Obama takes on the Constitution

Chrysler and the Rule of Law, by Todd J. Zywiki on one of the dangers of government bailouts.

Do your part to fix the Economy: Have a baby!

After the Panic Button has been Pushed, by Jonathan Wellum

Now, you can throw that far…

Kiva is a great micro-lending facilitator that connects you directly with individual entrepreneurs in the developing world. Worth the time to look into.

Preferring the Back of the bus to the Front

[C]apitalism and communism are based upon the same materialist errors and are related more as parent and offspring, or warring siblings, rather than diametrically opposed systems. In this light it is easy to understand why a number of the Agrarians…lobbied for the title of their manifest being “Tracts Against Communism”…insofar as they saw communism as the inevitable outcome of a system that concentrated wealth and industry…Andrew Lytle summed up: “[T]he defense of agrarianism was, itself, an attack on Communism”

- John Sharpe “Introduction” Beyond Capitalism and Socialism, xviii.

The Mammon Twins

But the reforms of communism are wrong, because they are inspired by the very errors they combat. Communism begins with the liberal and capitalistic error that man is economic, and, instead of correcting it, merely intensifies it until man becomes a robot in a vast economic machine. There is a closer relation between communism and monopolistic capitalism than most minds suspect. They are agreed on the materialistic basis of civilization; they disagree only on who shall control that basis…Capitalistic economy is godless; communism makes economics God…Capitalism denies that economics is subject to a higher moral order. Communism says that economics is morality [emphasis mine].

- Fulton J. Sheen, Communism and the Conscience of the West (Indianapolis and New York: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1948) 79-81.

Still Fighting the Cold War

Many of these old “cold warriors” – along with the post-Cold War world they inhabit – no doubt make the mistake (we are being charitable) of reading into the mutual opposition to Soviet expansionism and atheism of both the Church and the modern, materialist West the unconditional support by the former of the social and philosophical system of the latter. From such a viewpoint, any “third way” beyond capitalism and communism would seem a futile, if not dangerous, compromise between the forces of evil and the forces of evident good.

- John Sharpe “Introduction,” Beyond Capitalism and Socialism (Norfolk, Virginia: LTD Publications, 2008) xviii.

Freedom

…[H]e only is a free man who owns and administers his own land, craft, trade, art or profession and is able, at necessity, to maintain himself and his family therefrom.

- Ralph Adams Cram, “What Is a Free Man?,” Catholic Rural Life Objectives (St. Paul, Minn: National Catholic Rural Life Conference, 1937) 36-7.

“[T]he individual [gets] his sustenance from property which bears his imprint and assimilation…” Indeed, it was not security he was after with such a scheme, which would only mean “being taken care of, or freedom from want and fear – which would reduce man to an invertebrate – [but rather] stability, which gives nothing for nothing but which maintains a constant between effort and reward.”

- John Sharpe, “Introduction,” Beyond Capitalism and Socialism (Norfolk, Virginia: LTD Publications, 2008) xv.

This Administration Brought to You by Pepsi

Two days before the election, I spent the day in Washington D.C. with some friends, and I noticed something odd: At first, I assumed that the metro stations were just decorated for the upcoming inauguration. A number of the lighted pillar-things had a simple tri-coloured design on them that looked a little something like this:

And I thought “Hey, isn’t that they Obama campaign logo? Odd.” This opinion was bolstered by several posters that had the symbol and a single word or phrase “Hope”, “Change”, “Pop”. Wait: “pop”? Something wasn’ right (there was also one that said “soul”, which, honestly, why didn’t they just say “fried chicken”? I mean, good grief.):

Turns out, it was a pepsi add campaign, but the confusion was (and is) understandable and dare I say intentional:

To be fair, maybe the Obama camp stole Pepsi’s idea:

All of which sparked a memory of a propaganda poster I came across a few years ago:

Increased Liquidity

Headlines from Drudge, read as story:

Obama Advisers to Public: “Temper Expectations”…

Experts call for end of flushing toilets…

Gore warns world may face civilization ‘collapse’…

Putin Vows: Crisis will not sink Russia…

The Mirage of Oil Crises

This Op-Ed piece by Eugene Gholz and Daryl G. Press about the realities of what a country such as Iran could actually do (or not) to the global energy market should they wake up feeling cranky. Once again, Iran does not pose nearly so significant a threat to our wellbeing as our own foolishness.

Your God Demands Seeds

It’s no accident that the small handful of plants we’ve come to rely on are grains…these crops are exceptionally efficient at transforming sunlight, fertilizer, air, and water into macronutrients – carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. These macronutrients in turn can be profitably converted into meat, dairy, and processed foods of every description. Also, the fact that they come in the form of durable seeds which can be stored for long periods of time means they can function as commodities as well as foods, making these crops particularly well adapted to the needs of industrial capitalism.

- Michael Pollan, In Defense of Food, p. 124.

Scribblative Agincourting

Sadly, Scribblative Agincourting has closed for the nonce. Perhaps just as sadly, puerile conspiracy theories about the motivating factors behind its closure seem to be sprouting up in some places like maggots in a half-full crock-pot left out on the deck for most of the summer (don’t ask).

Nevertheless, Doug Jones and his fellow contributers have compiled in less than a years time some of the most important and influential reading for Christians who give a damn that I have ever seen. If you have ever found yourself babbling about the greater good when asked what you think about the practice of water-boarding, or have ever used the words “market forces” with a straight face, you’d best follow the link and get busy.

Houses aren’t the only ones Losing their Value

The value of Human Life seems to be depreciating as well, according to the EPA. In fact, you just lost nearly a million dollars in value: from 8.04 million to 7.22 million (we use decimal values because this is science stuff, and science stuff is precise. Just trust us.). Remember that monologue about auto manufacturer recalls in Fight Club? This from an article originally appearing in the Washington Post:

To grasp the mind-bending concept of a Blue Book value on life, government officials say it is important to remember that they are not thinking about anyone specific…They might know, for instance, that a new cut in air pollution will save 50 lives a year – though they don’t know who those people might be. Still they want to decide whether saving them is worth the cost, officials say, and it helps to assign a dollar value to each life saved.

This apparently is not the first time the EPA has tried to lower the value of human life. “In 2003, it tried to count senior citizens’ lives as worth less than those of other adults. After a loud outcry from seniors, the agency backed off.” Which is a fun mental image.

From the same article, we have the best research suggestion of the year:

But how do you put a dollar value on a life, even in a generic sense?

It wouldn’t work for researchers to survey Americans at gunpoint and ask how much they would pay not to die.

I disagree. That idea is categorically awesome. I once again want to be a scientist when I grow up.

But hey, don’t knock the EPA too much. According to the article, “their value for life remains one of the highest. Earlier this year, the Department of Transportation raised its value – but even after the increase, it stood at $5.8 million…”. Which explains a lot, really.

HT: truthout.org