Nicaragua, not Africa, but whatever
We are all familiar with Bastiat’s Parable of the Broken Window, but I recently realized there is a similar parable that also needs to be discussed. While we see the broken window fallacy all over the place, I see the following fallacy just as often, I have even been guilty of it myself. Since I recently figured out the flaw, I have seen examples of it all over the place.
In this parable, there is no punk kid throwing a rock through a window, instead we have a kindly benefactor, who donates free windows to a town to anyone who needs one. They aren’t the highest quality window, in fact they are cheap, but they do the job. For many low income people, the free window is a godsend. Even many middle class people would say, “I need a new window, and free is good enough.” Sure, people with fancy windows will continue to buy those.
Everyone in the town rejoices at first, “Free windows!” But then people realize that the glazier industry has been destroyed. A few high end artisans are unaffected, but the rest of them find themselves unemployed. What seemed like a nice gift was actually destructive, no?
No. Yes, the glaziers are hurting. But the money that was previously going to them is now going to the shoemakers and the grocers. Their business is booming. The glaziers still have skills, they can find other jobs, although they won’t be making as much as they did at their previous job. If you calculate it all out, you find that the economy of the town has increased by the value of the free windows. Just like in Bastiat’s parable, the net cost is the value of the broken window. It sucks to be a glazier in both parables, either due to loss of a job or people stopping the window breaking punk before he can act again.
So how does this parable apply to our world? I see it mentioned a lot with regard to African aid. Apparently New England Patriot 19-0 t-shirts donated to Africa destroy the clothing manufacturing in those nations. And that is possibly so. But they shift to farming or international finance or something else. Or not, they are still going to benefit by the value of the t-shirts. The benefit is dispersed, while the pain is noticeable.
” Apparently New England Patriot 19-0 t-shirts donated to Africa destroy the clothing manufacturing in those nations.”
I doubt Super Bowl loser shirts are enough to affect an economy.
Anyway, I wish I had one of those shirts.
I remember I won about $40 at a Super Bowl party for that game. I had the box on the grid with the final score (either 7-4 or 4-7, however it was laid out). I only realized it just before the Giants scored the winning touchdown. I had no dog in that fight (“Alls I know is, da Bears could be kickin’ some major butt”), so winning the money was nice.
Randy Moss, you done fucked that shit up.
I feel bad for all those Third World kids who grow up thinking the Vikings won a Super Bowl.
They never should have sent them to Somalia.
ROFL
That’s hurtful, Ted.
* weeps in the corner*
Something something, buggy whip manufacturers,
I say free shit is destructive on the whole, it promotes sloth, and warps a sense of personal responsibility,
Charity is good.
Charity isn’t free shit IMO, we should help those in need, free shit ain’t that,
This is why Habitat for Humanity is one of my top organizations.
Nothing is free. It’s all in how you pass the cost on to someone else with a markup so you can keep the difference. Corrupt fucks call this capitalism. I don’t.
Markup is how I eat, besides the Census crap
I don’t mean that as a small business person such as yourself. I mean corporate/government cronyism and fake charity, or corporatism as some say. Your markup is earned profit.
Thankee, I am very fair with my markup, I have seen the Mike Diamond/George Brazil style operation and am not a fan of Ripoffs,
they make my trade look bad
So you are true capitalist and businessman. God bless you. My biggest beef is the fake corporate charity.
I say free shit is destructive on the whole
It is. Having worked in some of the worlds finest shitholes I can say the ones that received the most aid had the people with the most demands and the most corrupt. In one case they had been fed by USAID for years/decades and felt since they were poor and we, the visiting oil field workers were not, we owed them something. Aid had warped their minds to thinking they were entitled to others property rather than learning that working and making money is how you obtain your own damn property. It was sad to see. Or maybe I am just an asshole.
Maybe?
GFYS?
What?
Good For You Sir.
You need that translated?
Everyone knows hat stands for “Great Fukuyama Says:” Though typically it’s followed by the relevant proverb.
I guess it depends on the source of the free windows.
The effect is not just on the glazers, it affects the glass makers, wood workers, and other support businesses.
If the free windows come from a place with no connections to the town they will affect more than the glazers.
Small towns are like a poor country. There are limits to what can be made by the unskilled or moderately skilled.
Farming can be done on a small scale by poor people and can fuel commerce in a poor country. If all of the food is dumped for free then this removes a significant source of easy income in a village.
Easy income is not really what I meant. A better way to put it would be low skill income.
There was an interesting documentary made about this said parable some years ago. Poverty Inc Ya sure people with means give free shit to poor people in other countries and feel real good about themselves but every business trying to make it in that market are fucked. You can’t compete with free shit in the market place.
“…Poverty Inc…”
Yes watch it. The chicken farmer, in particular, got fucked.
Our window supplier has a 2 month+ lead time.
Fucking commie cough.
Save the mailboxes!!!!
Sksksksksksksksksksk.
No. Yes, the glaziers are hurting. But the money that was previously going to them is now going to the shoemakers and the grocers. Their business is booming.
Until the same charitable people donate free food and free shoes to the town. Then every productive person is out of a job, and everyone is dependent on the continued beneficence of an outside actor. Charity distorts a market, and like most good things it is best done in moderation.
like most good things it is best done in moderation.
One side of me is nodding in agreement. The other side believes in magnanimous giving. I guess one way of bridging the gap is recognizing that cutting a check that pays welfare for a bunch of strangers halfway around the world isn’t magnanimity. It’s the laziest, cheapest way to get your warm fuzzies.
I’ve been bad about that lately. Cutting checks and checking the box.
Well, as a glazier, you have to make your case. Those cheap windows suck. Look how thin and flimsy they are! You’re going to burn 3 more truckloads of wood this winter because of those cheap windows!
There’s always a trade off and you know, different strokes for different folks. Free shit is not always free, it also often comes with a cost.
Also, who’s going to install the free windows? The glazier? Looks to me like he’s the buy for the job.
No, the foreign aid volunteers who’ll do a shitty job but feel really good about themselves for helping the
undesirablesless fortunate.Love that response! Kids from the local church fly down to Central America and hammer nails and crudely mortar some cinderblocks for a new school. The $2K a piece that it costs them to travel and stay for 10 days could have kept a local carpenter and mason employed for six months and the finished project wouldn’t have been so amateurish.
Yeah, but they get to put it on their college application, and it probably counts for more than getting an actual job, which would be considered selfish.
Give a man a fish, . . . . .
If you do it right, you put it under the back seat of his car.
I read a story about a husband who caught his wife cheating on him. He divorced her. And he put small fish inside the curtain rods to rot. After the divorce, the wife could not sell the house because of the rotting fish smell.
I mean who looks INSIDE the curtain rods?”
I checked ammo sites today. Yowza.
Who’s buying it all?
When does the redistribution start?
?
When does the redistribution start?
Do you mean out of the barrel?
My gf didn’t get there on her own, so I ordered her some body armor anyway.
It’s arriving this week. I think it’s money well spent.
So…yes.
Have a link?
No. AR500 had a crazy sale on their Rimelig IIIA armor the other day with trauma pads (and a coupon code).
Concealable carrier ordered from SpartanArmor.
All shipped fast.
I can’t keep track. Is Beta taking the ammo along with the guns?
Dad and I stopped a few places locally. They had 7.62 commie, 12ga, and 20ga. oh, and There were some less popular handgun rounds. That was it.
Someone linked a video the other day. The manufacturers are spooling up their own websites and selling at MSRP+. My last two purchases were direct from Federal Premium. The price was terrible (by last year’s standards), but much cheaper than the bulk ammo sites I usually frequent.
The new normal.
Cripes, how much ammo are some of you guys hoarding? Do you need 10,000 rounds to hold off some antifa fuckers or looters? If there are that many of them, won’t you be overwhelmed before you use up anything like 10,000 rounds? Then the fuckers will have your ammo pile to use on others. And if it is the 82nd Airborne coming after you, it ain’t gonna matter much after you take out the first one or two of them.
Did you see that explosion in Beirut?
Hold my beer.
I’m shooting 150-200 rounds on weekend events, and if I had the ammo (or the money to obtain same) I’d be shooting 500 rounds/week outside of that.
So, 10,000 rounds would last me ~3.5 months.
I have cut way back on practicing. We used to go through 2 cases a quarter.
If I went back to practicing every week, I would burn through my collection in about 8 or 9 months.
10k rounds isn’t that much. 15 months of continuous practice.
So the question is what happens if the Dems sweep the election in November? Prices sky-rocket (worse than now)? Ammunition disappears (worse than now)?
All I know is that I don’t have enough.
I cut down to zero practice. I can’t afford $75/week just to put a few mags of 9 and 100 rounds of 223 down range.
I am just breaking in my new rifles at this point.
600 rounds through the Ruger PC9. I need to clean it and run 200 JHP through it next.
90 rounds through the mini-14. I was able to get several thousand rounds of 223 and 556 Nato at not terrible prices.
I have not fired the M1A yet. I was waiting to get to an outdoor range. That has to happen soon.
I bought an M9-22 just for this purpose.
Though I could technically de-bullseyeify my Ruger MkIV, but that would be more of a PITA than dripping $300 on a new .22
And if it is the 82nd Airborne coming after you, it ain’t gonna matter much after you take out the first one or two of them.
Because battlefield pickup of M240 and the gunner’s/AG’s rounds?
Hey, I’ve got a full-auto belt-fed on a tripod to feed. 10,000 rounds is probably enough for a good afternoon if they are armed and persistent enough.
I’m coming to your house when TSHTF. I’ll watch your back if you watch mine.
Come on in! If you aren’t armed I’ll have something you can use. Pretty much a choice of somethings. Having people on the flanks will be key.
But they will lose the knowledge and tools to make windows and soon will be reliant on the “free” window people for windows and that’s when the “free” window people royally fuck ’em.
/Every union steel worker I’ve ever discussed economic with.
+1 vinyl slider. (what’s a glazier?)
I am not sure what point you are trying to make.
It’s not one product replacing another, It’s the pro tariff spiel, i.e. – If we allow american companies to buy cheap (or as in robc’s example simply get) foreign steel than America as a whole will lose the ability to make steel, so we need the Gov’t to artificially increase the price of the product I produce so I can keep making the big bucks working in a union steel shop.
On the “losing knowledge” bit, seven Taiwanese chip fabs were hit with decent hacks that allowed “exfiltration” of designs.
I’m sure it was the Israelis.
I have no idea what that means. What makes a hack “decent” and what’s “exfiltration”
It was decent in that it let them steal information without being detected, but after the fact the owners were able to determine which information was stolen.
That’s stolen info not lost knowledge. I may be using the terms wrong but I was speaking of the idea that if we stop refining ore for five days/weeks/month/years we’ll forget how to do it altogether.
Right. My point was the US would never lose the knowledge of how to make something as long as 1) someone else knows it and 2) we have good industrial espionage.
You don’t loose knowledge, but you can become uncompetetive if you spend $500M making a new technology that took 5 years to develop by 5 hours to steal.
With the right tools and expertise the group stealing the technology can go to market quickly without the large R&D investment dollars and overhead. Then they can sell devices for less than the stolen company.
By the way China’s pure play foundries just picked up hundreds of TSMC talent to jump start their companies push for cutting edge technology nodes.
Things below 12nm make very little sense outside of niche markets and <7nm make no sense at all.
Unless…
If you've got slave labor to develop and produce then cost isn't a factor. That is the one thing that makes me worried about China.
Such is life. I can spend days/weeks/months designing a chair or table once it’s out in the world any half-way competent woodworker can replicate it. que sera sera.
Infiltration is getting into an area undetected. Exfiltration is getting out of an area undetected.
I’d be more curious if they were all hit with the same type of attack and the time frame between the hacks.
The guy’s creating a Windows monopoly to exploit Windows users and drive out all Windows competitors.
Bill Gates?
Fuck Bill Gates. That guy is the worst human being ever!
I am not sure you are correct here. Yes, the society is now ‘richer’ by the value of the shirts, and yes the former clothing makers will find some work, but previously those clothing makers were engaged in an enterprise that produced capital and fostered an entrepreneurial culture, and it is unlikely in poor economy that they will be able to move into a similar position. When the handloom artisans or the buggy whip makers were displaced they gave way to industries that allowed for the creation of capital and leveraging of capital goods into long term growth. When some charity dumps free goods in a nascent economy consumer goods are driving out capital goods. In a well developed economy I think you would see a net gain. China selling subsidized goods here does not hurt us as a whole because there are plenty of places that any displaced workers can go that are similar in value to where they were. When an economy is trying to make the transition from subsistence agriculture to cottage industry I think you will likely see a significant and long lasting cost to this influx.
Why can’t the clothing maker buy up some of the shirts and customize them? Can no one think out of the box? Because I’m pretty sure poor people often do it best out of necessity.
Customizing preprinted shirts and trying to compete with completely free shirts seems an iffy business model, and again my point is not that the clothing makers won’t find some way to make a living. They probably will. My point is that ways of making a living are not equal in terms of building a society’s wealth base, and fostering a culture that will encourage future entrepreneurs rather than discourage them. Capital goods are important, as is the entrepreneurial spirit, and visible evidence of people with that spirit succeeding breeds it in others. I know it challenges libertarian dogma to suggest that anything except individual drive contributes to wealth, but I not only suggest it, I think the evidence is conclusive. You cannot donate a society wealthy from without anymore than you can ‘build’ a ‘democracy’. It has to grow from within, and if you want to help that process donating free consumer goods is not the way to go about it.
You’re suggesting that you can dabble in cronyism and not have it devolve into a monster. Let’s grant that in the situation you’ve described, the cronyism actually results in overall growth for the economy. Now you’ve got the tiger by the tail and can never let go..
No I am not. I am struggling to convey a nuance. I am suggesting that giving a child a box of candy instead of vegetables is not helpful. Is my position more clear if I say that I am advocating for more Kiva less Unicef?
Oh. Misread your point. On that we’re agreed.
“Customizing preprinted shirts and trying to compete with completely free shirts seems an iffy business model”
Well, I concede that, but it was the only thing I could think of at the moment! You have to seek out your wealthy buyers ‘hey look, your authentic jersey signed by Tom Brady’.
Only in this case it was signed by “Tim Bardy”
/living in Asia too long
*Tim BLADY
/not rong enough apparentry
No. Too long to be sure. I just saw that as low hanging fruit.
The caveat would be that the developing economy would be free enough to allow other professions to emerge.
Like when Nancy told us that because of Obamacare we could quite our awful jobs we were stuck in and become artists and writers and the like?
Agh! No. Free society vs state largesse.
I wish……….
They are called Starving Artists for a reason…….
Because their work product isn’t worth buying?
I think there is a degree of chicken and the egg about that. It seems to me that developing a middle class is necessary (but not perhaps sufficient) to developing freedom. Also, I don’t think professions can easily emerge without a fairly regular pacing. I know I am not explaining this well, but basically I see it as something like this:
Hunter/gatherer
herdsman
subsistence farmer
more efficient farming that allows the land to feed a population not directly engaged in agriculture
beginning artisanry (builds skills and interactions between artisan types foster opportunities for improvement and starting capital goods formation, interacts back with agriculture increasing that surplus)
cottage industry (artisans plus laborers)
real industry (artisans plus laborers, plus some accumultaed capital goods)
and once you get there you can really take off and a person with a good idea and drive can really thrive
When some charity dumps free goods in a nascent economy consumer goods are driving out capital goods. In a well developed economy I think you would see a net gain. … When an economy is trying to make the transition from subsistence agriculture to cottage industry I think you will likely see a significant and long lasting cost to this influx.
I think you are right here. I will note, that the US, pretty much the most successful economy in the world (and world history) developed the infrastructure of that economy while shrouded in protective tariffs. It was not until the US had a leading economy that it threw protectionism by the wayside and opened up (and shifted to getting its revenue from the income tax). I think it is a fact that free trade maximizes aggregate wealth, but at the same time it does not necessarily benefit all sectors, factions, or nations equally (and in fact can harm individuals and individual factions and even nations while benefiting the system as a whole).
Tariffs are taxation. They are not any better or worse than any other form of taxation. There is a certain subset of libertarians who are extremely averse to nationalism, and seem to hold them in some kind of special loathing. The Reason types won’t waste a single second calling for the end of the income tax, but they get very very worked up about tariffs.
Personally, I’d rather have zero income taxes than zero tariffs, if you made me choose between the two. Tariffs can be evaded in a way income taxes cannot. Make America Smugglers Again.
Tariffs have the virtues of their vice. The vice is that they penalize a subset of economic activities giving an advantage to other activities. The virtues in that are one that as long as the tariffs are reasonably stable, individuals can make rational decisions as to whetehr or not to engage in the activities that are penalized based on the size of the penalty, and two that very ability to avoid tariffs makes them a less elastic form of taxation than income taxes. The inelasticity is the big reason we won’t see a return to tariff based revenue. You can’t run a modern Leviathan on tariffs, unless you make them universal, at which point you might as well have a VAT.
“The inelasticity is the big reason we won’t see a return to tariff based revenue. You can’t run a modern Leviathan on tariffs,”
Yeah that’s kind of what I was getting at. A 20% tariff would give you 600 billion in revenue. Those poor public servants infesting my beloved commonwealth can’t barely survive at all with only 600 billion. Federal revenue would fall year by year.
Of course, I see this as a feature, not a bug. I am a firm believer that the original mistake was giving the federal government the power to levy taxes, of any kind. They should have funded the federal treasury through the states. If every budget had to be voted on by popularly elected Representatives, then voted on by Senators selected by state legislatures, then signed by a popularly elected President and then collected by State officials and forwarded to Washington, I think Leviathan might have been forestalled.
I was assuming the “kindly benefactor” is the government and that’s where the money goes now.
How the West poisoned Bangladesh A UN project aimed to help millions – but it brought them water contaminated with arsenic
Up to 20 million people in Bangladesh are at risk of suffering early deaths because of arsenic poisoning – the legacy of a well-intentioned but ill-planned water project that created a devastating public health catastrophe. Four decades after an internationally funded move to dig tube wells across the country massively backfired, huge numbers of people still remain at higher risk of contracting cancer and heart disease. The intellectual development of untold numbers of children is also being held back by the contamination of drinking water. Poor diet exacerbates the risk.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/how-the-west-poisoned-bangladesh-1924631.html
TL;DR but does it explain why “UN” == “the West”…?
Never mind, it’s not that long.
I see the word “west” does not appear outside of “West Bengal”. So, bullshit headline.
The UN has nothing to do with helping people. Unless we are talking about the hapless corruptocrats who work in that organization who want to help themselves to other people’s money.
“Yet the move, spearheaded by the UN and the World Bank, was fatally flawed.”
Story lacks the important details about how bad orange man is the real villain behind this.
“Although checks were carried out for certain contaminants in the newly sourced water, it was not tested for arsenic, which occurs naturally in the Ganges and Brahmaputra deltas.”
SCIENCE, WE LOVE IT!
“Government and UN officials will publish a new report tomorrow calling for urgent action”
OK, I’m sure their findings will call for throwing a shitload of money at the same assholes who caused the problem.
When was this written? I’m assuming the 2010s?
Because I was personally involved with the remediation of this thing back in… 1998? 1999 at the latest. At the time I was doing arsenic remediation of surface and groundwater in Texas, and we were transferring our “enhanced sand filters” (think sand with rust mixed in) to that.
I know a dude who proposed a water well drilling project to help villages [ Redacted ]
That anecdote is for happy hour Zooms.
huge numbers of people still remain at higher risk of contracting cancer and heart disease
Because they’re not-dying of dehydration for long enough to develop cancer and heart disease?
*dehydration/dysentery
The moral aspect also deserves mentioning. No one has the moral right to deny someone the right to receive free stuff (or cheap stuff) in order to protect their or a third party’s job.
True that, no one has a right, moral or not, to tell me what I can or cannot give to whomever I choose, they can
Fuck.Right.Off!!
Agreed, but I think the point of this sort of discussion is that charity should be undertaken with forethought, not that Big Brother should bar it. Sort of a Hypocratic oath concept, first do no harm.
Sure. Very tricky trying to help someone without creating a degree of dependency.
^this
(or cheap stuff) in order to protect their or a third party’s job.
Aaaah, you and Hype are making the same point. I think there is a difference between Cheap and aid/free shit. Cheap develops within the market and urges others to compete, free is its own market that has no competition so it isn’t even a market.
Good will, good reputation is a market in its own right.
Just give in and wear the mask: https://teefury.com/products/face-mask-unisex-basic-surrounded-by-assholes
One of the main issues with African aid is the drain of African human capital into the aid and poverty industry. Talent goes where the money is. A vital thing for a developing nation to attract foreign capital is a native with the wealth and connections to navigate the corrupt government, the acumen to make a successful business, and the ability to speak English to foreign investors.
In a lot, if not most of the African nations, the people with that combination of skills are in the business of driving around foreign politicians and bureaucrats on fact finding missions, and translating and handling logistics for foreign aid workers and volunteers expunging their guilt, because they make lots of money doing that.
But no worries, once they kill all da whitey, all their problems will be gone and paradise will appear once again. Hey, it worked in Zimbabwe.
“Just give in and wear the mask”
How about NO, I won’t wear one at work, even though it’s a Mando,
I Will Not Comply
Now, come on, Yusef. You have to be wearing the ribbon at your government job.
I carry it in my back pocket, but have yet to need it, or meet anyone wearing one, kinda nice,
Nice!
Jealous. I made it all the way to late July, and Colorado, before I had to don one. But in the end, I’m not the sort of person willing to cause a scene and get myself arrested while traveling with my kids, so I put on the fucking face diaper and complied like a good sheep when they said I had to. I still won’t wear one unless there’s a sign at the door refusing service without one. There are a decent number of cities/states seriously laying on the mask nonsense, though. Even in West Virginia, of all places.
Well, it’s a short story; we don’t know all the facts.
Many theories are pursued mindlessly; economies of scale, for example, are pursued often even when the actual total costs are more because people tend to only look at the benefit side without considering all the true costs. Then there are all the unintentioned and unimagined consequences . . . that add to the costs but went unweighed.
As for the windows (if I’m reading this correctly), the costs/frictions/consequences to the glaziers part is a bit of double-talk. These people couldn’t afford windows, in which case the glaziers weren’t making anything off of them anyway, which is to say they were otherwise occupied in a market that set prices without regard to the poor folk whatsoever.
But let’s be generous and pretend that some low-end glaziers did some work, so these windows were part of a larger market. In that case, these windows were simply priced out of the market: countries with competitive advantages in the window game were too removed logistically or otherwise (various barriers to entry) to compete with local glaziers; that’s not rare, especially in the third world.
If the local low-end guy was displaced by free windows, that’s a bit of market and trade friction. The community’s values went up by this net: total free windows less Mr LowEnd’s loss in income (we’ll assume he ended up running goats for his father-in-law, so his friction is just the loss in income, not his entire income). That loss over the life of the windows matters.
But there’s still a world market for windows, and it’s fair to say that GoatStan was not very good at it. In terms of trade, the free windows were incremental production somewhere. Even though there was no price-making in GoatStan, there was some sale back in the US, let’s say. Us free-traders would say that’s a good thing.
All that remains is for Mr LowEnd to figure out what things he has a competitive advantage and get after it. It’s on him to convince Oprah to sell goat pucks as a designer fragrance burners for USD119.95 each. Or he can learn Python. Whatever.
One contrivance that might help would be to auction the windows off for whatever the poor folk could afford and give the kitty to Mr LowEnd to tide him over until Oprah calls.
But in this scenario it is not trade friction, it is welfare. It seems like I am in a minority here but I don’t see this as analagous to ‘cheap foreign goods’ creating a “Dey tuk r jerbs” situation, but analagous to LBJs Great Society taking their aspirations.
not trade friction
The real question is job stability. I illustrate that if the windows had been merely inexpensive imports, the result would be the same and the costs little different, but we wouldn’t have any altruist to hang for it. Or, if you prefer, I would suggest that the glazier wasn’t long for the world and the donor accelerated an already likely outcome.
However you source the windows and whatever we wish to call it, the friction is the problem. Let’s go the other way: no one would object to the altruist setting up an annuity that paid for everything in the community forever, or at least the question of one happily and thrillingly unemployed incremental glazier would not grind anyone’s gears. See, it’s not the job and it’s not the job that matter: it’s the friction as measured in dollars.
The problem with the charity notion is that it hides the cost issue. Economics explains things better when we can see markets making prices.
Yup!
“The problem with the charity notion is that it hides the cost issue. Economics explains things better when we can see markets making prices.”
But socialism doesn’t work when you insist on that. Therefore you are a bad greedy person and we’re going to have to silence you, for your own good.
Oh, I was just talking about the conundrum as presented. Socialism only warps the price signals; it works fine until you run out of other people’s money.
Let’s go the other way: no one would object to the altruist setting up an annuity that paid for everything in the community forever, or at least the question of one happily and thrillingly unemployed incremental glazier would not grind anyone’s gears.
But that is exactly what I am objecting to here. I am not getting my gears ground because the glazier is unemployed. I am getting my gears ground because the Brave New World at its best (when there is a magic external pool of wealth that can be tapped forever to maintain things) freezes a society in place and stultifies the people, and at worst causes a degeneration in the society and destroys the people. I have given people lumps of cash when they were in difficulty and I think in most cases I delayed them getting back on their feet and fostered their dependency. A person who earns $30k a year by his own efforts is in my opinion better off than a person who is given an annuity paying that same $30k a year. If for no other reason than the fact that a person making $30k a year is forced to recognize the link between his actions and the $30k which renders the possibility of $40k a matter of doing more of what he is currently doing, or doing better than he is currently doing, and a person with a $30k annuity will eventually lose the essential belief in his ability to change his position in the world. I admit I did not directly deal with the glazier, because the real issue with the shirts is much clearer to me than with the windows (in part because glaziers come later in my view of the development of an economy and can be displaced without derailing the whole train, where I am not sure the same is true of clothing makers at the very begining of the move from subsistence farmer to capitalist economy)
A person who earns $30k a year by his own efforts is in my opinion better off than a person who is given an annuity paying that same $30k a year.
$250k or GTFO; I assure you I won’t warp!
But if the market price for something is $0.00 or in the case around here for zucchini and tomatoes in the late fall $”please take these”.00 that’s a signal as well. people freely giving shit away is as much a market indicator as anything else. They aren’t giving away blocks of 3 year aged Parmigiano-Reggiano they are handing out blocks of knock off velveeta. The take away for cheese makers is make hard aged cheese not petroleum based cheese like products.
I wouldn’t argue this,
but a market signal of $0, regardless from whom it comes, is telling you “your time was up anyway.” It’s hard to say that our butterfly benefactor is the one whose wings flapping caused any hurricane.
Me and my white privilege join your minority. I don’t even see how welfare, be it in our own country or other countries doesn’t makes some/many people dependent on it is an argument. It is a known fact. There are great charities out there to help people get through hard times but the world has fucked over much of a continent with aid and never let many countries in Africa develop a sustainable economy. It has provided a good living with travel benefits to many an NGO worker though and they feel real fucking good about themselves. There are also the micro loan charities out there to help budding entrepreneurs all over the world which seem like a great choice. Hell even Bono, after who knows how many feed the world concerts, came around to the idea that charity doesn’t work. Capitalism is what gets people out of poverty.
I like the idea of charity, but we do indeed need to make sure it doesn’t destabilize a functioning economy or get people dependent, only to rip the rug out from under them later.
The important thing to remember is that prices are signals. Sellers, buyers, investors, all need to see those signals accurately so they respond appropriately. All thanks to the invisible hand, not to price setting.
^^^THIS^^^
“Orbium” and soda is a delightful summer evening cocktail
Where in the economic equation is the trade off between the philanthropist buying cheap windows to give to poor folks and the philanthropist otherwise investing this money in some wealth-creating business that he or she is really, really good at?
As a point of public interest, the Democratic National Convention has started.
Just thought I would remind people. It is virtual.
What? No antifa fag riots? Meh, not watching.
I’m virtually ignoring it.
Carryover from the pm links:
Heinlein says “Hold my beer”:
“Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded — here and there, now and then — are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty.
This is known as “bad luck.”
“While y’all were rowing your asses off, trying to get this ship up to cruising speed, I steered it into the cliff. But, as a result of pure bad luck the cliff didn’t jump out of the way.”
In brief, I’d say that in the specific example of African aid those economies weren’t destroyed by cheap shirts but by ruinous governance and the aftereffects of colonialism (or de-colonization) in varying proportions. The free shirt issue is just a very extreme example of the concern people bring up to defend price floors, i.e. that Wal-Mart will show up to a town and charge below market prices in order to kill local competition, leaving them free to raise prices as a virtual monopoly later on. I’ll loosely reference Thomas Sowell in “Basic Economics” and say that what really happens is that Wal-Mart (to keep with the example) really just enjoys advantages that allow them to bring goods to market at low costs to themselves and thus sell at a lower price while still making a profit. A company selling at a loss cannot afford to do so for very long, and in practice it is very rarely a successful strategy. After all, even if the local competition gets priced out and shuts down, Wal-Mart eventually has to raise prices or go out of business, at which point the price advantage disappears…unless it’s really a case of what I mentioned before.
Now, apply this to free shirts and it becomes even more blatant. No matter how wealthy the donor eventually they’re going to run out of money to produce or acquire shirts and give them away for free. Put another way, very few people exit the labor pool because they have an especially generous aunt who hands them a hundo every Christmas. And if you have a relative who can and will buy you out of the workforce through gifts you’re part of a very, very small number of people and weren’t likely a fundamental part of the labor market to begin with.
Thomas Sowell in “Basic Economics”
I just got my first edition hardcover of Basic Economics in the mail today. I’m trying to buy his whole collection before he dies and the prices shoot up. I have a feeling that’s what he would want me to do.
I got it on Audible. The guy who reads it has a slightly deadpan, snarky voice that fits the material. Also, I’ve been playing it on our living room television over Amazon Fire TV loud enough to hear throughout the house, and I’m hoping to subconsciously influence my children and de-program my wife.
If that recording is the same one that is on hoopla (it probably is), I agree with the good match between the narrator and the material. He did a few of Sowell’s books.
Let us know if it works.
No matter how wealthy the donor eventually they’re going to run out of money to produce or acquire shirts and give them away for free. Put another way, very few people exit the labor pool because they have an especially generous aunt who hands them a hundo every Christmas.
But the disparity is in some cases much larger than that – more analogous to a generous aunt who gives you $10K every Christmas. In the specific instance of charity for poor nations, consider that the annual GDP of North America is $24T and of Europe is $22T while the numbers for South America and Africa are $4T and $2T, respectively.
Buchanan, the economist, talked about a refrigerator company making excess (to the market) refrigerators. The government would buy the excess and since there was no need for government refrigs they would then be destroyed. It kept the refrig company going plus added some more to do the destroying. The manufacturing process was added to the GNP and the nation was richer.
Instead of providing windows the provider could have provided “Window Stamps”, redeemable in windows from the local Home Depot. Call them WWIC stamps (Windows for Whites, Indigenous and Colored). Coupons could be traded for other necessities such as prescriptions and refreshments.
In robc’s example the window production is located, say in China, and obviously paid for by the benefactor. The producers are being gainfully employed and the recipients are gaining subsidized windows.The locals are freed up to produce another higher end product. AS long as the subsidizer is using his own money its a win for the locals.
The real economic tolls begins to show.
As many as 300 Pizza Hut restaurants will be permanently closing after the largest franchisee for Yum! Brands, the parent company for the fast food chain, filed for bankruptcy.
Don’t worry, as soon as we get rid of bad orange man, things will be all roses and sunshine. We have no plan, except our plan is no more bad orange man.
I can’t wait for the rapid inflation, followed by massive tax increases followed by depression, followed by Mad Max real world.
Have you seen gold prices? We’ve arrived at canned goods and ammo stage.
Not sure if it’s the same in every Academy Sports market, but our local stores restock on ammo every Monday and Friday. Not too many people in town are aware of it yet, so I’ve been getting my fill for the last few weeks. They limit 9,.45 and .223 to 3 boxes. I haven’t been able to find ammo anywhere else.
I love Academy, but I’m not in their market. Whenever I go to my FIL’s place in east Texas I hit them up. They ship, too, which is nice. I’ve gotten some good deals on bulk 7.62×39.
On the bright side, I just re-fi’d my house at 2.5%.
Word. We’re listing the house this month and trying to take advantage of this market while we can. Rates are just bonkers, and houses in my neighborhood are selling within–I’m not exaggerating–hours of listing. I think the average is something like four days.
My first home loan was at 10% fixed, but right after that, rates went stratospheric. I think that was in 78, I was 19. Not sure how high they went, but I refinanced in the 90s for much less. Last rate on the last home I owned was 4%. Sold that last year.
November 4th, it begins…..
What begins? Give us the Yusef prophecy?
No matter the outcome of the Election, there will be Civil War, not North South, but more like Kosovo/ Balkans/the Troubles,
If we get ripped off, it’s game over, when they lose again, game over. we will experience Hyper inflation/Depression, We are well and truly fucked, We cannot continue as a nation like this, Rome fell for just this reason, History doesn’t lie, it just changes the players,
YusefDamus
More, If Trump loses, I will question the result, and act accordingly, My Leftist Buddy will do the same if Trump wins, So we have a problem. Who wins? is the real question.
When we lose Pizza hut…………
We haven’t lost much
NPC International Inc., which owns 1,227 Pizza Hut locations and nearly 400 Wendy’s locations, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on July 1, Louisville Business First reported.
Whether or not pizza hut is value-added to society, the point is that it is no longer mom-and-pop restaurants or brew-pubs that are going under. THE largest franchisee for Yum! filed for bankruptcy.
When fast food chains are going under, it indicates that things are really bad for the lower economic segment of the population.
Low-end retail and food service is a brush fire right now. The target demo doesn’t have money to spend because they aren’t working because there’s reduced demand. It’s a bunch of vicious cycles intertwined.
Correct.
The government response to COVID is destroying the working poor and the working not-quite-poor.
Side jobs For the Rent!
*Dons tin foil hat*
The two parties (mostly the Dems) did it knowing they could buy their vote via handouts.
It has been a long time since I was one of the working poor.
As I recall it, the working poor knew they could have worked the system to get onto welfare if they wanted to. But they didn’t want to, so they worked anyway.
I think there will be severe consequences to the politicians that put these people out of work and said “don’t worry, have some money”.
The real kicker is the FedGov Unemployment bonus. All those people that stay unemployed because it was more money than they were making. How are these people going to respond when the FedGov bucket goes dry?
Saw something similar regarding Tom’s shoes (the company, not some random asshole named Tom) They put shoemakers out of work in Africa, when they donate shoes.
Stossel, I think. I know I saw that, too.
4D Chess?
Yeah, Trump should seriously consider making the Bee his campaign advisors. Because I’m pretty sure that would work.
Holy shit. The convention is even cringier than I expected. Trump is going to win despite himself.
Double holy shit. There’s a lady on Zoom blaming Donald Trump for her dad catching the ‘rona at a karaoke bar and dying. Oy vey. And bonus points because I’m exposed to the CNN coverage, which is exactly what you’d expect.
Welcome back! And thanks for taking one for the team.
Well thanks man! Don’t ship the medal to me yet, I’m listening to this shit under protest.
Who’s forcing you?
My better half. Well, I mean, my better half and the size of our house.
You know in a free society, all these problems of creating a dependent class would most likely be dealt with on a personal level. Trying to tell someone on welfare to “bootstraps!” while Wall Street is propped up by the Fed rings a bit hollow. Let Goldman fail or restructure, let housing prices match actual demand etc. Conservatives drive me nuts when they pick on the pissant leeches and ignore the vampires feeding on the working class.
True that
It’s wildly hypocritical to bitch about welfare queens when Goldman-Sachs is being handed bundles of cash with the ink still wet so they can zero out their bad debts and distribute the risk of bad loans to taxpayers.
The basic message of “help yourself!” Isn’t wrong. But just like everything in life, it’s all about timing and context.
For sure, but I think it’s a major blind spot on the part of some conservatives that they preach entrepreneurship while ignoring how the government represents an obstacle to that in contexts they happen to favor. I don’t know, I’m on a Fed warpath these days and it colors my thinking on things like this.
” Look! look at the Shiny Object!”
I don’t think you have to bootstrap.
I don’t even know anyone who’s telling anyone to bootstrap. There are so many programs available in this country now that anyone can improve their own condition, they don’t have to be poor.
I mean, OK, if you’re disabled, we should, I believe the rest of us have to pitch in and take care of you, it’s the right thing to do.
But if you’re a capable person, you can do whatever you want.
I came from a poor family, my family were basically dirt poor, from Appalachia. I didn’t have jackshit.
I was lucky because my grandparents took a liking to me at a very young age. They were middle class, unlike my dirt poor parents, because my grandfather had a partnership with a fairly successful contractor building subdivisions all over the country. I moved around a LOT as a kid.
Now, I sort of blew all of that advantage, because all of the offers I got for free college and other stuff dependent upon me doing certain things and following certain rules, was completely unacceptable to me, because I was born to be wild and all that, so off I went, to my soon to be very hard life. I am not a sheltered child, of my own making.
Now round about approaching 30 years old and after my many failed ill-advised attempts at whatever, I decided to go to school for something.
I was poor enough that I was eligible for all sorts of grants and programs and all sorts of freebie stuff. A couple of those really helped me. I managed to get a degree only spending around $7000 and having no life at all for 4.5 years, all the while working 50-60 hours a week.
Now, my income is, from all sources, about 15x what it was when I finished my degree in 1994. I don’t know if that is good, but it feels good to me, and I feel everyone has a chance here, until democrats get complete control, and then you can just get your little gray box under a little gray sky and get your little gray uniform and little gray gruel rations, but hey, everyone gets the same.
That’s all good and fine. There are people along the bootstrap spectrum. Some will work hard no matter what. Some won’t if they see the game as rigged. Human nature.
The game only gets rigged at a certain level. And only the best or most fortunate can overcome it. I call that cronyism. The government that was supposed to protect us against monopolies, are now the enforcer of it. How did that happen?
How disabled? Like missing more than one limb or simply “My back twinges funny if I lift more than 50 lbs?”
I was poor enough that I was eligible for all sorts of grants and programs and all sorts of freebie stuff. A couple of those really helped me.
Commie!
Get some new material, it’s boring.
Do you not see the “Semi-bright border collie 2020” avatar? That’s new.
Seriously though how do you square “I benefited from a bunch of programs the democrats back” with “If the democrats get their way we’e all fucked?” snark back if you want but I’m honestly curious.
“Seriously though how do you square “I benefited from a bunch of programs the democrats back” with “If the democrats get their way we’e all fucked?” snark back if you want but I’m honestly curious.”
If democrats get their current way, we are all fucked.
Now show me where ‘I took advantage of those things’ is equal to ‘I supported those things’.
No one in this country, of able mind and body, has to be destitute. Prove me wrong.
If republicans get their way we’re fucked. might take a few days longer that’s all
Fair enough, I didn’t mean to Ayn Rand and SS you, It was just surprising to see one of the most vocal “kill all the commies’ and everyone one step left of center is a commie” commenters on this site seemingly praise the social safety net.
I can’t prove you wrong, hell I’ll go further and say even people who a few generations ago would have been considered disabled can now take care of themselves. You probably only need to be about half functional to get by anymore.
Now, I sort of blew all of that advantage, because all of the offers I got for free college and other stuff dependent upon me doing certain things and following certain rules, was completely unacceptable to me
Stop plagiarizing my autobiography!
Wait, you mean I’m not the only 17 year old idiot that ever existed?
If only I had waited until 17 to be an idiot.
Well, Goldman Sachs employees gave nearly 400 grand to Hillary in 2016, and only 5,000 to Trump. So far in 2020 it’s 100,000 to Biden, 11,000 to Trump. I’ve personally never met someone I would call an actual ideological conservative who was in favor of the bailouts. They blamed the government for the bubble, but they also thought the Wall Street types who rode the roller coaster should take the drop without complaining. The Wall Street types are not electorally conservatives.
For a long time now, the parties have been coalescing into a new alignment. The Democrats have a two tiered system, where the vast masses of the urban poor and the government employed or contracted middle class follow the lead of the Wall Street/Big Tech/Big Media/Big Government types. The question is, can the Republicans coalesce into the party of “People who work for a living and don’t do so for a government agency or contractor”.
Speaking of the voters here, not of the politicians. Those will be the usual shitheads.
Call them fake conservatives or whatever, but there were a lot ofDubya voters that pushed the “we need to save the banks”. There are also conservatives (again, whatever that means) that take the protectionist Tucker Carlson approach.
can the Republicans coalesce into the party of “People who work for a living and don’t do so for a government agency or contractor”.
No, because there’s a chunk of rank and file that are conservative/Republican/don’t support Democrats. Even more in DoD land. Higher ups in the agencies or running those same contractors? Less so.
I’m speaking of electoral blocs, there are always dissenters. There are Republican public school teachers teachers, and there are probably some Democrat gun store owners. There’s over 4 million Black Republicans, but we can still say “The black vote is Democratic” in electoral coalition terms.
If government employees and contractors were anywhere near 50/50, I wouldn’t be about to move out of the state that has over 350 years of dead ancestors laid to rest in it.
Anyone seen sloopy lately?
In a properly functioning society (IE one that votes Democrat) those displaced glaziers would be retrained at no personal cost to serve in the green energy economy. Do you guys even graft?
Reminds me a little of the arguments against keeping the US dollar the reserve currency of the world. Because of the Triffin delimma the US has been running a trade deficit since 1976. This has put a headwind on US manufacturing but has given people cheap foreign goods. I’m not sure how to untangle if this is a net good or not.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triffin_dilemma
If the dollar stops being the reserve currency our economy will collapse on a scale that has never been seen before. All the MMT nonsense, the annual trillion $ deficits, the bail outs for every crisis are paid for by our ability to keep the money printer going brrrrrr 24/7 and that is a direct result of our money being the reserve currency.
You’re not wrong. But there is a difference between starting to unwind everything on your own terms or letting this go until the markets suddenly decide to unwind everything at once and without warning.
Yes, a world of difference.
Wow this post and the replies…
https://mobile.twitter.com/daveweigel
Which one?
Found it!
https://mobile.twitter.com/daveweigel/status/1295162465551097856
The left lives in a bubble. Amash hates Trump therefore he must be supporting Biden.
Damn it that’s the wrong link. And now I can’t find it.
The only real libertarian that scored higher on he libertarian purity test than Ron Paul? Or was that his other sock Shreek or his other sock Shreek?
I’m not going to say that I hope Bernie Sanders dies of a rapid-onset, especially painful breed of ass cancer, but if he did I’d be fine with it.
Bernie is a fucking saint compared to Biden. I cannot even think of one single person on this planet that I hate more than Biden. Hillary is a saint compared to Biden, there I said it. And at this point, it makes no difference to me that the guy pisses and shits himself every day and can’t even dress himself, or remember who he is, the motherfucker is pure evil and deserves the worst.
Eh, I don’t know. Biden is a narcissistic grifter. Bernie knows more about Communism than most politicians in Congress and he’d nevertheless inflict it on this country in the desperate hope that he’d be in the ruling class and immune to the consequences.
It’s not like either of them would have the managerial insight to hire a Scaramucci, a Bannon, or a Omorosa. Surely our best days are behind us.
* throws away popcorn *
Dude! How do you hire John Bolton and then get surprised when he’s John Bolton?!
we could use a man like Herbert Hoover again !
Don’t leave the gnome from Alabama off that list or Tillerson.
have the managerial insight to hire a Scaramucci, a Bannon, or a Omorosa
?
Biden is the most corrupt politician on this planet alive today. At least Bernie has some sort of, even though twisted, principles. Biden has none, he is a pure open empty suit for pure evil.
Wow, yeah, wait. I might trade Michelle into that spot. What a disgusting piece of filth.
Oh, Michelle loves the country now. That’s nice. I guess it took four years of Donald Trump for that to happen. Weird.
But only if the kids eat raw kale very meal?
Christ Almighty she is a remarkably unlikable piece of shit. She’s gonna run next time around, I know it.
Heh, Gulag Barbie and the squad will claw her flesh from her body. There is absolutely no place for anyone not that radical left in 2024.
Unless the Dems get absolutely kicked to the curb this cycle, which I am very much hoping to see. I want them to get the spanking they so richly deserve. I have money on Trump, and while I would not bet that Congress flips to the Elephants, I think they hold the Senate and maybe even narrow the gap in the house. After what they have done over the last three years and the hard left turn it would be hugely satisfying to see them reckon with another loss.
Really? The DNC has pretty much shut out AOC. They gave her 60 seconds. How much time did Pete Mayor of South Bend get? They have signaled where they want the future to go, and AOC aint it. She’s just a useful tool.
So, now we’re getting the DNC virtual riots. Gulag and the far left ARE the democrat party, whether they know it nor not.
True. The DNC is much more professional with their corruption than AOC ever could be.
^^^ Pretty Much. AOC could only dream of the amount of power and corruption that the establishment Dems flex. And Establishment GOP.
She’s spouting off now about black kids not being shot if only we elect Joe and Kommie. Conveniently overlooking the fact that these kids are being shot in cities that have been under the Democrats’ thumbs for a couple generations.
They won’t need to be shot if Camela puts them in prison first.
If only Chicago, Baltimore and Oakland could elect some Democrats for a change…
They could if it weren’t for rethuglicans out smashing mailboxes.
Mailbox baseball for the win.
I completely spaced that the Dem convention was happening already. Isn’t this a bit early?
Lots of good responses. Hope you enjoyed it.
Good stuff, bro. thanks!
I did enjoy it. Thanks for writing it.
Yes, good read Rob. I remember reading years ago a takedown of Live Aid and all of that food aid that was sent to Somalia that reminds me of your parable. Of course , much of it ended up in the hands of warlords and it wrecked havoc upon the farmers of Somalia and Ethiopia that now had no buyers for their grain and no incentive to plant again, knowing that more food aid was likely coming. Fuck Bob Geldof. This is one of those things that is largely counterintuitive and so it continues on in many forms. I think Bastiat would have liked your expansion of his great thesis.
A guy I know was operating in the area at the time and saw the effects first-hand. Every time I hear that Live Aid song it reminds me of that tragedy and how meddling by ignorant, arrogant entertainers made the situation worse where it was difficult to see how it could be worse.
Very much.
I had dinner last night with a nice lady who has done a ton of analyst work for USAID and various NGOs. She and I have zero political commonalities, but she was very clear that these programs are failing miserably. Her beat is western Africa and she basically said the money does absolutely nothing for the people. It’s a fucking mess.
Thus closeth 817 Day
when we recall when Abilene and Fort Worth were in the same area code
which gives on to 915 day when we recall when El Pase and Fort Worth were in the same area code
https://getpocket.com/explore/item/always-sticking-to-your-convictions-sounds-like-a-good-thing-but-it-isn-t?utm_source=pocket-newtab
Having principles sounds great, but really it’s bad. Because then you aren’t willing to listen to me.
Ipso facto.
Animal,
I saw your post about moving up here and got a kick of your visit to that store in Sutton. Check out the bar right by it if you get the chance. Anyway, if you want to get my email from SP and ask questions, I’m more than happy to answer some questions about your move and what areas might best meet your criteria. Also, Glennallen has two Ls and two Ns. I’d live out there if I didn’t have to live in the city for work. I think the Copper River area is bar none the most gorgeous place on the road system.
I finally have a day off after 2 weeks of 120 punishment, Kingman is is cooler and has some nice courses, I think we will play there, and In and Out for Lunch, Yummy fun!
The video clips coming out the DNC convention are unbelievable. Are they high?
Well. they all seem to believe that Demented Joe is a perfectly good candidate for the presidency so what more evidence would you need?
The orangehate is strong with them.
Their brains are permanently damaged by 18 years of public education and the invention of social media influencer as a career
Watched this and now my brain is permanently damaged.
https://twitter.com/DemConvention/status/1295558907293769728
Wow, thanks a lot for that man, now I’m fucked up as well.
What a weird ass video, we really are in a bad simulation of a 1970’s movie about the future right now.
Eye roll
What enlightening political discourse!
Civil Rights LARPers. They really do think they’re completing what was started in the 60’s and that we’ve made no progress since then. Nor do they realize that some of the “progress” was no such thing.
So far they are making it easy for the Republicans to paint them as the party of riots and the COVID shutdowns.
What’s up with that flag tho?
For decades, the simple, bottom-line question for voters when there is an incumbent president up for reelection was “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?”
Last year, the honest, private answer for most Americans was a resounding Yes.
So the Dems had to find a way to achieve new levels of misery and economic ruin in order to turn the answer to NO.
They are that evil.
If you had asked me five years ago about American political parties I would have said they both sucked badly. At this point, one sucks badly and the other has gone into far deep insanity. Since we only have two parties that collect votes, it is a terrible thing indeed that one of those has gone round the bend.
I’m in the same boat.
I used to think that Democrats were better on the issues of foreign wars, national surveillance, and the War on Drugs, but I’ve come to realize that this isn’t true (see: Obama’s presidency followed by the candidacy of Hillary Clinton). Even on things where they appear to be more libertarian – like gay marriage – they’re not actually for individual liberty, they just want to pander to the gay community by forcing anyone who is asked to participate and celebrate gay marriage. Very un-libertarian.
In short, they both do plenty of terrible shit, but now the Democrats do some extra stuff that is orders of magnitude worse.
The last couple Libertarian Party candidates have turned me off of the third party route, as well.
Fuck this, it’s my Day off, I’m going ti Kingman, Golf fun, Peace out kids!
Have fun.
https://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2020/08/17/people-two-philadelphia-encampments-told-to-leave-by-tuesday-morning/
Protest encampments. They sort of let that one slip by.
“Organizers”. Seriously?
https://metv.com/stories/katey-sagal-got-one-of-her-earliest-tv-gigs-working-with-her-dad-on-columbo
She’ll always be Peggy Bundy to me.
Leela doing Peg was a “classic moment” of television.
But yeah, after about the first season of Futurama she’ll always be Leela to me now.
Now, THAT’S a badge of honor.
She was also a back-up singer for Bette Midler. “The Mermettes”? Can’t remember because that was about forty years ago and I wasn’t a fan but trivia pervades my small brain.
Off the top of my head, weren’t Bette’s backups known as The Harlettes at some point in Miss M’s career?
You are correct and I am wrong. Forty years ago.
Could’ve been both, just at different times if Bette later needed to become more “family-friendly.” Too lazy to look it up.
Nice! I have that episode on my DVR for watching soon. I assume that’s why there’s an article since they just showed that one.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Id4MJDNlIk0
I couldn’t make it past the endorsement of Jo Jorgensen.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1295461903268040707
Kim Klacik. ???
Mornin’, Glibs.
Mornin’, UCS. Wie Geht’s?
Well, they moved the management meeting to 7am, and the other atendees are just showing up.
That’s pretty brutal. From how far up the food chain of command did that order come?
Just my supervisor. My workday starts at 7, so no difference to me.
Planes, Trains, & Automobiles to be remade starring Kevin Hart and Will Smith:
https://deadline.com/2020/08/planes-trains-and-automobiles-remake-will-smith-kevin-hart-paramount-john-hughes-john-candy-steve-martin-1203015171/
I don’t really give a shit but damn Hollywood, get some fresh ideas.
Apparently, anything that originally starred white guys has to be redone without them. See also Ghostbusters.
…and TV commercials…
Every marriage is interracial apparently, every child bi-racial.
The Fourscores are America!, ahead of the times.
I doubt those statistics.
Science denier.
Needs Woke TV
AKA “TV”.
I’m surprised it wasn’t Maya Rudolph and Wanda Sykes for even greater woke cred.
It was a fairly amusing film but John Hughes… *shrugs*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytNLj1FO9ds
??
Indiana Woman seeks to outdo Florida Man. TW: NOT a feel-good story. Glad I got out of IN when I did.
There are times I hate humanity, this one of those times.
There are times I hate humanity, this one of those times.
Two of those times, twice as bad
Squirrels!
https://twitter.com/ArtValley818_/status/1295640128535158784
I don’t think he’s wrong. What is happening right now across the country will leave damages for years. And yes, it will get worse.
I said yesterday there was one good response* to my article and it was kind of hit on. That if the frictional cost of changing jobs was more than the value of the items received, it could be net negative to the town. However, for that to happen, the value of the gift has to be so low that the original industry destroyed wasn’t producing much of value to begin with. It is possible, but seems very unlikely.
The other good responses (see asterisk below) about dependency effects and such are much better arguments. But Yusef’s moral argument trumps that. If you believe in property rights, then fuck off if you tell me I can’t give away my property.
*it turns out you all found more than one.