Saturday, October 4, 2008
You ain't seen nothing yet
In times of gasoline shortages, such as the one caused by Hurricane Ike, in some states, long lines of cars form at the few stations that from time-to-time have it. They are sold out in a matter of hours. These long lines are a direct result of governments' prevention of so-called price gouging. (There is no such thing as price gouging in a free market.) If the states simply got out of the way of the free market and allowed the price of gas to be determined at the intersection of supply and demand, gas would be readily available. Sure, the price would go up, but under current conditions, many motorist are left out in the cold - stranded, if you will. If price regulations were eliminated and the market price allowed to find its level, smart driving would be encouraged. There would be more car-pooling. More motorists would eliminate frivolous driving and make every trip count. Hoarding (topping off) would be unnecessary.Admittedly, this new situation would enlarge the expense of driving, but that's life where freedom should be the most precious commodity.Query: will the American people ever again, as they once did, resist the encroachment on their freedoms and stop letting things slide so that their petty desires and inconveniences are theoretically satisfied? The word "theoretically" is used since, in terms of the future, "You ain't seen nothing yet."
Thursday, September 25, 2008
“We Are Only As Free As Our Least Free Citizen.”
“We Are Only As Free As Our Least Free Citizen.”
That cogent comment on our society came from the late Hubert Humphrey, at the time, a senator from Minnesota. It might not have been original with him, but, no matter, it was and is a compelling, thought-provoking statement.
Would that this realization could become embedded in everyone. As governments at all levels have grown exponentially, we are witnessing ominous assaults on individual as well as group freedoms. (Some say there is no such thing as group rights, but it appears that governmental establishments have recently made them so.)
We have seen the abuse of eminent domain by the expropriation of private property for non-public use, the prohibition of crèche displays, the shameful, unconscionable looting of tobacco companies that were doing nothing more than carrying on a legal enterprise and had fixed warning messages on their product since 1964, idiotic curtailments of legal uses of private property for the purpose of, among other things, saving worthless species such as rats. Witness the charging of a California farmer, who accidentally ran over and killed a disgusting Kangaroo rat. And how about the outlawing of the perfectly legal (at least for now) activity of smoking in private establishments, never mind the approval of the owner and that no one is forced to enter. The list goes on, and you can fill in any number of blanks of other developments that represent serious danger to our basic rights.
Political correctness is probably just around the corner to being codified into governmental armamentarium. Take, for instance, the DC staffer who was fired for using the term “niggardly”, a legitimate word that has nothing to do with the “N” word, or the Dallas city council member who was castigated for saying that he thought that much of the tax revenue was being sent down a “black hole”.
Another disturbing activity is the Democrats’ assault on the profits of big oil. It doesn’t seem to matter that oil companies are crucial to our way of life and, yes, our freedom. Neither does it matter that thousands of employees and their families are dependent upon oil’s largesse for their livelihood, not to mention all the individual and pension fund investment in oil. Oil profits are obscene while the profits of movie companies and trial lawyers are just fine (at least for now). Query: What happens when we confiscate the profits of oil companies? Will there be more oil?
The camel has entered his nose under our freedom tent, and it must be stopped. Freedom doesn’t typically disappear in one big bite; it begins, metaphorically speaking, with the camel’s nose. In such a situation, awareness is key, and enough good people have to be aroused. The judiciary and the bureaucracy are the main actors in this assault. Our elected officials are responsible for these entities for better or worse. Translation: stop electing those pot-bellied jackals! Hark back to our opening statement. Study a little history. (Read: Chavez in Venezuela.) Everyone has skin in the game and when one individual’s or one group’s rights are assaulted, it is not an isolated incident.
That cogent comment on our society came from the late Hubert Humphrey, at the time, a senator from Minnesota. It might not have been original with him, but, no matter, it was and is a compelling, thought-provoking statement.
Would that this realization could become embedded in everyone. As governments at all levels have grown exponentially, we are witnessing ominous assaults on individual as well as group freedoms. (Some say there is no such thing as group rights, but it appears that governmental establishments have recently made them so.)
We have seen the abuse of eminent domain by the expropriation of private property for non-public use, the prohibition of crèche displays, the shameful, unconscionable looting of tobacco companies that were doing nothing more than carrying on a legal enterprise and had fixed warning messages on their product since 1964, idiotic curtailments of legal uses of private property for the purpose of, among other things, saving worthless species such as rats. Witness the charging of a California farmer, who accidentally ran over and killed a disgusting Kangaroo rat. And how about the outlawing of the perfectly legal (at least for now) activity of smoking in private establishments, never mind the approval of the owner and that no one is forced to enter. The list goes on, and you can fill in any number of blanks of other developments that represent serious danger to our basic rights.
Political correctness is probably just around the corner to being codified into governmental armamentarium. Take, for instance, the DC staffer who was fired for using the term “niggardly”, a legitimate word that has nothing to do with the “N” word, or the Dallas city council member who was castigated for saying that he thought that much of the tax revenue was being sent down a “black hole”.
Another disturbing activity is the Democrats’ assault on the profits of big oil. It doesn’t seem to matter that oil companies are crucial to our way of life and, yes, our freedom. Neither does it matter that thousands of employees and their families are dependent upon oil’s largesse for their livelihood, not to mention all the individual and pension fund investment in oil. Oil profits are obscene while the profits of movie companies and trial lawyers are just fine (at least for now). Query: What happens when we confiscate the profits of oil companies? Will there be more oil?
The camel has entered his nose under our freedom tent, and it must be stopped. Freedom doesn’t typically disappear in one big bite; it begins, metaphorically speaking, with the camel’s nose. In such a situation, awareness is key, and enough good people have to be aroused. The judiciary and the bureaucracy are the main actors in this assault. Our elected officials are responsible for these entities for better or worse. Translation: stop electing those pot-bellied jackals! Hark back to our opening statement. Study a little history. (Read: Chavez in Venezuela.) Everyone has skin in the game and when one individual’s or one group’s rights are assaulted, it is not an isolated incident.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
