Monday, September 21, 2009

RIP: Irving Kristol

Writer Irving Kristol died last week at 89. Though I didn't directly read a lot of his work (and there is a whole lot of it) I have been steadily influenced by those who he influenced and mentored, his son Bill and wife Gertrude along with James Q Wilson and others. I wish I would have known his magazine The Public Interest in its heyday.

Christopher Hitchens and James Q Wilson have articles about him below. They are especially useful in trying to understand the true origins of the term neoconservative without all the post-Iraq war baggage.

Hitchens on Irving Kristol

Wilson on Irving Kristol

Friday, September 4, 2009

On...The Michigan Way


Two Governors and a Failed Idea

For those of us who live in Michigan this article in the Wall Street Journal is depressing. Sure the true believers (in Gov. Granholm, all twelve of them) will deny it and say the numbers are wrong and check back in 10 years, etc. Others will ignore it. But many will shake their heads and know deep down that this is what they feared. Michigan and its 15% unemployment, which would be even higher if people weren't allowed to leave, is becoming the New Mississippi. Progressives don't understand basic economic principles and refuse to learn them. Instead they role out big government (even on the state level) and expect miracle cures. It simply doesn't work that way. Yes, organized government can solve some problems on a small scale, but the marketplace is not one of them. But they'll keep trying.

Anyway, the article is HERE: Michigan Subsidies Fail

I found the movie subsidy aspect disappointing. I thought maybe that was a good idea initially. See, even I can get suckered it from time to time.