Strike The Root Blog

Pennsylvania’s liquor board will be sending their employees to training in order to teach them how to be friendlier and more well-mannered. This will come at a cost of $173,000. I like to think in terms of how many tax slaves that a given stupidity like this one requires. A bit of searching reveals that the average Pennsylvanian pays $4,463 per year in state and local taxes. Doing the math, then, there are 38 people whose full tax burdens are taken by the state of Pennsylvania in order to ensure that government workers learn how not to be rude, i.e. so that they learn what it takes to run a real business instead of a true, pure monopoly that succeeds only by force.

Well, it’s probably not that they’re too stupid, but rather that they just don’t care. Absent competition, “civil” servants are allowed to be anything but. It’s not like they’ll ever be put out of a job.

Government has no business running liquor stores. End of story. If you live in a state (like Pennsylvania or Virginia) stupid enough to insist that only the government can sell you liquor, demand better, or just move.

Mises.org recently published a transcript of the late Austrian economist F.A. Hayek’s appearance on NBC-TV’s Meet the Press back in 1975.

Then, as now, there was a great deal of economic turmoil facing the U.S. and much of the rest of the world. Hayek contended then that the turbulence was mainly caused by the central bank’s inflation of the money supply in order to finance unsustainable central planning, a criticism that equally applies today. Hayek suggested that the answer then was for the Federal Reserve System to simply stop inflating and allow resources to be reallocated according to consumer demand, however painful that adjustment may be in the short term. That’s a suggestion that equally applies to today’s turbulence, but one that Republicans and Democrats alike have shunned in favor of bail-out capitalism and pie-in-the-sky “stimulus” spending and all the massive debt and inflation that goes along with it.

The interview is interesting enough to read for all of the parallels to recent events, but there was one answer from Hayek that I found particularly striking.

One of the interviewers suggested that to simply cease inflation and allow for new economic adjustments to take place would most likely lead to more unemployment, and for that to happen in the already troubled inner cities would most likely lead to anger, frustration and violence amongst those populations, which would then most surely be followed by governmental crack-downs. The interviewer asked Hayek what he would do to ameliorate any ill social effects deriving from further unemployment among urban populations during any post-inflationary adjustment period.

Here’s Hayek’s answer:

“Well, I don’t think there is anything I can do about it. We’ll have to tide over the storm which may be threatening.”

Wow, how refreshing it is to hear such an intellectually honest answer from a public intellectual! How incredibly rare that is. Your typically neo-Keynsian/neoliberal court intellectual–blindly assuming the interviewer’s implied assumption that predominantly black and hispanic populations in inner cities are simply incapable of pulling themselves up by the bootstraps to be gospel truth–would have heard his cue and trotted out all sorts of half-baked ideas for wasteful government welfare programs. Hayek, however, did not so arrogantly assume that he knew what was better for people he knew nothing about.

“I don’t think there is anything I can do about it.” To hear any of your court intellectuals and assorted think tank “experts” make such an admission today would probably cause a complete tear in the space-time continuum, simultaneously catapulting all of us into an alternate reality.

Nadya Suleman is getting hate mail and death threats for having brought eight more babies into an environment where she cannot afford to raise them without outside help. I’m not at all surprised at the hate, but I’m very disturbed by it. When people are forced to pay for other people’s poor choices, they start to feel as if they have the right to control them.

This will only grow. Once Obama shoves through his massive (unconstitutional, as if that mattered) increases in government control of the health care system, we will start to see even more threats and attempts to control. Today, the food fascists use the force of law to ban specific food substances they deem unhealthy. Tomorrow, more of the same. We stand to have far fewer choices and freedom in all areas: recreation, dining, family planning, speech, self defense, and so on. The war against you and your freedoms continues as the government grows unchecked. Your neighbor already checks your trash can for recycling violations; tomorrow he will look for discarded Frito bags and then blow the whistle.
Freedom includes the right to make poor choices and also to suffer as a result. I note that Suleman received compassion from many of her fellow human beings, and I’m sure even those giving her compassion have offered sage advice. That’s how things are really supposed to work, but the pro-government-growth forces don’t believe in it.

The Emperor faces the end of his reign….

….as it is time for him to leave….

….to a standing ”O”….

….and head for the trash bin of history:

Wax Fantasy- The new Emperor is in, the old one is….under arrest?

The Obamaniacs head to DC….

….with new plans for the tax serfs:

Good News! Her Highness’ butt isn’t too big….

….and the family is happy:

The killing continues and no one can bear to watch:

The blast of the shofar accompanies the genocide:

Just a fun ol’ time for the IDF:

Graves, graves, we need more room for graves:

Beware- tryanny can come from any direction:

One act of defiance….

….cancels one act of cowardice:

Global cooling is making life difficult:

Sometimes, the odds look a bit overwhelming:

Swarm, Swarm!:

Your tax dollars at work- an RV for the moon:

Chesley B. (”Sully”) Sullenberger is a god.

Seriously. If I were to run into the guy on the street tomorrow, I would simply be in awe of his presence. That’s because Sullenberger actually crash landed a malfunctioning U.S. Airways jet on the Hudson friggin’ River and nobody was seriously injured. That is just positively amazing. It’s one of those achievements that should stand as a glaring reminder to the rest of us as to what human beings can really accomplish. That act was nothing less than the culmination of many years of intense focus, careful study and much mastering of some very tricky technical skills. Just amazing.

It’s interesting, though, that I hear so many people around me mention his experience as an F-4 fighter pilot in the U.S. Air Force. The upshot of these conversations is thank the gods for “our” military, so that people can learn such highly valued, life-saving skills. The irony never seems to dawn on these people that the mission of the armed forces is to destroy human life, whereas Sullenberger preserved human life.

But they also seem to forget that Sullenberger has been flying commercial airliners since about 1980, whereas he spent only six years in the Air Force. Why jump to the conclusion that what Sullenberger was able to do yesterday must have come from his military experience, rather than from his more numerous years as a commercial airline pilot?

And why this assumption that only the military could provide the kind of training needed to fly airplanes so skillfully? It’s true that many military pilots take their flying experience into the commercial airline industry. But surely if there was no military at all, that does not mean that we would all be doomed to flying in planes piloted by incompetents. There’s no reason to doubt that some of the billions and billions of dollars that would be spared from “national defense” each year would instead be spent by the airline industry itself, or currently existing flight schools, on continuously improving pilot training and education.

Interestingly, Sullenberger is the founder of a business that provides “technical expertise and strategic vision and direction to improve safety and reliability in a variety of high risk industries.” Sullenberger’s actions yesterday demonstrate that highly skilled individuals offering their technical expertise in the marketplace in pursuit of their own personal gain—rather than myriad bureaucrats and their rules and regulations—are the most effective at keeping people safe in potentially dangerous situations.

(Cross-posted at The Postmodern Tribune.)

More ammo for journalists:

The state wants your children….

….and this is how it gets them:

The real policy of No Child Left Behind:

Stealing money and lending it cheap:

The central planners meet to decide how to engineer the next depression:

A hopeful look at the future- tools of war become lawn ornaments:

Lots of ghosts and boogie men in Afghanistan:

The Emperor-To-Be is drowning in estrogen:

Fasten your seatbelt for a wild ride:

Hey, W.- Dodge this:

Seeking instructions how to kill for the state in the name of God and….

….Success!:

The hands of the savior or tools of the devil?  Have they ever seen a hard day’s work?:

The Emperor’s audience continues to decline in stature….

….and numbers:

Still more murder, and Israel’s (and the U.S.’s) fingerprints are everywhere:

Praise those who have the courage to resist….

….rather than cower in fear:

Gimme that old time religion….

….it’s good enough for me:

Out of our way! Just a lil’ ol’ funeral in Texas:

Genocide in Gaza, but “No comment”:

Future terrorists to keep the show going, forever and forever:

Accidental illustration- Palestinians hopelessly entangled by Zionist Israel:

The kids turn to Johnny Law for guidance….

…..and are rewarded for obedience to the state:

After all the bailouts and stimulus programs are complete, the lowly tax serf carves up what’s left:

Stand by your man.  Let history be the judge:

Shaman rituals for the Magic Negro:

The state is melting, melting:

On the lookout for terrorist coyotes. The Ex-Emperor-To-Be seems to have fewer and fewer friends:

The sky darkens as the coronation approaches (“From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land.”):

Just a reminder- Homeland Security is diligently protecting our shores:

Just a party girl. Please ignore the trail of bodies behind her….

Wouldn’t a dunce cap be a more appropriate product (Keepin’ America Stupid)?:

An idle GM assembly line awaits more bailouts and cheap credit:

Johnny Law finds an appropriate uniform:

Resist the state and risk its wrath:

Slicked up and ready for another day of jackboot hijinks:

The only safe way to view the blinding ignorance of politics:

You’re welcome. I drive a Toyota made in California:

Ford makes a surprise move:

The expectations are high for the Man With Melanin:

Children will continue to love their mother, even when abandoned by her:

A simple act by one brave man….

….can change the world in a blur….

….and arouse dissent among the victims….

….and put tyrants on the defensive:

Warning, rats in the area:

Good tidings of great joy! The reason for the season is still in the race:

The Ex-Emperor-To-Be will soon have no subjects to direct and harass:

They can’t protect their own building but they DO protect us from runaway basketball mascots:

Rapid Response for the Fatherland is on it’s way:

No room for individualists within the state collective:

No room for non-conformists within the civic religion:

Country First!:

This is what the corporate media thinks is important- A confirmed liar and thief has lunch with the daughter of a long dead president:

Make it a public display- Flush your allegiance to the state:

Wash regularly. Don’t’ let the horsesh%# accumulate on your rear bumper:

A great Christmas gift- A new dart board for the game room:

He’s drinkin’ again:

A political office for sale? Why the shock?

Gimme your best shot:

The Old/New Deal- Swapping lives for pretty rags:

Spread the terror- Collateral damage at home:

New corporate acronyms on the horizon- Gimme Money!….

….and Finance Our Rotten Designs!

Don’t let Johnny Law steal your Christmas:

Rule of Politics #23: Always put the receptive and easily convinced in the front row:

Save your breath- reason won’t work:

Dude, where’s my job?

Slammin’ concrete- another important defensive function:

How you’ll soon be flying the friendly skies:

It won’t happen sittin’ down. For state-initiated change, stand up and grab your ankles:

Snow in New Orleans- Reality just won’t conform to the climate kooks:

Start a hot new career in law enforcement!:

Socialist monkey wrenchers continue to give true anarchists a bad name:

Taking the lives of children isn’t enough for US Crusaders- Now, they’re taking their toys:

Entertainment on Capitol Hill- Watching the taxpayer get roped and tied:

Fly the rag proudly- Land of the Cowards and Home of the Slaves: