Barack Obama's supporters would like to claim that Mr. Obama is uniting the nation. However, when their president's abilities are questioned, they become belligerent and refuse to countenance debate. The Obama cult does not permit questions. This is consistent with the monotone in the banker media, CNN, CSPAN, MSNBC, the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Newsweek, NBC, and NPR. If the nation were united, a public debate would transpire. Where the press is not free, as it is not in the United States, virtually all media sources say the same thing. The election results were 52.7% versus 45.9%. Yet, virtually no questions are asked.
The absence of an American free press arises because of financial interests' control of virtually all media. The financial interests are the crux of the military industrial complex that in turn relies on Federal Reserve Bank funding and federal government regulation to retain control of credit and of economic development. The major corporations in the United States, especially the financial community, do not create value and are unsustainable except through violence (i.e., state support) and extraction of rents from the public. This violence is only viable through extensive propaganda via universities and the media. Thus, alternative views on key issues--the structure of the banking system for example, which was of paramount importance to Jefferson and the other Founding Fathers-- are barred.
In fact, Jefferson and the Founding Fathers would have found the current adoption of Federalist and Whig ideology to be a disgrace and a major failure. It is laughable that in the media and in universities elitist views that were scorned in Jefferson's day are called "progressive" and "new" and are the mainstay of the ideological propaganda. As well, journalists, television announcers and the like are so poorly educated that they do not understand what Americans have traditionally thought. The Progressive fixation on centralization and authoritarian solutions, alien to the American ethos, is the only currency of public discussion, ranging from right to left.
Nevertheless, enough of the Lockean impulse remains in rural America that the nation is irremediably divided between traditional Americans and Progressives. I do not think the nation's current centralized approach will permit a friendly reconciliation of the sharp differences of which Mr. Obama's election reminds us. Certainly the solutions he and the Democrats have on offer are ridiculous. Mr. Obama's election has divided, not united, the nation.
Monday, April 27, 2009
America Died while The New York Times Lied
I just wrote the following e-mail to my old friend, Richard, who sent me an e-mail on Facebook about universities.
>Dear Richard: Universities have failed but they are irredeemable. The problem is that government is a violent institution and I abhor violence. To end the violence we must end government, as Henry David Thoreau urged in the 1840s. The fraud that universities perpetrate on graduate students is but one more product of governmental compulsion. Without government, the university scam would not exist.
Universities' dysfunction goes back to 1810's when Nazism's earliest origins appeared in the German university via Fichte and the hep hep riots at the University of Berlin. It was only a matter of time before the reinvention of medieval communism under Bismarck would transform into racial categories and mass murder. The US chose to adopt the German form of university and ideology and so has been marching toward totalitarianism since the early 20th century. The outcome won't be as bad here because America has no history of tribal unity, although the advocacy of unity under Barack Obama is indeed reminiscent of the rise of Nazism--"change" in German was one of Hitler's slogans--"alles muss ander sein"-- and extension of universal health care was one of Hitler's chief platforms.
I am in favor of ending the cultural hegemony of higher education by ending the discriminatory practice of requiring advanced degrees for jobs that require a fourth grade education in fields ranging from human resource management to investment banking. Store managers in malls now have MBAs. Once universities are debunked as authoritarian shams, then we can move on to government.
The hue and cry for regulation is a subset of the greater effort to institutionalize the power of investment banks and the military industrial complex. The mouthpiece of this systemic effort by the Demopublican Party is of course the New York Times, including Krugman and all the rest of the Times's apologists for the bailout and state power on behalf of the Ochs Sulzbergers' cronies-- Goldman Sachs and its clients.
Regulation is but a manifestation of state violence. All who advocate regulation advocate violence. Goldman Sachs and the banking system would end without government support, and America would become a free country for the first time since 1913.
The mainstream of popular opinion cannot avoid the consequences of a move toward greater regulation. The consequences are slowed intellectual and economic progress; declining living standards and increased suppression of ideas. America has become poorer because of regulation---especially the abolition of the gold standard in 1971 which allowed the commercial banking community unfettered power to transfer capital into its hands via the Federal Reserve Bank. This has been done at the expense of the productive sector of the economy. The investment banking community's favored candidate, Barack Obama, was elected to facilitate ever greater transfers of wealth into their hands. America died while the New York Times lied.
America has become increasingly divided and so must be broken up into parts. There is no longer a viable America. The country has turned into a United States of Goldman Sachs, a tyranny run by violent thugs in Washington and the state capitols.
The election of the bankers' marionette, Barack Obama, is but one more step toward institutionalization of totalitarianism here. Universities have done their job. But let us start with root causes, not with their ridiculous manifestation--universities.
>Dear Richard: Universities have failed but they are irredeemable. The problem is that government is a violent institution and I abhor violence. To end the violence we must end government, as Henry David Thoreau urged in the 1840s. The fraud that universities perpetrate on graduate students is but one more product of governmental compulsion. Without government, the university scam would not exist.
Universities' dysfunction goes back to 1810's when Nazism's earliest origins appeared in the German university via Fichte and the hep hep riots at the University of Berlin. It was only a matter of time before the reinvention of medieval communism under Bismarck would transform into racial categories and mass murder. The US chose to adopt the German form of university and ideology and so has been marching toward totalitarianism since the early 20th century. The outcome won't be as bad here because America has no history of tribal unity, although the advocacy of unity under Barack Obama is indeed reminiscent of the rise of Nazism--"change" in German was one of Hitler's slogans--"alles muss ander sein"-- and extension of universal health care was one of Hitler's chief platforms.
I am in favor of ending the cultural hegemony of higher education by ending the discriminatory practice of requiring advanced degrees for jobs that require a fourth grade education in fields ranging from human resource management to investment banking. Store managers in malls now have MBAs. Once universities are debunked as authoritarian shams, then we can move on to government.
The hue and cry for regulation is a subset of the greater effort to institutionalize the power of investment banks and the military industrial complex. The mouthpiece of this systemic effort by the Demopublican Party is of course the New York Times, including Krugman and all the rest of the Times's apologists for the bailout and state power on behalf of the Ochs Sulzbergers' cronies-- Goldman Sachs and its clients.
Regulation is but a manifestation of state violence. All who advocate regulation advocate violence. Goldman Sachs and the banking system would end without government support, and America would become a free country for the first time since 1913.
The mainstream of popular opinion cannot avoid the consequences of a move toward greater regulation. The consequences are slowed intellectual and economic progress; declining living standards and increased suppression of ideas. America has become poorer because of regulation---especially the abolition of the gold standard in 1971 which allowed the commercial banking community unfettered power to transfer capital into its hands via the Federal Reserve Bank. This has been done at the expense of the productive sector of the economy. The investment banking community's favored candidate, Barack Obama, was elected to facilitate ever greater transfers of wealth into their hands. America died while the New York Times lied.
America has become increasingly divided and so must be broken up into parts. There is no longer a viable America. The country has turned into a United States of Goldman Sachs, a tyranny run by violent thugs in Washington and the state capitols.
The election of the bankers' marionette, Barack Obama, is but one more step toward institutionalization of totalitarianism here. Universities have done their job. But let us start with root causes, not with their ridiculous manifestation--universities.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Chinese Buy Gold
The gold market had looked bearish for the past couple of weeks and gold seemed to be breaking through support, but Bloomberg reports that the more recent spurt of price increase is due to Chinese buying. In other words, the Chinese central bank aims to hold gold. It currently has almost $2 trillion in foreign currency reserves. If it follows Russia and builds a 10% reserve holding, gold will be the winner and the dollar will be the loser.
There could be longer term repercussions as to the Chinese acquisition of gold. Why stop at 10%? There is no reason to trust the Fed or the dollar, and the American republic is running out of steam. This is due to self indulgence and corruption among American elites. Wall Street will not permit slow monetary growth, and foreign dollar holders will lose. If the Chinese are smart, they will convert all of their dollar holdings into gold.
Americans should think in terms of pressuring their Congressmen to repeal the legal tender laws that were passed during the Civil War. There is no reason why Federal Reserve monopoly money should be mandatory or "legal tender". There should be a free market in money. The Fed does not represent the public. Why should the public be forced to accept their garbage notes?
There could be longer term repercussions as to the Chinese acquisition of gold. Why stop at 10%? There is no reason to trust the Fed or the dollar, and the American republic is running out of steam. This is due to self indulgence and corruption among American elites. Wall Street will not permit slow monetary growth, and foreign dollar holders will lose. If the Chinese are smart, they will convert all of their dollar holdings into gold.
Americans should think in terms of pressuring their Congressmen to repeal the legal tender laws that were passed during the Civil War. There is no reason why Federal Reserve monopoly money should be mandatory or "legal tender". There should be a free market in money. The Fed does not represent the public. Why should the public be forced to accept their garbage notes?
Charisma in History
Charisma is sometimes suggested as a source of value. Great leadership can stimulate effort. Katz and Kahn argued that leadership can provide an increment of effort. But is charismatic leadership the true source of economic growth?
The answer is no. Economists recognize that technology and capital investment are critical sources of economic growth. Charisma existed throughout history. Ramses the Great claimed to have defeated the Hittites at Kadesh and Shakespeare commemorates Henry V's victory at Agincourt as he exhorts his outnumbered army:
"This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember'd;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day."
To what extent can charisma create economic value? It would seem incrementally. The major advances in economic history occurred because of innovation at the individual and firm levels. They occurred in the 19th and twentieth century, especially during the period of laissez-faire from the 19th to the early 20th century in England and America.
There were many examples of charisma throughout ancient and medieval history, but the economy did not progress. Fundamental progress is due to technological breakthrough, capital accumulation wisely administered and understanding of customer value. In countries where the state predominates, such as the Soviet Union, China, Cuba and Sweden, there has been little economic advance. Just like the medieval world (according to which it is conceptualized), socialism is an ideology of economic stagnation and decline. State capitalism is less socialistic and so sees less decline. The socialist economies that do function, such as Sweden's, do so in the context of globalized trading with market economies. Without globalization the Swedes would still be serfs in the bruks and communistic shared fields.
What is the role of charisma then? It provides interest, stimulation and incremental motivation. It is rarer in business than in the military or other walks of life. But there has been much more progress in business than in other institutions, except for science. And charisma is notably absent from scientific endeavor as well.
The answer is no. Economists recognize that technology and capital investment are critical sources of economic growth. Charisma existed throughout history. Ramses the Great claimed to have defeated the Hittites at Kadesh and Shakespeare commemorates Henry V's victory at Agincourt as he exhorts his outnumbered army:
"This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember'd;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day."
To what extent can charisma create economic value? It would seem incrementally. The major advances in economic history occurred because of innovation at the individual and firm levels. They occurred in the 19th and twentieth century, especially during the period of laissez-faire from the 19th to the early 20th century in England and America.
There were many examples of charisma throughout ancient and medieval history, but the economy did not progress. Fundamental progress is due to technological breakthrough, capital accumulation wisely administered and understanding of customer value. In countries where the state predominates, such as the Soviet Union, China, Cuba and Sweden, there has been little economic advance. Just like the medieval world (according to which it is conceptualized), socialism is an ideology of economic stagnation and decline. State capitalism is less socialistic and so sees less decline. The socialist economies that do function, such as Sweden's, do so in the context of globalized trading with market economies. Without globalization the Swedes would still be serfs in the bruks and communistic shared fields.
What is the role of charisma then? It provides interest, stimulation and incremental motivation. It is rarer in business than in the military or other walks of life. But there has been much more progress in business than in other institutions, except for science. And charisma is notably absent from scientific endeavor as well.
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