Steve Jobs: The Beauty of Capitalism

                In our society, it is quite often that those who succeed are thrown under the bus.  Often, the leaders of big business are shown to be lying, dishonest, disloyal, and utterly immoral cheats,  and to some degree, there are quite a few that are.  The fact is that there are some CEO’s that are getting paid millions in bonuses that were paid for by TARP and the Bailout.  Honestly though, I can see no reason why we should expect anything different – there was a reason they were in need of it to begin with.  When you give a drunk a filled keg, do you expect him to use it wisely? 

                But, the fact is that in our society, we also have some of the most valiant human beings who run big businesses.  I can think of no better example than the late Steve Jobs.

                For Christmas I received his biography by Walter Isaacson.  Though I haven’t finished, I can’t help but find it very interesting how the man himself represented the American Individual.  While Jobs wasn’t the ideal man – none of us are – it can’t be denied that his whole intent and being was very much like the rugged Individual that we believers in Capitalism take heart to. 

                Contrary to the popular idea that CEO’s are all about money, Jobs was just the opposite.  It’s actually quite funny to read some of the conflicts that he came into with those who were simply in the computer business for the money – he hated them.  For Jobs it was about beauty, art, and the desire to create something that would last and that would revolutionize humanity.  Much to the chagrin of some of his co-workers, he stayed with that belief whether it took him to bankruptcy or not. 

                However, this is the story of what Capitalism allows us to do.  Capitalism, that is not crony-controlled, has shown itself to be the place for great Individuals like Jobs.  Can it be argued that the man was not strong willed and ambitious?  No.  But then could he have done it if he had been hindered by government regulation?  Could he have been able to compete had the government subsidized IBM or even Microsoft?  That is something that we can never know, but we can look to the past and see that Individuals are squashed by the government intervenes either way. 

                And that is why Jobs is the proof that Capitalism is the greatest, and only moral, economic system.  Were there any such people in the Soviet Union?  No, the greatest inventor there was perhaps Mikhail Kalashnikov, the inventor of the AK47.  And beyond that there was never true innovation as was seen when the walls came down.  What of North Korea?  Cuba?  I believe we can collectively laugh at that thought. 

                We have fallen away as a society and a people from realizing what is staring us in the face.  The Crony-Capitalism is not going to stop until those who are in control are taken out, when people are given a chance to do as they want, and when we have a Free Market and Laissez-faire Capitalism once again.  Until then, the Steve Jobses of this country will become a dying breed and that should make us all sigh with despair. 

Vote Rich Santorum if you want Obama 2012

                Mr. Santorum would be fine if he were merely a big government Republican like Newt, he would be fine if he were merely a flip flopper like Romney, he would even be fine if he were as inarticulate as Rick Perry.  However, he is not graced in these failures.  No, Mr. Santorum falters in a way that makes it almost unforeseeably dangerous. 

                He is the one candidate that makes Obama look like a peaceful hippy quite honestly, and that is why if Republicans want to lose 2012, they’ll pick him.  I know this is post will either be berated extremely, or ignored completely, however I can’t in clear conscious let the Iowa Caucus go by without doing SOMETHING.  And so it’s because of this that I am compelled to spell it out, why Santorum is the worst candidate in the Republican field.

                First of all, he makes Nixon look like Reagan (‘nuff said).  He supported the Liberal Arlen Specter, a person who was pro-abortion, pro-affirmative action, and pro-amnesty for the senate.  He was named the most corrupt member of congress by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.  These two things automatically make him ridiculous as the candidate without considering his other qualities that would kill him in the major election.

                In the General Election, the goal is to gain at least SOME of the Independents.  Please tell me, how do we hope that a person who is as anti-gay as he is will somehow magically gain support when much of the U.S. is shown to be pro-LGBT rights?  The other candidates aren’t half as intolerant as he is, or at least not as blatantly so.  Do you suppose that the few LGBT voters that could be pulled in would actually support someone like this?  Please.  Also, he is in full support of the War on Drugs.  Past the fact that it has been ineffective, past the fact that it’s cost more lives than any it would have saved, past the fact that it can be determined as unconstitutional, the fact is that many of the people in the U.S. are tired of it!  How can we hope that this deluded man can gain ANY of the Independent votes?  We would have to be as deluded as he is to hope for that.

                Next, is his foreign policy.  It’s tolerable that most of the candidates are for an offensive foreign Policy.  Do I like it?  No.  Could I still support some of them?  Sure.  However, this guy goes over board to an extreme.  He recently said that he would order Iran to shut down their nuclear plants, and if they didn’t, he would bomb them.  Excuse me, but that is what we like to call an Act of War.  That really will be the final straw and we will be in war with Iran before the end of 2013 if this man is in office.  I guarantee you.  Not only is this idea of his a sure fire way to get into another war (funny how he’s never been in the service, right?), it is totally blind to the repercussions that such actions would have on an international level.  Do you think that Russia would let this happen?  What about China?  Are we really so blind as to believe that these two countries will let the money they threw into Iran simply be blown up? That is wishful thinking. 

                But let’s be honest.  If Santorum gets the Nomination, we will have another four years of Obama.  Whether you like it or not, there is a large group of anti-war voters.  If it is only to avoid a war with Iran, they will go to Obama.  So let’s look at this now.  If we have Santorum, we lose the LGBT voters, the Independents, the Anti-War voters, and I will promise you he won’t get the Ron Paul supporters without a doubt.

                 So yes, vote for Rick Santorum Iowa.  That’s what we need.  Someone who will lose definitively. 

We Must Defend Capitalism Morally

                Too often do we Conservatives end up forgetting that many people are not governed solely by Logic and Reason.  Whether it is a sad fact or not isn’t the issue.  Rather, what has harmed many and has left many would-be-Free-Market-defenders declawed is the fact that for the most part, the defense of it has been based only on logic.  While all the facts and theories stand in our favor, they still leave us wanting.

                The fact remains that we are in many ways left open to the attack of Morality.  What are we supposed to do when a socialist responds to our logical claims for the free Market with, “Well what do you think Jesus would want us to do?” or “It is the responsibility for each of us to give to his fellow man,” as justifications for Welfare and the rest of the social safety nets?  In many ways we can’t say much.  With many of us being followers of some religion or another, we can’t help but recognize the fact that our faiths desire us to be charitable. 

                And so this is why there is a need for an ethical foundation for Capitalism.  We cannot hope to gain support merely by battling with Logic – we are not merely analytical, cut and dry creatures.  As humans we possess an inherent need to have some moral guidance in which we can apply to our daily lives.  And so it is necessary for us to show how Capitalism is the only Moral economic system in existence.

                Here we have to look at all the other economic systems.  Communism, Feudalism, Socialism, Welfare statism (which is really just a branch of socialism), and then the Mixed Economy are all immoral in their own way.  In Capitalism, all men are given equal rights.  One man isn’t viewed by the government as more worthy of protection than another.  With this asserted, we have to see how men are treated in this system.  In Capitalism, Individuals trade as that – Individuals.  They aren’t serfs sacrificial to the king are they?  They aren’t the Individuals sacrificial to the Commune are they?  No.  This is why Capitalism is the only Moral System, instead of a sacrificial animal, he is a man, and he is an Individual who can’t be coerced by Force. 

                How can the Left fight this morally?  The Jesus issue isn’t even relevant because Jesus would never have Forced anyone to do anything for the “Greater Good” – that  was their choice.  The responsibility to each other doesn’t mean that we should be forced to do things for others – that would be our choice.  Socialists would say they wouldn’t force Individuals to do such things, but it is a lie.  In Socialism and Communism the only way they achieve their ends is by force and violence.  For proof of such, look at Russia. 

                It is time for us to embrace this approach.  It time for us to fight the Left with an appeal to both logos and ethos.  We will never convince and defeat every collectivist, but we can do better than we are.  It is time for the idea of the Controlled economy to be destroyed and that will only be done by this – proving that Capitalism is the ONLY Morally correct economic system.  Until we embrace this, we will fail. 

Dick Morris - The Great Charlatan

                Since Bill Clinton’s exit in 2000, there has been one man attempting to resuscitate his image, and has done so quite effectively with all considered.  This man is none other than the president’s former consultant, Dick Morris.  If the Republican Party wants to blame any one person for ensuring that they lost the 1996 election, they need not look farther than this pudgy, red faced man.  Were it not for him, it is quite possible that Clinton would have lost.  In fact, according to Dick Morris, it was he that brought Clinton back from “being buried in a landslide.” 

                After Morris resigned from the Clinton administration because of an interesting dealing with a prostitute and a conversation with the president in 1996, he set off then as a man who was a Conservative at heart and had simply helped the Clintons because it was his job.  Or, another explanation he has given, that he became disillusioned with the power couple.  If anything, there is something rather convenient about his change of heart with the end of the decade, especially considering that he had not aided Clinton in simply one election but two. 

                It was with this change in his view, he suddenly became the best friend to a number of conservative commentators, most notably Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly.  With this publicity he has gained a voice in Republican politics that should sicken many who are aware of his utterly contradictory past.  A man who fought against the Republicans, now one of them.  A Liberal who ensured the longevity of a president that many disliked, now a Conservative Populist.  If it doesn’t strike you as more than odd that he is still talking at Conservative engagements and events, I ask you to pause and think for a moment. 

                Not only does he now have stock in the Conservative Movement, but he has the audacity to attack those who are more welcomed and worthy of being part of it than he himself.  In an article he wrote nearly a year ago, “Newt’s Right” the closet Liberal attacked Paul Ryan’s plan as “suicidal”.  More recently he recently made a video claiming that Ron Paul is more Liberal than Obama.  While both attacks were ridiculous on their own accord it was only more so when the man couldn’t get his facts straight on either. 

                The time has come for this sad little man to be evicted from the house he has intruded.  Dick Morris is not a Conservative, he is not an intelligent man, and he should not be featured by Conservatives.  The Insiders have got to go if we are going to win this election and Morris is at the least a wannabe-insider.  In short, it’s time to clean house, starting with Dick. 

Why We Need to Stop Antagonizing Russia

                One of the things that has recently come to my attention, or rather I took time to examine it, is the reemergence of Anti-Russian and more precisely, anti-Putin feelings.  Now I know that there are many of us who don’t care for the former KGB officer, however, do we know what the alternative is?  The fact is that Russia isn’t going out of the International theatre any time soon and, is we aware of what group would take over in Russia were Putin not in control?  I don’t think so.  When it comes to understanding the politics of other countries, we rarely care and when we do it’s usually only on the lines of if they are anti-American or not. 

                With the rise of the protests in Russia, it is easy to once again hope (naively) that a conservative, free market, pro-American government will come about if Vlad does not become president again.  However, what many don’t know is that the second most popular party in Russia is the Communist Party.  Behind them is the Liberal Democrat Party which calls for the regaining of Ukraine and Belarus to the country.  And then finally the A Just Russia Party, which calls for a welfare state and Democratic Socialism.  These are the alternatives to Putin and his party.  

                While Vladimir Putin has proven to be contrary, to some people, towards U.S. interests he has done many things that most Conservatives in the U.S. would welcome.  In his country he has implemented a 13% flat income tax, opened up oil and natural resources to extraction, made the country more business friendly and has allowed it to become an energy superpower.  If nothing else, he makes Obama look like the socialist he is. 

                And now, there are riots in the streets of Russia.  Many Media outlets are calling for new elections, saying that the last one was rigged.  Our old friend Gorbachev came out and called for Putin’s resignation.  Even Hilary Clinton came and opened her big mouth.  It seems that everyone is attempting to be the first to call for Putin to be out. 

                However, what do we want instead?  Do we want the Communists back?  Didn’t we beat them already?  Do we really want another Cold war?  What about the Just Russia Party?  They want to socialize the country.  And the Liberal Democrat Party?  They wish to reclaim the lost territory of the Soviet Union, or their “natural borders”.  All these parties would make the Russia of the last 10 years look like a walk in the park. 

                It’s time we realize that the politics of foreign countries aren’t as simple as they are here in America.  The idea that they are under systems like ours isn’t so.  Do I believe that we should be the greatest friends with Russia and Vladimir Putin? No.  However, I don’t believe in antagonizing the person who stands between the West and the reemergence of Communism.  Democracy should reign, and elections should be fair.  But the difference is that in the West, they aren’t crying against false elections, they’re calling for Putin’s head. 

Something I found, though it's a little late

This evening, as Santa Claus soars over America delivering presents, let's examine how many US federal laws he's breaking. 1.) Flying without permission of the FAA 2.) Carrying private mail in violation of the Post Office's Private Express Statutes 3.) Failure to pay tariffs 4.) Failure to register all incoming goods with US customs 5.) Capturing and owning an endangered species i.e. reindeer 6.) Failure to get a federal interstate commercial transportation license 7.) Animal cruelty (he's got a whip for the reindeer). 8.) Import of an unauthorized vehicle

HO HO HO! Merry Christmas to all! Rudolph, is that a drone?

Why Ayn Rand Scares the Left

                If there is any intellectual of the last 100 years who scares the Left, it is Ayn Rand.  One needs only to search her name on the internet and they will find that she is perhaps more abused and insulted than Milton Friedman and Reagan.  Often the charges that most attack her with can be boiled down to “She believes that people should be self-centered bastards and not give a damn about anyone else.” 

                While anyone who has taken the time to read her fiction and nonfiction works knows that the above claim isn’t accurate, the fact that Rand is the target of so many wannabe-commentators reveals the amount of anger that the woman brings out in the Left.  The question honestly begs to be asked – why?  Why does this Russian immigrant, who died in 1982, bring Liberals to the use of such vitriol and character assassination? 

                The answer is actually quite simple – she makes sense.  She is to Socialism what David was to Goliath and the Left simply doesn’t know how to respond to her except to demagogue and paint her as a puppet to the elitists.  Unlike some of the more pacifistic fighters for the Right and Libertarianism Rand doesn’t hold back, if anything she removes the veil that the Progressive and Socialist movement has used for decades – the veil of “the Greater Good”.  It had been this façade that left far too many Conservatives stammering during the New Deal, with the passing of Social Security, and the growth of Welfare.  However she tore it off with her philosophy of the Individual and showed the true face of the Left with her novels. 

                Rand explained that Capitalism is the only Moral Economic System because unlike Socialism, Feudalism, Communism, Welfare Statism, and the Mixed Economy, Capitalism treats people as Individuals and not the sacrificial animals that all the other systems did.  She preached that instead of appeasing everyone else, that one should live for his own happiness.  That Innovation is created by Free Individuals and not Government coercion. 

                This is what infuriates the Left.  Ayn makes clear how the “Good Intentions” of government regulation often lead to worldly Hell.  Her novella “Anthem” shows how government constraint goes against progress.  And her magna opus “Atlas Shrugged” paints the end result of a society that doesn’t give Individuals their freedom.  In short, she kills the Left’s Utopian ideals with logic. 

                It was nearly fifty years ago that Whitaker Chambers savaged “Atlas Shrugged” in the National Review and separated the Conservative Movement from Rand.  Now we are beginning to see the reemergence of Randian ideas with the Tea Party and members of the Republican Party who are influenced by her like Paul Ryan and Rand Paul.  It is time for the Right to admit it and embrace it – Rand is right.