Give Me Liberty

As we wake up on Election Day, most of us are probably thinking “Thank goodness, it’s almost over”. But what has happened to us? Throughout history, we have always been threatened by barbarians, people willing to use force to disrupt society, take the property and control the lives of others. To defend ourselves, we formed societies, built defenses, and fought back. At some point, we apparently concluded that we had defeated them. But they are still amongst us. Yes, they have put on expensive suits, and learned to speak eloquently, but they are still barbarians. They still use force take our property and control our lives. And they have completely fooled us. Now we call them “politicians” and “public servants”, “great men and women”, and consider it our civic duty to go out and vote to choose which ones will be our masters. They are still barbarians, and our future looks bleak.

We are voting in the midst of an “economic crisis”, brought on by years of misguided government manipulation of the economy. Yet the chattering classes shout out that it’s a “market failure”, and the barbarians promise to save us with a bailout. I have trouble believing that free markets somehow “failed”, when we haven’t had a free market in this country for at least a hundred years, but we seem to be falling for that nonsense yet again. Already we have narrowed the field to two candidates promising bigger government, more regulation, and less freedom. One candidate is unquestionably a socialist, the other is simply the pot calling the kettle black. (He is, after all, the co-author of the “McCain-Feingold Incumbent Protection Act”.)

So when we awake tomorrow, we will have “chosen” our new masters, but what will we have accomplished? We have already allowed the current administration to nationalize the banks. Is there anything we won’t let the incoming barbarians do to have their ways with us? Will we ever again stand up to them and proclaim that each of us was “created equal”, endowed with the “inalienable rights” of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”? If not, then the barbarians have truly won, and our best days are indeed behind us.

I personally don’t believe that our best days are behind us, but today is a hard day to be optimistic. So skip the lines at the polls, have a second cup of coffee, and think about the things that really matter.

Give Me Liberty

Chicago Tribune readers were treated to a rare commentary on liberty Sunday morning (October 26). John Kass, (who does excellent work exposing Illinois corruption) wrote a great column exposing how we baby boomers, the anti-establishment movement of the ’60s, have fallen hook, line and sinker for the siren song of big government. It’s a great story, read it here. His analogy to wild pigs is entertaining and appropriate, although probably too kind for We the Sheeple. As Benjamin Franklin said, “They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”

This morning the government released its monthly jobs report, a “net” loss of 63,000 jobs. But that included an increase of 38,000 government jobs. That means we lost 101,000 productive jobs and “gained” 38,000 parasitic jobs. So we really suffered a loss of 139,000 jobs - 101,000 real jobs, and 38,000 more that we taxpayers now have to pay for.

Of course, that’s just the salary cost. If those 38,000 people actually show up for work, the private sector will have to hire at least that many more to comply with the new regulations they hand down. Given the millions of businesses that must comply with regulations written by a single bureaucrat, ten times that many new overhead jobs would probably be conservative. And regulations are forever, and cumulative. Those 38,000 new bureaucrats will be piling on ever more burdensome restrictions for the next 30 years - and then collecting pensions for another 30 years! God only knows how much those 38,000 new “jobs” will cost our children and grandchildren.

The truth is, only productive labor and capital create jobs. Presidential candidates constantly promise to “create new jobs”, but it doesn’t work that way. Government hiring represents a net subtraction from the productive work force, just as government spending is a direct reduction of our personal wealth. So when you hear the politicians talk about “fiscal stimulus”, hang on to your wallet. Spend your tax rebate check as you see fit, but don’t for one moment be grateful to Washington. It’s your money, and it cost you a lot more than you got back!