Posts Tagged ‘rational maximiser’
Thursday, March 14th, 2013
Dear Friends,
It seems to me, civilization, being a manifestation of humanity, is based on human hearted actions… like kindness and courtesy. These two mutually harmonious ways of being are the cement and aggregate that make up the foundation of civilization. Those that practice them advance civilization and those who don’t destroy it. We all want to live in a civilized society, and all of us seek the advantages that civilization brings, but to live in a civilized society requires us to be civilized ourselves. We are obligated to be kind and courteous, if we are to be civilized, not to be so, is to be uncivilized. We loose sight of this at risk not only to our fortunes and pleasures but to our very souls.
Aristotle said that people are social animals. Civilization is not necessarially a fact of us being social however. Ants are social, in fact, it could be argued that they are more social than us, but an ant colony, no matter the order it displays, is not civilized. By this example we see that social organization is not a primary attribute of civilization. Nor is communal living necessarially an attribute of civilization… as every historical example of socialist and communist nations have descended into barbarity, bloodshed and depravity… they are the antithesis of civilization. Civilization requires human heartedness as a prerequisite, order and communal living are created by civilization, but civilization is not based on them, it creates them.
Kindness is simply an attitude of holding others charitably, overlooking their faults, doing acts that advance the well being of our fellows and making the lives of strangers more comfortable. This is an easy concept to understand, every one of us wants to be treated kindly, but it is far harder to practice in our daily lives. We all have days when we are grumpy, out of sorts and simply mad at the world. It is at these times that it is the most important that we act kindly to those we come across. We grow as a result both intellectually and spiritually. Moreover, the very act of being kind not only creates civilization in us, but it grows civilization in others.
There is an old axiom that courtesy is the lubricant of society. Courtesy is a twin to kindness in that it is treating others in a way that makes it emotionally safe to interact with friends and strangers. Courtesy is an indication that we recognize the humanity and worth of those we interact with. Since all of us must interact with our fellow man to get our needs met, courtesy facilitates the process. From such mundane acts, like shopping, to extreme times of sorrow, we need others to help us in our day to day lives. Civilization allows this to happen in a way that is efficient and comfortable. The efficiency of meeting our needs and the needs of others, that civilization fosters, is enhanced by courtesy.
It is not possible to pass our obligation for kindness to the State. The State is a product of the lack of civilization of those within it. If mankind lived in a spirit of absolute civilization the State would be superfluous. As such, the State is an entity that acts as a backstop for those that act uncivilized, IE, unkind and iniquitous. As we pass our duties to be kind to the State, we become less civilized, and the power of the State must grow to balance our selfishness and inequity. The result is less civilization, not more. The same can be said of courtesy, the less we display, the more the State must coerce social harmony.
If we want to live in a society that is civilized we must act both kindly to others and courteously. If we try to pass our obligation to be civilized to the State, the quality of civilization is diminished… necessarially. The State cannot hold people charitably, it cannot overlook the faults of people and it cannot treat others as it would be treated… because it is not a human being. The State is an entity that is based on power to punish and force action to create social concord where there is none. The State imposes order on society… civilization creates it. Strict order is not civilization nor is communal living, they are side effects of civilization, but are not a prerequisite of it. We are obligated to act in a way that forwards the goal of civilization not stunt it. Those that understand and learn this lesson will be more human hearted and those that scoff will be less so. The state of our civilization will be enhanced or harmed by your actions. In the end, the real question is, do you want to live in a civilized society… or an ordered one?
Sincerely,
John Pepin
Tags: aristotle, civil order, civil unrest, civilization, courtesy, economy, good, government, Human Heartedness, humanity, incentive, International Capitalist Party, Kindness, market system, meritocracy, order, rational maximiser, state power
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Thursday, March 7th, 2013
Dear Friends,
It seems to me, for a nation to call itself civilized, it must hold all people to be equal under the law… that no one be above the law and no one is below the law, is the first definition of equality. Nations, systems of laws and mores, that hold people unequally are unjust and injustice is the definition of tyranny. It is the duty of all free citizens of a nation, that call themselves free, to point out anytime people are above or below the law. Deviation from this philosophy negates any good that is claimed by the political leader who engages in it. That leader is an oppressor, no matter how much we may love them, or hate the people being unjustly treated.
To have a faction that is above the law is the most pernicious form of inequality. Those that are above the law are treated so because of political favor. This is always so. Those that have political favor are under the constant inducement to act outside the law… as it would be applied to everyone else. As a result, we can say that the source of inequality in nations, is the pernicious incentives that political favor sets up.
A more obvious form of injustice is when there is a faction that is below the law. This means, they don’t enjoy the protections of the law, due to their lack of political favor or negative political favor. This is often apparent or it can be subversive. People who are below the law, know in their hearts they are not protected by the very laws that will protect others, but lacking political favor they have no way to change the paradigm in government, because political change requires, as a prerequisite, political favor.
An example of those that are above the law in the US are our Elite. The Elite in government are only held to the law when their actions are so egregious, there is public outcry, and their political favor is diminished by it. Those that are below the law, are citizens who in some way anger the political establishment and as a result, have the legal protections we all assume, taken away from them. We know this is so because, in our own lives we are willing to turn a blind eye to the injustices of our friends, and we use rules and law against those we dislike. Quite often bigotry in society is the source of negative political favor.
Those that enjoy the fruits of political favor, being human, seek to enhance the effects of political favor… since they have it. Some ways to do this include, but are not limited to, grouping people and vilifying some groups while lionizing others, using the sophist rhetoric of “fairness,” to claim that some should be above the law, or holding others to be below the law, and lastly, the ever present drive from all governing Elite, to have political favor be the source of distributive justice. If you have political favor or are in a favored group, the incentives are to continue the injustice generated by it. Since we are human beings, and like animals, all seek our own good, this must be so.
Because government gets it’s power from those it governs, it can only legally and morally engage in those actions that we as people can engage in morally, and under natural law. Murder is immoral and so government cannot simply kill those that it finds obnoxious, stealing is immoral so we cannot empower government to steal from a politically disfavored group, using violence to force others to our will is another form of injustice we cannot pass to government, because we don’t have that power by morality or natural law. All these things are done however, in the name of the people, by those with political favor to enhance their favor and to enrich themselves, in the name of “fairness.”
This is the reason why the governing Elite are so enamored with socialism… it is distributive justice by political favor. Socialism is by definition redistribution by the State. The State is government and government is always and everywhere political. Therefore socialism is distributive justice by political favor. No matter the wrongs it claims to seek to rectify, it is a form of injustice in the name of justice. Injustice is a wrong. To do a wrong, is wrong, no matter who does it… even a politically favored person, no matter if we love them or not.
If we want to live in a society that is truly just, it is incumbent upon us to not only be just in our own actions, but to hold our political leaders to be just also. When we see them using rhetoric to enforce injustice on some segment of society, even if we personally dislike that faction ourselves, we must point out the injustice. If we see that the Elite are above the law, we must demand justice be applied, no matter how much we like that politician. Because my friends, to allow someone else to be treated unjustly, sets the precedent that injustice is allowable by government, and political favor, being a fickle thing, we may find ourselves in the politically unfavored group someday, and we have forfeited our right to legal protections… by our own actions, or lack thereof. By political favor and a sophist notion of “Fairness” we are the authors of our own oppression.
Sincerely,
John Pepin
Tags: anti capitalist, capitalism, capitalist, constitution, corruption, disfavored groups, Distributive Justice, distributive justice by political favor, economics, economy, elietist theory, elite, Equality, fairness, government, government spending, group, incentive, inequality, International Capitalist Party, jobs, justice, Law, loved politicians, market system, meritocracy, political favor, politics, progressive, rational maximiser, redistribution, regulation, socialism, socialist, society, sophist notion, Sophistry, stimulus, tax, tyranny
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Monday, March 4th, 2013
Dear Friends,
It seems to me, wisdom is the awareness of the truth around us, ignorance is a lack of such awareness. To listen to our leaders, political and otherwise, without a discerning ear, an ear to fundamental reality instead of crass political correctness, is a sign of wisdom. Those that believe the propaganda of the Elite become more ignorant every day. Most thoughtful people understand that ignorance is not a good position to be in, when making a decision, but many who are otherwise thoughtful embrace ignorance and propaganda when it is their guy. This lack of wisdom has a very corrosive effect on our society and government.
One method of discernment is to believe people’s actions and listen to their rhetoric with disbelief. Actions speak louder than words. When a person who is clearly engaging in some action, claims he is doing the opposite, the wise person discredits the words and takes the actions for the truth. The unwise person will ignore the actions and believe the rhetoric. We see this more and more form our political elite. They say one thing while doing the opposite, and if you or I point this out we are given derisive monikers like extremists, conspiracy theorists and hate mongers. This is an old tactic to quiet those who would point out the glittering lies, and by doing so, shine light on the ugly truth.
Some heinous examples that are happening now, are the Fast and Furious coverup, Benghazi gate, government debt and deficit spending. These are but a few, the Obama administration never tells the truth it always blankets itself in obfuscations and stonewalling. Fast and Furious should be on everyone’s lips, due to the present debate whether we should abandon the Second Amendment… or not. This scandal, that was covered up by both the administration and a complicit media, is not only a national shame but an act of war against a friendly nation.
In Fast and Furious the Obama administration claimed in their rhetoric, that they sought to stymy the flow of guns into Mexico, by sending guns into Mexico. The absurdity of it doesn’t stop there however. The Obama administration sent thousands of guns into Mexico and at the same time were pillorying US gun dealers along the boarder for it. Their actions indicate the real intention, was to vilify gun ownership in the US, and the violence the Obama administration promoted in Mexico, was the means. Their actions were of people who will encourage violence to their own political end, in this case undermining the Second Amendment, while their rhetoric was of people trying to stop that violence. Their actions were the opposite of their words. Thrasymachus would be proud.
Benghazi gate is in some ways even more egregious. The rhetoric of the Obama administration has been proven to be a pack of lies. The Obama administration even put a man into jail on some trumped up charge to give merit to their lie that the attack was the result of a movie that was offensive. They jailed an innocent man for political expediency, who by the way, is still imprisoned. The administration, as we now know from news reports, was asked numerous times for reinforcements at the compound, but were turned down repeatedly… The administration ignored the assassination attempt of the British ambassador, a few weeks before the devastating attack on the US embassy in Benghazi, this administration even provided weapons to the Libyan rebels reminiscent of Fast and Furious, and they even told responding military to stand down. Those who survived the attack are being hidden by the Obama administration, further veiling Obama’s actions… and true intentions. These actions in and of themselves point to ulterior motives, but when coupled with the propaganda and outright lies, the truth behind it becomes ever darker.
Obama’s rhetoric and actions don’t agree on the huge issue of government spending and debt either. They claim they seek a balanced budget, long term financial responsibility and fairness in the tax code, but their actions are one hundred and eighty degrees from their rhetoric. They raised the tax burden on every American who works by two percent while claiming they will only raise taxes on the “rich.” Do you believe Warren Buffett’s taxes went up? Do you think George Soros’ taxes went up? Of course they didn’t! Yours did! Obama bemoans an eighty five billion dollar cut in the rate of growth of government spending while we take a two percent cut in our real income. So much for fairness. The deficit has skyrocketed under Obama, almost two trillion dollars a year and growing, in part due to the lack of a budget in four years. Obama proposes more and more spending while seeking to raise taxes at every turn. More revenue is the one note song coming from this White House. I wonder what will be a sufficient level of taxation for this president? His actions indicate one hundred percent.
A wise man or woman looks at reality instead of rhetoric. The media’s complete lack of curiosity about this president’s actions, and total slavering at his words, shows their absolute lack of wisdom. Those who’s eyes are open, and observe that the Elite in our society say one thing and do another, display wisdom and know the truth. Those that slop up the lies and propaganda are doomed to disappointment, slavery and poverty. The real question in my mind is, “Will wisdom ever become widespread in the World again or are we all doomed by the ignorance of the sheep?”
Sincerely,
John Pepin
Tags: benghazi gate, benghazi scandal, constitution, corruption, economics, economy, education, elite, fast and furious scandal, government, government debt, government deficit, government spending, International Capitalist Party, jobs, Law, lies about benghazi, lies about fst and furious, market system, media, meritocracy, Obama, obama's spending, politics, rational maximiser, regulation, second amendment, spending cuts, stimulus, tax, Thrasymachus, wisdom
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Thursday, February 21st, 2013
Dear Friends,
It seems to me, the boom bust cycles of all market economies, are like the sleep wake cycle of human beings, and all higher life forms. We must have times of rest, else we become less efficient, and an economy needs a rest period after a time of rapid expansion. Most people would agree that human beings need sleep but those same people are unaware that economies, being complex systems like us, need rest cycles as well. To ignore this fact, insures that our economy will under perform eternally, to our personal economic misfortune.
People can be forced to stay awake for days at a time. There are many ways to do this, drugs, cold water and electric shocks are but a few. As we are kept awake for longer and longer periods of time our performance diminishes. This is a scientifically proven fact. Methamphetamine is very good at keeping people awake, and it even boosts performance for a while, but the lack of a rest period eventually catches up, and we experience a crash. Human physiology is unbending in this… ask any doctor.
Many means have been devised to do away with the boom bust cycle of market economies. The federal Reserve was implemented under Woodrow Wilson to end recessions for all time. It has not only failed… it has failed miserably! The recessions under the federal reserve mechanism have been harsher and longer then they were before the federal reserve system was set up. But, as with all government programs, the more they fail the more permanent they become. Failure ensures longevity for bureaucracy.
Another means to stop recessions was proposed by Karl Marx. He claimed that socialism would end the boom bust cycle of the capitalist mode of production. This has had some success. Socialism has stopped the boom bust cycles in all countries that have fully implemented it. The drawback to this scheme, is that it eliminates the boom… and permanently enshrines the bust. Perpetual bust is not very effective at raising the standard of living of the average man and woman. It is far more effective at lowering the lot of the people and elevating the lot of those in power.
Once a market economy has seen a period of rapid growth, the new means of production, organization and products that come about in a period of expansion, need to be matured. These new ways of doing business drive the old ways into bankruptcy. Recession is a chance for the old ways to be destroyed and the new means entrenched. Schumpeter coined the term, “Creative Destruction” to describe this paradigm. In this concept, new more efficient ways of doing business have to be paid for, and the old ways have to be dismantled, for the next cycle to begin.
If there is not a time of rest for an economy, the old less efficient ways cannot be plowed under, in favor of newer more efficient means. In fact, the implementation of newer more efficient ways are hampered by those very programs, that seek to eliminate recession. It is usually during recession that new ideas are invented. New ideas that generate the next economic expansion.
History shows that whenever government is the most involved in the market outcomes are the most impaired. We can experimentally examine many people to prove that the sleep cycle must not be disturbed. Over time, examining many people, this has been empirically proven. However, there is only one economy in a country, and the fortunes of those people, who live in that country are tied to it, so experiments are less likely to yield clear results. Couple this with the pernicious interference of politics, politicians, bias and egoistic self interest by the elite… and unbiased empirical results are almost impossible to reach.
Our fortunes and the fortunes of our posterity are put at risk by the modern alchemy of eliminating economic cycles. No doctor would argue that the sleep cycle can be overcome, but economists, who are the doctors of economies, argue with a straight face that economies need not rest. The ways that have been tried to eliminate the need for economies to rest, like national banks and socialism, have yielded poor results, and in some cases, have led to human suffering on a scale that boggles the mind. Through creative destruction, economies grow, efficiency expands and the lives of people are improved. All the increases in efficiency, that have resulted from the evolution of economic systems, have resulted in magnificent improvements in the lot of Mankind. Since economies cannot be empirically tested, because of personal bias and political interference, it is nearly impossible to quantify the need for a recession after a period of growth. Understanding this leads us to the conclusion, to stop economic cycles of boom and bust, is as foolish as keeping a worker awake for months with drugs… and expecting his work not to be impaired. Foolishness is foolishness no matter who does it.
Sincerely,
John Pepin
Tags: anti capitalist, boom bust, capitalism, capitalist, circadian rhythms, communist, constitution, creative destruction, economic circadian rhythms, economic cycles, economics, economy, education, elite, government, government spending, health care, International Capitalist Party, jobs, market system, media, meritocracy, politicians, politics, poverty, rational maximiser, recession, redistribution, regulation, schumpeter, socialist, stimulus, tax
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Monday, February 18th, 2013
Dear Friends,
It seems to me, Obama’s new found ability to order American citizens killed without charge or trial, is not only a slippery slope, it is the beginning of the end for our republic. It is hard to fathom that anyone who has knowledge of the US Constitution wouldn’t be screaming to the highest heavens about this usurpation of our Constitutional rights. Obama drapes himself with the flag, the Constitution and uses jingoistic rhetoric, to destroy these very things! It is amazing how few people are upset by this, and possibly the reason we are rapidly loosing our liberty, to this progressively communistic administration. If you don’t care that your children will be slaves to the state, you should stop reading at this point, because I am sure dancing with the stars or Gilligan’s Island is on TV.
The US Constitution is adamant, that no single person has the power to order an American citizen killed, regardless of his or her actions. The most heinous criminal is given a trial. Even predators of children are given this most basic of Constitutional protections. The right to a jury trial is one of the basic building blocks of our republic. The removal of which threatens to destabilize the very structure of our government. No edifice can stand the removal of critical support members and our government is no different.
Usurpation always start at the extremes. Caesar didn’t announce himself dictator of Rome overnight. He built support among the masses by handing out money and food. Later Roman Emperors called the practice Bread and Games. The Roman republic rotted from the inside by the continued usurpation of the Elite. It eventually became so hollowed out by the corroding of it’s founding principles, the republic that had lasted almost a thousand years, collapsed into the dark ages. The whole of humanity suffered as a result. The hollowing out of the American founding principles will result in no less catastrophe for the peoples of the World tomorrow.
Every time a founding principle is undermined for expediency it becomes a slippery slope. Abortion couldn’t be passed by the legislative branch so the Judicial branch overstepped it’s legal bounds and unilaterally ordered it. (A usurpation in it’s own right). Abortion was originally only to be done in the first trimester of pregnancy, but over time, it has perniciously grown, so that today it can be legally done the day before birth! Not only that, but the US CDC has issued a paper calling for “afterbirth abortions,” up to a year old! The slide continues. Seat belt laws were originally sold as a secondary offense only but in almost every state they have become primary offenses. The political Elite always struggle against the bonds put on them by the Constitution, and we see all to well that the Elite have succeeded in creating a government, where we have the appearance of Constitutional limits but in reality, they are no more restraining then toilet paper. These are but a very few examples of the slippery slope in politics.
Would it have been so hard to try Anwar al-Awlaki in absentia? Is there a jury in America, given his anti American rhetoric and traitorous actions, that wouldn’t have convicted him? Why then was a trial so onerous to Obama? He wanted to try The mastermind of 911 in New York? He wanted to release all the inmates in Gitmo… because Obama was offended that they had not received a trial. But Obama denies American citizens trial? Maybe he didn’t want the precedent set that a traitor should be executed? If a person displayed this level of inconsistency in anything else they would be called hypocrites at best and insane at worse.
News reports say Obama has a whole kill list! Why not try them all in absentia? Is it because they couldn’t be found guilty? If this is so then how can Obama justify his kill list? If, as is more likely the case, they would be easily found guilty, then why not try them? The legal system and Constitution provides us the means why don’t we use it? Is it because the administration wants the precedent set that it can unilaterally execute anyone they find inconvenient? What is the likely outcome of this precedent? Initially, those murdered by Our government in Our name, will be Islamic terrorists, but eventually the crime that begets presidential sanction, will slide down the scale of heinousness to mere political crimes. That, it would seem, is the goal. To allow the President to execute citizens who are politically opposed to this President and his successors. The history of communism shows this is the way Communists, like Obama, rule. Note, this is that very same path that brought Rome to it’s ruin. We travel down the same road to the same destination, extinction of our founding values and the total collapse of our republic into what, a new dark age? Who would want that other than a psychopath?
Sincerely,
John Pepin
Tags: anwar al-awlaki, constitutional limits, drone attacks, governemt power, government, incentive, International Capitalist Party, kill list, Law, media, Obama, obama's kill ilst, politicians, politics, rational maximiser, tyranny, usurpation
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Thursday, February 14th, 2013
Dear Friends,
It seems to me, the term “economy” is too nebulous to really define anything effectively. It has so many parts that understanding it in any meaningful way eludes even the most astute thinker. If we break the term “economy,” into it’s macro constituent parts however, it makes the whole thing more manageable. The “economy” can be broken down into three macro segments. The Market economy, the Political Favor economy and the Underground economy. These macro terms can be further broken down into the micro with, the green economy, the oil market, and so on. The macro terms are easy and important to understand, to really comprehend what is being debated, when politicians make claims about the “economy.” Our very economies depend on it!
Most countries have all three “economies,” the market, political favor and the underground. The most wealthy have the market economy as the primary. Communist and some hard core socialist “economies” specifically outlaw the market portion of the total economy. They seek to have the political favor economy be the only one available, but an underground economy is brought into being anytime the Elite ban anything, that has an allure to the people. So even in the most hard core communist country, say North Korea with their three generation labor camps, (a crime against humanity if you ask me), There must exist at least two, the political favor and the underground economies.
The political favor economy is never called by name, so it may sound a bit tinny, but if you think about the concept… it is most apt. The political favor economy encompasses all government spending, and all capital expenditure, that is forced by regulation. The political favor economy produces nothing; it can only take what someone else has produced. If the producer is fortunate to have some measure of favor, he or she will be paid, (perhaps handsomely), lacking political favor, they might not be. The political favor economy is primarily directed at protecting the power, wealth and status of the political Elite.
The underground economy is well known and has been written about endlessly, sometimes glamorously, occasionally pilloried, but the underground economy is as organic as any, and as invasive as kudzu vine. It is born of regulation and negative examples. The more hypocritical the Elite as a group are, the more the underground economy will flourish. At the expense of generations of human beings, the underground economies of every nation, are nurtured by their Elite. As a result, as money is moved from the market economy to the political favor economy, some is drawn from the market into the underground economy as well, sometimes doubling the negative effect on the market.
The market economy has only been known since the seventeen hundreds, when Adam Smith wrote the Wealth of Nations, outlining the basic ideas of what a market economy is. The market economy is a dynamic, complex system, that efficiently gathers data about the wants and needs of the human race, with passive, adaptive built in mechanisms. The market then meets those needs, at the least cost to the environment, the people and in resources. The market economy is the source of all the luxury we surround ourselves with today. The vast improvements in efficiency, that have allowed so many people to remain idle, is in itself astounding, if it is given a moment’s thought.
All three of the macro economies I have mentioned meet someone’s self interest. The underground economy, meets the self interests of the drug lords, the crime bosses and the gangs, while the political favor economy, meets the self interests of those who have political favor, and lastly, the market economy, meets the needs of every segment of society, from the richest down to the very poorest, when it is actually employed. The biggest lie a politician can tell the poor, when there is almost no functioning market economy in that country, (the “economy” is dominated by the political favor economy) is, “It is capitalism that impoverished you.”
Politicians use the term “economy” as a way to blur what is really being talked about. When they call for “fairness,” they always seek to move more capital, the fuel for all the economies, from the market to the political favor economy. Since the underground economy is by it’s very definition, underground, it cannot be taxed as a source of revenue or regulated by, the political elite, and so has a inverse reaction to the effects of taxing and regulation. When regulation goes up, so does the underground economy’s fortunes, as the market economy’s fortunes are winnowed down. The political favor economy is called many things by the political elite. Both democrats and republicans prefer the political favor economy, to any other, so they seek to move as much of the workings of mankind into it as possible. So… when a politician speaks about the “economy,” keep the context in mind… which economy he or she is really talking about? If it is the political favor economy… he or she is trying to move capital from the market economy, (your pocket, regardless of their rhetoric), to the political favor economy.
Sincerely,
John Pepin
Tags: anti capitalist, black market, capitalism, capitalist, communist, democrat, economics, economy, government, government spending, health care, International Capitalist Party, jobs, market, market system, media, meritocracy, national wealth, Obama, political favor, political favor economy, politicians, politics, poverty, progressive, rational maximiser, redistribution, regulation, republican, rich nation, self interest, society, underground economy, underground market
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Monday, January 28th, 2013
Dear Friends,
It seems to me, the primary difference between what in America are called liberals and conservatives, boils down to the question, can government solve our problems. As a society we have many difficulties, some have been with us since the dawn of time and others are more recent, but people, society and civilization have problems. So, can government solve these problems for us, or should we do it ourselves? How you answer this question largely determines who you generally vote for. (Or should vote for). We all have a stake in this question, whether we want to or not, so it is best if we examine it to see if our preconceptions maybe clouding our judgment.
No one is unable to point out inequities in our society and civilization. Our pundits are paid handsomely to do this endlessly. We are regaled daily how this or that aspect of civil life is threatened by this or that action. The problems get bigger and more intractable and we shrink at the very thought of addressing them. The unbiased media play one string, that string is that if only a new law were passed… proving to us how they answer the question.
Everyone wants to point out a trouble but very few ever have any ideas how to solve them so most of us, or maybe not, turn to government. If a thing seems to us to be too big for us to handle, as individuals, we feel overwhelmed. This feeling of being overwhelmed induces in us another feeling, that of powerlessness. Anyone who feels powerless to meet a societal issue turns to whomever seems to have the power they themselves lack. Government has that power, it is titanic, rich… and is always willing.
People who feel government is the best able to solve the issues facing Mankind, are more likely to vote democrat/progressive, while those who believe government is as often as not the font of these problems, is more likely to vote republican/conservative. The political divide in the US is far more nuanced than this crude representation, but to reduce the granularity would be far too time consuming, and wouldn’t further our understanding. There is some merit to both arguments, the one is more pleasing to the emotions, and the other, to reason.
The argument that government can solve our problems is based in emotion rather than logic. As I indicated before, the main reason we turn to government, is due to our emotion of being overwhelmed and thus powerless. Government, being huge, powerful and wealthy, is seen as having the most ability to enact some solution that eases our feeling of powerlessness. Even if they don’t fix anything or even make it worse… responsibility will be lifted from our shoulders. In our emotionally induced blindness, we fail to see that the very power that government wields, is a derivative of our own massed power, but the feeling of powerlessness and the desire to be unburdened, makes that option the most glittering.
Those that consider government a poor choice to repair all the problems in society and culture, base their arguments more in reason, than in emotion. Clearly some of the problems we face as human beings is and was generated by government. To deny this would be to deny the Sun comes up in the East and sets in the West. Logic further dictates that government is made up of people, with flaws and foibles, just as any group of human beings, this gives us the insight that they may or may not be the best people to solve a variety of issues, in fact they may be the exact wrong people to be given such power. Especially if the trouble they are given to fix is based outside their sphere of reality. These considerations, along with the inescapable unintended consequences that go along with every government action, give us a strong argument that society is in fact not best served, when government is the solution to every question.
Emotion is as valid a reason to make a decision as logic. When faced with a hungry lion we use emotion to great effect. But, emotion is in the sphere of animals and reason is the attribute of Mankind. Government is a fabrication of mankind. When faced with a danger that is based in nature, we are well served to use emotion to get us out, but when faced with a non natural danger, we are best served to reason it out. The focus of a natural danger being time dependent, and one of our own construction being situationally dependent, we are smart to keep them each in their respective universes. So, to use emotion where logic is due, is as foolish as to use logic where emotion is called for. In all things… including government.
Sincerely,
John Pepin
Tags: corruption, economy, emotion based, emotion based answer, fabricated by man, government, government is a fabrication, government solution, government solve problems, government spending, incentive, International Capitalist Party, jobs, Law, logic based, media, meritocracy, politicians, politics, poverty, rational maximiser, reason based, recession, redistribution, regulation, societal ills, society, unemployment
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Thursday, January 24th, 2013
Dear Friends,
It seems to me, the too big to fail dilemma gets worse, every time our legislators have a go at it. The Elite’s regulations always result in pernicious incentives that, instead of preventing banks from becoming too big to fail, actually create the conditions where banks must become too big to fail, else they cannot compete. The new regulation bears such an associated cost that it makes small banks uncompetitive, not due to market forces, but to regulatory causes. Of course, the Elite only take, they never give, their solutions are always more regulation, as we have opined in the past, so their solution must add to the problem, no matter how well crafted their regulation is. This increases the chance for great disturbance to our financial system. The same system your 401K is invested in, as well as your checking account, your savings account and any other account you have of M2 or M3 money. This makes the too big to fail problem your problem too.
Too big to fail is a result of old bank regulations, passed in an earnest effort to solve issues that became apparent after the 1929 banking crisis. As with all regulation, it created more problems than it solved, requiring more regulation. Banks actually create money, just like they had a printing press in their basements, but to create money, they need to have deposits and make loans. Obviously, creating money is a strong incentive to bankers to get deposits like, checking accounts, savings accounts, money markets etc… All a bank’s insured deposits are guaranteed by the Federal government through the Federal bank, (The Fed).
Banks are required, by regulation, to have a certain amount of the money deposited in their bank available as M1 money. The theory is, in normal times, a bank will never see 10% of it’s deposits withdrawn in a day. The problem is… our economy is a complex system. In complex systems, rare events graph in long tails instead of bell curves. Very unlikely occurrences are not only possible in complex systems but are certain. Because of this, there are times when more money is demanded than the bank can produce, if that happens the bank is in bankruptcy and must close it’s doors. It becomes the property of the Fed, it’s assets sold, and it’s debts paid. The Fed then insures every depositor’s first 200K of money if the assets don’t meet the debts.
When a bank becomes too big to fail it means that if it were to fail and go bankrupt the entire economic system would be put in jeopardy. The daily debts and outlays of a tottering, too big to fail, institution would be disrupted if it were to fail. Checks would bounce even though sufficient funds were available, paychecks couldn’t be cashed, large money changers could be shut down for a period of time like PayPal, inter bank payments would be disrupted, and the Fed would be handed a steaming pile to deal with. This could lead to a cascade of possible bank failures as the debts one bank owed another were disrupted by failures causing more failures. Banks that survived the first round would stop lending and hoard assets to stay alive. The entire monetary system could collapse if this were to happen… and it almost did! The 2008 banking disaster could very well have led to the very cascade of bank failures I have explained.
Therefore, a bank that is too big to fail will be bailed out, no matter how far off the rails it goes. This gives their debt issuance the implicit backing from the US Government, further exacerbating the problem. Because a smaller bank doesn’t have the implicit backing of the government and so must pay a higher rate on it’s debt! Plus a higher regulatory cost to nominal deposits makes it a virtual commandment for all banks to get… too big to fail! If you think about it for even a moment, even a fool would realize, we need to get a handle on the too big to fail dilemma.
The answer is as simple as it is hard for the Elite to swallow. Remove as much banking regulation as possible. Leave only standardizations eliminating regulations. This would level the playing field for the smaller banks and credit unions. Then, determine an upper level of bank holdings, that would make a bank become a systemic risk. Reduce that by 10% and set this as the upper limit for protected managers. Banks would be allowed to grow beyond this limit, but if they failed for any reason, the board of directors, the president, the CEO, the CFO and all the vice presidents would go to jail, even past bank officers up to the time the bank passed the limit. They would serve not less than 4 years and no more than 10 years. Make the law as simple as possible with no wiggle room for an especially weaselly CEO to worm through. Make them personally liable for the bank’s solvency if it grows past this point… and it won’t.
The self interest of every member of a bank’s board of directors will make absolutely sure, every bank in which he or she is a member of the board, will remain well under the limit. No bank president will allow his or her bank to grow beyond the limit, and top quality candidates for vice presidents, will be non existent. This would solve the too big to fail problem simply and efficiently. Our economy would be allowed to grow at an expanded rate due to less regulation, money would be more available to small businesses and entrepreneurs because small banks usually lend to these important economic actors, and a major systemic problem will have been addressed, once and for all.
Sincerely,
John Pepin
Tags: banking regulation, complex system, complexity theory, economic system, economics, economy, government, government spending, incentive, International Capitalist Party, market system, pernicious incentive, pernicious incentives, politics, rational maximiser, recession, regulation, solution to too big to fail, Standardization, too big to fail, too big to fail problem, too big to fail solution
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Monday, January 21st, 2013
Dear Friends,
It seems to me, a fundamental problem with most regulation, is that they require as a precondition, people are stupid. This premise of regulation doesn’t comport with reality. People are smart, self interested, and for the most part rational maximizers. The ability to reason, makes our desires like water, they will seek any opening to flow downhill. Regulation that seeks to stymie some want or need of people, whether to be free, to be able to engage in the business that best suits them, to be famous, to be wealthy, to take drugs or whatever their heart desires… usually drives that activity underground. Those with sufficient desire and enough craftiness will find some loophole in the regulation that they can slip through. If not then violence is the next choice. In the face of more regulation, the desires that self interested individuals will seek, will not be stopped, they will only become more pernicious, more damaging to society and more inhuman, warping our society by the tensions built up from the disparities regulation creates.
Regulation always has, as it’s justification, the intent to stop the meeting of one’s interests by damaging the interests of another. In this, regulation has a noble intent, but as we all know, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Regulation is usually not put in place to protect citizens, regulations are, more often than not, enacted to allow an oligopoly to form. Governments believe oligopolies are in their economic self interests, and so, are always trying to help them form. Proposed regulation, that is actually to protect some economic interest, cannot be sold to the public as such. That would be a certain kiss of death. It has to be sold to the citizenry, how it is to protect them from “unlicensed” practitioners, or “unscrupulous” businessmen. Reality being that the very people protected by the regulation are often the unscrupulous ones, the ones barred, the entrepreneurs.
Think about a group of people walking through the woods. A large tree has fallen across the path. They will quickly find the easiest way around the obstacle. Once the most effective path is found the majority of the group will take this path. The path will be enlarged, and made easier to go around the tree, for the next group that stumbles across it. Regulations for economic interests, are like cutting brush and filling in the path you have made around the obstacle, enhancing the barrier of the fallen tree to those who will come later. People however, have the inherent ability to size up an obstacle, and find a way around it, even enhanced ones. Regulation is no different than any other obstacle, if someone wants to get by it, they will. Therefore, regulation is only a true obstacle for people inclined to follow it anyway, or those dumb enough not to be able to find a way around it. Those that have the desire, intellect and daring, will find a way.
There are many kinds of regulations that this philosophy applies to. Sin tax regulation for example, The higher the government taxes cigarettes the more the black market for cigarettes grows. No one is foolish enough to believe that the black market is a benevolent phenomenon. Therefore the government, through regulation, provides the incentive and ensures the profitability, of bad actors. Obama’s fiat regulation, that mental health care givers, report on patients that have guns is another example. This sets up an entire universe of negative incentives and feedbacks magnifying those incentives.
Remember our premise is that “people are not stupid.” The information that Obama has ordered this new law by arbitrary rule, and so it is now the law of the land, will not be lost on those people who self identify as needing mental health help. Being self interested they will forgo treatment, even where they themselves understand it is necessary, because they understand that the person who administers to them, will be nothing more then a government snitch. If this is the case with those who self identify, then how much more, for those who do not?
I am sure all of you know of many other examples to go along with these. It is a fact that human beings are sly. This makes it true, that regulation is merely an obstacle, and we are smart enough to get around obstacles, cannot be overstated in the case of regulation. As additional poorly considered regulations, build more tension and further warps our society, the functions of civil life, our standard of living, our emotional well being, our safety and the safety of our children… will be put more at risk. The answer, is to remove the distortions in our civilization, with more liberty, more standards and less regulation.
Sincerely,
John Pepin
Tags: cigarette tax, crime, economic interests, economic outcome, economics, economy, elite, entreprenuors, government, gun regulation, incentive, International Capitalist Party, Law, Lawyers, market system, media, meritocracy, obstacle, oligopoly, politics, rational maximiser, regulation, societal distortions, standards, tensions that warp society
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Sunday, January 13th, 2013
Dear Friends,
It seems to me, a lawmaker who doesn’t subject himself to his own law, is like a cook who won’t eat his own cooking. In the case of a cook this can lead to gastrointestinal distress, but in the case of a lawmaker, it leads to economic depression, rising crime rates, societal breakdown and eventually tyranny. The negative consequences of a lawmaker who refuses to follow his or her own law is very much more dangerous than a careless cook.
Not only today but throughout human history we see that lawmakers are loathe to follow their own laws. Thrasymachus said it best, the great men among us only seek to appear just while being unjust. He thought that in order for society to work, the people must be just in action, but the powerful among us need not be. Harry Truman had a saying for this type of politician, “Anyone who gets rich in politics is a God damned crook.”
No greater incentive can be foisted on society to break the law than when we look up at our leaders and they don’t follow the law themselves. They break their own rules and get rich doing it. Until recently, a legislator in the US could engage in insider trading, without breaking the law. You or I would be prosecuted to the full extent of the law for that. Yet those that made that law refused to be subject to it, because to be just and follow their own law, would hamper their ability to get rich in politics.
Confucius said that people follow their leaders. If those leaders are corrupt then we will follow them into corruption and when they are virtuous we will follow them to virtue. This seems like a self evident fact but is lost on most of humanity. We look to the Elite for guidance in what is a good life. Then we emulate them in their choices. We go where they lead us.
A few examples of the Elite leading us astray are, a vice President caught blatantly violating campaign finance laws saying, “There is no overriding legal authority,” the Treasury secretary caught cheating on his taxes, rampant vote fraud, constant coverups, those lawmakers who are a broken radio calling for higher taxes chiseling on theirs, a Legislator for hire caught with cold cash in his freezer, the President sending guns to Mexican drug lords and vilifying honest legal gun owners for it, coupled with untold sex scandals.
This is why we see so much disease in our societies. Divorce is rampant, abortion is so common… Planned Parenthood, (An ironic name if ever there was one), murders a baby every ninety seconds, school shootings fill the news, drug use is rampant and there is not a community that hasn’t seen an epidemic rise in embezzlement. These things are all results of us following our leaders. We have become miscreants just like the people who make our laws.
That is why the Elite need to monitor us with such intrusive measures. Our streets are filled with video cameras, our emails and tweets are stored on a government computer, (how long until they are opening our mail), the unbiased media is filled with calls to outlaw the Second Amendment to the US Constitution, in fact, the Constitution itself has become despised by those very people who are supposed to be bound by it! This must be done because we have emulated the Elite too well.
Our liberties are threatened at every turn while the Elite accept less and less controls on their actions. It is getting so out of control that people, on both the right and the left, are talking about armed insurrection! This is pure childishness! The answer is not violence, it is to monitor the Elite, and force them to follow the Constitution as well as their own laws. Until we do that our society and civilization will continue sliding into the abyss of oppression. We have followed those reprobates and have become reprobates ourselves. God help us if we slide much further. This is no mere bellyache… It is an assault on us, our society and our rights. Isn’t it about time for a NUMA?
Sincerely,
John Pepin
Tags: corruption, economy, elite, fourth branch, government, government spending, incentive, International Capitalist Party, jobs, media, meritocracy, numa, Obama, politicians, politics, poverty, progressive, rational maximiser, regulation, society, tyranny
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