There is a great contradiction in the way our government approaches international trade and relationships. On the one hand, we offer copious amounts of foreign aide to countries. On the other hand, we impose a plethora of tariffs on imported items. These policies are hardly beneficial to either party.
When we provide aide packages to other countries we doing little more than international welfare. It has been decided that we have too much money, and they have too little, and so we take it upon ourselves to give them more. This of course, like domestic welfare, teaches dependency. They have little incentive to rise above their circumstances if we are going to continually give them money if they do not. We have taught them the merits of socialism.
We also place tariffs on imported goods in order to “protect” domestic producers. Sounds great. But who is really benefiting from tariffs? Not the public as a whole, only those whose business is protected by the tariffs. If domestic producers are not the most efficient why should we insist they continue to produce? The rest of us are forced to pay higher prices for goods produced inefficiently. Tariffs also have the added effect of compounding the welfare for other countries previously discussed by imposing tariffs on what goods they are able to produce and export to us.
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Posted in
Liberty, Taxation |
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September 22nd, 2006
by
Senior Editor: Jeff
Silly socialists can't get their plane off the ground. Capitalism is whooping their tail (Boeing).
Posted in
Liberty |
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September 22nd, 2006
by
Senior Editor: Jeff
A church is threatened with losing its non-profit status for taking a political stance. That's right, the IRS watches non-profits to make sure they don't endorse political parties or candidates. Churches, etc can't enter politics. Stupid. However, with the passage of the Fair Tax, this would no longer be an issue. There would be no IRS, and no income taxes to be exempt from.
Posted in
Liberty, Politics, Taxation |
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September 21st, 2006
by
Senior Editor: Jeff
There is an increasing trend today towards customizing services for each individual. Dell is a great example. You can call or go online and customize a PC that meets your specific needs. Healthcare is moving in this direction too with research into DNA-specific drug therapy. This trend is great from many angles: the customer is able to get exactly what he wants/needs with little waste. As the cost of delivering such services goes down, more companies will move in this direction as well.
Consider this possibility from a public (government) standpoint. What would happen if government was customized to our individual needs? Prejudice would be the cry. How can the government treat people differently? We are not all “equal under the law?” Here lies the problem with government services: everyone is treated the same.
Consider any service, like welfare or unemployment. When the government provides them, it cannot treat people according to their individual circumstances. This would be “unfair.” However, private charities can approach each person’s situation differently and people will love them for it, and it will be much more effective.
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Posted in
Liberty, Politics |
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September 20th, 2006
by
Senior Editor: Jeff
Stratfor just released an analysis of Pope Benedict's recent comments. Quite interesting!
Long, but well worth it.
(note: I recently published the entire commentary, but for brevity's sake will summarize it.)
Essentially, the Pope knew what he was doing. He sees how the war in Afghanistan and Iraq are going, he sees how Christians are treated, he knew the effect his words would bring. He is a politician after all: ruler of an autonomous state, etc…
He called Islam out. He lifted up the rationality of the West and Christianity (and so doing lended support to Bush), and asked Islam to do the same. He gains popularity with his followers, helps Bush out, gives hope to Christians in Islamic states, condemns the violence of Islam, puts the burden of proof on Islamic leaders, all while maintaining the ability to distance himself from his remarks. Brilliant. Bravo!
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Posted in
Politics, Religion |
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September 20th, 2006
by
Senior Editor: Jeff
More fuel for the fire: one scientist says global warming is not man-made, but rather a warming after a long cold spell. Kind of like how spring is warmer than winter? Sorry Al, it's not settled science…
Posted in
Politics, Science |
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