Safety from external danger is the most powerful director of national conduct. Even the ardent love of liberty will, after a time, give way to its dictates. The violent destruction of life and property incident to war, the continual effort and alarm attendant on a state of continual danger, will compel nations the most attached to liberty to resort for repose and security to institutions which have a tendency to destroy their civil and political rights. To be more safe, they at length become willing to run the risk of being less free.
Alexander Hamilton, Federalist # 8
“The principle …
“The principle that the end justifies the means in individualist ethics is regarded as the denial of all morals. In collectivist ethics it becomes necessarily the supreme rule; there is literally nothing which the consistent collectivist must not be prepared to do if it serves “the good of the whole,” because the “good of the whole” is to him the only criterion of what ought to be done.” Hayek, Road to Serfdom, Chapter 10
Pavlovian Politics: Leaders Line Up To Call For Increased Surveillance In Aftermath of Boston Bombing
Mitt is the lesser of two evils in this presidential race. He’s still a big government conservative.
I definitely appreciate Sara Rosso’s post. The thing that stops most people from realizing success it right between their ears!
I definitely appreciate Sara Rosso’s post. The thing that stops most people from realizing success it right between their ears!
Give Us Hope (And Bread, and Circuses)
… between the state, which is lavish with impossible promises, and the public, which has conceived unrealizable expectations, two classes of men intervene: the ambitious and the utopian. Their role is completely prescribed for them by the situation. It suffices for these demagogues to cry into the ears of the people: "Those in power are deceiving you; if we were in their place, we would overwhelm you with benefits and free you from taxes."
And the people believe, and the people hope, and the people make a revolution.
Its friends are no sooner in charge of things than they are called on to make good their promises: "Give me a job, then, bread, relief, credit, education, and colonies," say the people, "and at the same time, in keeping with your promises, deliver me from the burden of taxation."
The new state is no less embarrassed than the old, for, when it comes to the impossible, one can, indeed, make promises, but one cannot keep them. It tries to gain time, which it needs to bring its vast projects to fruition. At first it makes a few timid attempts; on the one hand, it extends primary education a little; on the other, it reduces somewhat the tax on beverages (1830). But it is always confronted with the same contradiction: if it wishes to be philanthropic, it must continue to levy taxes; and if it renounces taxation, it must also renounce philanthropy.
Bastiat, Frédéric, Selected Essays on Political Economy. Seymour Cain, trans. 1995. Library of Economics and Liberty. 19 September 2009. http://www.econlib.org/library/Bastiat/basEss5.html.
Socialism – A Lethal Experiment
A good friend of ours – guest writer Lord Addison West – shares a legend that’s been passed down through his family. “The origin is unknown,” he tells us, “but its veracity cannot be disputed.”
“An economics professor said he had never flunked a student before but had, once, failed an entire class,” the legend begins. “That class had insisted that socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.”
“The professor then said ‘ok’, we will have an experiment in this class on socialism.
All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail and no one would receive an A.”
“After the first test the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy. But, as the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too; so they studied little. The second test average was a D!”
“No one was happy. When the 3rd test rolled around the average was an F.”
“The scores never increased as bickering, blame, and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else. All failed, to their great surprise, and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great; but when government takes all the reward away; no one will try or want to succeed.”
“There are three caveats on the road to socialism:
1) The quality of all products and services will regress to the mean – no more good, better or best.
2) Eventually, you will run out of "other people’s money."
3) Once you go over, it is impossible to come back."
“The more a government spends, the bigger it gets. The bigger it gets, the more people employed in the public sector. The bigger the public sector, the greater the percentage of voters who will vote to protect their government jobs, i.e., bigger and bigger government.”
It’s often poetic when such a simple principle defies the understanding of some of the world’s most complicated people.
from:
THE SOVEREIGN SOCIETY OFFSHORE A-LETTER
Erika Nolan, Publisher * Bob Bauman, Legal Counsel
Matthew Collins, Managing Editor * Eric Roseman, Investment Director
Sean Hyman, Currency Analyst
SUBSCRIBE to The A-Letter for FREE or send to a friend at
LINK: http://www.sovereignsociety.com/
Socialism – A Lethal Experiment
A good friend of ours – guest writer Lord Addison West – shares a legend that’s been passed down through his family. “The origin is unknown,” he tells us, “but its veracity cannot be disputed.”
“An economics professor said he had never flunked a student before but had, once, failed an entire class,” the legend begins. “That class had insisted that socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.”
“The professor then said ‘ok’, we will have an experiment in this class on socialism.
All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail and no one would receive an A.”
“After the first test the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy. But, as the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too; so they studied little. The second test average was a D!”
“No one was happy. When the 3rd test rolled around the average was an F.”
“The scores never increased as bickering, blame, and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else. All failed, to their great surprise, and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great; but when government takes all the reward away; no one will try or want to succeed.”
“There are three caveats on the road to socialism:
1) The quality of all products and services will regress to the mean – no more good, better or best.
2) Eventually, you will run out of "other people’s money."
3) Once you go over, it is impossible to come back."
“The more a government spends, the bigger it gets. The bigger it gets, the more people employed in the public sector. The bigger the public sector, the greater the percentage of voters who will vote to protect their government jobs, i.e., bigger and bigger government.”
It’s often poetic when such a simple principle defies the understanding of some of the world’s most complicated people.
from:
THE SOVEREIGN SOCIETY OFFSHORE A-LETTER
Erika Nolan, Publisher * Bob Bauman, Legal Counsel
Matthew Collins, Managing Editor * Eric Roseman, Investment Director
Sean Hyman, Currency Analyst
SUBSCRIBE to The A-Letter for FREE or send to a friend at
LINK: http://www.sovereignsociety.com/
Another Great Depression? Telling Graph!
