Crime, Incentives and the Elite

Posted on January 13, 2013 by john

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

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Obama’s Depression

Posted on January 7, 2013 by john

Dear Friends,

It seems to me, a magician directs the audience’s gaze away from the real action, as does a scam artist, to allow something to happen they want to keep hidden. The story the unbiased media and the political class have been telling us, about the poor performance of our economy, is an example of this. It is a red herring. The reality is, that while the fiscal cliff negotiations have some bearing on economic consideration that businesses must make, there are far more important government policies that have a much larger and more direct impact. The tax question is now settled and the new spending ceiling is now being debated. They both are important for the economy to function properly, but their effect is muted, compared to the impacts of Obama care. These are important considerations. Since everyone has a stake in the economy, even those who don’t work or own businesses, are poorly served when the debate about the state of our economy is filled with political rhetoric, misinformation and outright lies.

We see the reality of this in the December 2012 job numbers. More to the point, buried in the job numbers, the BLS put out. In it we see that there was essentially no small business hiring. They have been on a hiring freeze since the 2008 recession and following economic depression. Obama’s depression. Small businesses play a fundamental role in the job economy and especially economic recoveries.

Small businesses generally provide the bulk of new jobs. This is an economic truism. Small businesses not only provide the lion’s share of job creation; those jobs are often introductory. They are filled by people with less job experience, training and education. These jobs, that small businesses create, are the entry level positions that allow teenagers and under served minorities an opportunity to start engaging in the workforce. Larger firms pay better and as a result require more skilled workers. Workers that small businesses have trained to engage in the working economy. This was shown in the job numbers by the extremely high unemployment rate among minorities and young people.

Small businesses are the drivers of economic recoveries. Creative destruction is the term coined by Joseph Schumpeter. It is a theory to explain the growth cycle of economies that use the Capitalist mode of production. In it, a new process, way of organizing, or innovation, increase the efficiency of the economy. These new ways make the older ways less competitive and the outmoded go into bankruptcy. The new means open up better paid jobs that are less strenuous, because they are more efficient in some way. The creation is the new way of doing business and the destruction is the bankruptcy of the old firms using the old ways. Entrepreneurs are the creators of innovation, and so, are the drivers of economic growth. Therefore they are the source of recoveries. Large firms are like an old growth forest, they are mature and so don’t expand, therefore hiring is primarily a means to replace retiring employees. Small businesses are all about expansion; unless government policies get in the way.

Obama care has led to Obama’s depression by creating a universe of negative incentives to small businesses. Many of the provisions don’t kick in unless a firm reaches 50 employees, therefore, small firms have a strong regulatory incentive, to stay under 50 employees. If they are rapping against that ceiling, they do everything they can to stay under it, and if they are just above, they will lay off just enough employees to get back under it. Obama care also creates unknowables in the cost structure of a small business. Uncertainty is a killer of jobs because firms cannot, with any certainty, know what profit they will make from a new hire, or even if the regulations will cause them to loose money, if they employ that new worker. This is magnified, by the annual tranches of Obama care regulation, that will be implemented until it is fully functional in 2016, further increasing uncertainty. Under these conditions, no smart small businessperson would hire new employees, or expand… and they aren’t.

Large firms have the ability to absorb more regulatory costs than a small firm. Large firms have the financial wherewithal to hire lawyers, to get them through a regulatory maze, but small businesses, with their smaller profit margins and dramatically smaller staffs, must use scarce revenues and time to muddle through regulation. Often with disastrous results. Large businesses usually have the ear of several politicians, who will pave the way for them, but small businessmen have no such political favor. This results in larger firms being less impacted by regulation than small firms. This is exemplified in the carve outs that many large firms got under Obama care… like McDonalds. Since McDonalds got an exemption, how can a start up expand and compete, with the large corporation that has a lower cost per employee, due to political favor?

The upshot of all this is, entrepreneurs, the drivers of economic recovery, are being squeezed out of the economy. Every business must get more efficient, to control costs, in the face of the Leviathan of regulation that is steaming down on them, but those very regulations undermine the process. The creation part of creative destruction is hampered, and the destruction is accelerated, by the new costs of Obama care regulation. Regulation that lowers small businesses profits and raises their costs. Because of this, every business person is hunkered down, trying mightily to simply keep his or her business afloat. Smaller businesses more than larger ones. The fiscal cliff negotiations have far less impact on small business, than the tsunamis of Obama care regulation, that will wash the shores of every firm in the economy, for several years to come. The fact that the unbiased media are all abuzz with, the debt ceiling, a balanced approach to the deficit (that is all tax increase and no spending cuts), and political finger pointing, is a sure sign that they are diversions, to keep us focused on the lure, and not the real source of our economic troubles; the democrat’s and Obama’s penchant for regulating, taxing and deficit spending… which is the source of that fishy smell.

Sincerely,

John Pepin

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Iranian Nuclear Program and Our Demise

Posted on January 3, 2013 by john

Dear Friends,

It seems to me, a winning tactic in chess is to look ahead a few moves. When players are in the middle game, focusing on the next few moves will assure good results, for the player that does, especially when the opponent focuses on past moves. This holds for any struggle, even between men’s ideologies… and never more so than in war. It is a sign of a foreword looking general, to keep his opponent focused on the past, to win in the future. Today, we are engaged in an existential struggle, between barbarians and civilization, (the normal state of affairs in human history at this point in civilization‘s rise and fall curve). The barbarians are looking to the future, while the Elite in the media and politics, keep us focused on the past. In this mortal clash between cultures we are presently engaged in, whether we want to be or not, it is in our interests that our Elite play to win. Else the barbarians win.

Iran is rapidly reaching the capability to build nuclear weapons. That is just the simple facts. There is no political will to stop them. They know it, we know it, Israel knows it. The fact is not much of a secret. The Elite vomit platitudes that they will not allow it while undermining an organic democratic uprising in Iran. The Elite in Iran are running centrifuges twenty four seven enriching uranium. There are reports in the Israeli press that the Iranians have sufficient enriched uranium for two to three Nagasaki strength bombs. Now there has been a radioactive leak from one of their enrichment facilities. Poisoning not only their own children but ours as well.

Our Elite keep us focused on sanctions and the myth that sanctions will in any way slow the suicidal apocalyptic theocracy that rules Iran. They are not subject to the same morality the Russians were. They joyfully strap bombs to their own children’s backs and send them into buses loaded with civilians. Someone that has such a twisted sense of right and wrong cannot be reasoned with logically or morally. They know only power and weakness. Sanctions work on logical and moral levels, to a barbarian they only show weakness.

What we need to really be looking at is how we will respond when Iran uses their nukes on Israel, Europe, Saudi Arabia and or the US. As I have pointed out, there is no will to stop Iran, therefore it is only logical to look to the next play. When they attack the US mainland what will be the response of our Elite? They will be safely ensconced in protective bunkers when the bombs turn our children into smudges in the pavement. What can we expect them to do, to exact some kind of revenge or suppression of Iran, once millions of us and our children are dead?

I bet the Elite will whine how bad we were to so offend the Iranians they had to kill us. To appease the Iranians they will immediately send economic, famine, and military aid to Iran. Perhaps they will round up some prominent Christian evangelists and send them in chains to Iran as tribute. The hostages will be carrying clay pots. One filled with earth, the other filled with water, and the last filled with blood. The pots will show the suicidal apocalyptic theocracy we accept our Dhimmi status. Europe will follow and the Iranians can turn their attention to Russia and China. Or do you expect any other response from this bunch? The people who knowingly let it happen.

The Iranians are thinking beyond this move even farther. While our Elite focus on strip searching old women, to prove they are not racists, Iran is enriching uranium at an ever increasing pace. If only they could show how weak we are, they believe, the Evil actors in the World will leave us alone. But, I ask you, are they really that stupid? Have they become the Elite because they are ignorant and foolish? The Elite are as selfish as can be, and they always look after themselves, no matter the cost to others. So we can expect they are looking to protect themselves and their families. Ours are expendable.

Of course Saudi Arabia will not lay back and be nuked. The moment Iran tests a nuke Saudi Arabia will begin a nuclear program of it’s own. The race will be on. Fueled by fear and ambition the World will race to a fiery finish. This age will end and the next one might start. That is not what I call a good outcome of the “game.” Unfortunately the Elite have rigged the game. They have set it up so we can only elect a patrician. Not only just a patrician but a patrician from a certain faction. They put one in a red jersey and the other in a blue jersey, and we can root for the jersey, the men wearing them are the same. The modern Chamberlain will both stand by while Iran prepares then uses their arsenal. Those that would stop the madness are vilified by the Elite as crazy war mongers. As they did Ronald Reagan.

Remember when Obama said, “America is the greatest Nation Earth, Let’s change it!” It was a rare moment of honesty from this President. By focusing us on the past and the latest fad he is a long way to accomplishing that goal. Those that are smart look at future moves not past moves. The Elite want us to focus on past moves so to keep us separated and befuddled. Lets start looking to future moves else our children will pay a heavy price.

Sincerely,

John Pepin

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On Freedom of Religion vs. Separation of Church and State.

Posted on December 31, 2012 by john

Dear Friends,

It seems to me, the fully sophist term, “separation of church and State,” is diametrically opposed to the concept of freedom of religion. The first, separation, demands the State focus on eradicating religion from the public square, and the second, freedom of religion, requires government to ignore religion. When the State must have no religion it is the definition of an atheist State. If the state must be atheist, then it has established a state religion, anti religion. Such a State, devoid of higher morality, cannot long stand. A lack of higher morality allows the State to implement anything that catches it’s fancy. This is the definition of arbitrary government.

The atheists claim they just don’t want religion driven down their throats. This is pure hypocrisy because they have no problem driving their atheism down our throats. No one demands they attend church services, but they require us bow down to the atheist state. They require atheism be taught to our children in the government monopoly school system! When the atheist demands the ten commandments be removed from all government edifices, they seek to offend religious people. They get away with it because it violates the established government religion… atheism. The atheist is the hypocrite that demands religion be kept indoors, under wraps and hidden, so their philosophy of anti religion can be forwarded by government, and thus become ascendent.

All philosophies about the nature, origin and worship of God, are religions. No matter if a philosophy is pro God or anti God it is still an expression of a belief, or disbelief, in God. That an ethos is against God and his worship, is as much a statement of the atheist’s beliefs about God, as the most ardent Baptist sermon is a testament to a belief in God. Therefore, clearly, atheism is a form of religion.

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” This is the actual text of the First amendment of the US Constitution. It says the State must not establish any religion or impede the free exercise thereof. We have proven that atheism is as much a religion as Judaism or Zoroastrianism. Separation therefore, since it establishes Atheism as the State religion, is unconstitutional.

Freedom has, as a perquisite, that men be allowed free action. This, it would seem, should be simple common sense. If a state outlaws an action it can be said that there is no freedom of that action. Separation of church and state outlaws the free exercise of religion. The moment an anti religious person is offended, and they are a cold sore longing to be touched, they will go to the courts, stinging us, with the government driving atheism down our throats. This is the antithesis of freedom of religion; it is the State establishing religion and outlawing the free exercise thereof.

If someone is denied the ability, to say even the Lord’s prayer at a school function, or a group of citizens to have services in a park, by law, it is the manifestation of a State’s oppression against religion, a restriction against peaceable assembly, and a limit on free speech? The atheist is given free reign to express his or her hate of religion openly, in the public square, paid for by government, taught in the government school, and enforced by government fiat and law. That, my friends, is the definition of a State sponsored religion. We follow the road trod by Hitler and Lenin… to the same end.

The Nazis and Bolsheviks had separation of church and state. Nazism was absolutely atheist as are the communists. The Nazis’ first targets were Catholic priests, then the gypsy’s, and finally the Jews. The Communists are antithetical to all religions. Their founding philosophy, that religion is the opium of the people, had in it’s very seed a separation of church and state. They needed religion to be unknown by the people because a religious people are unwilling to cover themselves in the blood of innocents. Slaughtering millions of Gypsy’s, Jews and disabled people is not something a Christian, who follows his religion, would do. Hitler got many of his ideas from American progressives, ideas that are becoming possible in America under separation, once we are divested of our belief in God.

William James philosophy of pragmatism, that an idea that bears good fruit must be good and a philosophy that bears bad fruit must therefore be bad, comes into play in this discussion. We know where those evil empires led humanity. They visited the worst possible atrocities on Mankind, with the mechanized efficiency of an atheist State, despite their short and violent lives. The evil they were, and are, is testament of the evil of the sophist siren call for a separation of church and State.

The progressives have been redefining our Constitution for years. They ignore the wording and meaning changing it to suit their own ideas of what government should be. Their rhetoric that the Constitution is a “living breathing document,” which of course is saying, it means whatever the hell they tell us it does, no matter the wording, common sense, or the description of it in the Federalist papers. It is intolerable for the progressive that we live as we see fit. In their hubris, they see the rest of us as ignorant fools, in need the state to oversee our every action. In the progressive State, the only choice we can have, is the choice to kill our own unborn baby, and soon up to a year old. They seek to control even our religious beliefs. Separation of church and state is the means to that end.

It is the nature of usurpers to pervert that which holds them from arbitrary power. History shows the evil, a State that has no higher authority than it’s own hubris, is capable of. Pragmatism shows us that if something bears malevolent fruit when it is implemented, it is evil itself, proving the badness of separation of church and State. Unless we demand, the US government stops establishing atheism as the State religion, our children will be subject to all the historic evils of communism and Nazism. Such as, abortion on demand, killing people unfit to serve the State, State imposed famine, Wars of acquisition like Drang nach Osten, and State controlled media… among others. Nazism and communism are two nuts from the same burr and both are poison. I reject both along with their philosophy of Separation of Church and State! I demand freedom of religion and freedom of speech!

Sincerely,

John Pepin

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To Shine the Light of Criticism on Evil is Heroic and to Vilify Good is Not

Posted on December 27, 2012 by john

Dear Friends,

It seems to me, no one fears criticizing good, but all fear accusing evil. That is because we understand that there are consequences for ridiculing evil but none for abusing good. A good man, organization or group will tolerate the abuse, without a thought to harming the abuser. Evil men, associations and groups will exact revenge however. As a result, those that libel the good in our society are cowards, while those that point out evil are heroes.

We all know that evil grows in the dark and is often called darkness itself. That is why, when we hear criticisms of despicable people or organizations, we cringe. We know that if the wrong person overhears they might react violently. The evil among us are as prone to violence as the good are to forgiveness. Violence being in the nature of evil and forgiveness a quality of good. Those that criticize evil put themselves in mortal danger while those that criticize good have no such fear.

The Catholic church comes under much criticism not all of it unwarranted. However, the people that attack it have no worries they will be hunted down and stabbed to death. They are in no danger of being shot from a bicycle on their way to the store. Not a one among us fears the Catholic church today.

There was a time in history when this wasn’t true. Those that even questioned the Church’s teachings were threatened with burning at the stake. This wasn’t due to anything Jesus taught but due to the evil men that controlled the Church at the time. Evil works outside the tenets of faith, societal moors and the cultural ethos. Evil fears the light of scrutiny just as a vampire of exposure to the sun.

The reaction to criticism is a reliable way to determine if that person, organization or society is evil. If any criticism of such people strikes fear into those that hear it, we can say that it is most assuredly true, that person, organization or society, is evil. The fear we feel is as sure a way to prove evil exists as any. In this way we have a metric for measuring evil. The more violently the reaction to criticism the more evil we can say that group is.

To do a thing that has no peril, is not a brave thing to do, just as doing a thing that brings with it great danger, can be heroic. The soldier who runs through a hail of gunfire to save a friend is a hero but a person who allows a car to go first is not. Heroic actions require danger in their doing.

Not all dangerous actions are heroic however. Jumping from a bridge into shallow water is just foolish, as is swatting a bees nest, and not all good actions are heroic. Helping an old lady cross the street is an honorable thing to do but is not heroic.

So we can say that those who attack good people, organizations or groups are not heroes. No matter the hypocrisy they may point out. The heroes in society are the people that point out evil. Those that shine a light on evil put themselves in peril doing so. Those that attack a good man do not. Heroism is about forwarding good actions not undermining them.

Society benefits when good is highlighted and society is damaged when good is attacked. The good among us are attacked by evil without consequences but the evil among us is protected by their propensity to violence. This sets up a pernicious feedback loop. Good is diminished while evil goes unrecognized because of the fear of pointing it out. The prosperity of Mankind is undermined and those that would usurp power are protected by the darkness of fear they wear as a cloak. People turn away from good, and the cause of evil is advanced, until evil oversteps like the Nazis did. Then mankind is forced to act.

Men and women would be well advised to consider this carefully when they hear criticisms. If a shiver runs down your back, and you cast an eye about to make sure you are not overheard, the group being criticized is quite likely evil, but if an accuser yells his or her accusations loudly and without fear, you can reliably say the group being chastised is good. We diminish good and ignore evil at our mutual peril. The interests of Mankind are only helped when heroes stand up to evil. They are often jailed, abused and condemned for it, but the future of humanity hangs in the balance. That is why I say, to shine the light of criticism on evil is heroic, and to vilify good is not.

Sincerely,

John Pepin

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The Thirst for Logic and for Gold

Posted on December 24, 2012 by john

Dear Friends,

It seems to me, I may not be able to convince a thirsty man to take a drink of water, but I can at least have water available for him… if he comes to his senses. Those who are controlled by their emotions, and we all are to a greater or lesser extent, are immune to logic and reason. We are reduced to the level of beasts. It is our reason that separates us from the animals but many would like to return Mankind to savages. Brutes are easily controlled by the whip and carrot. Draft animals can be yoked to do the bidding of someone who doesn’t have their best interests in mind. Men, self interested rightly understood, think for themselves and don’t submit so easily to the yoke. I can point this out over and over to the dehydrated, while holding out a glass of water, yet they steadfastly refuse a draft of the refreshing water of reason, for the glitter of popular opinion.

Confucius said people follow their leaders. He meant that we take our cues as to what is a good life from them. Today the elite, who display to us what our society holds to be good, are political and cultural. The political leaders write ever more intrusive laws, carving out loopholes, so they themselves are not subject to their own laws. Our cultural leaders are in the entertainment industry. They live the most self destructive and decadent lives possible. Both show the people that morality is old fashioned and egoism is hip. People follow their examples while our society slides into the abyss because of it.

It has been said our reason is the driver and our emotion is the elephant. The elephant has the power to get things done, but without the driver, it smashes instead of creates. The Elite in our society seek to eliminate the driver and subject all elephants to the yoke of the State. The individual rational driver becomes ever more superfluous while the State becomes ever more pervasive. The more uncontrolled elephants smash, the more the elite claim their onerous regulation is required, the more regulation enacted, the less need for rational drivers.

Che Guevara extolled youth’s ability to kill in the name of politics. He loved the fact that people who haven’t been civilized, can be so easily convinced, by emotion, to murder those that disagree with their leaders… like him and Fidel. Youthful people, who do not have the advantage of maturity, kill without remorse, blindly following whatever their emotion dictates. They disregard logic and blindly follow emotion. His ideology exploited youth’s ignorance and lack of maturity for his political ends.

You can always reliably tell when you are discussing something with a person who eschews logic in favor of emotion. They don’t respond to logical inquiries, they change the subject, their arguments are based in emotion, they ignore the point of an argument, in doing so loudly proclaiming their ignorance, they make ad homonym attacks, they claim the moral high ground while standing in a swamp, and in doing so, they prove their elephant has no driver… but is only following the fashion of the day. They are a boat adrift in a sea of emotion unable to think for themselves. Look at the teenager who seeks to be an individual by following the pack.

Those of us that use reason will always be at a disadvantage, when arguing against emotionally based statements, since most people today believe what they are told to believe… without burning a calorie in thought. Therefore they agree with the most preposterous ideas wholeheartedly. Absurdity piled upon absurdity forms the basis of their beliefs. That is how people can make such ludicrous claims, like gay marriage is about fairness, gun control is about safety and redistribution is about eliminating poverty, to name a few. These arguments are all illogical but have the coercive power of emotion.

Titus Livy told the Romans, unless they returned to reason and turned away from corruption, Rome would fall. He was called a fool, how could Rome fall, the republic had lasted nine hundred years. The people of Rome became more and more like beasts, and less and less like men, until the Roman empire collapsed of it’s own weight. Livy was rational and right and the people of Rome were emotional and wrong. They thirsted for water but sought the glitter of gold instead. As we all know, rationally, the thirst for gold can never be slaked but the thirst for water can be met with but a sip. So, here is a glass of water, turn away at your own peril… or do you thirst for gold instead of water?

Sincerely,

John Pepin

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Exploiting the Tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary

Posted on December 20, 2012 by john

Dear Friends,

It seems to me, to exploit a tragedy to raise money is heartless, but to exploit it to overturn Constitutional rights, is criminal. In this we have the example of Barack Obama. He has crassly used the tragedy at Sandy Hook to raise campaign money, and since he is Constitutionally barred from running again, it raises some prickly questions. The pressing and more pernicious use he has made of the tragedy is to undermine American’s Second Amendment rights. This has been an ongoing problem with this president. When a politician exploits the emotional reaction to a tragedy in these ways, a bright light should illuminate it, because our Constitutional liberties are at stake… and darkness serves only darkness.

The Constitution was put in place by the American Founding Fathers, to protect the American people from the natural urges of politicians, to usurp power to their own ends. This has been the paradigm since the dawn of human existence. Over the ages many things have been tried to stem this predilection of people with power over others. The Romans used a system where power was broken up between two Consuls, like the Spartans, and Solon created the ostracism. All methods tried up until the Enlightenment have failed. Constitutionalism was the Enlightenment’s attempt.

The Second Amendment was to be the final resort for the people against a government that had become extra Constitutional. The ability of the people, under the auspices of the States, to overthrow the Federal government was reasoned out in the Federalist papers… the right to revolution. The last resort when politicians had become drunk with power. This is the real reason Americans have the Second Amendment, not to protect hunting, or for fun at the range, it was to be the final check on the power of usurpers to the Constitution.

This is one of the primary reasons modern politicians have held the Second Amendment in such antipathy. They know in their hearts that since Wickard v. Filburn the Federal government has been overtly extra Constitutional. The legal oligarchy in the US understands this, but have allowed it because of the power it has given them, to amass wealth at the expense of the citizenry. This case was only the first step in undermining the US Constitution however. Assaults on the Constitution, to limit the power of men over the citizenry, have continued at an ever increasing pace.

The irony of Obama… who sent Mexican drug lords thousands of assault weapons, as well as communist gorillas in South America, and Al Qaeda heavy arms in Syria, have resulted in thousands of deaths, (and the rape and murder of an ambassador)… calling to outlaw guns in the US, is totally lost on the unbiased media. They dutifully fall in line with this usurper calling for the banning of guns of an arbitrary description. Did Obama wring his hands, when Univision reported that a massacre of teenagers at a birthday party was carried out, with weapons he provided the drug lords? No. Yet, until the details of Fast and Furious were discovered with the death of a US border patrol agent were made public, Obama was vilifying gun dealers for distributing guns to drug lords, as it turned out… it was Obama himself. Where is the Special prosecutor to look into this? Nowhere to be found.

The real reason we have so much gun violence in our society is because of the debasing of our culture. Unlimited abortion on demand, government policies that undermine the nuclear family, establishing atheism as the State religion, sexualizing our children, schools not teaching reading writing and arithmetic… and instead indoctrinating them into a political ideology, are only a very few examples of how our culture has been debased. Possibly the most pernicious is the lowering of human beings to animals by abortion and euthanasia. The CDC even has a paper out calling for “after birth abortions of children up to a year old!” This is the path Nazi Germany took and anyone who knows history, our children certainly haven’t been taught it, understands where that leads.

Politicians claim that gun rights are dangerous and so they must be limited. By this logic the first amendment should be banned as well. The right to free speech is far more dangerous and has led to far more human deaths and suffering than any lone gunman. A few examples are, Mein Kampf, the Communist Manifesto, Jim Jones and Mao’s Little Red Book. Clearly, the right to free speech is far more dangerous than the freedom to keep and bear arms, to be consistent, it should be outlawed too, and we are hearing the radical left calling for this very thing. Some powerful voices in the entertainment industry have called for jailing of anyone who criticizes Obama. I find this Chilling…

So, what we have, is a political establishment that arms evil murderous subhumans, calling for the seizing of law abiding citizens guns. The original reason for the right is clouded by the rhetoric of the usurpers. The irony is ignored and outright law breaking by politicians is laughed at. Anyone who calls attention to this, is now subversively threatened with imprisonment, even as the Federal government of the United States continues to exceed it’s Constitutional limits. Obama even said he doesn’t like the US Constitution, which he has made an oath to uphold, as a charter of negative liberties. The last question that this episode brings up is, why is Obama raising campaign funds when he is Constitutionally barred from running again? Could it be that the charter of negative liberties isn’t an impediment to another term? The unsinkable Titanic is moving ever faster to the iceberg of despotism, the unbiased media sing along, and the American people’s emotions are expertly played like a fiddle… as Saint Augustine warned, “People get the government they deserve…” May we deserve better.

Sincerely,

John Pepin

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The Theory of Value Sinkholes

Posted on December 17, 2012 by john

Dear Friends,

It seems to me, when a sinkhole opens up in a road, it is dangerous, but when a asset’s value collapses into a sinkhole, the economic results can be ruinous. Most of us are familiar with the idea of bubbles in asset prices but economic theory, (as far as I know), is not aware of asset sinkholes. The concepts are similar in many ways. They are both fueled by an opinion without regard to the underlying basics. A sinkhole is an asset price that is considered to be safe because it has always been safe, while a bubble grows due to the sentiment that it will grow. In both instances the asset value is based on opinion rather than essentials. This concept has direct implications to our present economic circumstances… ignorance of it leading to personal and national economic disaster.

A sinkhole is a situation where a road is undermined by water flowing underground. The surface appears fine but the ground holding it up is slowly eroded away. The surface tension will keep the road intact even as the underlying structure is gone. In ignorance we will drive our cars with our families in them directly over a sinkhole. If we are lucky it will hold while we are on it. At some point, the road will collapse… catastrophically. This is common throughout the world. Sinkholes sometimes engulf acres in area swallowing everything above.

Any asset can become a sinkhole. The value of money is the most pernicious but equities, commodities and goods can all become value sinkholes. Money is the most pernicious because it has the greatest potential to collapse an economic system. Equity sinkholes can result in the loss of retirement savings, investment and jobs, commodity sinkholes cause dislocation in mining and smelting operations, reverberating throughout an economy. No asset that becomes a sinkhole is benevolent. Anytime an asset looses it’s value in a catastrophic way economic dysfunction follows.

Bubbles and sinkholes are similar in that they are dependent on opinion rather than underlying value. Sometimes called the greater fool theory, a bubble in an asset price, like the tulip bubble in Denmark, is fueled by the opinion that that asset will continue increasing indefinitely. Even the person who understands a bubble is forming may make money from it. They buy the asset with the intention to sell it before the bubble bursts… to the greater fool.

People think that because the value has remained constant for a long time it will remain constant forever. As we all know… nothing is forever. The value of assets rise and fall for a myriad of reasons. However, when people believe a price will remain constant, but the actual value is eroded away, by government action or some other market fluctuation, opinion provides the structural power to hold up the perceived price. Once the underlying value is sufficiently eroded there will be a catastrophic collapse in the price. Anyone caught over the sinkhole will be sucked in.

I have never read about the theory of asset value sinkholes, I independently created it to describe present circumstances, but the concept seems intuitive to me… Not to say someone else hasn’t thought of it first. We must not confuse a sinkhole with a value trap. A value trap is where an asset, usually an equity, is bought at some price but the price slowly falls. The investor holds onto the asset in hopes it will rebound and he or she can get out of it. The slowly dropping price traps the investor, until all the value, and invested money, is gone. A sinkhole is a sudden collapse of an asset value due to the undermining of it’s fundamentals.

The most obvious historical example of a sinkhole is hyper inflation. The value of a currency remains relatively stable until the sinkhole opens. Then governments try to fill the sinkhole with printed fiat money. This not only doesn’t fill the hole, it actually undermines that asset’s value, further enlarging the sinkhole. The actions of the government and investors become a closed loop… each fueling the others foolishness, until all value has been drained from the money, and the economy must be restarted with a new currency.

We have an example today in the US dollar and US treasuries. They are perceived as safe because they have always been safe. The growing printing of dollars and spiraling US debt are ignored because people think there is a new paradigm of economics. This is the hallmark of bubble mentality and we see it full blown in sinkhole theory. The irrational exuberance in the price of treasuries drives otherwise prudent investors to seek the “safe haven” of US bonds and dollars. The group think is reinforced by the way the value of the dollar and treasuries defy economics. People point to a zero velocity of money in the US, ignoring the fact that the moment the velocity of money becomes more than zero, the sinkhole will abruptly open.

The result of a sinkhole in the value of the US dollar and treasuries will inevitably be bad for the world’s investors, companies and workers. If the US dollar collapses into a sinkhole and experiences high inflation, let alone hyper inflation, the resulting loss of capital in the world will be devastating to the world’s economy. Most probably the sinkhole is inevitable now, due to the malfeasance of our elected leaders, and economists, in both the US and Europe, but an understanding of the forces that led up to the collapse may help future generations avoid such dilemmas. I am not hopeful though, look at how long economic bubbles have been known and understood… to no avail.

Sincerely,

John Pepin

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The Weed of Regulation

Posted on December 13, 2012 by john

Dear Friends,

It seems to me… regulation has a way of overgrowing the economic garden of a country. Regulation becomes a weed, when it ceases to be a standard and instead becomes accordant, or is a means to prevent competition. The reason for this is inherent in the market system. Schumpeter had the most insightful theory, in that he pointed to the capitalist himself, who is the greatest danger to capitalism. This weed, nurtured and protected by the capitalist himself, will eventually overgrow any garden… but knowing it’s roots will help to hold it back.

Economic operations cannot function without some regulation. When asked what he would do if he were made Emperor, Confucius replied, “I would rectify terms.” He meant he would set standards of measure for barter. This means that even 500BC wise men understood the need of an economy for regulation. Like anything in a complex system, and economies are complex systems, anything can gain a sort of life. This is especially true of something intrusive as regulation.

Regulation has it’s normative function, it allows us to interact in productive ways, and it is a means to close the door to competition. This is the crucial distinction to make, bad regulation is there to create some barrier to competition, it might make the initial step to staring up a competing business so high that an oligarchical system is set up. Bad regulation may holdup the permitting process to absurd extremes, like it taking Walmart 20 years and a Supreme Court decision, to get a permit to build in an overgrown cornfield, as an overt and stated means to limit competition.

When someone gets in a position of extreme wealth, often generated through their own virtue, they inevitably try their mightiest… to close the door behind them. They usually do this with regulation. Take Warren Buffett for example. Who has made the most money from Obama’s vetoing the Keystone Pipeline? Warren Buffett with his trains. The oil is still being shipped the Texas refineries, but it going by train, driving up the cost and lowering efficiency, however… Warren Buffett is making millions from it. And who is Obama’s greatest supporter of tax the rich? Warren Buffett. One hand washes the other. This is one example of how regulation benefits the wealthy anti capitalist at the cost of the average person. Add up all the millions of other examples we will never hear of and we can see why regulation overgrows the garden of an nation’s economy.

The next phase is, as the companies that built the regulatory maze for their own benefit eventually go under, the regulation that prevents entry still exists! The jobs, often high paid, are lost to economies that have not been overgrown with regulation. There is no mechanism within government to examine regulation. As a result, the pages grow and grow. The mass of regulation, if printed for the United States, would fill an average bedroom top to bottom. That mass grows, not linearly, but at the golden ratio. It grows upon itself and the mass of it requiring more simply to interpret what is already there.

More social services are needed due to the lowering job participation rate as the ability of the economy to generate jobs is smothered by regulation. This leads to the need for more taxes, to fund the social services, and more impediments are put in the way of entrepreneurs. As the economy is overgrown with regulation, the only people who can get the license or permit to do anything, are people politically connected. As soon as the do, they also seek to close the door behind them, so they have an interest in keeping anti competitive regulation, so the vine turns to wood and strangles out everything else, but the tree of political favor, that over tops it and it grasps for support. Add politically expedient redistributive cures and the feed back loop becomes self evident.

Sincerely,

John Pepin

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Managed Decline vs. Universal Prosperity

Posted on December 10, 2012 by john

Dear Friends,

It seems to me, there is no reason why every man woman and child on the planet, cannot live a lifestyle equal to Americans. People like Barak Obama, George Soros and others believe in their hearts that it is not possible, and trying to do so would lead to environmental catastrophe. They understand that folks in America, even the poor, are the one percent in the World. People who hold this opinion, feel that it is unfair that Americans live the high standard of living we do, and therefore seek to lower the US standard of living… as a matter of fairness. With this understanding, crippled as it is, they set themselves to create a situation where there is a managed decline in America and Europe. This leadership will never raise anyone’s standard of living, it can only result in a diminished way of life, not only for Americans, but people the World over.

The standard of living in the US exceeds Europe in any metric you care to use. Americans almost universally have access to personal transportation in the form of a family car. This allows US citizens the unlimited ability to freely move about. Unlimited in the sense that Americans need not watch a train schedule, we don’t have to submit to screenings to get to work, and work can start at anytime it makes economic sense to do so. Americans, even the poor, have more living space than any other people on the planet, food is so available that obesity is a problem of the poor in the US, and our access to healthcare is unmatched in the World, despite the many single payer systems that attempt to give better access to everyone. Think of it this way, where do the uber rich go to have their operations? Where does George Soros go to get his prostate reamed out?, not Cuban, North Korean, nor Argentinian or even European hospitals… they go to American hospitals. The same ones destitute Americans are treated at.

The notion that the environment would be degraded, if everyone on the planet’s standard of living were raised to America’s, is pure sophistry. China today is industrializing at a rapid rate. They are using the flawed model of Japan but the standard of living of the Chinese citizen has undergone a paradigm shift. The Chinese middle class is growing by eating the ranks of the poor. The imbalances in their society have less to do with environmental degradation than they are generated by government policy. It is true that China is experiencing pollution similar to what America experienced at the height of the industrial revolution, but it is not from the capitalist expansion, it is due to an all powerful government ordering by fiat what will be built, without regard to anything other than the Party’s wishes. That is why, as Joe Biden said, China has state of the art Airports and cities. There is no public input to their construction and so the monetary cost is much lower while the environmental cost is much higher.

The market system is based on revolutions in manufacturing, organization and data. These revolutions, that create the business cycles economists are so scared of, and politicians are fond of, because they “justify” political meddling in the economy, allow the needs of human beings to be produced at ever cheaper rates, opening them to more and more of the World’s people. Obviously, the ability of the market to create these things, is effected by government policies. It is government policies that diminish the ability of entrepreneurs to make the next cotton gin… through taxation, regulation and cronyism. Governments around the World love to decide who gets what, in the name of fairness, while nothing could be further from the truth. This propensity of government to meddle in the market to change outcomes, is always used to benefit their political cronies, and is largely why so many people live in abject poverty around the World… while the people who advocate more government influence, like Soros and Obama, live in the lap of luxury. They create the conditions that immiserate the people of the World by their egoistic notions of fairness.

The answer then, is not to lower the standard of living of anyone on the planet, but to allow the market system to raise the World’s poor to equal America’s middle class. It is self evident that people who have no access to the market system have lowered expectations of prosperity. To claim that it is impossible, or that the planet couldn’t take it, is simply evil. Every man woman and child on Earth deserves better. That will only happen however, when the egoists that seek distributive justice by political favor, are denuded of their power to meddle in the economy. Until that time we will labor under the heavy jack boot of the Obama’s and the Soros’ of the World…. to everyone’s detriment. In the end, what could be less fair than trapping billions of people in unending misery, by lowering the top one percent in the name of fairness, and protecting the top one thousandth of one percent’s perpetual prosperity?

Sincerely,

John Pepin

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