Always Reforming

Perhaps the greatest lie perpetuated by Liberalism is that opposition to government involvement in a cause is opposition to that cause per se. You oppose government involvement in welfare?  You want poor people to starve! You oppose government involvement in education?  You want poor kids to be illiterate! You oppose government involvement in healthcare?  You want poor people to die because they can't afford insulin or antibiotics! And so on and so forth... Unfortunately, most Americans can no longer imagine a world where anything is accomplished at all without government involvement. Let me assure you that those of us who favor small government are, in fact, in favor of poor people eating, reading, and receiving medical treatment.  Many of us are, of course, the very poor people Liberals claim to want to help.  We recognize, however, that government agencies, especially those at the Federal level, are bloated bureaucracies that are unable to accomplish any goal...

Unless you're living under a rock (which might not be such a bad thing right now), you're aware that a novel coronavirus, officially labelled COVID-19, has sent the world into a frenzy.  Major events have been cancelled, travel bans have been put implemented, and people are stocking up on toilet paper!  Beyond the obvious medical implications of a pandemic like this, people have begun to express concern over the economic impact it will have, especially as the stock market is diving precipitously.  The NBA shut down will itself cost untold millions, and it will affect not only the rich, but your average joe as well.  President Trump has urged Congress to pass legislation to support those put out of work due to COVID-19, but the government gets all of its money from taxpayers, so we're probably just delaying the economic implications.  I am not a medical expert, nor am I an economic expert, so I really don't intend to comment on either of those fields.  I...

I was contemplating economics the other day while taking a shower.  Elections naturally bring up this topic, so it's been jingling around my head, and I do some of my best thinking in the shower.  Here are some of the random thoughts that I had. 1) You will always have poor people.   You know what?  Our discussions of economics and politics will be much simpler if we come to terms with this reality.  Poor people have always existed, and poor people will always exist.  As a poor person (by first-world standards, anyway), I am okay with that.  It simply is the way that the world is. Why, you ask, must it be this way?  Well, I can give you at least three reasons.  Firstly, some poor people like being poor.  They might not like being poor per se, but they would rather remain poor than do what is necessary to lift themselves out of poverty.  Politicians can talk about equality and social justice, but it is inescapable that every soc...