Monday, November 03, 2008

More on Voting

Voting is a painfully limited way to express one’s values and preferences. It accomplishes its results only indirectly; the vote does not immediately call forth that which is voted for. In fact, if we vote for something but are in the minority we do not get it at all, if we vote against something and are in the minority, we get it and are compelled to pay for the unwanted goods or services.

And this.

By not voting people can “signal” to others their disapproval of a system that allows one person (or group) to gain at the expense of another. Historically such a perspective has been rare because of the conviction that the existence of government is necessary to solve public goods and coordination problems. But economic and political arguments for the necessity of government have been subjected to increased (technical) scrutiny by some economists and political philosophers, culminating in a school of thought that seeks to substitute markets and private institutions for government.

Both quotes are from The calculus of voting

Linked via Wendy McElroy.

Posted by John Venlet on 11/03 at 11:14 AM
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Vote - Let’s Play the Lottery or Stand on a Mountain in a Thunderstorm

...“What is the probability your vote will make a difference?”  The answer is very low. You are far more likely to be hit twice by lightning.

Statistically, does your vote really matter?

Posted by John Venlet on 11/03 at 10:26 AM
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Need Mint Oil?

A mint farmer, here in Michigan, is possibly going to lose his mint farm, which has been in his family since 1912.  In an effort to retain the mint farm, the farmer, Jim Crosby, is attempting to sell off as much mint oil as possible.  So far, he has sold 59,000 bottles, but he is still falling short.

So, if you need some mint oil, hit Crosby’s Get Mint Trading Co. website and buy some mint oil.

I cannot, with 100% certainty, determine if the Crosby farm receives any farm subsidies, but, based on my research at this Farm Subsidy Database, it does not appear that Crosby is receiving any subsidy.  So, if you actually utilize mint oil in some way, shape or form, buy some mint from Crosby.  Not as a charitable gesture, but to fulfill an actual need, trading value for value.

Mint oil holds hope for farmer facing foreclosure

Posted by John Venlet on 11/03 at 08:42 AM
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Sunday, November 02, 2008

Bankrupt the Nation

In a story linked via Drudge, we learn that Barack Obama desires to bankrupt coal powered electrical generators.

So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can; it’s just that it will bankrupt them because they’re going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that’s being emitted.

If this were in fact to come about, not only will coal powered electrical plants become bankrupt, but the entire coal industry.  Additionally, the costs for producing steel, paper, concrete, plastics, tar, synthetic fibers, fertilizers and some medicines will rise.  And what will become of industries which generate their own power, with their own electrical generation plants?  Does Obama desire to bankrupt them also?

This nation of individuals, who make up the United States of America, draws closer to bankruptcy every day.  I am not speaking here of a lack of cash.  I am speaking here of a lack of moral and ethical fiber, a lack of self sufficiency, individualism, and of selfishness.  This nation has been on the track of bankruptcy for decades, now, and whether one pulls a lever for Obama or McCain, as a supposed expression of their “rights,” they are pulling a lever to concede what has been preached to them, that they are wards of the state.

Hidden Audio: Obama Tells SF Chronicle He Will Bankrupt Coal Industry

Posted by John Venlet on 11/02 at 11:52 AM
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On Reporters

From Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged.

The reporters who came to the press conference of the John Galt Line were young men who had been trained to think that their job consisted of concealing from the world the nature of its events.  It was their daily duty to serve as audience for some public figure who made utterances about the public good, in phrases carefully chosen to convey no meaning.  It was their daily job to sling words together in any combination they pleased, so long as the words did not fall into a sequence saying something specific.

Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged, pg. 223, 1957

Rings true for today, also.

Posted by John Venlet on 11/02 at 10:20 AM
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Saturday, November 01, 2008

Too True

In a piece written for National Review titled Ego and Mouth, Thomas Sowell deconstructs Obama.  Just a couple of quotes from Sowell’s piece, after which you should read the whole thing.

The kind of self-righteous self-confidence that has become Obama’s trademark is usually found in sophomores in Ivy League colleges— very bright and articulate students, utterly untempered by experience in the real world.

My personal favorite.

Barack Obama has the kind of cocksure confidence that can only be achieved by not achieving anything else.

Via Greg Ransom’s Presto Pundit.

Posted by John Venlet on 11/01 at 12:55 PM
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