Foto by tgw, "On a Past 4th of July," New York City, 2007--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sittin' Here Thinkin'
You can sing that old blues as "Sittin' here drinkin'," too, but I'm not drinkin', though I am thinkin'--and in thinking, going from light thinking to deep thinking, my thoughts seeming to fly higher than the ground-level ordinariness of most human-monkey absurdities, like the current absurdities going on in Washington, District of Corruption, over this debt ceiling and the downsizing of human-monkey safety nets the common ordinary human-monkey expects from its government, its money-giving-away, flirting-with-inflation, putting-its-senior-citizens into the streets without any kind of bail out at all. No bailing out for those who need it--those of us too poor not to fail.
Check Out the Following Quotes:
"The best way to destroy the capitalist system is to debauch the currency. By a continuing process of inflation, governments can confiscate, secretly and unobserved, an important part of the wealth of their citizens."
"For at least another hundred years we must pretend to ourselves and to every one that fair is foul and foul is fair; for foul is useful and fair is not. Avarice and usury and precaution must be our gods for a little longer still."
"I do not know which makes a man more conservative - to know nothing but the present, or nothing but the past."
"Capitalism is the astounding belief that the most wickedest of men will do the most wickedest of things for the greatest good of everyone."
The above statements come from the infamous (in today's Economics) John Maynard Keynes. And guess who hates John Maynard Keynes with a Libertarian passion? Why Milton Friedman, the University of Chicago follower of Leo Strauss, the father of the Neo-Conservatives and war planner Paul Wolfowitz's mentor (former head of the World Bank).
Check Out These Quotes
"I do not think it is an exaggeration to say history is largely a history of inflation, usually inflations engineered by governments for the gain of governments." [Note: the same statement from John Maynard Keynes in above quotes.]
"Perhaps the fact that we have seen millions voting themselves into complete dependence on a tyrant has made our generation understand that to choose one's government is not necessarily to secure freedom."
"We [Economists] have indeed at the moment little cause for pride: as a profession we have made a mess of things."
"We must face the fact that the preservation of individual freedom is incompatible with a full satisfaction of our views of distributive justice."
The above quotes are from Frederich von Hayek, the Economist, intellectual father of the U.S. Libertarians (those represented by Ron and Rand Paul). Von Hayek, an Austrian, along with Ludwig von Mises, was the founder of the School of Austrian Economics. At one time, von Hayek was a Leftist Socialist.
Check Out These Quotes
"I am in favor of cutting taxes under any circumstances and for any excuse, for any reason, whenever it's possible."
"I'm in favor of legalizing drugs. According to my values system, if people want to kill themselves, they have every right to do so. Most of the harm that comes from drugs is because they are illegal."
"So that the record of history is absolutely crystal clear. That there is no alternative way, so far discovered, of improving the lot of the ordinary people that can hold a candle to the productive activities that are unleashed by a free enterprise system."
"The black market was a way of getting around government controls. It was a way of enabling the free market to work. It was a way of opening up, enabling people."
These are the sayings of Rightwing/Austrian Economist follower, Reagan's Economic guru, Milton Friedman, also a student of Leo Strauss (a former Trotskyite) at the University of Chicago. Milton's famous for saying even though it's crazy and illogical, if it works, it's OK, let's do it. If it turns out to be disastrous, so what? The economy will correct itself. Reagan, by following the free-market principles of Milton Friedman, was the first president in modern times to send this country into what has become an irretrievable debt, a debt which up 'till now we've not been able to overcome, a debt which Reaganomics (Voodoo Economics) followers, Pappy and Shrub Bush (this creepy little faux president lost (and I do mean LOST it) 1 trillion dollars during his rule), soared up to our current debt of trillions of dollars; a debt we now owe to the Chinese Commies (how ironic is that?), to the economically desperate Japanese, and the Saudi-Arabia Royal Family, two of which are dictatorial/authoritarian governments--governments with total control over their people--the type of governments these von Hayek Libertarians claim they despise. Notice how Milton Friedman said he was for decriminalizing illegal drugs--"If people want to kill themselves...." (trust me, Milton did some kind of drugs)--and so is multimillionaire Ron Paul, the Texas Libertarian who some progressives think is an OK dude--HE IS NOT.
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BuzzFlash/Truthout Pundit Discovers Eric Hoffer
I just read a piece on BuzzFlash where this pundit brags about discovering The True Believers, a book by the great American/Longshoreman thinker, Eric Hoffer. This pundit has great journalistic credentials, which to me means he's nothing but a newspaperman without a good newspaper job anymore, depending on selling his latest book on these Internet news blog sites. And I'm discussing this with bitterness because in 2007, ironically in July of that year, the The Daily Growler, under my signature, devoted a whole post to Eric Hoffer.
Friday, July 20, 2007
"Yes, Meester Day-vis"
I first heard Eric Hoffer back in the early days of PBS. They devoted a whole series of programs on this hulky old longshoreman who had just published The True Believer, a small book but large in terms of thought. Eric Hoffer was a self-made philosopher; he said he was a reader of everything he could get his hands on. The moderator of those Eric Hoffer teevee specials was a man named Davis--and I clearly can hear now Eric answering one of Davis's questions; he always prefaced his answers with "Yes, Meester Day-vis...." A brilliant man. A great American. Here's a tribute site on the Internet where you can read a whole page of his quotes--read 'em and think:
http://www.phnet.fi/public/mamaa1/hoffer.htm
--The Wisdom of a Great American, Eric Hoffer:
Absolute power corrupts even when exercised for humane purposes. The benevolent despot who sees himself as a shepherd of the people still demands from others the submissiveness of sheep.
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Add a few drops of malice to a half truth and you have an absolute truth.
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It has often been said that power corrupts. But it is perhaps equally important to realize that weakness, too, corrupts. Power corrupts the few, while weakness corrupts the many. Hatred, malice, rudeness, intolerance, and suspicion are the faults of weakness. The resentment of the weak does not spring from any injustice done to them but from their sense of inadequacy and impotence. We cannot win the weak by sharing our wealth with them. They feel our generosity as oppression.
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Failure in the management of practical affairs seems to be a qualification for success in the management of public affairs.
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The real “haves” are they who can acquire freedom, self-confidence, and even riches without depriving others of them. They acquire all of these by developing and applying their potentialities. On the other hand, the real “have nots” are they who cannot have aught except by depriving others of it. They can feel free only by diminishing the freedom of others, self-confident by spreading fear and dependence among others, and rich by making others poor.
thegrowlingwolf
for The Daily Growler
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thegrowlingwolf
for the Monday, July 11, 2011: The Daily Growler
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