On spending money you don't have

I spend money, 

I don't have.

To buy things,

I don't need.

To impress people,

I don't know.

I found the above poem on a discussion board.  I don't know who to attribute it to but I thought it was too good to not share.  As my children get older I find myself counselling them about not falling for the trap of celebrity worship, reckless consumerism, and deriving self-worth from material things.  Just as government can enslave us through reckless spending and borrowing, we can enslave ourselves by our own reckless buying and borrowing.  There is a lot of freedom in living debt free.  And character can be built through delayed gratification.  

Indoctrinating the Grasshopper Generation

This interview scares me but it doesn't surprise me.  That liberal indoctrination of youth in many public school classrooms and through varied media platforms (movies, TV, Internet) should not be a surprise to anyone.  I once read that most adults don't stray too far from the political views they held prior to the age of 20.  Similar to many religious organizations, the statists realize that if you get them young they will likely hold onto those beliefs.  


In the interview below Jack Chambless, an economics professor from Valencia College in Florida, tells of an assignment he gave his students on the first day of class.  He asked them to write an essay on what the American Dream meant to them and what they expected from government to help them realize the American Dream.  He said only 10% said they wanted the federal government to stay out of their lives as much as possible. 80% said they wanted the federal government to pay for their education, find them a job, help them buy a house, and give them money in retirement. Professor Chambless suggests that his students are simply parroting back what they have been indoctrinated to say from their years in public schools.  


As I said, this interview scares me because I suspect Professor Chambless is correct.




FYI:  Here is a link to an article from The Blaze about a teacher handing out a flyer that promoted communism as a being superior to capitalism. 

Speak with Conviction

This video of a Taylor Mali poem makes a very good point about how today's youth's lack of conviction is evident in their way of speaking.

Why Inequality is Not Necessarily Bad

In this video Law Professor Richard Epstein explains why inequality is good. While his argument is solid, I wouldn't have stated it that way. I would have said liberty is good and you can't have liberty without allowing for economic inequality as a possible outcome. However, when those with economic power extract economic rent from government through bailouts and other special rights then it is bad. But the solution is not to give government more power as many of the OWS crowd want but to limit the scope of government so it is not economically beneficial to lobby for corporate and union handouts. We need to end privatized profits and socialized loses. If a company or a union (GM, Chrysler, UAW, NEA, Bank of America, and so forth) makes bad decisions then they need to pay the price, not taxpayers. Corporatism, not capitalism, is what people should be upset against.

Watch Does U.S. Economic Inequality Have a Good Side? on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.

Is the US a Democracy or a Constitutional Republic?

When I was a young boy a visiting relative asked me if the US was a democracy or a republic.  I said democracy.  The led to a 30 minute lecture on why we are a constitutional republic.  She was correct, of course.  The founders never intended for the US to be a democracy.  They feared democracy because a true democracy does not have safeguards to protect liberty.  Here is a well done video from the Bill of Rights Institute.

Atlas Shrugged Movie Part 1 DVD Release

With Atlas Shrugged Part I set for release on November 8, I thought I would share this YouTube review by BookofNick.  He does a really good job.  

Lyrics to Wilson Getchell's You're Gonna Pay

You’re Gonna Pay

Old people government funded medication

Subsidized housing in the capital of the nation

3 trillion dollar deficit on top of a 15 trillion dollar debt

Bullet trains, windmills and monkeys on cocaine . . . monkeys on cocaine

Chorus:

You’re gonna pay!

You’re gonna pay!

You’re gonna pay!

. . . cause someone’s got to . . . pay

For Federally funded cowboy poetry

For Federally funded condoms for pre-teens

For Federally funded books and magazines

And Federally funded air to breathe

(Chorus)

For the 21 Century entitlement state

Where there are crickets in the coffers and pensions to pay

We need less military presence throughout  Continental Europe

For more fiscally responsible punk rock music now

(Chorus)

(Repeat Chorus)

For 70 million baby boomers'

Social Security, Social Security

70 million baby boomers'

Social Security, Social Security

(Chorus)

For Federally funded cowboy poetry

For Federally funded condoms for pre-teens

For Federally funded books and magazines

For Federally funded air to breathe