Democracy Refuted:

"Give us Barabbas!"

What W. Taught Me

The last time I voted in any election was 2000. I cast an absentee ballot in the state of Florida. I didn't vote for either Bush or Gore, and that election taught me that my vote didn't matter in the slightest.

Of course, Bush didn't teach me that. That was just an observation of how the system works. In the end, I was somewhat happy that Bush was elected over Gore. I thought that the Republican Party was the lesser of two evils and that his election was for the best. I no longer believe that. Maybe Bush was better than Gore would've been, but that's impossible to tell. I think the record on Bush speaks for itself and it is almost universally negative. If there was ever anything good about the Republican Party, the Bush regime pretty much purged it. Bush taught me that I am not a Republican.

What will Obama teach me? I already know that I'm not a Democrat. I can't think of anything that he's advocated (now that he's in office, I mean) that I support. Maybe he doesn't have anything to teach me. I wonder how many Democrats will learn the same lesson that Bush taught me. I can only hope.

What Does P.E.D. Stand For Again?

I guess it's a big deal when people talk about athletes cheating by taking steroids or other Performance Enhancing Drugs. Ask Sammy. Or A-Rod. Or Jose. Everyone hates that guy. If you've read his book, though, I think he's the one who has the best perspective on the issue.

My stance is that if sports are where we strive for excellence, then that is exactly where we should be looking at pushing the envelope with drugs. Sports have already helped us with medical and physical training advances. If drugs offer another avenue to allow greater realization of human potential in a physical sense, I'm all for it.

I think the dangers of steroids are overblown. Contrast the NFL, which supposedly is against the use of steroids (largely because of their health effects), but which downplays the adverse effects of playing f@$king football. Seriously?

Taxes and Why They Suck

Maybe you heard about those TEA Parties last month (Taxed Enough Already) and maybe you have an opinion on them. You may have thought the people protesting were stupid and selfish. Maybe you thought that the media coverage of them was one-sided and unfair. Or perhaps it was that relating today's situation in the U.S. to the original Boston Tea Party is a tad ridiculous. After all, wasn't the idea supposed to be no taxation without representation?

I'm of the opinion that anyone involved with the Boston Tea Party or any of the liberty loving founders of what became the United States of American would've been slitting throats a long time ago.

The problem isn't taxation without representation. It's taxation. Taxation is not a means to pay for services provided by government. It's a means to isolate the taxpayer and prevent him or her from having any say over how those taxes are spent. How much say does any individual have over any government budget? And how are they supposed to have any voice? By voting for some "representative" every two years? And that's the top level. That taxpayer has zero say in how that money is spent at the agency level. No voice in the allocation of funds for schools, police, or defense. And if he or she opts for a private education or private security or doesn't want to pay for troops in Japan, Europe or the Middle East? Too bad. He or she is still paying for it.

Ten

Okay, now I have it like I want it. There will only ever be ten posts on this blog. Once a post ages beyond the top ten, it will disappear into the ether.

Savor them.

Pop Quiz

There's an interesting quiz here. I can't remember where I came across it. Give it a shot and see how well you do.

Oddly enough, the one question I missed regarded the Lincoln/Douglas debates.

Relevant Quote

"The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money."

-- Alexis de Tocqueville

Is there any doubt that this has already happened? I think we are witnessing the destruction of the dollar and it remains to be seen what this will mean for the U.S. and the world, but I doubt it will be good.

Memo to Americans

"Because civilization depends on continually making the effort, of never giving in. It needs to be cared for by men of goodwill, protected from the dark. These people gave in. They stopped caring. And because they did, this land fell under the darkness of a barbarism which lasted for hundreds of years."

--Sautel, in The Dream of Scipio by Iain Pears

Originally posted 2/27/05

Goya

AIG Bonuses

I was just listening to some discussion on NPR about AIG using government bailout money to pay bonuses to some of the people involved in the financial mess that put the company on the brink of failure. Apparently, those bonuses were guaranteed by contracts and the government is obligated to honor them. What I haven't heard in any of the hand-wringing over what all of these companies are (or aren't) doing with the bailout money is the benefit of not having given any in the first place. Everyone seems to assume that it was the right thing to do. Well, if AIG (or your favorite bailout recipient) hadn't gotten that money, they'd likely be bankrupt and those incompetent CEOs would be gone (as well as whatever management thought it was a good idea to give out crazy contracts) and those contracts would be in bankruptcy court where they would likely go to the very bottom of the list of outstanding debts. The free market has penalties for failure and those penalties are more just than the alternative. Those penalties will still be paid, but the market would ensure that they would be paid by those who deserve to.

Further reading here.