Whatever catches my attention. Music, sports, pop culture, economics, politics.
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
When buying and selling are controlled by legislation, the first things to be bought and sold are legislators.
P.J. O’Rourke (via hipsterlibertarian)
The Police State Is Alive and Well
npr:
“1 out of every 86 adults in the state”—
Louisiana currently leads the entire world in prisoners per capita. Here’s why. (via nprfreshair)
That’s an unbelievable stat.
#choke #chuckpalahniuk #kids #palahniuk (Taken with instagram)
Love this. So, so true. Permitting is insane. It’s just a way for the government to wet their beak off of almost anything you do. And trust me, if there were enough voters out there that liked the idea of permitting for a baby, it would be done in a heart beat.
Gov. McDonnell : Drones over Va. 'great'; cites battlefield success - WTOP.com
Dear lord! Bob McDonnell is out of his mind!
This same politician runs to Sean Hannity and the other Republican mouth pieces and bemoans Big Government. McDonnell cites battlefield success for using drones. Is the Commonwealth of Virginia a battlefield?
Flying police drones all over the state sounds like some hefty government action to me. McDonnell clearly considers the citizens of Virginia to be in need of constant air surveillance so that Nanny McDonnell can keep us safe from ourselves.
This is so tilting.
This is about sums up life.
What America Owes Eduardo Saverin | Aaron Ross Powell | Libertarianism.org
I’m always baffled when people speak of America as if it is a person handing out gifts. It’s not a person. It’s just land. And on that land are millions of individuals doing millions of different things. It’s not the government that makes this all possible, or America, it’s the people that do millions of different things.
Eduardo Saverin owes nothing to no one. And anyone that thinks he owes the federal government extra money just because he helped found Facebook on this land as opposed to other land is incredibly misinformed.
Is Price Gouging Immoral? Should It Be Illegal?
The latest Learn Liberty video tackles these questions:
Price gouging is usually defined as raising prices on certain kinds of goods to an unfair or excessively high level during an emergency. Although price gouging is illegal in 34 states, economics professor Matt Zwolinski asks whether price gouging should be illegal. He uses an example to examine the moral status of price gouging.
The following points suggest that price gouging may not be immoral after all:
- Consumers do not have to buy products for the higher price. If they decide to pay, it is likely because they are getting more from the product then they’re paying.
- If the prices for important goods do not go up, it is likely that scarce resources will not be available for those who need them most.
- For buyers, high prices reduce demand and encourage conservation. People who may need something more are likely to pay more. For sellers, being able to charge higher prices creates a profit incentive to encourage more sellers to bring products to the market.
- The profit motive will increase competition and eventually drive down the price.
What alternative institutions would do better? When price gouging is prohibited goods go to whoever shows up first. Even if we assume that price gouging is immoral, it almost certainly should not be illegal. The only reason price gouging occurs is because demand is high and supply is low. Professor Zwolinski argues that even if you think that price gouging is morally wrong, making it illegal doesn’t make sense. It hurts the very people who need our help most.
I am suspicious of all the things that the average citizen believes.
H. L. Mencken, A Second Mencken Chrestomathy
I’m still baffled that people believe that politicians will ever act differently then they do
