Quoted for Thought: Ron Paul

Overheard on the Brian Wilson Radio Show: “There’s no fuzziness with Ron Paul.” Because there’s no way with Dr. Paul for a voter to rationalize why he’s voting for an anti-freedom tyrant. Hurts the self-esteem of yer averij voter (who typically likes to pretend he’s for liberty), it does, to admit that he’s voting for [...]

Thinking about: National default

Bankruptcy is an ugly word – admitting you cannot pay your debts and going to have to default on payment to your creditors, people who loaned you money in good faith, presuming that repayment would be forthcoming. Whether due to unforeseen events, or just due to overspending, failure to repay sucks. There is, however, something [...]

Proving a point – what’s a “good job?”

From a link on Naked Capitalism regarding austerity policy in Greece, the quote: “In a very competitive job market, Greek parents sought to equip their children to secure a job as a civil servant.” So. A job that produces nothing except rules, noted for stifling the private sector, in a country that’s beat out by [...]

Thinking about: The little monsters

There’s a wonderful post over at the HuffPo that asks the question about just WTF is wrong with parent/child relationships these days. The writer, who sounds a lot like my mom used to, has essentially rediscovered the “permissive parenting” that rears its head again and again through the years. The idea that somehow children should [...]

Thinking about: Counterinsurgency

I’m sure I don’t agree with many of the objectives of the Occupy Whatever movement, and certainly have issues with some of their hangers-on. That being said, Chris Hedges hits one out of the park in describing how the State operates against any groups with which it has disagreement. It is interesting that in a [...]

Thinking about: Collapse

Orlov updated his Five Stages Of Collapse last year in November or so. Good reading, well worth a re-read these days. The only real quibble is his suggestion that the “market” provides anything. The problem with most languages, as H. Beam Piper once observed, is that they generally condition people to believe that everything is [...]

Thinking about: People’s Direction

I’ve always liked the book “The Lonely Crowd,” ever since a sociology professor of mine told me I was the most inner directed person he’d ever met. He sent me off with a “where to find further discussion on the term” direction, and it was one of those “that makes sense!” moments in life. Well, [...]

Thinking about: Authoritarian followers

I wish I could write half as coherently and thoughtfully as Glenn Greenwald does when he’s discussing issues. Quoting from his previous thoughts on the topic: Whether one is a “liberal” — or, for that matter, a “conservative” — is now no longer a function of one’s actual political views, but is a function purely [...]

Thining about: Money, again

Economists and governments like to make money seem complicated, so that they can pretend that Duh Voters can’t possibly understand what it’s all about. But money is really nothing more than a social convention, a store of wealth accepted by a group, as discussed here. Cigarettes in POW camps, the “mack” in prisons today, feathers, [...]