Sharp In Klein

http://athousandnations.com/2010/10/06/sharp-in-klein/

Mike Gibson at "Let A Thousand Nations Bloom" follows through on Ezra Klein's "What if the government were run more like a business?" thought experiment.

See this Amp at http://bit.ly/9QzvlQ

Growing too many vegetables is illegal

http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2010/10/weir...

The war on food continues.

See this Amp at http://bit.ly/9JJGlY

An Immoral System Can Only Be Sustained By Immorality

(C4SS) Kevin Carson's comments on World War II and the Great Depression.

Amplify’d from c4ss.org

I believe that Horwitz, in countering Krugman’s argument with a description of how economic growth would be achieved in a free market, ignores the point that the industrial system we’ve had over the past 150 years hasn’t even remotely resembled a free market. It has been a corporatist system built from the ground up through overwhelming state intervention and massive collusion between big business and big government.

The state has promoted the overaccumulation of capital in mass-production facilities that are only profitable when they can amortize the cost of their expensive specialized machinery by running at full capacity without regard to preexisting demand, and then find some way to dispose of the product. And the only way to dispose of that full product has been through state-aided planned obsolescence, state-aided expansion in to foreign markets, direct state purchases of surplus output and surplus capital, and–as a last resort–massive state destruction of output and capital in war. Read more at c4ss.org

 

See this Amp at http://bit.ly/cuXLVd

One Human’s Taxation is a Tragedy; Three Hundred Million is a Statistic

Check out Third Way's publications here: http://bit.ly/acsApG

Amplify’d from c4ss.org

An itemized receipt for taxes? How lovely and desirable!

A think tank entitled Third Way just issued a paper wherein they analzed what the $5400 in federal taxes the median taxpayer of 2009 (who earned $34,140) actually purchased. Among the reactions in the blogosphere, one recurring comment strikingly resounded.

Writers noted that everywhere else an exchange of goods occurs, a bill of transfer or receipt is produced. Why is one not given to taxpayers in the same manner? An honest and baffling question for American citizens to ponder, with a lousy answer. Read more at c4ss.org

 

See this Amp at http://bit.ly/9Uohdg

Victory: Internet Censorship Bill is Delayed, For Now

URL:  http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/09/victory-internet-c...

See this Amp at http://bit.ly/9HdcUx

The Market, Not Government, Is The Worker’s Friend

In the Center for a Stateless Society’s latest study, “Labor Struggle: A Free Market Model,” C4SS Research Associate Kevin Carson examines the role of state labor regulation in halting the progress of unionism and explores the gains made for labor by direct action and worker solidarity in the face of combined state and corporate power.

Amplify’d from c4ss.org

“The predominance of the conventional strike as we know it, as the primary weapon of labor struggle,” writes Carson, “is in fact a byproduct of the labor relations regime created under the Wagner Act. … In the system of labor relations extant before Wagner, strikes were only one part of the total range of available tactics. Unionism, and the methods it normally employed, was less about strikes or excluding non-union workers from the workplace than about what workers did inside the workplace to strengthen their bargaining power against the boss.” Read more at c4ss.org

 

See this Amp at http://bit.ly/du7zOY

Public vs. Private Charity

Bonnie Kristian addresses a classic false premise.

Amplify’d from bonniekristian.com

Q. Sometimes, when I have conversations with socialists (we call them “New Democrats” in Canada), I have no idea how to counter arguments like: But what do we do about the poor and marginalized? Cutting government spending only ensures that the poor and marginalized in society become more poor and marginalized. Then the elites can grab power and exploit the poor and marginalized. We need a balance, we need more government programs.

A. The “we must save the poor and marginalized one” is certainly a sympathetic one, I must admit.  However, it’s also based on a completely false premise:  that government helps the poor and marginalized.

In fact, I completed my honors thesis on this very subject of public vs. private charity, and I can tell you that the academic literature on the subject of private charity and comparable public programs is generally in agreement:  Private organizations are more efficient and/or effective in their work. Read more at bonniekristian.com

 

See this Amp at http://bit.ly/bT37i8

Artificial Crisis of Contention

David D'Amato points out the dangers of collusion while the MSM moans about "gridlock" and "partisan politics."

"Next time you hear a talking head lament the unwillingness of radicals to 'play ball,' consider what cooperation between agents of subjugation and theft really means."

Amplify’d from c4ss.org

The truth, that Republicans and Democrats represent the same statist orthodoxy, is decidedly more mundane and doesn’t lend itself very readily to the kinds of linguistic overkill used by the mainstream news to present the nonissues of electoral politics. Rather than the hostility-mired war zone lambasted by authoritarians rhapsodizing over the virtues of political compromise, this country’s political process is a paragon of back room collusion, of the connivance between power elites.

And, for some reason, we’re meant to prefer this to the genuine, unaffected, ideological confrontation dreamt up by the mainstream, as if the established “debate” would suffer any idea that actually was fresh or in any way subversive. In the same way that America’s civic lore spuriously pits Big Business against Big Government where the two are actually quite friendly, there is systematic denial in this country about the basic nature of the two-party system. This clueless belief in meaningful inter-party antagonism occasions another, related error, that if opposing politicians could put aside their perceived bickering their collective sage wisdom would overbear any problem society might face, the state of course possessing the magic bullets that no nonviolent institution could. Read more at c4ss.org

 

See this Amp at http://bit.ly/aYZVFr

One Law for the Lion, One Law for the Lamb

URL:  http://c4ss.org/content/4057

Kevin Carson lays down the law.

See this Amp at http://bit.ly/d4uxan

More Jobs for Kids

Minimum wage laws are a subtle form of discrimination against youth and other disenfranchised workers.

Amplify’d from reason.org

If lawmakers want to help kids find jobs, they would have more luck fixing the flaws in their current policies, not introducing new ones. The big culprit here: the minimum wage. Minimum wage laws kill jobs by making employing workers more expensive. Youth are especially vulnerable to this phenomenon because they, of all segments of the population, are most likely to work minimum wage jobs: the economics literature is quite clear on this point. Remove the minimum wage and you remove a substantial disincentive to hire young workers. New government interventions, like a make-work program for kids, would only be the latest in a long series of misguided, if well-intentioned, plans to help struggling workers. Read more at reason.org

 

See this Amp at http://bit.ly/bC3OXu

How to Record the Cops

Radley Balko at reason.com provides the Hows and Whys plus the Dos and Do Nots of keeping cops honest.

Amplify’d from reason.com

A guide to the technology for keeping government accountable

This summer the issue of recording on-duty police officers has received a great deal of media attention. Camera-wielding citizens were arrested in Maryland, Illinois, and Massachusetts under interpretations of state wiretapping laws, while others were arrested in New Hampshire, Ohio, Oregon, Florida, and elsewhere based on vaguer charges related to obstructing or interfering with a police officer.

So far Massachusetts is the only state to explicitly uphold a conviction for recording on-duty cops, and Illinois and Massachusetts are the only states where it is clearly illegal. The Illinois law has yet to be considered by the state's Supreme Court, while the Massachusetts law has yet to be upheld by a federal appeals court. Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler recently issued an opinion concluding that arrests for recording cops are based on a misreading of the state's wiretapping statute, but that opinion isn't binding on local prosecutors.

In the remaining 47 states, the law is clearer: It is generally legal to record the police, as long as you don't physically interfere with them. You may be unfairly harassed, questioned, or even arrested, but it's unlikely you will be charged, much less convicted. (These are general observations and should not be treated as legal advice.)

One reason this issue has heated up recently is that the democratization of technology has made it easier than ever for just about anyone to pull out a camera and quickly document an encounter with police. So what's the best way to record cops? Here is a quick rundown of the technology that's out there. Read more at reason.com

 

See this Amp at http://bit.ly/bcpAGr

The Servile Mind and the Spirt of Modern Democracy « Let A Thousand Nations Bloom

http://athousandnations.com/2010/09/16/the-servile-mind-and-th...

Mike Gibson of “let a Thousand Nations Bloom” comments on Kenneth Minogue’s excerpt from his book “The Servile Mind”

See this Amp at http://bit.ly/cFxvcJ

Coming Soon: The War on Tacos

http://www.thelibertypapers.org/2010/09/14/coming-soon-the-war...

California elitists pursue their agenda of politically correct racism by claiming health issues.

See this Amp at http://bit.ly/dxgZBH

No Place for Entrepreneurs in todays Economy

Amplify’d from www.nationalreview.com

Indeed, Obama believes fundamentally that the middle class owes its existence to the government, not to wealth-creating entrepreneurs or businesses. Without skipping a beat, the president fails to recognize (let alone acknowledge) the difference between a truly free market, where individuals decide how to invest their resources, and a government-directed one that sets collective priorities which require individuals to tow the line for specific policy objectives implicitly defined by the political class:    Read more at www.nationalreview.com

 

See this Amp at http://bit.ly/941jiv

Survey Shows Voters Are Fed Up with Excessive Federal Pay

http://reason.org/blog/show/voters-fed-up-with-federal-pay

See this Amp at http://bit.ly/aFpzOk

Watching the Wheels Go Round and Round

Classically Liberal on the shift of power and the growing horde of "libertarians by default."

Amplify’d from freestudents.blogspot.com

The two extremes in modern politics are busy-body Democrats and busy-body Republicans. The Democrats are dominated by the Nanny Statists and the Republicans dominated by nasty Theocrats. Given those choices I too would like the Democrats more. The Democrats think I'm stupid and need them to care for me. That is pretty disgusting. But what really scares me is that Republicans think I'm sinful and need to be punished. While trying to stamp out stupidity is, well, stupid, trying to force people to be virtuous is downright dangerous.Read more at freestudents.blogspot.com

 

See this Amp at http://bit.ly/aRXv8q

Business Start-Ups Creating Jobs

http://reason.org/blog/show/start-ups-creating-jobs

Anthony Randazzo brings us the numbers on new business and job creation at the Reason Foundation "Out of Control Policy Blog."

See this Amp at http://bit.ly/b5bhDR

Kicking the Backside of the State with an Invisible Foot

http://athousandnations.com/2010/08/31/kicking-the-backside-of...

Mike Gibson at "Let a Thousand Nations Bloom" reintroduces the concept of "The Invisible Foot" and its application to government services.

See this Amp at http://bit.ly/9fth4e

'John Doe' Speaks Out After 6-year Battle With FBI

Earlier I posted some views on voting ( http://drewt333.amplify.com/2010/08/05/hello-im-drew-im-a-voter/ ). As we learn in PoliSci 101, voting is only a tiny slice of the activism pie. Here's a story of one man who defended his right to be heard while defending the privacy of others.

Amplify’d from www.wired.com

The owner of an internet service provider who mounted a high-profile court challenge to a secret FBI records demand has finally been partially released from a 6-year-old gag order that forced him to keep his role in the case a secret from even his closest friends and family. He can now identify himself and discuss the case, although he still can’t reveal what information the FBI sought.

“After six long years of not being able to tell anyone at all what happened to me – not even my family – I’m grateful to finally be able to talk about my experience of being served with a national security letter,” Merrill said in a statement. “Internet users do not give up their privacy rights when they log on, and the FBI should not have the power to secretly demand that ISPs turn over constitutionally protected information about their users without a court order. I hope my successful challenge to the FBI’s NSL gag power will empower others who may have received NSLs to speak out.” Read more at www.wired.com

 

See this Amp at http://bit.ly/9I3Hgv

House Ready to Pass the "Whatever" Bill

URL: http://techliberation.com/2010/08/09/what-do-prince-and...

I know this for a fact: if I signed off on anything with "XXXXX" as a title, $26 billion worth of spending aside, I would be in the street before the ink dried.

See this Amp at http://bit.ly/daDdcs