Zen and the Art of /.*/

I got quite the laugh at Barnes & Noble this evening when I stumbled upon this scene:

The Creature from Jekyll Island - A Second Look at the Federal Reserve by G Edward Griffin (1:11:11)

A speech given by G. Edward Griffin in 1994 (!) on the contents of his book of the same name. Required listening. No excuses.

In this statement, delivered by Ron Paul on February 13, 2008 to the United States House of Representatives, Dr. Paul proposes three actions the government should take to allow individuals to use private competing currencies:

1. eliminate legal tender laws,
2. eliminate laws that prohibit the operation of private mints, and
3. eliminate capital gains and sales taxes on gold and silver coins.

Faithfully executing these three actions would have wonderful, seemingly miraculous effects. So many of the myriad other problems that we constantly worry about, argue about, and fight to rectify would steadily melt away.

For years now (has it really been years, already?) I have been trying to share with folks the principled ideas of one soft-spoken congressman from Texas. Without fail, these attempts are met with contempt, disgust, unfounded skepticism, and insult. People unfamiliar with Ron Paul, his policies, his principles, or his record were astoundingly quick to apply to him labels such as kook, unelectable, fringe, extremist, and a score of other derisive epithets.

As published in the June 24th edition of the Osseo / Maple Grove Press:

Driving an automobile is an inherently dangerous activity. Any number of things can go wrong to cause a devastating accident. Yet every day, millions of people take their chances and travel by automobile. Despite people taking precautions and following the rules of the road, there is still a relatively constant occurrence of accidents on a daily basis.

And so it is with business. There are countless risks involved, but every day we go out and conduct our business. While much of the time we are successful, some endeavors are bound to fail as part of a normal, functioning economy.

Open Letter to Congress, by Janet Contreras:

(As read by Glen Beck: Part 1, Part 2)

I’m a home grown American citizen, 53, registered Democrat all my life. Before the last presidential election I registered as a Republican because I no longer felt the Democratic Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. Now I no longer feel the Republican Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. The fact is I no longer feel any political party or representative in Washington represents my views or works to pursue the issues important to me.

I have been outraged the past couple days over the fact that my Congressman, Republican Erik Paulsen of Minnesota’s 3rd Congressional District, voted for the “Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act.”

The object in this particular case, tobacco, is really immaterial. What I’m furious about is the flagrant violation of the rights of free people. As usual, after fuming for a while, I wonder if I’m overreacting–maybe I’ve finally lost my mind and I’m certifiably bat-shit crazy.

Middle-of-the-Road Policy Leads to Socialism, by Ludwig von Mises (audio version here)

I stumbled across this gem recently, which does a great job of explaining just what it says–that moderate, middle-of-the-road policy is unsustainable and just leads steadily towards socialism. There is no “improvement” that can be applied to a free market economy that does not fail and require further “improvements” ad infinitum, until you arrive at all-out socialism.

This past Saturday, the MNGOP held its State Central Committee meeting. After voting in some of the same old scumbags involved in the shenanigans at last year’s state convention in Rochester, the delegation proceeded to vote down the following resolution:

As submitted to the Osseo-Maple Grove Press for publication in the June 3rd, 2009 edition, but rejected on account of length:

Driving an automobile is an inherently dangerous activity. Any number of things can go wrong: mechanical failure, distractions, adverse weather conditions, dangerous road conditions, and the actions of other drivers can all contribute to causing a devastating accident.

Still every day, millions of people take their chances and travel by automobile. Despite most people taking precautions and following all the rules of the road, there is still a more or less constant occurrence of accidents on a daily basis.

And so it is with business. There are many risks involved in business–whether you are an investor, a CEO, a small business owner, a manager, a salaried professional, a wage-earner, or even a consumer–investments don’t pan out, demand dries up, productivity slips, costs rise, competitors outperform, jobs are cut, prices rise, and products fail.