmmmm.

September 21, 2010 Why are bedbug infestations such a problem now?  What happened in the last couple of years that could have made things worse?  Well, how about banning the use of certain pesticides like diazinon and ddt?  Banning these pesticides was supposed to be so good for us, but now we're being overun by bugs!

How many people have died due to insect-borne disease since DDT was banned?  How many people would have gotten sick from DDT?  (Careful now, it's less that one in a million, if even that.)

July 26, 2010 The truth is, no matter what people think.  And it is fiercely independent of the will, wishes, desires, and needs of mere mortal men.

Or, to put it another way... Facts are stubborn things.  They pay no attention to the wants, desires, needs or fantasies of mere mortal men. (Women either.) Or, What is, is, and neither perception nor opinion can change it.

July 21, 2010 The people who do the things they do to become rich through high incomes will not do what they do without being compensated at a rate higher than those that work for them.  And it should be evident to all that we need these people to do what they do.  Their labor is critical to the operation of our economy.  In other words, we can not do without the labor of these rich people, and we must pay them at a rate that encourages them to continue doing what they do.

Therefore, if you tax the income of the rich disproportionately to fund the operations of the government, they will in turn demand more from their customers in order to compensate for the tax burden.  This tax burden is then indirectly distributed to those who work for the rich, or those who buy products and services from them.  This makes sense since the government really doesn't need money.  They print the darn stuff after all!  What the government needs is labor, and lots of it.  If the government could produce anything, there would be no need for taxes.  So, the burden of the government will always be on the backs of the people who do productive things, be they "rich" business owners or the lowest paid laborer.  The ultimate burden will always be distributed the same by indirect price adjustments in the markets for products, services and labor no matter how the government decides to spread out the direct taxation.

The only relief is to reduce the total burden of the government.  But this will never happen while the largest block of voters think they are getting something for free from the government.  They don't understand that they are bearing the burden of the government through higher prices and lower wages.  Perhaps if people understood this, if the conservative voices would pound into the heads of people, "Tax the rich and they will raise prices and lower wages to make up for it.  It has always been this way, it will always be this way.  Any politician who tells you differently is lying to you, taking advantage of you, and raping your labor."

The most fair tax would be a per-person tax where everyone pays the same, just like the admission price to a movie.

June 16, 2010 "Robbing selected Peter to pay for collective Paul"

I read a poem by Rudyard Kipling titled "Gods of the Copybook Headings".  I'm still trying to figure out exactly what the meaning of this poem is, but this line really resonated:

"Copybook Headings" were sayings printed at the top of the page of notebooks English schoolchildren used to have.

Currently, I am reading Edward Mandel House's "Philip Dru, Administrator". Some say that this book has influenced Progressivism and Liberalism (really, the same thing) for the past century. I'm working on an analysis of this work.

Margaret Thatcher:  "The problem with socialism is that sooner or later, you run out of other people's money to spend."

June 8, 2010 "Happiness"

I've always wondered why the authors of the U.S. Declaration of Independence changed the line "Life, liberty, and property" to "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness".  But I guess it all depends on what the word "happiness" means, or more importantly, what it meant in 1776.

According to the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, one meaning of the word "happiness" is "prosperity"

Another of Shakespear's famous lines:  "O happy dagger! This is thy sheath. There rust, and let me die." Certainly Juliet did not mean that the dagger was a state of good cheer. Rather, that fortune was favorable to her in that she had at hand the means to dispatch herself.

It seems that the meaning of the word has changed through the years.  This is not at all surprising as even today words have a different meaning than they did even 100 years ago. Consider the meaning of the the words "gay and "cool".  The line from a popular Christmas song "don we now our gay apparel" takes on a totally comical meaning if today's meaning of the word "gay" is inferred.

So, what does the sentance mean?
It means that people have the unalienable right to pursue prosperity, which of course also includes "property".

What is the meaning of "property"?  That's another good question since no doubt, the meaning of the word today is not likely to be exactly the same as it was in 1776.  One thing it definitely does imply is the complete control of something by the owner.  And if the owner of the thing does not have complete control to do with the the thing as he wishes, it is not his property.  Whoever does have the ability to exercise this control is the true owner.

April 19, 2010 "Half a thought..."

Half a thought sounds like foolishness.  Please, hear me out.

The providers of help rarely seem to need it.  Those always needing help never seem to get enough.

January 12, 2010 "The 'rich' must always be rich"

Great idea:  Tax the rich so the government can pass out the goodies.
 
But wait a minute.  What's to stop the rich people from demanding a raise?  The taxes they talk about are always on income, not on the money a rich person already possess.  So when the rich people demand a raise to compensate for the tax increase, who's gonna say "no"?  All the rich people will be doing the same, so all the prices people pay will go up (or their wages will go down) since the people who control such things invariably are "rich".  You will never get a job from a poor person.  So, who ends up paying for all those goodies the politicians are so generously doling out?  All the non-rich people who move the boxes, drive the trucks, plant the crops, cut the logs, build the houses, plumb the bathrooms, empty the garbage... yeah, all those people... the same ones who think they are getting something "for free".
 
It's a scam and the politicians know it.  These things don't really change the lifestyle of the "rich".  They just buy votes for the "generous" politicans, all the while destroying prosperity for the rest of us.

January 6, 2010 "Protected Wages"

There are some people who enjoy what I call "protected wages".  These are wages that are protected from competitive forces:  minimum wage, union negotiated pay, and government mandated compensation.  Yet if you go to any Walmart and could find out where the people shopping there worked, I'll bet you find a universal rejection of protected wages.  Those who enjoy protected wages have no problem rejecting products and services of others who enjoy protected wages.  People want the benefit of protected wages, but they don't want anyone else to.  A union is beneficial to union members only if there are a great number of people not in the union.

The problem with the U.S. economy is quite simple.  Businesses have been restricted by the government imposition of protected wages, rules, regulations, and silly policies to avoid law suits to such an extent that their costs can not adjust in the face of declining demand.  And since the American people soundly reject the protected wages of all of their neighbors, American businesses are screwed.  And it dimishes us all.

The solution?  Unburden American business of government imposed costs.  Then, if you as a politician and supposedly a leader, want to persuade people to buy American, then go for it.  But the cost of doing business in the US has to be able to adjust to meet demand.

December 8, 2009 "If at first you don't succeed..."

If at first you don't succeed, curse louder.

December 4, 2009 "This game doesn't end well"

Life, this game doesn't end well.

November 30, 2009 "Character, like momentum"

Character is like momentum:  It carries you along, for good or for bad, whether you want to go that way or not.

Thomas Jefferson is attributed with the quote:  "The selfish spirit of commerce, which knows no country, and feels no passion or principle but that of gain."  This makes commerce a passionless, egalitarian force like gravity.  Gravity can be quite useful in keeping your feet firmly planted on the ground, but rather inconvenient if you have to jump off a building.

More quotes from Thomas Jefferson:  "We may consider each generation as a distinct nation, with a right, by the will of its majority, to bind themselves, but none to bind the succeeding generation, more than the inhabitants of another country."







October 7, 2009 "If the government could produce anything"

If the government could produce anything, there would be no need for taxes.

Socialism:  Everyone gets an equal share of nothing.

November 9, 2008 "Charity is voluntary"

Charity is voluntary, personal, moral and effective.

Coerced redistribution is involuntary, impersonal, immoral, and ineffective.

May 28, 2008 "Torturing small minds"

I don't know where I came up with this, probably read it in a blog or someone's post to a news group..

"Hobbies:  Torturing small minds"  That's hillarious.

May 28, 2008 "Rewarding what people invent"

From an aborted post to a message board...

The two people I know that work at the US patent office as patent examiners tell me it's a real sweat shop.  They keep forcing them to crank out more and more patents.  I doubt they have time to thoroughly research anything.  In fact, one of the two patent examiners I knew was found dead of some heart ailment at the age of 45.  He often complained about how stressful the job was.

That is a good point about having to provide proof of the idea's effectiveness.  If I were to submit a patent for a "procedure" involved with extracting so-called "zero point energy" from the fabric of the universe, I'm sure the patent office would demand a bit of proof.

I wonder if baseball players can patent their procedure for swinging a bat, and then make Little Leaguers all over the world pay a royalty?  It would be very difficult to enforce.  Once the secret is out, it can be copied and the patent holder must prove the infringement.  Since it is a "procedure", and the patent holder does not suffer a material loss, how will anyone know?

Here's the other side of the patent issue.  Say that congress decides that they don't like what physician T is doing, that is, depriving so many people of an effective Alzheimer's disease treatment, that a law is passed to abolish patents on procedures.  Now, along comes one Dr. Frankenstein, M.D. PhD. who accidentally stumbles upon a "procedure" for re-animating those that have assumed room temperature.  But knowing that he can't patent the procedure, he sets up shop where he can perform the "procedure" on the rich, the famous, and the politically well-connected; behind closed doors so that no one else will ever figure out what he does.  His position is, "It's my idea, in MY head, and I choose not to share it, since by sharing it, I gain nothing."

So, millions of people who could have been "re-animated" by Dr. Frankenstein's "procedure" miss out because congress decides that AD sufferers needed physician T's procedure.

I'm not agreeing with physician T's tactic.  But I do agree that there must be some way of rewarding what people invent, even if they are concepts that haven't been fully proven at the time of disclosure.  My reason for this position is purely selfish.  I want to benefit from the ideas that creative people have.  I don't want them to keep these ideas locked away in their heads. Short of waterboarding, how else do you extract the ideas in another person's head as effectively as waving wads of money under their nose?

February 4, 2008 "Compassion for the few people pulling this wagon"

There must be compassion for the few people pulling this wagon that so many are riding in for free.

Charity, benevolence, and generosity must result from a free will action on the part of one person for the benefit of another.

Welfare (a term which is itself a corruption of "promote the general welfare") is charity at the point of a gun.  There is no free will involved in this act.  There is no compassion for the man at the muzzle end of that gun.  Some might even describe this act as theft.
   
Say that there were a group of 10 people standing on a corner in New York City, and they take a vote to help a homeless beggar.  Their plan was that the person with the most money in their wallet --the one that had more money than 90% of rest of them-- had to give up their money, and that a group of the biggest and strongest were voted to enforce this "will of the people".  Certainly this would be consider stealing.

There is no generosity in stealing food from your neighbors cupboard to feed the poor.  In addition, think of this:  If a farmer can not reap the crops he has sown, he will stop sowing crops in short order, and all will perish from hunger.  You have to allow farmers to profit from their labor, or they WILL stop laboring.  It is this way with all people.

There is NO compassion in theft.

January 29, 2008 "What dooms communism"

I would say that what dooms communism is that people naturally act in their own self interest, whether out of greed or honest prioritization.  For example, I have relatives and friends that are always making demands of my time and abilities.  They have an never ending list of things they would like me to do for them, like change light bulbs, fix a leaking faucet, shovel their snow, yet they don't want to pay me for doing it.  I try to be generous and do things for them, but sometimes, I would just rather sit around and read a book, or pursue a hobby, or watch the squirrels in my yard attack the bird feeder. Some might then say I'm being greedy with my time and talents.  No, it's just that sometimes I think I've given enough and I would rather watch football than fix someone else's toilet.  And the, every so often, I have to make a choice between doing things like chopping wood for my own fireplace, or mopping the floor in my dad's kitchen.

So then, say I really like making stuff.  Someone comes to me and asks if I would make him a widget.  Yeah, it sounds interesting, but right now, I have squirrels to watch, and TV, and an entire Internet to peruse.  Even when I have a task that I enjoy doing, there will always be other things competing for my limited time and ambition.

Since I know that other people think and act this way, even when they aren't being greedy, I know that they will only do things without being compensated "when the spirit moves them". The "spirit" rarely ever musters up that much ambition.  Communism, socialism, and other collectivist schemes depend on people doing things without reward, without being compensated, without being paid.  So, they do the absolute minimum necessary to keep out of trouble with the police.

I believe that people should be generous, and that they should let their own conscience, not some government bureaucracy, determine what "generosity" means.  Too often, people define "generosity" and "sharing" as "generous with my neighbor's possessions" and "sharing the other fellow's" time.  And they use the heavy hand of government to impose their concept of generosity and sharing.

I also believe in the existence of elitists:  People who believe in the core of their being that they superior by birth, by inheritance, by intellect, by achievement, by chance circumstance or any combination of these; that they are entitled to direct the affairs of the lesser peoples; and that they are therefore rightfully entitled to a greater share of all material wealth.  I believe that it is these people who promote and support schemes like communism, socialism, fascism, monopolies, cartels, crime syndicates, kingdoms and dictators for their own personal gain.

January 10, 2008 "Copying something is not 'stealing', in the moral sense"

Copying something is not "stealing", in the moral sense:  After copying something someone else has said, done, made, or written they still have the original. They have not been deprived of the thing they made.  However, copying has been made "illegal" in order to reward inventors and creators so that they invent and create more.  So, if we want to be able to copy, we must pressure our governments to allow it.  Plain and simple.  As I said, it is not immoral to copy something, it is not stealing; it's just illegal.

However, I see this just like speed limits.  Most people think they are set too low (judging by how often people exceed them), yet no one pressures the government to increase them.  The 55mph highway speed limit was extremely unpopular and routinely ignored by all except police (for purposes of "raising revenue"), yet it took 20 years for the government to get in line with the will of the people.  How long will it take the government to get in line with the will of the people with respect to copying things.

July 26, 2007 "'Passion' is not enough"

"Passion" I don't think is quite enough.  Nor is "dreaming", no matter what the commercials may say.  Dreaming is easy.  "Confidence" doesn't get you anywhere either. Competence is key.  Competence is hard to find.  There is no stopping a competent man who follows his dream with a passion, confident in his ability to succeed.

October 1, 2007 "The government doesn't need money"

The government doesn't need money:  It needs labor. The only labor that has any value is that which actually produces something useful.  It doesn't matter how the tax system slices and dices the proportions initially levied on the sundry components of the economy.  A portion of the labor of those doing productive work will be confiscated in order for the government to function.  In other words, the government enslaves the people.  The full burden of the cost of government is borne on the shoulders of those that do  productive work.  The rich will still be rich.  Company owners will still make more than their managers.  Managers will still make more than the workers.  This is the way it was, the way it is, the way it always will be.  Anyone who does productive work but thinks "the other fellow" will bear the burden of the government is fooling herself.

Taxation can change people's behavior and make businesses and productive people flee the state, but it can't bring prosperity.


June 27, 2007 "Illegal aliens taking our jobs, taking our country"

Please don't betray us.  Stop these illegal aliens from taking our jobs and taking our country.

The solution is simply to cut off the gravy train.  Allow employers to ask for proof of citizenship and then put employers who hire illegals in jail for a year.  Put illegal aliens in a concentration camp until they, their home government, or someone pays to have them shipped home.

April 5, 2007 "Reality doesn't bend to the wishes and desires of men"

Reality doesn't bend to the wishes and desires of men.

March 19, 2007 "Let's try 'Thou shall not steal' for a change"

What we have been doing is no longer working

The way we have been used to doing things in this State are obviously no longer working.  Let's try a simple change.  Let's start following the simple rule of "Thou shall not steal".  Or to put it another way, "You will not take those things which do not belong to you".

Many laws and policies-- widely supported by the people of this country-- that are causing the problems the United States is now facing violate this simple rule.

There is no compassion in theft.

There is no generosity in robbery.

There is no kindness in extortion.

Violate God's law, and God will punish you.

God is punishing the people of the United States because they have institutionalized the violation of His law forbidding theft.


March 12, 2007 "The Truth has a frustrating way of ignoring concensus"

The Truth has a frustrating way of ignoring concensus.

People must be causing global warming because only people can pay taxes.  If God was causing the Earth to warm it would be a problem for Liberals:  To send God a tax bill, Liberals wouldn't know where to find him.

Needy people never seem to find enough help.  Self-sufficient people never seem to need it.

February 18, 2007 "Liberal philosophy, Liberal policy"

Liberal philosophy:  Ruling power belongs solely in the hands of the elite class.
Liberal policy:  Confiscate labor from the productive to distribute per the needs
                 and desires of the elite ruling class, and preserve their their
                 status of power.

June 27, 2007 "Another reason the rich don't pay taxes"

Ever work for a poor man?  If you tax all of the "rich", won't they, as a class, merely put upward pressure on their incomes until their previous standard of living is recovered?  So, where will the "money" come from?  That's the dirty little secret.  The government doesn't really need or want mere currency.  It craves LABOR.  So, raising taxes will just allow the government to grow and the burden of supporting this expanded government will fall squarely on the backs of all those who have alway carried it, and always will:  The productive.

June 24, 2007 "How much of your money can I spend?"

How much of your money can I spend?  That's a good question.  I can spend every dime you have, and it would cost me nothing, since it is, after all your money.  Matter of fact, I can spend so much of your money, that it will take you years and years and years to earn it.  And again, there is no cost to me.  It's easy for me to spend your money.  Of course, I get to keep the things it buys, not you.  Some would call that stealing.  Most call it "taxes".

June 13, 2007 "The real reason Liberals hate America..."

The antithesis of Liberalism, "Thou shall NOT steal":  The real reason Liberals hate America

Liberalism can not exist without taking labor, life, or possessions.  That runs afoul of the 7th Commandment "Thou shall not steal".  Therefore, Liberals must tear down every remnant of morality because lurking in there is the antithesis of Liberalism, "Thou shall NOT steal".

June 13, 2007 "Mass imigration of educated is a security threat"

The mass and excessive immigration policies of the US government brings in so many people with "technical education", that wages for home-grown technically educated people are about 50% less than what it should be.  This makes the effort require to follow a technical career unattractive.

Don't be fooled:  A "technical education" in India is NOT what it is here.  What the government is bringing in is merely bodies to forcibly press down wages.  This is creating a security crisis.  Smart Americans would rather do something else and make more money.  America is losing it's technical preeminence and this will transfer to the defense industry.

June 13, 2007 "'Women with real needs' need men with real wallets"
or "To 'Women with real needs' men are just upright dogs with big wallets"

Liberalism is all about being generous and caring with the blood sweat and tears of someone else.

"Women with real needs support Hillary Clinton", a recent magazine headline exclaimed.  See, the people that "need" support Liberal Democrats.  These people have no problem taking what does not belong to them.

"Thou shall not steal" is anathema to all that is Liberal.

Self-sufficient people never seem to need any help.  "Needy" people never seem to get enough.

June 12, 2007 "It's not about control, Liberalism is about labor"

Liberals can't do anything for themselves.  They need the labor of others to accomplish anything.  They don't want to buy that labor, they want to confiscate that labor, or steal it, or con it, or sneak it.

To be a Liberal means never having to use your own food to feed the hungry.

June 11, 2007 "Liberal:  A peron who steals to be generous"

Liberals can't do anything for themselves, so they have to steal from those who do.  All liberal laws, policies, and ideas involve TAKING something from someone else by force, stealth, or deceit.

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Inception: February 18, 2007
Updated: January 9, 2011