Ayn Rand on money. (sort of).

The following is an excerpt from Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. It is part of a rather long speech by one of the characters in the book named Francisco D’Anconia.

“Destroyers seize gold and leave to its owners a counterfeit pile of paper. This kills all objective standards and delivers men into the arbitrary power of an arbitrary setter of values. Gold was an objective value, an equivalent of wealth produced. Paper is a mortgage on wealth that does not exist, backed by a gun aimed at those who are expected to produce it. Paper is a check drawn by legal looters upon an account which is not theirs: upon the virtue of the victims. Watch for the day when it bounces, marked: ‘Account overdrawn.’

“When you have made evil the means of survival, do not expect men to remain good. Do not expect them to stay moral and lose their lives for the purpose of becoming the fodder of the immoral. Do not expect them to produce, when production is punished and looting rewarded. Do not ask, ‘Who is destroying the world?’ You are.”

How right Ayn Rand was. We are on the verge of seeing that happen. The dollar is crashing because there’s nothing of value to back it up. A dollar is just a worthless piece of paper. It is only valuable because some bureaucrat says it is, and people believe him. But people are slowly waking up to reality. Something big is coming. It’s going to get worse before it gets better.

Daily Wise (Wo)man.

“Money is the barometer of a society’s virtue. When you see that trading is done not by consent but by compulsion, when you see that in order to produce you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing, when you see that money is flowing to those who deal not in goods but in favors, when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don’t protect you against them but protect them against you, when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice, you may know that your society is doomed.”

-Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged.

Wow. We’re done for.

The free market always wins.

Today DownsizeDC.org sent out a very powerful letter. I thought I’d share it with you. (Emphasis added)…

Quote of the Day:

“Government doesn’t work.”
– Harry Browne

Subject: Government vs. You

In 1871 the city of Chicago burned to the ground. There was no FEMA or large federal funding to rebuild it. Instead, the people of Chicago rebuilt their own city and in short order it soared to new heights.

In 1906, after a major earthquake, the city of San Francisco also burned down. There was no FEMA or large federal funding to rebuild it. Instead, the people of San Francisco did it themselves and the city was soon restored.

In 2005 a large part of the city of New Orleans was destroyed when a levy, designed, built, and maintained by government, proved inadequate to protect against a hurricane that was far from the worst that could have struck the city. Private citizens and businesses such as Wal-Mart rushed to the city’s aid, but were largely blocked by federal officials. FEMA and large federal funding were there to rebuild the city, but today much of New Orleans still lies in ruins.

We see the evidence all around us, where government seeks to help, harm often follows. Education, food, energy, and medical care are all areas where the government alleges it helps you, but all are areas where prices are rising faster than in other sectors.

Government doesn’t work, because government has no incentive to succeed. Instead, government prospers by failing — constantly gaining new power and resources because of the crises it creates.

Meanwhile, we see companies like Wal-Mart working effectively to lower the cost of prescription drugs, and Walgreens is opening discount medical clinics in thousands of their stores to lower the cost of routine health care. We see home schoolers providing vastly better academic results. And we see private innovation that will lower the cost of energy and protect the environment . . .

* A company called Sunrgi has just announced a design for photovoltaic cells that promises to make solar power competitive with other sources of electricity.

* A research team at Stanford has created a battery technology that is ten times more efficient than existing batteries.

* And an oil company, Exxon, has also produced an improved battery technology that will LOWER THE DEMAND FOR THEIR OIL by making hybrid cars more cost effective.

The evidence is abundant, if only we will look and heed what we see. The solutions we seek will not come from the top down, designed by politicians and provided by the government. More problems than solutions come from that source. Instead, the solutions to our problems will come from “the bottom up,” provided by innovative firms responding to human needs.

The same is true of the problem of government itself. The solution to “the government problem” will not come from politicians. It will come from innovative private entities such as Downsize DC.

Stated another way, you will not solve the problem of government by somehow electing the right politicians to do the job for you, from the top down. Instead . . .

You will only solve the problem of government by compelling politicians, from “the bottom up,” to lessen the harm caused by Big Government. And just as innovative firms solve problems by lowering costs — constantly doing more with less — Downsize DC is also trying to lower the cost you pay to solve “the government problem.”

For just a few cents per day, from a few hundred more DC Downsizers making monthly pledges, we could reach the take-off point, beyond which every additional dollar we raise could be devoted to outreach that would . . .

* Recruit more DC Downsizers faster

* Spread the word about things like the “Read the Bills Act” and the “One Subject at a Time Act”

* And exert more bottom-up pressure to COMPEL politicians to solve “the government problem.”

This could be done for a tiny fraction of what has been spent trying to elect even one candidate to office.

So . . .

As you relax from your labors this weekend, ask yourself, has the age-old attempt to elect the right people to office worked? Has it enabled you to accomplish more with less, or has it constantly required you to pay more and more and more with little measurable return?

We recognize that we are selling a new paradigm that clashes with habitual modes of thought. We know that only constant repetition can carve a new groove in the public mind to make a place for this new paradigm. But we believe in this new paradigm and in the power of repetition, and so we push . . . and push . . . and push.

We will be back to work on Monday, meanwhile . . .

* Start a monthly credit card pledge. It could be as low as a few cents per day — $3, $5, $10, $15, $20, or $25 per month. Or, . . .

* Help us earn a $1,000 matching contribution from DC Downsizer James Marquart. You can do so by making a one-time donation of $100 or more — your contribution will be worth $200 to us. Or, . . .

* Help us with whatever size contribution you can afford.

Your contribution is our budget. Your investment is our expansion. You can contribute here.

Thank you for being a part of the growing Downsize DC Army. We welcome comments to this Dispatch at our blog.

Jim Babka
President
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.

Daily Wise Man

In a republic like ours, people often think that the proper response to an unjust law is to try to use the political process to change the law, but to obey and respect the law until it is changed. But if the law is itself clearly unjust, and the lawmaking process is not designed to quickly obliterate such unjust laws, then the law deserves no respect — break the law. -Henry David Thoreau

Are We Free?

I’m going to start a new series of blogs entitled Are We Free?

I’ll be looking at some of the myths, lies, and common misconceptions that people believe regarding the freedom we have or don’t have in America.

The first installment of will deal with taxation.

After each entry I want you to ask yourself…

Happy May Day, Commies.

If it’s International Worker’s Day, why are there hundreds of thousands of workers taking a day off to shuffle around the streets aimlessly when they could be doing something productive?

…like working.

Daily Wise Man (Citizen tickets a cop)

Today I bring you another very special Daily Wise Man.

“Citizens should be concerned that he used his status as an officer of the law as justification for breaking the law,” -Eric Bryant

Here’s the executive summary: A cop parks in a no parking zone so that he can go into a cafe to eat and watch a sports game on TV. A concerned citizen (who is also a lawyer) asks the cop about it. The cop replies that he is a cop and he can do whatever he wants. The lawyer presses charges and the cop may have to pay a fine of $540.

You should be concerned that an officer uses his status as an excuse for breaking the law that he is sworn to uphold.

That young lawyer is a true patriot.

[ARTICLE]

The War on (Some) Drugs

The War on (Some) Drugs

I meant to write this for 4/20 but I forgot. And no it’s not because I was smoking. Believe it or not, I’ve never even seen Marijuana in person. I just don’t have any interest in it and I really do think people shouldn’t smoke it. But I don’t think it should be illegal either. Not only that, I believe that all drugs should be legal including “hard” drugs like Cocaine and Heroine and even prescription drugs. They should all be completely legal. Before you jump down my throat (by “throat” I mean “comment box”) allow me to make my case.

Which is worse?

You have to ask yourself which is worse, a guy lighting up a joint after work to relax or the cops breaking in his door with guns drawn to take him to prison. Which of those activities is going to ruin that man’s life? The War on Drugs is more damaging to individuals and society as a whole than the “drug problem” ever will be. In fact I believe that our “drug problem” is largely caused by the war on drugs. Whenever the government carries out a war on something, they not only fail every single time but they usually cause more of that activity to occur. The War on Poverty causes more poverty by raising taxes and increasing the welfare-state. The War on Terror causes more terrorism because we go to other countries and occupy their holy-lands. No wonder they hate us. And the war on drugs causes more drugs to be sold and more violence to be committed because whenever something is illegal, it becomes very very profitable and only ruthless criminals are willing to participate in the trade.

To understand this, we really only have to look at The Prohibition of Alcohol. During the 1920’s and early 1930’s alcohol was an illegal drug and no one drank and the country was a better place. Wrong! People kept right on drinking. Only now, instead of being created in safe environments and sold in liquor stores, alcohol was created in dirty bathtubs and sold by notorious gangsters like Al Capone and Bugs Moran. All of the violence that Capone was famous for was due to the War on Alcohol. Can you see the similarities between The Prohibition of Alcohol and the War on Drugs that we have today?

Another similarity between Prohibition and todays War on Drugs is the creation of new and more dangerous alternatives. Back in the days of Prohibition, the consumption of hard liquors increased dramatically. Before Prohibition Americans consumed mostly beers and wine. Hard liquor, which can be more dangerous for someone with no self control, became more popular as a direct result of Prohibition. Hard liquor was more profitable for the violent thugs that sold alcohol. Similarly, today we now have one of the most dangerous drugs in history and it was invented as a direct result of the War on Drugs. I’m talking about Crack Cocaine. Crack wasn’t invented until the 1980’s. It was created because it’s cheaper, and easier to make than regular cocaine. It’s also incredibly addictive and much more damaging than cocaine and it wouldn’t exist today if cocaine wasn’t illegal.

Addressing your fears.

Most people are afraid that if all drugs were legalized, society would crumble. That simply wouldn’t be the case. Currently only around 1% of the population use hard drugs. According to a Zogby Poll, if hard drugs like Cocaine and Heroine were legalized guess how many people said they would try them. Around 1%. [LINK]

What does that tell us? Well it tells us that people who would use drugs if they were legalized are already using them anyway. In other words, The War on Drugs doesn’t work. It is a failure. How would society change if drugs were legalized? Not much. The people who are taking hard drugs now would continue taking them and very few new people would start. The only significant difference would be the fact that the police would stop ruining people’s lives by taking them to jail for a personal choice. More on that subject later.

As we have seen, hard drug use would not increase significantly. But what about softer drugs like Pot? Well what about it? Who cares if people smoke a joint or two? I’d rather be in the room with someone who was really high than a person who was really drunk. “But Mike, if Marijuana is legalized, people might drive while high!” The concept that people don’t grasp is that laws are meaningless and ineffectual. People are driving high right now regardless of the law. Alcohol is legal but driving drunk is not. People still do it. Alcohol actually makes some people violent too. Alcohol and Tobacco kill many many people every year. Marijuana kills nobody. No one has ever overdosed on Marijuana. Well actually there was one guy who overdosed on Marijuana but that’s because he was smuggling it in a balloon that he swallowed which broke open and killed him. But he wouldn’t have been smuggling it if it wasn’t illegal. Why are drugs like alcohol and tobacco legal but drugs like marijuana aren’t? Alcohol and tobacco are extremely dangerous; much more dangerous than Marijuana. From now on, the “War on Drugs” will be referred to as the “War on (Some) Drugs”.

The Principle of the Matter

The principle of the matter is this: it’s my body, my choice. Now, as I’ve said before, my personal choice is to not use illegal drugs. I do drink alcohol in moderation (I’ve never been drunk) and I do smoke cigars (only on special occasions). I personally like to be in control of myself at all times. Drug use is a victimless crime. Therefore it is not a crime. You may be thinking to yourself, “Victimless crime? Tell that to all the families that have been destroyed because of drug use!” But I would ask you to consider the many thousands of people who’s families have been destroyed because of alcohol use, tobacco use, or even parents who care too much about their jobs. In those cases we attribute the destruction of the family to a poor personal choice. Why should illegal drugs be any different? The cracked-out mother who neglects her kids is no different than the alcoholic father who beats his kids. The dead-beat pothead dad is no different than the workaholic mother who ignores the needs of her children. It’s all personal choice. Everything in moderation. Drinking is great unless you drink too much. Smoking a cigar can be a relaxing experience unless you over do it. And a job can be just as damaging to a family as cocaine if you allow it to get in the way.

I’m not saying drugs are good. Clearly they can be terrible. But I’ll ask my original question again. Which is worse? A guy coming home from work and smoking Marijuana to relax or the cops busting in his door with guns blazing and throwing him into a jail cell? Which is more likely to ruin his life? Why am I allowed to come home and take [my drug of choice] after work to relax but that man can’t? The fact that cops are raiding people’s homes to arrest them for victimless crimes is bad enough. It’s even worse when they screw it up. And boy do they screw it up! Just take a look at this map:

[Botched Paramilitary Police Raids]

It’s a Google map that shows instances of botched police raids that were carried out in connection with the war on drugs. I don’t have time to go into specific cases, that will come in future articles. But there are so many sad stories there. Stories of the police raiding the wrong house and killing the occupants or getting killed themselves. While drug addiction is a terrible tragedy, it is eclipsed by the atrocities that are committed in the name of the War on (Some) Drugs.

All of it is so unneccessary.

REAL ID

Today’s Downsizer Dispatch is worth reposting. After you’re done with the article, go to DownsizeDC.org and sign up. They make it incredibly easy for voters to contact their Congresscritters and give them a piece of their mind. So without any further ado, today’s Downsizer Dispatch:

Bureaucratic bookkeeping vs. targeted surveillance

Which is more likely to protect you from terrorism, a database and a plastic ID card, or targeted surveillance of probable terrorists?

REAL ID is mere bureaucratic bookkeeping. It aims to put EVERY LAW-ABIDING CITIZEN in a database, give us a special ID card, and then constantly ask us the totalitarian’s favorite question, “May I see your papers please?”

But how exactly would a REAL ID card protect you from a suicide bomber? Could you throw it at them, or use it to shield yourself from the blast? Would a suicide bomber even . . .

* Worry about having a REAL ID, or . . .

* Choose a target where an ID was needed?

The characteristic failing of military strategists is that they “re-fight the last war,” using tactics that might have worked in that war, but that are now obsolete. The architects of REAL ID are doing exactly that, re-fighting the events of 9-11, when terrorists used ID cards to board airplanes. But . . .

Why should the terrorists repeat that tactic when there are so many softer targets? This is an obvious question, and probably an irrefutable objection. Nevertheless, the architects of REAL ID still want to . . .

* Number and track and inconvenience all of us

* Increase our risk of identity theft

* Erect yet another traditional component of a police state

Beyond these negative outcomes the most that REAL ID is likely to accomplish is to help forensic investigators establish, after an attack has already happened, that the terrorist . . .

* Had no REAL ID, but executed his attack anyway

* Obtained a REAL ID legally

* Forged a REAL ID

* Bought, borrowed, or robbed a REAL ID that was sufficient to his purpose

Learning these things after the fact won’t do much to protect anyone.

The REAL ID databases and ID cards will cost a lot but accomplish little. They will ensnare ALL law-abiding citizens, but FEW if any law-ignoring terrorists. What we need instead is targeted surveillance of probable terrorists. This means . . .

* Recruiting agents with the right language skills . . .

* To infiltrate the places where terrorist cells are born

We must find and stop terrorists at their source, because by the time a REAL ID database and card might possibly play a role, it’s probably already too late.

Most importantly, we must moderate or eliminate those aspects of our foreign policy that motivate Muslims to radicalize into deadly, suicidal terrorists. This includes wars and occupations in Islamic lands, as well as financial and military support for dictatorships in Islamic countries.**

Governments burden their subjects with the exact weight of tyranny they believe those subjects will bear. We must prove ourselves unwilling to bear the burden of REAL ID. We must demand that our government protect us with targeted surveillance of probable terrorists, and not with bureaucratic bookkeeping, databases and plastic cards.

* Send Congress a message making this demand

* Use your personal comments to make some of the above points

* Forward this message to others

**Emphasis added

Tax Day Video

Here’s a nice video for you to watch about protesting the income tax.

Be sure to check out RidleyReport.com