Thumb Your Nose At Them
Sometimes You Have To Do It
Former President Donald Trump was combative. I saw him speak in Las Vegas once. He went right for the throats of the news reporters that were there. Trump was not warm and fuzzy.
President Ronald Reagan was warm and fuzzy. He was able to disarm his opponents with genuine humor. He shook your hand while grabbing your throat.
We have evolved into a different time than Reagan. The Democratic Party of 1980 is very very different than the Democratic Party of 2022. Today, it’s socialist or even full on Marxist.
Thomas Piketty is an economist that a lot of Democrats listen to. He wrote several books, papers, and articles about income inequality that sit well with the modern-day Democratic Party. I have no use for Piketty and I don’t think any respectable person should either.
Recently, the New York Times, a reliable left-wing mouthpiece that has become harder left than normal in recent years, published an editorial by Piketty about “Participatory Socialism”. He proposes a universal minimum inheritance of around $150,000 per person, worker control over the boards of corporations, and “confiscatory” levels of wealth and income taxation.
You know your benevolent government overlords will redistribute that cash equitably. They do it a lot better than the free market.
I think it’s just time to follow Trump’s example and tell people like Piketty to stuff it. Use words that are much harsher than that which won’t fly for normal dining etiquette. John Kass calls it “The Moutza” but I don’t think that is enough.
The younger set might. not know Milton Friedman. He wrote a fantastic book called “Free to Choose” that you might pick up if your public library hasn’t burned it yet. Here he is on television talking about capitalism and socialism. It’s perfect and since this was the 1970s, Friedman was being nice and distinguished the difference between the two with a smile.
If you study economics and participated in the marketplace as I have, you understand how humans are hard-wired for capitalism. It’s deep in our souls. Division of labor and gains from trade are part of successful society.
Yesterday on Twitter I was tweeting with the distinguished Agricultural economist Scott Irwin. We both remarked that crypto flew too close to the sun and is crashing. Today it is purely a speculative instrument.
I don’t understand the entire farming payment ecosystem and I am familiar with Ag economics but not intimately familiar with them. Especially when it comes to Professor Irwin’s level. What if you could tokenize a crop and then barter it? Would that do anything to make anything more efficient where it mattered? That comes down to making more than a marginal difference.
Cryptocurrency cannot defy the iron laws of capitalistic free-market economics. Neither can socialism and that’s why people like Piketty should be 100% ignored. Their ideas have no place in a modern innovative society.
Trouble is, we have a bunch of Piketty’s running the show in the Democratic Party and the Biden Administration today. That’s how you get instances like this.
They aren’t just dumb and out of tune with mankind. They are dangerous. So is the dimwitted person interviewing her. So is anyone that voted for this crap.
If you voted for this there are only two options. You actually believe them and don’t think their policies will affect you. In that case, you are so rich that you can somehow rise above them. Second, you got sold a bill of goods with nothing there and you made a mistake. Because if you are anything but super-wealthy, and I am talking $100MM or more wealthy, you will be affected by it big time. People like Piketty want to confiscate your wealth.
Remember, the only real reason to try and be wealthy is you can guarantee some modicum of freedom for yourself. That’s really why the Bill of Rights and Constitution are there. It guarantees freedom for everyone regardless of how much money you have.
The stock market is going to get destroyed again today. For them, it’s a benefit to their end-game goal. I remain steadfast, 320 on the $SPY is where it’s going and then it gets interesting.
Psedo intellectuals like Piketty should absolutely be denounced. If this sad episode of inflation should teach us anything it is that people who espouse crack pot theories like MMT and such cannot and should not be taken seriously. I would love for an economist to estimate what the current inflation rate would be had Build Back Broke bill passed. Guessing 10%+ and trending upwards. Republicans should be hammering democrats on that. Joe Manchin saved America.
Free Markets/Capitalism is what happens when government does nothing. No intervention.
Free Markets are what people do if government simply provides a court system for enforcing contracts. People will act on their own self interest.
Also, the way you combat these loons is with ridicule. If you read any of the dissidents of the old USSR they all agreed that mockery was the one thing that the Left couldn't deal with effectively.