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Does it count?
jewish world review ^ | Walter Williams

Posted on 06/19/2002 7:47:42 PM PDT by Nitro

Does it count?

NewsAndOpinion.com | If someone does something wonderful, but didn't intend to, does it count? Should we see ourselves as blessed?

You say, "Williams, what are you talking about


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Government; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: stunning; truth; walterwilliams
to the full article!!
1 posted on 06/19/2002 7:47:42 PM PDT by Nitro
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To: nutmeg; Snow Bunny
Ping!!
2 posted on 06/19/2002 7:49:56 PM PDT by Nitro
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To: Nitro
You say, "Williams, what are you talking about

OK. I'll bite.

Williams, what are you talking about?

3 posted on 06/19/2002 7:51:56 PM PDT by Willie Green
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To: Nitro
Another great article by Dr Williams, one of the most clear thinking "pundits" (if you can call him that) in America. Why are so many people ignorant of the selfish beauty of economics? I find it telling that Adam Smith's _Wealth of Nations_ was published in that watershed year of 1776.

Williams is so good that when he fills in for Rush I actually listen to that broadcast.

4 posted on 06/19/2002 7:53:31 PM PDT by Another Galt
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To: Nitro
It all counts!

bump for WW

5 posted on 06/19/2002 8:01:18 PM PDT by Tourist Guy
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To: Willie Green
Read on!!
6 posted on 06/19/2002 8:06:27 PM PDT by Nitro
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To: Another Galt
I think that soon Walter Williams will be known far and wide...

he speaks of truth, justice and the rights of man!!

Either that or the USA is lost in a mire of PC speak and weak-sisters!!

7 posted on 06/19/2002 8:11:20 PM PDT by Nitro
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To: Tourist Guy
Bump you too!!
8 posted on 06/19/2002 8:12:06 PM PDT by Nitro
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To: Nitro
Read on!!

OK.

Try this. In 1846, there were 735 U.S. whaling ships, 80 percent of the world's whaling fleet. American whalers killed an average of 15,000 whales per year, mostly to produce oil for lamps. By the time whaling dropped off, toward the end of the century, there were only 50,000 whales alive. Had whaling continued, there would be no whales today.

So, who was responsible for saving the whale from extinction? Was it Greenpeace? No, it was multimillionaire David Rockefeller, who successfully marketed kerosene, which took over the illumination market. Later, Thomas Edison's incandescent light bulb ran both whale oil and kerosene out of the illumination market.

Williams, what are you talking about?

Whaling Statistics


1910 -- 12,301
1920 -- 11,369
1930 -- 39,300
1940 -- 37,709
1950 -- 45,060
1960 -- 63,616
1970 -- 42,254
1980 --  3,401
1990 --    655
2000 --  1,343

9 posted on 06/19/2002 8:22:07 PM PDT by Willie Green
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To: Another Galt
Williams is so good that.....I actually listen to that broadcast.

Me too! I wish Williams had a show of his own.

10 posted on 06/19/2002 8:24:18 PM PDT by elbucko
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To: Willie Green
According to the statistics on the whaling statistic link you posted, the stats for the year 79-80 are: US total: 18 whales. Japanese Total: 1,499 whales.

This does not necessarily prove Willams example wrong. The example of the US's 18 whales makes his point. The 1,499 whales of the Japanese means we should drop another A-bomb on the "Land of the Rising Sun",to save the whales.

11 posted on 06/19/2002 8:41:18 PM PDT by elbucko
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To: Willie Green
You now own the record of not getting the point!!

The article used "whaling" as a metaphor, not an actuality!!

No whales were killed in the writing of this article!!

12 posted on 06/19/2002 8:42:06 PM PDT by Nitro
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To: Willie Green
You now own the record of not getting the point!!

The article used "whaling" as a metaphor, not an actuality!!

No whales were killed in the writing of this article!!

13 posted on 06/19/2002 8:46:15 PM PDT by Nitro
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To: Nitro; RightWhale
You now own the record of not getting the point!!
The article used "whaling" as a metaphor, not an actuality!!

No misinterpretation on my part.
Walter Williams used whaling to illustrate a point.
Historical facts show that he's full of baloney.

Walter's claim to be a "conservative" is irrelvant if his credibility is shot.
He should strive to utilize more valid examples to communicate his ideas.
As it stands, Walter's presentation of economic theory is on a par with that of Miss Cleo.

14 posted on 06/20/2002 7:11:13 AM PDT by Willie Green
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To: Willie Green
There is a saying that doing good deeds might be the worst thng possible. Or wishing for your neighbor what you wish for yourself might be inappropriate because what you wish for yourself might turn out to be disastrous for you. We just can't know all the time what is best for ourselves, let alone what might be good for others.

Using Edison as an example, he marketed recording devices and electric lights. Both great things, Edison thought, for mankind. But recording devices led to the resignation of a President and leads to who knows how many breakups of marriages every day. Electric lights have nearly destroyed the night sky and we are supposed to be watching the lights in the sky for signs and seasons, and they also cause people to stay up all night and not get enough sleep.

Whether it is for purely selfish reasons or for altruistic purposes, doing wonderful things might not be so wonderful after all, although the odds are better if things are done for purely selfish reasons.

15 posted on 06/20/2002 9:28:40 AM PDT by RightWhale
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To: RightWhale
Adroitly sidestepping Walter's revisionist history of whaling?

Tsk, tsk!!!
I expected better.

16 posted on 06/20/2002 10:25:49 AM PDT by Willie Green
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To: Willie Green
A counter-example of someone who actually saved a species from extinction was the notorious drunk, Gray Wolf, who single-handedly saved the Canadian beaver from Hudson Bay Company trappers. He ran his scam for a long time, probably in mere self-interest, but he did save the beaver, which was his announced goal. Like Iron Eyes Cody, he pretended to be Indian, which provided the true root cause of belief in the mythical native interest in environmentalism.
17 posted on 06/20/2002 10:41:13 AM PDT by RightWhale
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To: RightWhale
Who's to say that even the Greenspeace eco-terrorists aren't pusuing their own financial self-interests?
They obtain their revenues from sympathetic donors, and the whales are saved despite the disengenous motivation!

Ol' Walter is really walking on quicksand with his hypothesis.
In the end, he may be right despite his awkwardly incompetent example!

18 posted on 06/20/2002 11:14:02 AM PDT by Willie Green
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To: Willie Green
In the end, he may be right

He could be right if he is looking out for his own enlightened self-interest, although as a person with tenure at a major university he has already taken care of his own act. Like most, he doesn't care about whales, he just likes the idea that there are whales somewhere, creatures who don't pay taxes and don't vote Democrat, and seem to be happy enough anyway.

19 posted on 06/20/2002 11:35:32 AM PDT by RightWhale
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To: RightWhale
creatures who don't pay taxes and don't vote Democrat, and seem to be happy enough anyway.

The perfect drones for capitalist exploitation in institutions like SeaWorld Incorporated.

20 posted on 06/20/2002 11:43:05 AM PDT by Willie Green
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