Free Association

More on McNamara

2009-07-10T08:19:00.002-05:00

I managed to avoid Vietnam, thank goodness. But for several years I was aware of the threat Robert McNamara's project posed to me and my generation. How do I feel about his death? I keep thinking that justice has eluded us. There was no chance in the world he could have suffered even to the slightest extent what was suffered by the people he helped send to the slaughter -- American and Vietnamese.

McNamara Gone

2009-07-10T06:01:00.001-05:00

The establishment thinks Robert McNamara, who ran the Vietnam War for Lyndon Johnson, made amends by later directing the World Bank. Actually, he just found another way to make poor people suffer.

Happy 4th of July

2009-07-04T11:04:00.000-05:00

The 4th of July is the appropriate time to contemplate what has happened to America. I've always thought this song by the band Steppenwolf did a great job of laying out the case. The song is really worth listening to.

"Monster/Suicide/America"

Words and music by John Kay, Jerry Edmonton,
Nick St. Nicholas and Larry Byrom

(Monster)
Once the religious, the hunted and weary
Chasing the promise of freedom and hope
Came to this country to build a new vision
Far from the reaches of kingdom and pope
Like good Christians, some would burn the witches
Later some got slaves to gather riches

But still from near and far to seek America
They came by thousands to court the wild
And she just patiently smiled and bore a child
To be their spirit and guiding light

And once the ties with the crown had been broken
Westward in saddle and wagon it went
And 'til the railroad linked ocean to ocean
Many the lives which had come to an end
While we bullied, stole and bought our a homeland
We began the slaughter of the red man

But still from near and far to seek America
They came by thousands to court the wild
And she just patiently smiled and bore a child
To be their spirit and guiding light

The blue and grey they stomped it
They kicked it just like a dog
And when the war over
They stuffed it just like a hog

And though the past has it's share of injustice
Kind was the spirit in many a way
But it's protectors and friends have been sleeping
Now it's a monster and will not obey

(Suicide)
The spirit was freedom and justice
And it's keepers seem generous and kind
It's leaders were supposed to serve the country
But now they won't pay it no mind
'Cause the people grew fat and got lazy
And now their vote is a meaningless joke
They babble about law and order
But it's all just an echo of what they've been told
Yeah, there's a monster on the loose
It's got our heads into a noose
And it just sits there watchin'

Our cities have turned into jungles
And corruption is stranglin' the land
The police force is watching the people
And the people just can't understand
We don't know how to mind our own business
'Cause the whole worlds got to be just like us
Now we are fighting a war over there
No matter who's the winner
We can't pay the cost
'Cause there's a monster on the loose
It's got our heads into a noose
And it just sits there watching

(America)
America where are you now?
Don't you care about your sons and daughters?
Don't you know we need you now
We can't fight alone against the monster

TGIF: Congress Declares Independence

2009-07-02T16:54:00.000-05:00

What a difference a year can make. On July 6, 1775, the Second Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, issued the Declaration of the Causes and Necessities of Taking Up Arms. Significantly, the document declared, "We have not raised armies with ambitious designs of separating from Great Britain establishing independent states."

The rest of TGIF is here.

Walmart Unmasked

2009-07-02T06:45:00.001-05:00

From the perceptive Megan McArdle at The Atlantic:

I find it hard to believe that none of the liberal commentators breathlessly celebrating Wal-Mart's "capitulation" on national health care have even entertained the most parsimonious explanation: that Wal-Mart is in favor of this because it raises the barriers to entry in the retail market, and hammers Wal-Mart's competition. Yet somehow, this appears nowhere in any of the analysis.

She wraps up: "All of which is to say, Bootleggers and Baptists should be required reading in all schools. When you find strange bedfellows in politics, don't look for a surprising outbreak of spontaneous virtue: looking [sic] for the hidden conspiracy."

More here.

Happy Independence Day!

2009-07-02T06:03:00.005-05:00

On this day in 1776, the Second Continental Congress passed a resolution of independence, submitted by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia, declaring that "these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and Independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved."

Two days later, July 4, the Congress approved a document, drafted by Thomas Jefferson, intended to explain why independence was proper and necessary. We call that document the Declaration of Independence.

Re the Energy Bill

2009-06-30T13:38:00.001-05:00

There's a rumor that the energy bill would require passing a government efficiency inspection of your home before you can sell it. I cannot find this in the 1,200 page bill. Does anyone know the section, subsection, etc.? Or is this right-wing agitprop?

Anarchism Can Fly!

2009-06-30T07:29:00.007-05:00

The minarchist is like a scientist who insists a bumblebee cannot fly because it doesn't satisfy his theoretical criteria for that capability. That bumblebees do in fact fly apparently offers little ground for examing and revising the theory.

Similarly, minarchists insist that market competition in the "production" of law and security in theory cannot generate a peaceful, just, and efficient society. Like the scientist, they ignore the many examples of successful stateless relations in history and in our own time, and refuse to examine and revise their theory of where law comes from and how it is enforced.

(The apparently true story on scientists and the bumblebee is here.)

Anarchism: It's All in the Rules

2009-06-29T18:18:00.005-05:00

Scratch a minarchist and you'll find someone who fundamentally does not understand social rules -- their organic origins in custom and mediation, their evolution, their power to induce compliance. Yes, it's as simple as that.

Op-ed: Obama the Health-Care Reformer Should Grow Up

2009-06-29T09:12:00.002-05:00

Barack Obama insists he does not want the government to run the medical system. He insists that he wants only to fix what’s broken while leaving what works intact.

Taking him at his word, this is typical of Obama. His desires are a primary, things that can be achieved if only we want them badly enough. All that prevents fulfillment are the obstacles created by uncooperative, ideological, and perhaps evil people.
If Obama really believes this — and is not merely engaging in demagoguery (a strong possibility) — then he has the maturity of a child.

The rest of my latest FFF op-ed is here.

Farrah and Ayn

2009-06-26T13:54:00.001-05:00

Call me a sentimental fool, but I like this story about the contact between Farrah Fawcette and Ayn Rand.

Hat tip: Brian Doherty.

Anarchists vs. Minarchists: The Defining Economic Difference

2009-06-26T11:46:00.008-05:00

The crux of the economic difference between market anarchists and market minarchists is that the minarchists -- a priori -- find a market failure in the provision of law and security. Market anarchists do not. Considering that the minarchists embrace market theory in every other area, it seems they have the burden of showing why their own principles don't apply in those excepted areas. (It is significant that the first market anarchist we know of was an economist, Gustave de Molinari.)

Market anarchists have the theory, the history, and the moral philosophy. What's left?

TGIF: The Misrepresentation of Healthcare Reform

2009-06-26T08:21:00.001-05:00

Why should the people get something through government–that is, at the point of a gun–simply because they want it?

The rest of TGIF is here.

"Kindle's DRM Rears Its Ugly Head"

2009-06-23T07:14:00.003-05:00

Dan Cohen had a frustrating time with his Kindle and iPhone relating to DRM. He tells about it here and here.

The "bottom line":

You are able to redownload your books an unlimited number of times to any specific device.
Any one time the books can be on a finite number of devices. In most cases that means you can have the same book on six different devices.
Unfortunately the publishers decide how many licenses, that is devices, a book can be on at any one time. While most of the time that will be five or six different devices there will be times when it's only one device.
At the present time there is no way to know how many devices can be licensed prior to buying the book. [Emphasis added.]

I guess we shouldn't be surprised.

Cross-posted at Against Monopoly.

Shut Up about Iran

2009-06-19T08:56:00.001-05:00

Here’s some advice for Barack Obama, John McCain, and any other U.S. politician who feels the urge to issue a declaration about the election in Iran: Shut up.

The rest of my latest FFF op-ed, "Shut Up about Iran," is here.

The Freeman, July-August 2009

2009-06-19T08:54:00.002-05:00

IP Debate Breaks Out at FEE

2009-06-15T09:20:00.004-05:00

At a recent FEE seminar, a debate over intellectual "property" broke out spontaneously among Ivan Pongracic (second from right), Paul Cwik (second from left), and me (left, where I belong). Who won?

A Palestinian State .... If

2009-06-15T07:05:00.007-05:00

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the Palestinians can have their own country ... if, if, if, and if. See details here.

Reminds me of the story philosopher Norman Malcolm told about Wittgenstein:

When in very good spirits he would jest in a delightful manner. This took the form of deliberately absurd or extravagant remarks uttered in a tone, and with the mien, of affected seriousness. On one walk he "gave" me each tree that we passed, with the reservation that I was not to cut it down or do anything to it, or prevent the previous owners from doing anything to it: with those reservations they were henceforth mine.

Cross-posted at @TAC and Liberty & Power.

Economics Reporters Ignorant of Economics

2009-06-14T08:39:00.003-05:00

I just watched David Mark of Politico say on MSNBC that there is no positive side to the closing of auto dealerships. No positive side? What about the freeing up of labor and resources for projects that will create -- rather than destroy -- value?

It is outrageous -- though hardly new -- that major news organizations have reporters covering economic news without knowing even the most basic concepts of economics -- such as scarcity!

Is ignorance of Bastiat's "broken window" fallacy that widespread?

Welcome to Post Office Health Care

2009-06-12T09:52:00.003-05:00

America’s health-care system has problems — all traceable to government intervention — but it could be worse. And if the so-called reform emerging in Congress is enacted, it will be worse.

My latest Future of Freedom Foundation op-ed, "Welcome to Post Office Health Care," is here.

Bourne Updated

2009-06-12T08:58:00.000-05:00

Health is the health of the State.

TGIF: Intellectual "Property" vs. Real Property

2009-06-12T07:45:00.000-05:00

Intellectual “property” (IP) is a sleeper issue. It seems uncontroversial: Someone invents or writes something and therefore owns it. What could be plainer? But IP contains the power to destroy liberty.

The rest of TGIF is here.

Will the “Public Option” Be a Cutthroat Competitor?

2009-06-12T06:19:00.001-05:00

President Obama says he doesn’t want the government to run health care. He just wants a “public option” to keep the private insurers “honest.” Imagine that: A government bureaucracy keeping someone else honest. Physician, heal thyself!

But would a public option keep insurers honest? People who dislike markets often spin horrifying scenarios about big companies engaging in cutthroat competition and predatory pricing to drive their rivals out of business. But none of these folks ever see this danger in government “enterprises.” A public option will have sources of revenue no private insurer has: captive taxpayers, the U.S. Treasury, and the Federal Reserve. Do you mean to tell me this won’t permit the government program to engage in cutthroat competition and predatory pricing against the private insusers? And let’s not forget that it will be government that dictates what products the private companies can sell.

Beware Politcians' Sweet-Talk about Healthcare Reform

2009-06-11T17:42:00.001-05:00

President Obama had sugared words for those concerned that government healthcare "reform" will violate freedom of choice. He insisted that people happy with their insurance and their doctor will be free to stick with them.

What he didn't say is what those people should do when the government's tax-subsidized "public option" insurance program and price controls drive private insurers out of the market and doctors get fed up dealing with the government.

The Paper of Record

2009-06-11T07:22:00.001-05:00

The New York Times headline about the shooter at the Holocaust Museum:

Museum Gunman a Longtime Foe of Government