Jealousy

Just about all the Democrat candidates for president in 2020 have a common theme to their candidacy ... socialism to various degrees ... driven by an attempt to tap into a national jealousy ... through the use of a wealth tax ... or piggy-backing on a desire for social justice ... or playing the green-eyed monster. Whatever you call it, there is a lietmotif ... “billionaires are evil” (“except when they donate to my campaign.”)

It might be unfair that CEOs make more the 500 times their lowest paid employee. But, you know what, capitalist free markets do involve short-term dislocations ... and using some equally greedy bureaucrat to remedy fairness is a stupid solution. Are you listening Bernie? The invisible hand of capitalism does have a way of remedying things in the longer run, Right Jeff Inmelt? Politicians worship at the altar of lucre as much as, if not more than, the worst high-tech CEO ... and allowing pols to try to fix things is throwing more sand in the gears.

Social change through politics should be based on more noble emotions than jealousy and greed.

History Lesson

The persistence of Socialism (and its evil twin, Communism) is one of the best examples of mankind's stubborn inability to learn from the difficult lessons of history. This, of course, advantages those who can fathom the counterintuitive nature of Capitalism -- Greed creates Wealth, whereas Charity creates Poverty.

Distinctions

Much of our world's problems arise due to our inability or unwillingness to make distinctions ... often due to lazy thinking combined with purposeful misdirection. For instance note the following items that are often conflated ... quite often on purpose:

Illegal vs. legal immigration

What people say vs. do

Religious fervor vs. zealotry

Hyperbole vs. lying

Rap vs. music

Free speech vs. sedition

Satire vs. mockery

Economic self interest vs. greed

Refinement vs. preciousness

Mental illness vs. mental retardation

Compassion vs. grandstanding

Just war vs. aggression

Pro choice vs. pro abortion

Colonialism vs. outreach

News reporting vs. advocacy


Can you see where we go wrong with just these few?

The Professors Are Winning

Ivory Tower

The drip, drip, drip of liberal teaching in our colleges and universities is finally winning out. In a recent survey 43% of millennials view socialism more favorably than capitalism (with under 33% favorable) ... see: Breitbart Article. Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary ... where country after country which has gone down the Bernie Sanders path ... most recently Venezuela ... have ended up economic hellholes, our capitalist-spoiled children would throw it all away for that nirvana of "to each according to his need, from each according to his ability."

In a way you can't fault these tyro thinkers. They believe that they are being idealistic ... and that is good ... but they have no clue as to the consequences of this misguided idealism. Their preaching professors have lived in the cocoon of capitalist largess all their adult lives and the current leader of the Catholic church says that capitalism is "the spawn of the devil." while enjoying the lush luxury created by capitalism. Yes, capitalism is based on economic self interest which is easily misrepresented as greed. But it is the striving for wealth through innovative thought and action that has created our societies of wealth unimagined in the Middle Ages ... a period of widespread repressive poverty to which our current breed of Socialist professors and politicians would have us return.

Yet it would be foolish to aver that greed never is bred under capitalism ... witness Martin Shkreli of Turing Pharmaceuticals whose price gouging has jeopardized his company ... and made him a social pariah. Adam Smith pointed out that the invisible hand of capitalism tends to punish such avaricious entrepreneurs. So when greed exists within capitalism, it tends to be self-defeating. However, unfortunately inequities have also crept into the American tax system and, due to its huge complexity, this system has often become regressive. This needs to be corrected ... but not to a Bernie Sanders degree which would snuff out capitalism alltogether (his intent?) And, if our idealistic youths don't understand that equivalent greed also exists within government, their professors have been criminally derelict.

No wonder both Hellery and Bernie, using free tuition, want to make our public citadels of lower learning even more extensive propaganda factories. That way they can guarantee a steady supply of mind-numbed youthful supplicants.

To conclude, please remember that envy (as well as greed) is also one of the seven deadly sins.

Beggin'

The PBS (Public Broadcasting System) stations in Boston are beggin' again ... all four of them at the same time. It seems that at least once a month we have to suffer through a week of self-help lectures by some nutritionists or financial gurus telling a mesmerized audience how to improve their lives. (Where do they get these people? They remind me of the bots in Apple's 1984 commercial.) It's either that or a Big Band or Sock Hop music CD offerings that ring the cash register for these "free" television stations.

These PBS stations also now run commercials just like the other greedy-capitalist ones. They also get close to a half a billion dollars of taxpayer monies and foundation sponsorships that must also run into the hundreds of millions of dollars, And those annual auctions! Yet still they prey on the naivete of the American public by asking for even more money. Like most everything else in our society, they have an angle and and angel in big government.

This wouldn't bug me so much if they were operating lean and mean. But this is clearly not the case. Bill Moyers was pulling down $6 million a year for his propaganda-rich shows ... see: More for Moyers. And the president of PBS received an annual salary of over $600,000 back in 2011 (see: Newsbusters Story). I'm sure it is considerably higher now. And there are many other executives at PBS and NPR (National Public Radio) earning  six and seven figure salaries. Even Big Bird makes well over $300,000 per year ... see: International Business Times Story.

So we see, its is not just corporate America that has a lock on greed ...

Seesaw

The stock market has had it's share of volatility over the last three days. The Dow Jones Average was down over 250 points, then up  over 270 points, and now, closing at its lows, down 335 points. (For some reasons see: CNBC Item.) These clearly are wild swings ... but the stock indices have had much larger gyrations in the past years. This, of course, does not reduce the required dose of Pepto Bismol for those who are risk-averse. Like bronco-bull riding, this kind of stock market sends lots of tyro traders limping out of the market.

I cannot predict the future other than to say that things will, at sometime, settle down and go back up. Of course I just can't say when this will happen. So I suggest you follow Warren Buffet's advice and get greedy when others are fearful, and get fearful when others are greedy. However, decoding these market sentiments of fear and greed does get a little tricky sometimes.

I wonder if Obama will hold a press conference tomorrow to brag about the economy?

Putin's Portfolio

The strange fits and starts of Russian President Putin's invasion and take-over of the eastern and southern parts of the Ukraine clearly displays his territorial ambitions. However, there is another possible angle to Vladimir's chicanery ... and that might be personal financial gain. Yes, Putin is already purported to be a billionaire, but, as we know, greed has no logical limit.

And yes, I confess to rash speculation in this matter, but could not Putin buy high-beta depressed German and American stocks ... announce Ukrainian concessions ... then sell these stocks at a nice profit ... and then repeat this stock market wrenching behavior all over again. This weird merry-go-round has been repeated so many times over the last six months that I am forced to conclude that Putin may not be just expanding his borders but also his (and maybe others') bank accounts.

Moreover yes, this is a very cynical supposition on what is happening ... particularly since so many Russian and Ukrainian lives are being lost. However, Putin's icy demeanor suggests to me that he is perfectly capable of such an evil calculus.

Perhaps our SEC and the German government might dig into this possibility?

Bad Blood

Here in Massachusetts there is a blood feud occurring between the Demoulas cousins, Arthur T. and Arthur S. over the control of the Market Basket grocery chain. Briefly, the Board of Directors recently ousted Arthur T. as CEO and replaced him with Arthur S.'s nominees … causing a revolt among the employees at most of these stores. Many have refused to come to work unless Arthur T. is re-instated and have therefore been fired … and, as a result, this company is suffering in extremis.

Market Basket stores are emptying out of both goods and customers and this family-owned private company has been losing millions of dollars a day for almost three weeks. To read more of the details of this nasty brouhaha, read: Boston Globe Story. Boston talk radio is also chock-a-block full of callers offering the pros and cons of this internecine battle.

I have shopped at our local Market Basket and like it quite a lot and am saddened by the real possibility that things there will never be the same again. And I am sure that I can never know all the ins and outs of this battle between these cousins. Was this all started by some insult at a family gathering? Or is it just the greed for a bigger slice of the company largess that is the root of all this silliness?

Whatever the reason, may I make one modest suggestion to the Demoulas extended family … revised from an old saw … close ranks, blood runs thicker than seltzer water.

Eye of a Needle

Pope Francis would like to remedy all the social evils of the world … starting with wealth inequality … see: Truth Revolt Story. And this has delighted President Obama who also fervently believes “to each according to his need.” Ever since the time of Jesus, Christians have echoed this mantra … chuck-a-block full of romantic agony. “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God,” sayeth Christ (Matthew 19:24 … see: The Bible Hub).

So is the Catholic Church donating all of its hoarded finery to remedy these wealth inequalities? No. Is President Obama impoverishing himself and his family to stand as an example to the rest of the world? No. Somehow, owning wealth can be forgiven if one does one’s hypocritical best to conscript others into obeying Christ’s teachings on this matter.

Yes, one must concede that using more of the world’s resources than one’s “rightful share” has, within it, a certain tinge of evil. But then again, envy is as wicked a deadly sin as greed … particularly when it is preached as being saintly.

Monkey Puzzle

Man has devised a clever way to capture small primates. It is called a monkey puzzle … basically a woven web or hollowed-out coconut which is attached to a sturdy post and, inside, it contains some sort of a goodie. When a monkey reaches in to get this bait, it can’t withdraw its paw without letting go of the prize … which it won’t do … therefore it was captured by its own greed.

There is a seduction analogous to this for us humans, a supposedly higher-level of primates. It’s called public welfare. Once we have our grimy paws on this government give-away, we won’t give it up … even if it means our effective enslavement. The Obama administration is counting on this primate tropism in the American public when it comes to moving health-care insurance (Obamacare) into the hollowed-out coconut. It firmly believes that the Republicans can’t or won’t roll back this offensive piece of liberal largess once they reacquire the reins of power. They might be right.

But there is an even bigger irony to this monkey puzzle theme.  And that is that the politicians themselves are enslaved by this welfare gambit.  They must keep making these public handouts bigger and bigger in order to convince the voters to let them keep their public sinecures with re-election.

So you see, we greedy voters are not the only monkeys, it’s those baboons in Washington too who also can’t let go of a good thing ... even though it might cost them their country.

Greed

Last year I wrote about the “Love” program run out of the U.S. Department of Agriculture wherein a women could get a $50,000 check just by claiming she or a close female relative had been denied a farm loan based upon her gender … no proof was needed.  This program was a clone of two similar programs … one called “Pigford” for black farmers and one called “Garcia” for Hispanic farmers … both groups who had supposedly been denied farm loans … again no proof was needed. (First read this blog entry: Love.)  The original exposer of this multi-billion dollar government fraud was the late Andrew Breitbart.

Now, the New York Times has picked up the torch from Breitbart and has run a front-page exposé on the Pigford program. This article is journalism as it is meant to be … but of which we see so little these days.  I most highly commend it to you.  Please read this article through to its end (if you can without throwing your computer across the room):  NY Times Article.  I know that it is hard to believe that a program so massive, so fraudulent, and so corrupt could be harbored within our current administration. But it was ... and is still going on (see: Breitbart Article.)

Is this backdoor reparations?  Probably.  But it is also government run amok.  It is also vote buying on a massive scale.  It is the abasement of the electorate into a state of abject greed and dependency … so that the perpetrators of such fraud will be re-elected … so that their next give-away can be engineered.  It is an appeal to this nation’s worst instincts … and, until this New York Times exposé, it has been mostly ignored by our nation's media.  How can this be?  Do we really want to wink at such malfeasance?  If so, we are doomed.

Wake up America! 

Greed

Last night on television I happened upon a PBS documentary on The American Experience which focused on the birth and growth of Silicon Valley in California.  In particular, it chronicled Bob Noyce’s co-invention of the integrated circuit and how he grew a small division of Fairchild Camera and Instrument (Fairchild Semiconductor) into a giant which then spawned dozens of other semiconductor companies throughout this region (watch it HERE ).  It was a fascinating walk-through the growth of this technology: semiconductors, integrated circuits, microprocessors, etc (most of which I was peripherally involved with) … and the players that made it happen: William Shockley, Bob Noyce, Gordon Moore, Andy Grove, etc. etc.

Bob Noyce, after seeing dozens of his co-workers found their own companies … and become uber-rich in the process, and, being unable to convince his higher-ups to do the same for his employees, took a few key players out of Fairchild Semiconductor and founded Intel Corporation.  He and thousands of other players around the Santa Clara area became insanely rich as a consequence of the dog-eat-dog competitive atmosphere that developed around this and ancillary technologies.  To me this was and is Capitalism personified … all driven by greed (economic self-interest if you will) and the need to one-up your competitor in this high-tech race … and get wealthy in the process.

This story has been repeated many times in the United States … the steel industry, the car industry, the telecommunications industry, the computer industry, etc., etc. … all driven by Capitalist greed.   Ergo, greed can be both good and bad.  Obviously stealing candy from a baby is bad … and this type is one of the seven deadly sins.  But the kind of greed as described by Adam Smith in The Wealth of Nations, where he coined the term “invisible hand,” is a good that few liberals understand.  He says:

By preferring the support of domestic to that of foreign industry, he [the Capitalist merchant] intends only his own security; and by directing that industry in such a manner as its produce may be of the greatest value, he intends only his own gain, and he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention. Nor is it always the worse for the society that it was not part of it. By pursuing his own interest he frequently promotes that of the society more effectually than when he really intends to promote it. I have never known much good done by those who affected to trade for the public good. It is an affectation, indeed, not very common among merchants, and very few words need be employed in dissuading them from it.

Adam Smith’s disdain for those “who affect to trade for the public good” is well taken and the results of such squishiness can be seen over and over and over again in the policies espoused by our current President (Solyndra, for instance).  Isn’t it funny how, generally, the people who become insanely rich in a Socialist society are generally found in the government.  Perhaps this is a corrupted variant of Adam Smith’s invisible hand.  This greed (avarice if you will) is akin to the candy-stealing kind and is what causes societies and their economies to rot and collapse.  I do believe we are currently knee-deep in same.

Why Christie's a Republican

In his speech to the Republican nominating convention Governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie, revealed why he is a Republican.  Of course he didn't say it in so many words, but he did reveal a key guiding principle of his life.  He said that his mother told him that, if he had a choice between being loved or being respected, choose being respected (see: Politico Story).  In many ways this mirrors a theme that I have been espousing of late -- Democrats govern with their hearts and Republicans govern with their heads.  And there is no clearer distinction to be drawn between the consequences of these two styles than Christie's success as New Jersey's governor.  He took a state broken by the dewy policies of Democrat Jon Corzine and his many Democratic predecessor governors and, in a few short years, has begun to bring this state back to fiscal solvency.

Clearly not every Democrat eschews logic in their administrative styles, but enough of them prosper by pulling the heart strings of their voters for me to comfortably make this generalization.  Too many Democrats denounce the economic self interest which is fundamental to capitalism as "greed."  Too many Democrats denounce any criticism of Obama's policies as "racism."  Too many Democrats denounce a belief in the traditional family unit  as "homophobia."  Too many Democrats denounce a desire to see people achieve their greatest inborn potential as "slavery."  Too many Democrats denounce right-to-lifers  as "sexists."  Do you see where I am going with this?  Using pejorative labels to silence your critics has been a strategy of those on the left for too many years now.  Listen to Christie ... it's time for Republicans to stop trying to be loved and go for respect instead. 

I actually think Romney gets it.