John, please, in no way, take my post personally! Not intended! Bring this stuff up! It NEEDS discussion.
I do "green" inspections too - had one three nights ago. It seems the big bucks the homeowner spent on a ventless and very "green" roof are not paying off - he is experiencing condensation all over the huge house. His 16 SEER A/C unit cannot remove enough moisture from the air. Mold everywhere. And he refuses, and I mean refuses, to believe that it is caused by the lack of roof ventilation. (Ventless "green" roofs are the "new" wave...) OK then! He has bought into a new think, the new "green" paradigm, and anything outside that template is hoo -ey. That is what I meant by the word ignorant in my post - people simply don't know.
To answer your request, here's an idea -
The eight most prosperous countries in the world have economies that most closely match Adam Smith's neo-classical economic model. He was an economist at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.
The eight least prosperous are the furthest from his model... in fact, the 98 least prosperous.
What did he say? In two books, "A Theory of Moral Sentiments" (1773) and "The Wealth of Nations," (1776) he basically said that the free-market economics is like an invisible hand guiding and encouraging the free-flow of goods and services, sending resources to the places they will be most desired and most efficiently used. Milton Friedman said it is more like and invisible hand and foot. The free market always, always, always works! But it must be unfettered by government.
Smith also said that the butcher, baker and beer maker provide our dinner not out of their goodwill and benevolence toward us but purely out of their own self interest. Self interest is NOT selfishness. If you disagree, consider this:
Do you want to provide the best inspection service, with the best report, and the best record of success because you love your clients? Or do you want that information to get around to all the realtors so they call back and have their clients call? Why do you want them to call? Because you are interested in improving your standard of living, a better life style. Don't you love your clients? Sure, I have relationships with many of my clients, some extending over 20 years. They are great!! But they call because of my service. They have little other loyalty. And when they call it SUSTAINS my life style, to which I have grown accustomed.
The model cannot survive without profit. When profit is stifled, or over taxed, the model fails. Period. Profit can be defined as monetary and as psychic. We also want a great "rep" and profit from that.
Anything outside that model WILL NOT WORK! Ask T. Boone if he agrees with all that and he will say, "Of course, completely, 100%." So, why is he promoting a magical plan which is outside that model? My contention is because he wants to benefit T. Boone. Follow the money. That is not self interest. It is selfishness. He knows that economic laws are just that - laws. You violate them and there is consequence. Every now and then, too often, Messiahs come along and think they can violate those laws because they are smarter than the rest of the room. THEY CAN'T... There is a "Messiah" coming along right now - listen up!
Our political freedoms are inextricably tied to our economic freedoms. Pure and simple. That is unarguable.
Here is an interesting article I have been sending around for a few years now:
" How Long Do We Have?
About the time our original thirteen states adopted their
new constitution in 1787, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish
history professor at the University of Edinburgh, had
this to say about the fall of
the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years
earlier:
(My interjection here - Tyler was a student of Adam Smith!!)
'A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot
exist as a permanent form of
government.'
'A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that
voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts
from the public treasury.'
'From that moment on, the majority always vote for the candidates
who promise the most benefits from the public treasury,
with the result that every democracy will finally
collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always
followed by a dictatorship.'
'The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the
beginning of history, has been about 200
years'
'During those 200 years, those nations always progressed through
the following sequence:
1. From bondage to spiritual faith;
2. From spiritual faith to great courage;
3. From courage to liberty;
4. From liberty to abundance;
5. From abundance to complacency;
6. From complacency to apathy;
7. From apathy to dependence;
8. From dependence back into bondage'
Professor Joseph Olson of Hemline University School of Law, St.
Paul, Minnesota, points out some interesting facts
concerning the 2000 Presidential election:
Number of States won by: Democrats: 19 Republicans: 29
Square miles of land won by: Democrats: 580,000 Republicans: 2,427,000
Population of counties won by: Democrats: 127 million Republicans: 143 million
Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by:
Democrats: 13.2 Republicans: 2.
Professor Olson adds: 'In aggregate, the map of the
territory Republican won was mostly the land owned
by the taxpaying citizens of this great country.
Democrat territory mostly encompassed those citizens
living in government-owned tenements and living off various
forms of government welfare...' Olson believes
the United States is now somewhere between
the 'complacency and apathy' phase of Professor Tyler's
definition of democracy, with some forty percent of the
nation's population already having reached the
'governmental dependency' phase.
If Congress grants amnesty and citizenship to twenty million
criminal invaders called illegal's and they vote, then we
can say goodbye to the USA in fewer than five years.
Help everyone realize just how much is at stake, knowing that
apathy is the greatest danger to our freedom.
WE LIVE IN THE LAND OF THE FREE,
ONLY BECAUSE OF THE BRAVE "
Back to me --
In other words, all these voters will be voting from a position of selfishness. There will be more tax takers than tax payers. Look around at the pockets of our country that are in that position now - how are they doing? That, by the way, is the thesis of the book "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand. Haven't read it? Do so...
What really gets my goat, and a lot of them have been missing lately are all the policies designed to gain more control over our lives. That means a reduction of our liberties. The best way to do this is to stultify economic freedoms. Have you not noticed?
Did you not notice the recent Supreme Court "decision" regarding eminent domain?
Now it is "constitutional" for governments to take any property at any time should they deem it to be able to produce more revenue for the government that wants it. If a local government, for tax revenue reasons, thinks it will profit more from a shopping mall than your neighborhood, they can take it "constitutionally" and give you in return what they think your property is worth.
How again would gazillions of wind mills happen?
John, my new friend, I am not trying to stifle the free exchange of ideas. Quite the opposite, I am trying to engage, and teach. So, LET'S TALK... I am a warm fuzzy - I will not get personal. Should I stop by your house going cross country I would give you a big kiss, well, the Biblical "holy kiss." I love your posts - don't stop!
You think I don't have concern for the "world"? Quite the opposite - I agree with Reagan - we are the lighted city on the hill, we are the world's last, best hope. When we lose that perspective, we are lost and so is "the world."
This idea you accuse me of "slamming down" is NOT new. It has a new dress on and a pretty bow and a Smiley Face pin on the collar. But it is not new.
Slamming down these "new" ideas never stops them. "They" do come with "new" ideas - but, they really are the old one, re-dressed. I would love to have lunch with Pickens. I'm not fooled. I am frankly surprised by this "new" proposal of his. More than that, disappointed.
Check out the lyrics to the song, "We Won't Get Fooled Again."
www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Won't-Ge...FA9C48256977002E72F9
Oh, and the answers to the questions Pickens wants us to ask our "gubment geniuses" can ALL be answered by and with the free market. And quickly!!
Post away, dude!
