Posted on 08/10/2009 7:53:41 PM PDT by jazusamo
Random thoughts on the passing scene:
Different people have very different reactions to President Barack Obama. Those who listen to his rhetoric are often inspired, while those who follow what he actually does are often appalled.
New York and Chicago have both recently had their coldest June in generations. If they had had their hottest month, it would have been trumpeted from the media 24/7 by "global warming" zealots. But the average surface temperature of the earth has not changed in more than a decade, according to the Cato Institute.
Many years ago, there was a comic book character who could say the magic word "Shazam" and turn into Captain Marvel, a character with powers like Superman's. Today, you can say the magic word "diversity" and turn reverse discrimination into social justice.
I would rather see politicians hanged than see their children smeared.
Someone pointed out that blaming economic crises on "greed" is like blaming plane crashes on gravity. Certainly planes wouldn't crash if it wasn't for gravity. But when thousands of planes fly millions of miles every day without crashing, explaining why a particular plane crashed because of gravity gets you nowhere.
Neither does talking about "greed," which is constant like gravity.
Political ideologies are fairy tales for adults.
What did we learn from the "beer summit" on the White House lawn, except that Vice President Joe Biden doesn't drink alcoholic beverages? Considering the many gaffes that the vice president has made while cold sober, the thought of an intoxicated Joe Biden boggles the mind.
(Excerpt) Read more at jewishworldreview.com ...
This is racist. Oh, wait...
Thanks for the ping jaz.
Sowell’s bit on greed is good.
An analysis of any economic crisis will probably show that greed played a part, but economic success and prosperity also occur because greed is part of the equation.
Our government regulates business to a degree to ensure that greed and power don’t result in an unholy union that suppresses the free market. At least that is why our government was empowered in the first place to regulate some aspects of business and the market. In the late 1990s, in 1999, our government decided to abuse that power by instituting policies that not only forced banks to make bad loans to people who probably wouldn’t be able to afford it over the coarse of the loan, but they encouraged and enabled their bad policy by putting the weight and credit of the U.S. Government behind those policies.
As I usually do at this point in my rant, I point out that George W. Bush, an MBA, approached Congress about changing those policies to restore sanity and balance to the credit market. Congress, naturally, said ‘no’. They didn’t want to be painted as the Congress that took away easy mortgages from the minorities, because that would be racist. In fact, George W. Bush was called a racist for proposing what he did. Surprised? Not I.
In this case, the heart of current crisis was created and caused by greed. The type of greed that is at the heart of our government, the greed for power and prestige. Congress members refused to potentially sacrifice their position and access to power to stave off a growing crisis, or even to address the issue fairly and on its merits. They rapidly dismissed the predictions from GWB’s White House and turned the proposal into political fodder by using their opposition to the measures proposed by GWB to prove their friendliness to those very minorities worst affected by the disruption in the market.
Greed most definitely had something to do with it, but if you track it back to the original source, you’ll find the very people responsible for the mess still at the helm, and ironically - they still haven’t found the courage to fix those darned regulations that created the problem in the first place. I guess they’re still afraid someone might use an attempt to fix them as political fodder to label them as racist. Go figure.
” Political ideologies are fairy tales for adults.”
You HAVE to love this guy , you really do.
Well said and Dr. Sowell has said much the same thing.
Thoms Sowell at his best .... and in all his writings the simplicity of the problem and simplicity of the issues is always made clear.
What about the “greedy” lust to take, handle, and distribute other people’s money?
When has Sowell never been at his best? :-)
You should stop using this word or define it.
People are appalled by gouging. But what's gouging? Nobody has ever defined it yet. It was not Goldman Sachs who was flipping condos in FLorida and Nevada. So, whose greed we are talking about?
In the dotcom era, wasn't it Joes and Jills who were playing the market while at work, buying and selling within a couple of hours? Then too, after the bubble burst, people were pointing at greedy corporations. Nonsense: most corporation are owned by millions of people that are retired or save for retirement.
Don't fall for this form of class warfare.
Smilin Joe, the gift that keeps on giving.
Hmm. can’t change the name of “Random Thoughts” or I’d never find it :)
Hmm. can’t change the name of “Random Thoughts” or I’d never find it :)
Greed is part of the human condition. As Sowell points out, it is like gravity. It is present in all business transactions, be it bad or good, it is there.
Plus, your post made very little sense as a response to my post.
That is a great line, I’m still chuckling. I’d bet Biden chuckles about these jabs too. lol
Dr. Sowell would never change it but JWR has a hard time getting things straight at times :-)
Dr. Sowell nails this, and if Obama gets his way, at some point all union jobs will be government jobs.
And like SEIU, union thugs can then beat us up while our taxes pay them to do it.
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