Saturday, June 30, 2007
Regarding the Most Recent Attempted Bombing in London...
'Time to get -- justifiably -- "Islamo-phobic."
As with Nazism, Fascism, and Communism; we're late, but perhaps not too late. More and more people are beginning to recognize the enemy -- and that's a good thing.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
The Pesky Little Tax Issue
My taxes here in Japan just went up – about $80.00 a month.
Of course, the tax issue is a centerpiece of the conservative/libertarian position. I can't get too worked up about it though, not because I'd ultimately be up against some powerful politicians but because – as in any locale – I'm up against lots of stupid people who will continually vote for the clown who promises to take someone else's money to “do good things.”
Of course most people's response to taxes is that, “we gotta pay for the roads and police etc...” What a total crock! We could pave and patrol the entire solar system for what the worthless clowns of socialism inc. have fostered upon the public.
The only sure things are – supposedly -- “death and taxes.” Of course you can't say “no” to death, but taxes are another thing. Perhaps we should say, “death and public stupidity are the only sure things.”
In my little town, there will definitely be more than a few people with families and greater expenses than my own, who will now forfeit an extra evening out at a restaurant, pass on a movie, or perhaps they'll just stop buying that 400 yen latte or new pair of shoes.
A minor tax hike rarely bankrupts anyone (though I'm sure more than a few small businesses have had their “camel's back” broken by this pathetic “straw” of state coercion).
No doubt, next year the city elders will be whining about the local economy and reduced shopping in the downtown area. Leave it to politicians to be so f___ing stupid that they're unable to see a relationship between excess theft and a reduction of expenditure on the part of their constituents.
Consistently, a reduction in taxes results in increased business activity (for those who hate the “B word,” that simply means making, selling, and buying stuff) and ultimately an increase in tax revenue from a more dynamic economy. But the left likes, or is at least apologetic to, the concept of taxes. Left-of-center politicians forever chastize those "unwilling to pay their 'fair share'." Taxes “pay for government programs,” but they also do something far more important in the eyes of a statist. They punish success and achievement, they “redistribute” wealth – from “the rich” to the political class (politicians and bureaucrats). Socialism in all its guise is ultimately a punitive philosophy.
Here in Japan, people complain about taxes just the same as anywhere else but I'd dare say they're less likely to see the ultimate solution (not that Americans or anyone else, acts on the solution).
The solution is to support any politician who promises to reduce government spending and taxes, and to make any politicians who wants to seize more funds unemployed – throw the asshole out of office. But..., most people aren't going to do that. Japan is pretty weak on a libertarian mentality favoring – very limited – government and equally limited taxation.
People want their “free” stuff, and as long as there's a politician promising to materialize free stuff on a rich person's dime, they're all for it. “Give me more government grants to the cheese industry, more money to 'help the poor' (that's always a favorite), more government grants to investigate the effects of second-hand methane emissions.”
If a socialist says they're going to punish or extract wealth from “the rich,” you can be certain that, regardless of your income or living circumstance, you'll eventually be classified as “rich” (your taxes are going to go up).
“Death and Taxes.”...
...Death of taxes has such a nicer ring to it, but don't hold your breath waiting.
Monday, June 25, 2007
The Capitalist in All of Us
One need go no further than Shakespear or Freud to know that when a person continually notes “selfishness” and “greed” in others, you're probably dealing with a rather selfish and greedy person.
-– “know thyself;” then, leave others alone...
Sunday, June 24, 2007
We Need a Conspiracy -- Anything to Make Us Feel Cool
If there weren't 9/11 conspiracies it would be necessary to invent them...
What else do these idiot paranoid losers have to live for?
Remember, we (dynamic open capitalist secular society) are the bad guys!
Saturday, June 23, 2007
The Contrived Sentiments of the Self-described "Oppressed"
“We must reject the ways of the 'white man'...”
...and adopt the teachings of a dead white male German economics philosopher... [?]
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Hating the Individual
I need to be brief but I've got to get something in. Amongst my collection of potential links to post is this quote from Neal Boortz's web site:
"'Fascist ethics begin ... with the acknowledgment that it is not the individual who confers a meaning upon society, but it is, instead, the existence of a human society which determines the human character of the individual. According to Fascism, a true, a great spiritual life cannot take place unless the State has risen to a position of pre-eminence in the world of man. The curtailment of liberty thus becomes justified at once, and this need of rising the State to its rightful position.'
[Mario Palmieri, "The Philosophy of Fascism" 1936]"
" 'We must stop thinking of the individual and start thinking about what is best for society.'
[Hillary Clinton, 1993]"
I dare say that, like Boortz conveys, the very essence of socialists and fascists beliefs are identical. "Good intentions" aside (I've never assumed their intentions were good), they despise the very concept of an individual -- excepting themselves, of course.
I've never met a socialist of any stripe who, in some way, did not adore, sympathize with, or give a free pass to the glories of an omnipotent state. Their motives may be different (i.e. hatred of free commerce, hatred of others' success, or just hatred for humanity as a whole) but a statist is a statist. Fascist, communists, socialist and all their spawn are mere control freaks angered that there is someone going around unwatched and undirected by a philosophy from above;...theirs.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Do you hate corporations?
Imagine a company that produced a product or service that was of a lower quality than previous alternatives, a product or service that you had to wait endlessly to receive and were literally forced to buy. Imagine the staff of said company to be often rude, unhelpful, and unmotivated to care at all about satisfying you questions or concerns. Take a step further and imagine that if you chose to buy another company's better product and faster service that you'd be fined or imprisoned (!). Now imagine that the “company” in question is the government and produces this nightmare with the convenience, skill, and charm of everything else they do.
Imagine Democrat imposed health care -- imagine socialized medicine. Imagine your life in the hands of people motivated, not by profit, but by ...nothing (but bogus statements of “compassion” from an elite, wealthy clique' of power brokers in Washington and their facillitators in New York and Hollywood).
Compulsory state-imposed “care.” What could be more stupid.
If someone hates corporations, why would they be so fervent to have corporate-syle authority focused and enhanced into the hands of completely unmotivated, mindless and inefficient drones working for the biggest and most coercive corporation there is?
...I have no idea.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Tiananmen Square vs. the Ruthless Cruel Oppressive Capitalist Imperialist American Dictatorship
...Okay, maybe not.
It's likely that some have read of the recent Tiananmen memorial "classified ad" that was published (accidentally) in a Chinese newspaper – something the Chinese communist dictatorship didn't look fondly upon.
The mainstream press didn't take much note of it, after all it only concerned the issue of press freedoms in a country ruled by the philosophy of egalitarian collectivist dictatorship (yes, I realize that they're allowed to sell stuff now and even have the state's permission to use cell phones).
The tragic irony to the guy fired for permitting the ad to pass censorship was that he was fairly young and, like most young people in China, never heard of the infamous event at Tiananmen Square where the glorious Maoist state killed, wounded, and imprisoned ("reeducated") at least hundreds of unarmed students who were seeking that dreaded thing the left always hates once they're in power – freedom of conscience, action, and interaction.
Like any good obedient clone of communist society would do, the naughty newspaper drone even called the person placing the ad for specifics and was told that the ad was to honor the mothers of those who died in a "mining accident." The citizen-stooge apparently believed the writer's stealth attempt at genuine freedom of expression, and why not, no one ever told him the truth regarding his own country's modern history.
Noting the states cruelty and corruption in a cruel and corrupt state is a serious faux pas to say the least. The person placing the ad honoring the mourning mothers of those who lost their lives on June 4th, 1989 is no doubt being hunted aggressively at this time, if not having the shit beat out of him in a laogai reeducation camp.
When I read of pathetic state worshiping nonsense like this I'm reminded of all those leftist clowns in the west who never tire of reminding us of how terrible and "oppressive" American society is. Communist authoritarian bureau scum can break as many eggs (heads) at will for the making of an imaginary utopian social "omelet," and Americans are viewed as oppressed when a few individuals refuse to buy a CD from some rich leftist entertainers ("No one can speak out!") – what utter nonsense.
While China's young are forbidden from even knowing of a deliberate slaughter on the part of their authoritarian overlords, America's youth are regularly fed media, entertainment, and "education" diets of anti- U.S. leftist rhetoric.
Find an American high school history book that doesn't highlight Kent State or the internment of Japanese citizens during WWII. Find a teacher that doesn't dwell for weeks on slavery or civil rights injustices, or find a spoiled wealthy Hollywood director who can only find evil in America's attempts to free people from the bondage of authoritarian schemes (like communism or Islamo fascism).
The truth is, as Occam's razor would view it, incredibly simple. The U.S. has wide access and excess to self-critical information and appraisals. The lefts' cherished egalitarian collectivist "experiments" regularly have people beaten, killed, or imprisoned. Even the mere noting of the the radical socialist state's coercive actions is seen to merit punishment by bureau-state decree.
America is one of the most prosperous, dynamic, and successful institutions to have graced the pages of history. It's also – by no coincidence – one of the least "oppressive."
China, like most imposed schemes of collectivist leveling and state planning is…A DICTATORSHIP, neon and "emerging middle class" aside.
The left needs to take their relativist rose (red) colored glasses off and get a clue, or at least reduce their passion for misperception and hyperbole.
Saturday, June 02, 2007
Calling the Kettle [an “Imperialist”]
The “leader” of a country that took direct control over Eastern Europe, enslaved its people, and raped its economy, resources, and soul now complains of “U.S. Imperialism” -- What a laugh! Vladimir – chip on the shoulder – Putin has lately been turning up the cold war rhetoric, particularly over the U.S. wanting to develop a missile shield to keep an adversary from annihilating one of its cities -- “imperialism.” I guess that installing a security system or a German Shepherd in your home could be considered an aggressive act as well.
I love Bill Whittle's response to the stale U.S. as “Imperialist” rant, so much so that I need to quote all of it below:
“...End U.S. Imperialism Now!
Can I just take another quick second of your precious time to put this one to bed once and for all?
It is a staple of the left to accuse the US of “Imperialism.” That so many people can level such a charge with a straight face is a testament to the efficacy of forty years of standards-free education reform here and around the world.
An “Empire” is defined as a nation state that has political control over other nation states, and uses that political control to extract the wealth and resources from the subjugated country.
The United States of America does not have any political control over any other sovereign nation on the face of the Earth. We have influence, but influence is to control as a rich uncle is to a prison warden. That’s all you need to know. The entire idea of American Empire and U.S. Imperialism is dead on its face after that. No control means no empire. Period.
But we do have a large footprint in the rest of the world, and have military bases all across the globe. Is that a form of empire?
Look, the whole point of having an empire is to take the wealth out of the colonies and return them to enrich the home country. The US not only does not pull in the resources of other nations…it does exactly the reverse. We pump billions and billions of dollars annually into those nations that host our facilities, and the minute any one of those nations decides we are no longer welcome, we pack our bags, leave and turn those billion-dollar institutions over to the host country. (Look up Subic Bay and Clark Air Base in the Philippines for some recent examples)
This is not “imperial behavior.” It is, in fact, the precise opposite of imperial behavior. I guess somehow STOP U.S. ANTI-IMPERIALISM just doesn’t have the same snap somehow for the North Korean-backed International A.N.S.W.E.R. crowd. Color me shocked.
There are millions of people – actually, probably billions now – who genuinely believe that the wealth of the US was stolen from third world countries. This is one of the great perks of living a life free of the ability to think critically and do a little research. I have heard this slander repeated so many times I decided to look into some actual numbers to see if there is anything to this charge. This is a perfect example of how critical thinking allows you to see the unseen. That attitude, Google and ten minutes is all you need to shoot lies like this down in flames.
Okay. The US Per capita income is $41,300. That of a poor, third world country –Djibouti, say -- is $2,070.
Now it gets interesting. The US gross domestic product – the value of everything we produce in a year -- was last measured as $12 trillion, 277 billion dollars (hundreds of millions of dollars being too insignificant to count in this economy).
The GDP of Djibouti is 1 billion, 641 million US dollars.
A little basic arithmetic shows me that the US has a GDP 7,481 times greater than Djibouti. A 365 day year, composed of 24 hours in a day, yields 8,760 hours per year. Hang on to that for a sec.
Now, let’s suppose the U.S. went into Djibouti with the Marines, and stole every single thing that’s produced there in a year…just grant the premise and say we stole every goddam thing they make. If we hauled away all of Djibouti’s annual wealth, how long would it run the U.S. Economy, which is 7,481 times greater?
Well, 8,760 hours divided by 7,481 gives you an answer of 1.17 hours. In other words, it takes the U.S. 1.17 hours to produce what Djibouti produces in a year.
If the US really did go in and steal everything that the bottom thirty countries in the world produce, it might power the US economy for two or three days.
Conversely, the billions and billions of dollars the US spends annually in aid, rent, etc. – plus uncounted billions more from private American charities – would supply the entire GDP of Djibouti for hundreds of years.
Where’s your Imperialism argument now?...”
No doubt it's those pesky Starbucks franchises that arouses the left's imperialism mantra.
As for Russia. 'Never been a free, open, or successful society...never will be. Russia and communism were made for each other. They clearly haven't changed all that much from the days of Stalin (a high percentage of Russia's citizens actually see him in a favorable light). Like China, a recent surge in wealth has spawned a cocky arrogance. They want their empire back and they want it now! -- tantrums for the glorious state.
Pathetic...
