No Free Market on Pandora

“Avatar”, James Cameron’s triumph of 3D visuals over 2D story and characters, has been described as a searing sci-fi indictment of capitalism. So much so, that the Free Agent’s friends and family have been turning cyber-eyes her way for an expected dissection and rebuttal. Well, I finally saw it a week ago, and all I can say is . . . it’s not capitalism.
The story follows a ruthless company’s war on the peaceful (aren’t they all?) indigenous population of planet Pandora. At stake is a deposit of subtly named unobtanium, the “sky people” need it to survive, the gentle, wise, culturally rich (aren’t they all?) Na’vi have it. During the opening half-hour of clunky exposition, we learn that the company has tried to buy or trade for unobtanium, but since the Na’vi live in harmony with nature and have all they need (of course), they have asked the sky people to beat it. Instead, the ruthless capitalists have built a vast crypto-military-anthropological city, the only traces of the Twentieth Century being slang (“you got no skilz!”) and a book of matches.
That’s a big investment for a company that seems to have exhausted its prospects of obtaining the unobtainiumable, unless, of course, they can also bring guns to the negotiation. Here’s where Cameron’s carefully crafted language—this is a private company, he tells us, these are hired mercenaries, not Marines, despite the usual ‘get some!’ jargon—looses, rather than makes, the case against capitalism. In a free market, if the gentle, wise, culturally rich, etc., locals won’t trade you the goods, your alternatives are to up your offer or go elsewhere. But on Pandora, essential elements of capitalism—property rights, free exchange, and pricing mechanisms—are totally absent. Coke can’t put a gun to your head to get you to drink soda, only thieves and governments take what they want by force.
So apart from the technological achievement, which I look forward to seeing put to better use, all Cameron succeeds in proving over the course of two hours and forty-two minutes is that it’s wrong to kill people for their property. The Free Agent agrees.

Help Defeat Bad Vaccine Bills in Albany Tomorrow

The Coalition for Informed Choice has issued an urgent action alert regarding a vote tomorrow on draconian vaccine legislation working its way through Albany.

S4779 and A6702 would permit all present and future vaccines and drugs for sexually transmitted diseases to be given to New York children without parental consent. The Senate codes committee is expected to vote on the bill on Tuesday.

If this legislation is enacted, parents would be replaced by school administrators and public health bureaucrats as the key decision-makers regarding their children’s health care.

If a child has a drug or vaccine reaction, the parents won’t know
what is happening or how to help. Anonymous vaccine administrators don’t know the child’s medical history, vaccine contraindications, allergies, and past vaccine reactions.

Keep in mind that these bills apply to all children, with no age limit. Theoretically, bureaucrats would have the green light to start administering STD vaccines in kindergarten.

Another Assembly bill, A778, makes HPV vaccines mandatory for all New York children beginning in the sixth grade. Keep in mind that HPV is only a risk if the child is sexually active. Fortunately, there is no “same as” bill in the Senate, so this legislation is less of an immediate threat.

Contact your state senators and assembly members today, and let them know you oppose these draconian, authoritarian bills.

The Sons of Liberty: Terrorists or Citizen Soldiers

Everyday as I walk into my office at 55 Broad Street I glance over at a plaque commemorating Marinus Willet  who on June 6th, 1775  along with a small group of  men seized five wagonloads of arms from British Troops evacuating New York City.  The men were members of the Sons of Liberty, a group considered “seditious radicals” by respectable people of the time. 

Who were these men who took it on themselves to confront the Authorities?  Who put them in charge and who did they represent?  I asked those questions of Adam Platka, who did his dissertation on that subject. Here is some of what he said:

Over the past twelve months the country has been rocked by mass protests and town-hall rage from a spreading movement called the Tea Party.  From small towns to the largest of cities, this grass-roots movement has exploded in revolt of President Obama’s health care agenda and economic policies.  They have even gained enough traction to hold, starting today, the inaugural National Tea Party Convention in efforts to consolidate leadership, philosophy, and the nuts and bolts of a working political organization that will run individuals for office in the up coming midterm elections.

As their name suggests, they strive to embody the originally ideas and actions carried out in Boston in the cold of December 1773.  It was there that members of Massachusetts Sons of Liberty, under the cover of night, dumped three shiploads of tea into the harbor in revolt of the Tea Act – a tax enacted by the British Parliament on the colonies without representation of the colonies themselves.

Though the Boston Tea Party itself is an iconic event of American history and frequent reference of political protest – it brings into question whether this act and the other aggressive mob actions taken by the Sons of Liberty in the lead up to the American Revolution were truly revolutionary acts or acts of terrorism.

Join us On Monday, February 8th, at the Manhattan Libertarian  monthly meeting  where Adam Platka will  lead a discussion that will focus on how the Sons of Liberty were formed and how it’s unique leadership and actions directly led to the revolution. He will touch on whether the Sons of Liberty actions, ranging from pamphleteering, aggressive mobs and the famous Boston tea party, were true revolutionary acts or acts terrorism. And lastly, discuss the comparisons between the Sons of Liberty and today’s Tea Partiers and weather they are staying true to the founders’ ideas.

Get details here.

Bring Your Politics to Work Day: Curt Monash on Database Snooping

I’ve never been one to keep quiet about my politics – much to the dismay and horror of many of my Leftist friends.  It usually doesn’t take too long for my business associates,  customers and vendors to get the message either.  It probably costs me some business but the alternative costs me something a lot more dear.

That’s why I have to applaud Curt Monash, who’s February 2nd Blog in Intelligent Enterprise seeks to raise awareness of Database Snooping as a threat to liberty.

Monash’s company, surprisingly named Monash Research, is in the business of predicting the future effects of technological trends.  So he makes a living thinking about this stuff . 

Monash does something controversial.  He calls on us geeks to take on some political responsibility.  That is, to think about something besides our paychecks.  In his post he says…

Database and analytic technology, as they evolve, will pose tremendous danger to individual liberties.

We in the industry who are creating this problem also have a duty to help fix it.

We should apply personal ethics to our work?  What a concept!

He goes on to make specific suggestions about needed legal restrictions  and even considers the First, Fourth and Fifth Amendments.  He even mentions the Ninth and Tenth Amendment – imagine that.

Here are his “four pillars of liberty in an information age” taken from what he calls his best writing about the subject of liberty.

• Reading and writing should be unrestricted, with only the narrowest of exceptions. Almost all forms of censorship are wrongful and dangerous. And while it may not be possible to win every battle about pictures, videos, and the like, there’s no reason to tolerate the slightest censorship when what’s being censored is simply words.
• “State of mind” evidence inferred from – for example – logs of search or surfing behavior should be inadmissible in legal proceedings, investigations, and hiring decisions. Whether it’s your interest in Islam, pornography, or the untraceable disposal of corpses, what you look into shouldn’t get you into trouble. Yes, there are a few cases where forgoing such tools is regrettable. But the slippery-slope dangers are far too great to make relying on them worth the risk and cost. The Petrick case is a dangerous precedent.
• All uses of data that are not explicitly permitted to government must be forbidden. Given how many gray areas get created by technological advancement, a catch-all rule like this seems crucial. Analogies to the Ninth and Tenth Amendments are not coincidental.
• All government programs (with only the narrowest of security exceptions) that use data should be disclosed. Even the narrow security exceptions should be subject to separation-of-powers oversight. David Brin and the Dutch government both have some good ideas along those lines.

You should read both blogs.  There are a lot of great links to other work of his and some interesting court cases.

But the real message in his blog is that our work can be more than a cash machine.  For many of us our work is more than what we do.  For many of us our work is who we are.  We aren’t much if we aren’t principled.

Senate confirms Bernanke and the Shadow Government

There can’t be a better poster child for back room sleazy deals and elitist government than Ben Bernanke.  Stubbornly sticking to his position that the U.S.  Congress and the people can’t handle the truth about who has their hands in the people’s cookie jar has got him into some trouble from all parts of the political spectrum. Unfortunately not enough trouble to prevent another 7 years his mismanagement and corruption.

First, to those who argue that he prevented an even worse disaster - it’s impossible to prove that one way or the other so it amounts to your opinion.  And it’s an opinion with no evidence to support it – and tons of evidence to the contrary.  I’ll be glad to debate that in another blog but in this one I want to look at the votes.

Bernanke Vote Analysis

This vote was not overwhelmingly partisan.  The Dems and the GOP both sold you out.  It’s no surprise that Vermont’s Bernie Sanders voted no. He’s been a critic Bernanke and a supporter of transparency.  Connecticut’s Lieberman is the ID (Independent Democrat) voting Yes.  For those of you who cling to the idea that the Republicans are our best hope for freedom might want to note that 22 Republicans voted for the Shadow Government.   Here is the list. 

Republican Votes to Confirm Bernanke

Here is the list of those who voted Yes and who are coming up for re-election this year. There are 12 Democrats and 8 Republicans. Let’s defeat them all.  As consolation to the Republicans that would reduce the Dem’s’ majority.

Voted for Bernanke with Election in 2010

Note: I have one or two questions regarding retirements and special elections that might result in errors. My apologies. I’d appreciate corrections and criticisms. )

Obama’s Delusional State of the Union

A bunch of Libertarians (along with Democrats and Republicans) were invited by  John Stossel’s show on FoxBusiness , to watch the State of the Union Message, and give reactions last night.  It was a nice way to make it fun to endure the torture of listening for 75 minutes or so to a President who seems to be living in some alternate reality.

There were some things in the speech that MIGHT actually be improvements such as something about ending capital gains tax for certain types of business investment.  But the overwhelming majority of the speech was shifting blame and failing to recognise that his administration is far off course.  Many commentators expected him to admit his mistakes but what we got instead was misdirection.

Here are some corrections to a few of his misdirections:

Misdirection 1: He blamed Wall Street and  “The Banks” for the economic crisis and claimed he inherited it.

Reality:  The government including Obama created the Great Recession.  There is no question “The Banks” extravagant credit expansion was at the root of the crises.  But the President never once mentioned the Federal Reserve’s extravagant money printing that caused the banks’ credit expansion and he never once mentioned Congress’s demands on the banks to make more junk loans for housing and tuition and on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy up all the junk assets Wall Street could create.  The government clearly created the economic crisis and Obama was in the Senate while it happened. He wasn’t the President, but he’s closely tied to all the root causes. 

Misdirection 2:  He’s already cut taxes

Reality:  It’s quite true that the Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 included significant tax cuts. And let me be clear – I’ve never seen a tax cut I didn’t like.  But I like some a lot better than others. Of course I like the ones I GET the best. But running a close second is those that actually help the economy the most.    Here is a Tax Foundation analysis of Obama’s cuts.  I was struck by the significance of the savings for married couples with a few kids particularly if you bought a car or a house.  Of course I fit none of those categories - so much for criteria number one – but plenty of my friends and family do.  I guess the lesson is that I need to live my life exactly the way the government thinks I should and then they will give me advantages over those nasty people who don’t live their lives exactly the way the government thinks they should.   Ok what about criteria number 2 – economic value?  Let’s see some people might think reinflating the housing bubble and rewarding failure in Detroit is good for the economy.  I don’t.  I think large permanent across the board cuts in tax rates, like those used with enormous success by John Kennedy and Ronald Reagan are the ones that allow business and consumers to plan intelligently and invest for the future.  Obama used tax cuts to reward his political constituency not to grow the economy.

Misdirection 3: Partisan bickering over health care is preventing him from doing his good work for the people

Reality: The people DON”T WANT THIS HEALTH CARE BILL.  Only Congress and the special interests that buy them off do.

Misdirection 4: He will listen to all good ideas on how to improve the health care bill.

Reality:  There is a vast amount of alternative thinking available for anyone who wants to hear it.  Three quick example s include John Mackey’s Whole Foods approach of high deductibles matched with health savings accounts, The NFIB’s proposal to improve competition by reducing interstate barriers and the Republicans proposals for tort reform.  None of these are new or secretly hidden. But they are free market and that’s not allowed on planet Obama.

Misdirection 5: All sane economists agree the stimulus bill saved the planet from an even worse crisis.

Reality: Well – all Keynesians do.  Apparently the President didn’t hear from any free market economists such as those at the Mises Institute or the Independent Institute or Cato.  But as I said the President is willing to listen to all good ideas, as long as they increase the role of the state and don’t propose any that silly free market stuff.  

The President may not be an outright bold faced liar.  But he’s awfully good at selective versions of the truth.  So far he’s has brought us one of the worst years in a lifetime.  One down three to go.

Obama Says Middle Class is Under Assault: Duh!

President Obama promised to aid the middle class today and said that the middle class has been “under assault”.  Congratulations, Mr. President – you are starting to get it.  The middle is under assault – by the government!

On the one hand Government loads up the their favorite corporations with fat government contracts, monopoly privileges and bailouts.  Public employees are gauranteed fat pensions and lavish benefits. On the other hand  the poor get ever-increasing government benefits. Entitlements, by the President’s own admission are on a trajectory to bankrupt the Federal Government.  Paperwork,  regulation and mandates kill small businesses and jobs.

Then to that witches brew just add a series of bubbles created by the Federal Reserve and grand-standing legislators who are always ready to buy votes with tax-payer dollars.

If the President really wanted to help the middle class – and everyone else he would get the government out of the way by slashing spending,  taxes, regulation and mandates. He would demand that the Fed be audited  and he would demand a stop to printing money out of thin air.

Let’s look at the last time the US economy was in this much trouble and how it was fixed.

During the Carter recession we had comparable unemployment and inflation and interest rates that were much worse.  I was graduating from college and everyone was telling us that the US had peaked out and that we would never have the standard of living our parents had.  The future looked pretty grim.

Then Ronald Reagan cut taxes by 25% and Paul Volcker limited growth in the money supply.  Inflation was beaten and the economy came roaring back.  Federal revenues grew dramatically despite dramatically lower rates.   It wasn’t perfect.  Government spending increased more than revenues (surprise!). We had a few wars we didn’t need (like anyone ever needs a war). And once Volcker was gone we never saw anything like sound monetary policy again.

Even the Keynesians admit that tax cuts stimulate the economy.  But no one in government is talking about tax cuts now.  Oh sure, the President will dribble out little tidbits to the groups he thinks he can buy with their own money.  But it’s large, predictable, permanent tax cuts that allow consumers to plan their futures and that allow businesses to plan for growth. 

The President’s stimulus plan isn’t creating any economically viable long-term growth.  At best it will take money from economically viable Peters to pay politically favored Pauls. 

President Obama  – it’s time to admit your mistakes – cut taxes and spending and let American workers, consumers and businesspeople do what they do best – take care of themselves and help everyone around them in the process.

Keynesian Rat Krugman Deserts Sinking Ship

Honeymoon’s over. Perhaps they should have gotten the message when it became clear that the American public didn’t want the Health Care Deform bill rammed down their throats. It would have been even better if they had taken a lesson from thousands of years of history and taken steps to improve health care by removing tax and regulatory barriers that increase costs, prevent people from making rational decisions and using their funds effectively.

Wait, what am I thinking? It’s Congress and what’s good for the people has no impact on their decision-making – only power and campaign contributions do.

Here is what President Obama said about losing  the confidence of the American people with respect to the health care bill.  Essentially, hurry up and empty the cookie jar before anyone notices.

I would advise that we try to move quickly to coalesce around those elements of the package that people agree on. We know that we need insurance reform, that the health insurance companies are taking advantage of people. We know that we have to have some form of cost containment because if we don’t, then our budgets are going to blow up and we know that small businesses are going to need help so that they can provide health insurance to their families. Those are the core, some of the core elements of, to this bill. Now I think there’s some things in there that people don’t like and legitimately don’t like.

Ya think?

As evidence of the establishment’s reactionary nature I offer Paul Krugman’s desertion of our beloved President as he reacts to President Obama’s comments in his NY Times blog Jan 20.

In short, “Run away, run away”!

Maybe House Democrats can pull this out, even with a gaping hole in White House leadership. Barney Frank seems to have thought better of his initial defeatism. But I have to say, I’m pretty close to giving up on Mr. Obama, who seems determined to confirm every doubt I and others ever had about whether he was ready to fight for what his supporters believed in.

Merely hours after the voters in Massachusetts, a state familiar with the effects of universal health care, deny the Democrats totalitarian control, Professor Krugman does some running away of his own.

I’d be willing to bet that Professor Krugman voted for President Obama.  Is it possible the good Professor’s  judgement wasn’t quite as perfect as he would have us believe?

Governor David Paterson’s Mystery Woman and the New York State Budget

Are you kidding?

 New York State has a $7 billion budget deficit. Paterson is the only major party politician who has shown any leadership in addressing the deficit. And the press gives legs to a highly questionable story about Paterson’s personal business with a woman who didn’t complain – even if the incident happened at all. Based on an article I read yesterday, the manager of the restaurant said he walked passed the table constantly and saw no such behavior and the two women who made the accusation apparently refused to stand by their accusation.

My question is which deficit is bigger? The NYS budget deficits or the brain deficit exhibited by the media and the NYS Democrats?

You KNOW where this is coming from. Paterson’s enemies on the New York State public spending gravy train can’t possibly let any shred of fiscal responsibility go unpunished. The mere suggestion that the blood suckers in Albany shouldn’t drain their victims quite so fast prompts them to repudiate their incumbent and replace him with another in a hereditary line of ultra-tax-and-spenders. Good thinking Dems. When you have a disaster – double down on the actions that created it. Raise taxes in the middle of a huge recession?

 This stinks. This is a bunch of thieves trying to discredit a man who is the only shred of hope in their miserable band of criminals. This is just how disgusting New York State politics is.  And it’s just how irresponsible some members of the New York media are. How can anyone read this swill? How can anyone vote for these criminals? That is, of course, unless you are on the receiving end of that gravy train.

Business and jobs to New York State: “Give me three steps towards the door”.

 Here are a few highlights of the Governor’s plan:

A billion in new taxes and fees – We need a few billion in tax CUTS not increases. This is just plain stupid.

 Over a billion in school aid cuts – yeah – this will squeeze local budgets but it’s got to be done. Bring this battle down to a local level where people have at least some ability to influence the spending directly.

 A billion in health care spending cuts – you guessed it. You either come up with $7 billion in cuts or you come up with it in higher taxes. Higher – taxes – fewer jobs. Fewer jobs – lower State revenue. There is no question you could find a billion in waste, abuse and fraud. But it won’t happen because there is no incentive in the government spending system to do so.

 Extend benefits of filing as married to gay couples married in states where it’s legal – good as far as it goes. Why don’t we treat all couples in New York at least as well as those who go out of state to get married?

 Cut agencies in the executive branch by $1 billion – Hooray! $2 billion anyone? 3?

 I have an idea. Let’s cut State spending equally, across the board by $10 billion, give $ 3 billion back to the taxpayers, pro-rata dollar for dollar.

 Crazy? Irresponsible? Can’t be done?

 How is the status quo working out for you?

Warren Redlich considering LP and GOP bid for NY Governor

Rich Cooper’s Ground Report blog has a great post about Warren Redlich and his potential run for Governor on the LP and GOP lines. 

Rich writes:

His candidacy was sought by two former State Chairs of theLibertarian Party, Eric Sundwall and me, who believed the Albany area lawyer can harness the energies of the RonPaul and “tea party” movements to advance liberty. Redlich has been active with both movements, serving as the Albany legal representative for the Ron Paul presidential campaign, as a Ron Paul delegate candidate and contributorto the Ron Paul campaign. He participated in some of the Tea Party rallies http://www.wredlich.com/stop-wasting-money/2009/04/yes-they-can.html  

Warren has been a candidate for Congress and was elected (GOP) to Town Board in Guilderland, NY in 2007.  As a Town Board member Warren proposed a pay cut for himself and other elected officials.  He voted for pay freezes in the 2009 and 2010 budgets. In August he stopped an eminent domain effort.

You can check out his facebook group here.

Warren is a speaker at the Manhattan Libertarian Annual Convention January 30th.  That will be a great chance to check him out.