“Should Be Legalized” is a a great, high quality parody of Eminem’s “Love The Way You Lie.” The video reminds us of the dangers of prohibition and urges Congress to legalize marijuana. I must, however, object to the video’s desire for pot to be regulated or taxed.
Legalize It _\|/_ But Don’t Tax Or Regulate It, Bro Read Post »
The total destruction of the Democrats has arrived with Obama. Obama, that great “progressive” has turned out to be quite like his hated predecessor. Indeed, the Obama administration is appealing a recent gay marriage ruling preventing federal government ban on same-sex marriage. Between that, wars, Guantánamo, spying, severe weakening of habeas corpus, new presidential powers, threats of censoring the internet, endless banking and health care corporatism and support of the drug war, the modern Democrat has lost. By now they must either be ignorant of what is going or do not care, or think that Obama is “really trying”. Pu-leez. Vote and cover your ears. Oh hey–this is what Republicans do as well!
The problem, of course, goes beyond the president. Decades of entrenched socialism and fascism (perhaps “corporatism” is a better term), not to mention warmongering, has become the status quo. It is the state that is to blame. And there is only so much a single person can do (no offense “hope” and “change”), which today is very little given the size and complexity of the federal government.
So with that, I just wanted to ask, in a loud and ridiculing tone, “Now WHO looks ridiculous for not voting?” LOL@U, Obama voter.
(Don’t worry. I will mock Republicans soon enough. As it is always with American politics, the worst is yet to come.)
LOL@Democrats, Obama Voters Read Post »
In my first blog post here I pointed out how statism and monopolies had affected language. There is more to be said about this.
It’s not just candidates who invade our homes with political propaganda and petitions for votes. It’s also the almost exclusively pro-state media and academics. 2010 being an election year, rhetoric is rampant. Indeed, discussions about taxes and spending are all too common (and all too sad). And tax talk, of course, is not free of the very same examples of language corruption that allows the existence of certain ways that we speak about taxes and the desire for them.
Take the statement, “taxes give us roads and police.” Putting aside the monopoly aspects, what seldom gets asked is whether roads and police are needed, how much and of what quality. When someone complains about taxes or government spending, soon enough the reply will have to do about us being able to have bridges and other services. Sure, tax money goes to those and thousands of other projects.
Imagine a similar situation in everyday life. We go to the grocery store with a shopping list. The first item is “apples.” Fine–we need apples. But the list only says that. We do not know how many apples, what size, kind, or how fresh they should be. What about price? Whenever statists speak of roads, schools, bridges, police, education, health care, or anything else “offered” by the state, there is no specific mention of the multitude of aspects that a market entrepreneur would have to figure out (such as quality, quantity, etc.). Society needs such and such. That is all. Maybe there are too many schools. Maybe there aren’t enough. Where should they be located? How many students? What about curricula
One can go on and on about such minutia yet the point remains–the populous is not sold (or offered really, as these are taxes after all) a specific amount or number of goods or services but rather abstract, homogeneous, indistinct, monolithic blobs. While the entrepreneur risks scarce goods (time, labor, capital) trying to determine future market conditions to provide his fellow man with a good or service, the political process promises vacuous public works which are, due to the way they are financed and allocated, necessarily inefficient, for they bear no resemblance to what you and I and everyone else wants. (Not to mention that for every government project there is an army of bureaucrats making decisions “on our behalf,” somehow a) reading the minds of all of society; and b) trying to average out our desires. The result, far from being what “the people want” is rather what the lobbyists and politicians want.)
These days the hot topic is employment, with candidates/potential busybodies-tyrants promising an endless supply of jobs. The next time someone promises “jobs,” be aware of how corrupted (and corrupting) that sounds.
Language Corrupted Read Post »
Just when we thought that the “1099 nightmare” was going to be it for 2010, we learn of the new IRS impositions on internet commerce. These rules target folks selling stuff online. People selling 200 items or making $20k on eBay, for example, shall be subject to reporting rules. People who make a living (or complement their income) by selling trinkets online will be particularly hurt by this. I foresee a reduction in business on Etsy and similar cottage industry sites. Personal sales in the open market might take a hit, at least for marginal sellers. Some might just sell less while others will have to distribute their online activity so that they are not as easy to target. To make things worse, Paypal will be required to report online activity, meaning that they will send the IRS 1099 forms that will have to match each individual seller’s information.
The 1099 nightmare extends from small businesses to tiny one-person operations. Of course, I bet that large companies can only cheer. After all, they already have systems and personnel to deal with the flood of paperwork that the money-thirsty IRS has required from society. A great win for corporatism.
The IRS Continues To Destroy The Internet Read Post »
