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Well, this is a first for this fully operational podcast: we tackle Socialism, the newly hip, but always old school form of government. To cover both sides of the argument, we call on Washington Post columnist Elizabeth Bruenig and longtime Ricochet member (and Professor of Political Science at Skidmore) Flagg Taylor. Also, Manfort, Cohen, and all that jazz, and finally, what’s the most accurate gauge of a robust economy? Easy, it’s the state of Lileks Oil in Fargo, North Dakota. Spoiler alert: business is great.
Music from this week’s episode: Talkin’ bout A Revolution by Tracy Chapman
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Okay I just listened to that. First of all, name me a government that keeps an honest actuarial system. There aren’t any. Supposedly Nordic style socialism is just a forced savings plan via what is effectively regressive taxation. It’s a complicated subject. How did we come to the point that the government has to do this at the point of a gun, anyway? Why doesn’t anybody ask that question? Plus all those Nordic countries did what is be capitalist first and then rob it with Socialism. The Mises guys are very good at tearing Nordic socialism apart.
The “dispersion of income” problem in the centralized political power among the people with money is due to Fed easy money, a corrupt financial system, and a power structure that makes Washington DC too powerful. Centralization equals corruption an d social problems.
“Assent to live here.” LOL there’s you’re natural rights, God-given rights issue resolved in four words. Beautiful. God Bless The Declaration Of Independence!
Unions can’t do a damn thing about automation and globalize labor markets. Zip. The government and the Fed have got to get the cost of living under control. That is the only way out. Better living through purchasing power, not just the top line. Ben Sasse’s last appearance just drove me crazy in this sense.
“Means test.” Am I the only one it finds it outrageous that some people’s social security gets taxed? What did they do wrong to get the actuarial shaft? My grandfather lived 20 more years after they gave him Medicare for free. Then interest rates went to the moon, so my dad inherited way more. I’ve seen data that the only way to resolve all of this is a net worth tax on some people. Madness. This country is too stupid and corrupt to make Socialism work.
Finally listened: QUESTION!
Did Lileks say “impactful” of his own accord or was that ad copy?
Here are some recent articles by Elizabeth Bruenig in the Washington Post:
If you click on the “comments” button at the end of any of the articles, you’ll see that the Ricochet audience is much, much, much more polite than her own Washington Post audience.
And note that, for a socialist, her articles are behind a paywall.
(Only a slight paywall, there’s a limited number of articles you can read on washingtonpost.com without paying for a subscription or switching to another browser.)
The other thing about this is, if you really want to renounce your citizenship because you are sick of how this place is run, the IRS takes a huge chunk of your wealth before you leave. This is recent.
‘Not a problem for a Socialist.
What on earth is the value added from progressive taxation? Politicians point a gun at our heads an auction off rates and deductions. Government actuarial systems; all of them broke. Central banks guess at an interest rate and force it down our throats. Central planning geniuses that we are forced to have rule over us.
Mark Levin has a quote but I don’t know it very well. When you take property rights to the extreme, you get property rights. Etc. when you take redistribution to extreme you get tyranny. Except he’s got a nice list of examples.
“Inflationism, however, is not an isolated phenomenon. It is only one piece in the total framework of politico- economic and socio-philosophical ideas of our time. Just as the sound money policy of gold standard advocates went hand in hand with liberalism, free trade, capitalism, and peace, so is inflationism part and parcel of imperialism, militarism, protectionism and socialism.”
Ludwig von Mises
Of course no one cares, so we will continue to freak out about Trump and socialism.
What makes Escalante worth more than most other teachers is not so much that he teaches calculus. It’s the fact that he goes above and beyond the minimum requirements of a teacher. He works after hours to help his students and instills in them a belief in themselves based on real achievement, not on “everyone-gets-a-trophy” nonsense.
Unions discourage this kind of dedication and individual initiative. A longtime friend of mine began her career teaching English in a high school in Pennsylvania. Several of her students were well behind in reading and writing skills, so, like Escalante, she began teaching them after school on her own time. The students responded beautifully and were making great strides. But once the teachers’ union got wind of this, she was told by a couple of union thugs that she needed to cut it out because she was making the other teachers look bad. When she persisted, she began receiving death threats. Despite this, she continued unabated (she has a very strong will). Then one day, all four of her car’s tires were slashed in the school parking lot. That got her to stop the extra teaching and she resigned at the end of the school year. Kind of an inverse Stand and Deliver, isn’t it?
Stand and Deliver is one of my favorite films. It’s a bit like a made-for-TV movie, but the true story is very inspiring.
Now they want to turn Schools into “Full Service Schools” to solve social problems. Communism. LeBron James is donating.
Actually, any calculus teacher is worth more than most other teachers. Most other teachers cannot learn calculus, much less teach calculus.
That said,
No argument. But the unions’ discouragement of dedication is far more instututionally pervasive than your anecdote makes it out to be. Teachers unions demand lockstep pay based on seniority. It makes no economic sense for any teacher of any subject or any grade to work harder than a second grade teacher, whose students cannot (and should not) be assigned substantial homework, and who haven’t the attention span to benefit much from from extra instruction time.
I’m fairly most of our Hollywood and New York elite socialist types will open bank accounts in the Caymans first
Many of the hedge fund guys I follow have bought big houses there. Don’t whole monetary system is going to get overhauled at some point. United States isn’t going out of money soon, just because the dollar is a safe haven. These are just facts.
I cannot recommend enough the exchange series on real vision. It will cost you 10 whole bucks to watch it. 90 minutes. Markets and government. Social problems. Political issues. Integrated discussion.
Just like the people who believe in “past lives” always think they were kings and queens and knights instead of peasants, the people who believe in Socialism always think they’ll be in the ruling class.
There is a lot to this. If you have nothing, these days socialism looks good. All of the ones in the media like Matty Yeglaious, and Ezera Kline et. al. and the functionaries in any state Democrat party think they will be one of the mandarins. I’m dead serious.
I think it’s the disconnect that because there are people that are wealthier than you, that you aren’t the wealthy they’re talking about.
See also Hillary Clinton calling herself “middle class”
Ugh. I can see I’m probably in the minority here, but I’m not a fan of the idea of bringing in a lot of lefties to spout their nonsense on the Ricochet podcast. I’m not looking for a safe space, but one of the things I enjoy about the Ricochet is that it’s one of the few places I can go for political discussion without driving my blood pressure up.
I was frustrated throughout Elizabeth Bruenig’s segment because you guys didn’t really challenge her premises. First of all, and I have to put this in all caps: MY INCOME IS NOT A “RESOURCE” TO BE “DISTRIBUTED.” This nonsense is at the root of the entire leftist dogma about inequality: this fundamental misunderstanding of how wealth creation works. They seem to think that there is just some pile of Resources, and that the System determines how those resources are allocated. Not so: I build my own wealth, and in doing so I am taking nothing away from anybody else’s ability to do the same.
Concede that point, and you have surrendered the argument.
I also object to the premise that the “super-rich” have an outsized influence on elections. Didn’t work for them in 2016, did it?
And even if you grant that premise — that the rich have too much influence on elections — it’s an awfully big jump from that to saying that the solution is to confiscate their wealth. Couldn’t we maybe look for some more modest, more target reforms that make our democracy more effective? Is destroying our entire economy really the only solution?
I keep posting this, but it’s why redistribution and central planning are looking attractive to so many.
Some people might look at it as a way of getting something. But for too many it seems to be a way to make sure that everyone else – or most of them, anyway – also have nothing.
I agree with you that a particular calculus teacher is probably worth more than most other teachers, but not necessarily. If that calculus teacher is lazy and is not dedicated to teaching, they may be worth less than most other teachers. If you get the unions out of the way, the best, most sought-after teachers will be in high demand and will command higher salaries. That’s the way it should be.
Almost all education except maybe the college liberal arts should be certification based. Pass a test. Let the private economy sort out how to educate people. You could still have public funding of K-12, through vouchers.
Well of course. Unions are bad in many ways. My anecdote was meant to convey an appalling way in which unions stifle great education for our children — using intimidation, threats of violence and destruction of property — that most people probably don’t know about. Pay based solely on seniority is obviously unacceptable. But that’s easier for people to shrug off than death threats.
I agree 100%. I know the three hosts could have done a much better job of countering Ms. Bruenig’s narrative. I’m not sure why they didn’t. It seemed to me that they wanted to get her side of things without much interference or comment. If so, my suggestion of having Ricochet members submit questions for her next appearance based on her statements in this podcast could be a good antidote.
Nope. Trump spent half of what Clinton spent.
People want free stuff. They want risk wiped out. Some want to be one of the mandarins.
Kevin Williamson was talking about this on a MD&E episode recently. He noted that young people say they want socialism, when what they’re usually talking about is a welfare state, and most of them don’t know the difference. (And yeah, there’s a lot of overlap, but they’re not the same thing.) This is why they like the Nordic countries so much: they’re generous welfare states. Bruenig should know the difference, but most of what she talked about was welfare-statism.
Yah. And if you check out her speeches on YouTube, you’ll see she’s also thick into Marxism.
So what to make of this wave-particle-duality? (Physics reference, sorry.)
It sounds like a strategic bait and switch to me. The government managed means of production is, by definition, socialism, and the free stuff is the facade that brings in the votes.
The good news is that you can call them on it with any dictionary.
He. Not they.
If that calculus teacher is lazy and not dedicated to teaching, he may be worth less than most other teachers.
If an English teacher is lazy and not dedicated to teaching that subject and verb must agree in gender and number, that English teacher is surely worth less than she is paid.
LOL
That’s her husband. I quit following him but his twitter feed had 330K followers it it was insane. You do not want these guys to get any power at all. They are all dangerous or stupid.
Those categories not only are not mutually exclusive, there is significant correlation.