Thinking devoted to the task of survival is a different task than thinking as a way to create happiness. At times it makes sense to emphasize thinking for survival. Without survival happiness is not a possibility. Without surviving somewhat above the subsistence level happiness is not very likely. Continue reading
Why do Americans complain about corruption? Americans create their own corruption. Continue reading
This is how I figure things out and anyone can do it. I do mean anyone. There are many interesting things about the present moment. The one thing that is most relevant is that all living things have an innate ability to almost flawlessly recognize danger and opportunities in the present moment. Continue reading
There are three socialist armies currently vying for power. These are:
1.Non-Democratic Socialists Non-democratic socialism is my term. You won’t find it anywhere else. I use it because fascism is seldom used to describe an economic system even though that is what it is. Like the other two, non-democratic socialism is a system of economics by force. Continue reading
Most Americans are unaware the financial markets are rigged. That doesn’t mean prices will never fall. It does mean that the nature of the coming decline will be different than what has occurred in prior bear markets. That is because elevating asset prices especially stocks as a national goal has priority over national defense, law enforcement and all other activities government is involved in.
Political power can do amazing things. When all of the country’s resources are focused on enriching those who are already rich, the country’s future is destroyed. A corporation can invest in plant and equipment and innovate. In a free market doing that is how profits are made but there is a faster way. Continue reading
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As Americans go about their daily lives as individuals, many are brilliant and completely adept at what they do. When they participate in groups or aggregations of people, all but a few are completely stupid.
Notice the discourse in the political arena. Do you hear are read anyone making well reasoned intellectual arguments as to why one way is better than another? How often are attempts made to get you to change your mind or adopt an idea without thinking? Look and read, you won’t find an exception. Politics is the art of getting folks to act according to another wishes without thinking. Continue reading
Mention the words natural law and what image does the mind conjure up? Say natural law and the brain might create for you and image of airheads living in communes preaching agape love. As a teacher of natural law, I treat the subject quite differently. Make an observation of a principle that works over and over again over all of history’s long timeline. Then, even with all of the effort in the world, folks can’t come up with a universally accepted, or even a good guess as to why it works. The cause is often unexplainable or elusive and not concrete at best.
Do not attribute the anxiety of the rich, celebrities or minorities to patriotism. With Trump as president, the rich have a good chance of being taken off welfare. Corporate profit margins are elevated because of Federal Reserve policy. The stock market is high because of government initiatives that move it up and keep it high.
Celebrities know nothing of politics and economics. The more the minds of the population are in the gutter, the more popular these folks are. Celebrities are worshipees. Their fear is that with Trump’s iconoclastic style, they will no longer be worshiped. There are huge advantages to those who are successful in getting others to worship them.
Minorities are in a tough spot. Their perception is that government under Democrats is interested in helping them. Of course the poor get nothing on balance from government. Individual members of various minorities can be marched in front of cameras as beneficiaries of various government initiatives. Benefits are kept highly visible while costs are hidden. On balance the poor take a beating from government. Immigrants naturally favor candidates who refuse to enforce the immigration laws that are currently on the books.
There are no selfless people. Self interest is the only relevant incentive people have in dealing with government. Mainstream economists work on the basis that there is also an incentive to serve. Perhaps there is for people who are heavily influenced by the spiritual world. The secular world is all about being animals and surviving in a hostile universe. Fantasy Free Economics allows no one to wear a halo. The president is just one of the animals, trying milk the office for personal benefit. Members of congress, the senate, supreme court and federal reserve are also animals milking their offices for personal benefits.
In politics, do not believe that there are good people trying to do good things for you. It is comforting to think that this is the case but it is not true. Politics is all about personal gain. All people are the same in that regard. Government is approached out of self interest and there are no exceptions. There are confused people who believe otherwise but there are no exceptions.
The rich are terrified of Trump because they are fearful of losing the advantages government provides them Those advantages are enormous and they won’t be relinquished freely.
The welfare we provide the rich through the Federal Reserve system in just one year is many time greater than all of welfare we have provided the poor in all of our history. To that we have to add the benefits the very rich receive by using congress to guarantee their incomes and rig the markets they operate in.
The notion that the poor are the primary engine for never ending dependence on government has whiskers on it to say the least. Once an idea gains acceptance and catches on it develops a life of its own. When the time comes that it is no longer true, it is treated as fact regardless. Hardly a soul even wonders otherwise.
The poor do get some benefits, but the days when “helping the poor” seriously drove up the cost of government are long behind us. The true angst behind the current change in government is the fear by the rich of being cut off from their government benefits. That fear is probably not well founded. Trump’s tax and spending plans are tailored towards rewarding the politically powerful, just like those of the last two presidents.
Welfare for the rich is far more hazardous than welfare for the poor. The rich have the political power to see to it that their benefits continue growing. Can you visualize a thousand sided figure? No you can’t. It is just as hard to fathom the amount of money the rich have extracted out of the general population over the last forty six years by using the government as a tool. The process is ongoing.
The truth is a hard sell. Fantasy Free Economics gains readers one at a time. Major search engines simply do not list blogs which disagree with their political agenda. As long as folks share the link to this blog and others speaking out against the grain, the truth will at least trickle into the public consciousness.
Fantasy Free Economics recommends the following blogs.
Woodpiler Report Of Two Minds Liberty Blitzkrieg Mises Institute Straight Line Logic Paul Craig Roberts
What do Americans want out of government? Ask that question and you will be inundated with the all kinds of lofty answers. Answers will include, “We the people………justice, honor, liberty for all, fairness, racial equality………………………….on and on and on……” Out of instinct, all people exalt their species, exalt themselves, exalt their country, exalt the school they graduated from. People, in their own minds define themselves as some kind of minor league divinity with intrinsic value anointed by God, doers of good things, filled with honor………and so on.
In my fantasy free approach to economics I study the behavior of the human animal, the same way I would study any group of animals. No particular person or institution is held in awe. The rich, poor, president, attorney general, congressmen, senators get no more respect than any of the other animals. Each animal is guided by self interest. Each animal has certain personality, characteristics and a different level of education and intelligence.
The one thing all of the animals have in common is that they are guided by self interest. A unique aspect of fantasy free economics is that work is acknowledged as a second choice. All animals will work but only after they are convinced they cannot live off the efforts of others. From the work as a second choice principle, all kinds of efforts and initiatives are undertaken to benefit from the labor of others. Not all of this is bad. The business owner benefits from the efforts of employees who are paid fairly for their time. Stealing outright is not good. There are all kinds of variations.
The most effective way to live off of others is to start climbing Mooch Mountain, which is what government is, after basic function like protection are taken care of. All who approach government do so for the same reason, personal gain. Government is a means to an end. Government provides legal way to steal money.
The poor are usually pointed to as the countries mooches. They get some benefits. Oddly they never asked for anything. Clearly programs for the poor benefit others besides the poor because the poor have no political power.
Who actually lives at the top of Mooch Mountain? It is the wealthy who have the intelligence, money and power to get what they want from government. The poor and middle class believe in the prospect of getting something from government. A few do but taken as a whole government is a net loss to all but the rich and highly educated.
To reduce the size of government it is necessary to take benefits away from the people who determine the flow of self serving legislation and policy. If small government worked in favor of the rich, government agencies would start closing tomorrow. Laws would be repealed. Compounding the problem is the fact that almost all Americans think government is growing because of what people at the bottom of the income ladder are demanding.