Sunday, October 26, 2008

Capitalism and Freedom vs. Socialism and Bondage

As we have seen a resurgence in the argument for socialism in this presidential campaign, I thought I would posts excerpts from the late Milton Friedman's 1962 treatise, "Capitalism and Freedom".

"The preservation of freedom is the protective reason for limiting and decentralizing governmental power. But there is also a constructive reason. The great advances of civilization, whether in architecture or painting, in science or literature, in industry or agriculture, have never come from centralized government. Columbus did not set out to seek a new route to China in response to a majority directive of a parliament, though he was partly financed by an absolute monarch. Newton and Leibnitz; Einstein and Bohr; Shakespeare, Milton, Pasternak; Whitney, McCormick, Edison, and Ford; Jane Addams, Florence Nightingale, and Albert Schweitzer; no one of these opened new frontiers in human knowledge and understanding, in literature, in technical possibilities, or in the relief of human misery in response to governmental directives. Their achievements were the product of individual genius, of strongly held minority views, of a social climate permitting variety and diversity."

(From the 2002 preface)"The climate of opinion received a further boost in the same direction when the Berlin wall fell in 1989 and the Soviet Union collapsed in 1992. That brought to a dramatic end an experiment of some seventy years between two alternative ways of organizing an economy; top-down versus bottom-up; central planning and control versus private markets; more colloquially, socialism versus capitalism. The result of that experiment had been foreshadowed by a number of similar experiments on a smaller scale; Hong Kong and Taiwan versus mainland China; West Germany versus East Germany; South Korea versus North Korea; But it took the drama of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union to make it part of conventional wisdom, so that it is now taken for granted that central planning is indeed The Road to Serfdom, as Friedrich A. Hayek titled his brilliant 1944 polemic."

Monday, October 20, 2008

Mindy, Mraz and Me

What do you get when you combine Patrick Byrne, CEO of Overstock.com, and Jason Mraz? No, it's not a fundraiser for school vouchers. It's a private party for Patrick, and Jason Mraz is going to be there. My good friend, Mindy is really tight with Mr. Byrne, and she invited me to go. I'm pretty confident it's not a naked short selling party, so George Soros won't be invited. Maybe I could dress up as Soros and freak everyone out. That would be the scariest halloween costume ever.

Friday, October 17, 2008

Fight for the Ideals and Character of a Free People!!

Over the past months, I have come to realize that the American dream is slowly slipping away, and if we continue to complacently sit back, we may lose it. I feel like we are in a struggle to preserve this great republic and I am ready to fight for it! I'm ready to fight, my friends. I've never felt more passionate about anything in my life. I often feel like the great prophet Nephi praying in his garden tower, lamenting the wickedness and blindness of his people. While I know that the majority of the American people are good and decent freedom loving people, I fear that freedom and privilege has led to unparalleled complacency never before seen. Are we willing to fight for liberty the way our forefathers did? Or will we allow the devil to lead us away into carnal security, whispering in our ears that all is well in Zion?! It's time to stand up and fight for what's right. I'm an American and I choose to fight! McCain gave a brilliant speech in Miami today. McCain wasn't my first or even second choice during the primaries, but I am increasingly convinced that he is the right man to lead this country at this challenging time. Here are some excerpts from the speech.

The response from Senator Obama and his campaign yesterday was to attack Joe. People are digging through his personal life and he has TV crews camped out in front of his house. He didn't ask for Senator Obama to come to his house. He wasn't recruited or prompted by our campaign. He just asked a question. And Americans ought to be able to ask Senator Obama tough questions without being smeared and targeted with political attacks.

The question Joe asked about our economy is important, because Senator Obama's plan would raise taxes on small businesses that employ 16 million Americans. Senator Obama's plan will kill those jobs at just the time when we need to be creating more jobs. My plan will create jobs, and that's what America needs.

Senator Obama says that he wanted to spread your wealth around. When politicians talk about taking your money and spreading it around, you'd better hold onto your wallet. Senator Obama claims that he wants to give a tax break to the middle class, but not only did he vote for higher taxes on the middle class in the Senate, his plan gives away your tax dollars to those who don't pay taxes. That's not a tax cut, that's welfare. America didn't become the greatest nation on earth by redistributing wealth; we became the greatest nation by creating new wealth....

What America needs in this hour is a fighter; someone who puts all his cards on the table and trusts the judgment of the American people. I come from a long line of McCains who believed that to love America is to fight for her. I have fought for you most of my life. There are other ways to love this country, but I've never been the kind to do it from the sidelines.

I know you're worried. America is a great country, but we are at a moment of national crisis that will determine our future. Will we continue to lead the world's economies or will we be overtaken? Will the world become safer or more dangerous? Will our military remain the strongest in the world? Will our children and grandchildren's future be brighter than ours?

My answer to you is yes. Yes, we will lead. Yes, we will prosper. Yes, we will be safer. Yes, we will pass on to our children a stronger, better country. But we must be prepared to act swiftly, boldly, with courage and wisdom.

I know what fear feels like. It's a thief in the night who robs your strength.

I know what hopelessness feels like. It's an enemy who defeats your will.

I felt those things once before. I will never let them in again. I'm an American. And I choose to fight.

Don't give up hope. Be strong. Have courage. And fight.

Fight for a new direction for our country. Fight for what's right for America.

Fight to clean up the mess of corruption, infighting and selfishness in Washington.

Fight to get our economy out of the ditch and back in the lead.

Fight for the ideals and character of a free people.

Fight for our children's future.

Fight for justice and opportunity for all.

Stand up to defend our country from its enemies.

Stand up, stand up, stand up and fight. America is worth fighting for. Nothing is inevitable here. We never give up. We never quit. We never hide from history. We make history.

Now, let's go win this election and get this country moving again.

Monday, October 6, 2008

Conference Weekend

So I met my best mate, Cory Neill at the conference center Saturday and we spent the entire day together, attending conference and talking to the protestors. By far, my favorite protestor is Ruben Israel, a painting contractor from Southern California. I've been following Ruben's proselytizing efforts for several years now, and though I don't agree with his assertions about Mormonism, I respect him for his courage to preach repentance every year amongst the revelers at Mardi Gras, Las Vegas, and other such places. He supports capital punishment and travels around the country to support the state sanctioned execution of murderers. He is also a strong conservative who stands up for Christian and American values. Though there are minor doctrinal points that may separate us, there is much more that brings us together in a common purpose to strengthen individuals, families, communities and nation through the teachings of Christ. Ruben's son recently graduated from UCLA, and he couldn't be more proud. Next time you see him at conference or anywhere else, stop by and say hello and thank him for his efforts. Click here for a video of him preaching in Las Vegas last New Year's Eve.