On..."Earned Success"

A few articles to share. It's been a while.

First Michael Barone ties together a number of ideas to formulate an idea that is overall pretty basic but is often ignored.
Barone writes

• They want public policies that enable them to earn success, and they resent policies that channel money to the politically well positioned or to those who have not made decisions and taken actions necessary for earned success. They want to be empowered, not patronized.

• (Walter Russell) Mead makes an even stronger point when he writes that "for large numbers of voters, the professional classes who staff the bureaucracies, foundations and policy institutes in and around government are themselves a special interest." One, he adds, that acts "only to protect their turf and fatten their purses."

Americans Want the Honor of "Earned Success"

The Tea Party's rise and success has been linked to both of these points, but especially the second one. Government has become a massive special interest and for those on the outside-looking-in resentment has been growing for some time. Continually throughout US history the people have rebelled from what they deemed an unnatural growth (and abuse) of power consolidated in one group's hands i.e. slave holders, Gilded Age capitalists, urban political machines. In all three cases, the federal government was strengthened to destroy (slave holders) or reduce (capitalists, political bosses) these power grabs. Now, the very monster they created to protect the republic is now seen by a growing minority to be the threat to the republic.

If there is one person who needs to be read it's Walter Russell Mead. His last few blog posts have been awesome, especially

The Writing on the Wall

It perhaps is the best long essay I've read all year.

His latest American Tinderbox is also very interesting.

On...Cuba

"You talkin' about Cuba?"

Flood that Island with Cash and Capitalism and Knowledge

When I heard the Prez Obama was going to start to lift travel restrictions to Cuba I was relieved. During the campaign it was one of the few of his numerous promises he made that I agreed with. But like many things in the last couple of months it has come out half-assed and disappointing. Restrictions only for Cuban-Americans?

A start you might say, but enough is enough. Our policy on Cuba has failed. Isolation doesn't work for Cuba. Bombard them with Jacksons and Franklins. Bombard them with Midwest and LA tourists. Send down fleets of AARPers and Spring Breakers. "Leave" behind copies of the Weekly Standard and the Washington Post and Ayn Rand and George Orwell. Open Cuba up. Ripped them out of the Marxist dustbin. The Cuban government will not be able to stop the rush. And if they do they will be the bad guys. They will lose money and world standing. It's worth a shot.

If only Obama will go all the way. His motto is starting to be "Change you can kindof, sortof, believe in, sometimes...maybe."

This Washington Post Op-Ed piece makes a number of good points on the subject. And the gullibility of some on the left too.

On...Various Stuff about our POTUS

Take these as you will.

I always want our nation to be successful and this goes for our President, but I wish him success if he handles things differently. For one I think he is too staged. I don't think he can handle a real back and forth with lots of curveballs [SEE the UK paper The GUARDIAN]. There will be events he can't prepare for, sit down and think about and sleep on. Professors are rarely generals. Especially when you must face down Russians, Koreans, and Persians.

Also I have real suspicion when it comes to his motives domestically. (Even beyond Socialism) It is beginning to seem that he desires real power as much as W but in a very different way. Not everyone has come down from Cloud 9 yet but I think they will see how much he is expanding presidential power to unheard of heights. He definitely sees power as something to use and he is just getting warmed up. [SEE WSJ and another Brit's take on power grabs] I don't think he understands business. He sees it as an outsider. He sees the possibilities and positives of capitalism, but he doesn't really grasp how it works and why it works. He's like a kid who finds this great toy but uses it all wrong then breaks it.

And lastly we'll see how Obama handles North Korea. This area I'm most concerned, not about our civil liberties, but our reputation for strength in the world. There will be one rookie mistake (beyond missile shields removal for peace) at least. I'd rather see it with NK than with Iran or Russia.

KOREAN ROCKET
Kim Jong-iL's Gamble
The Guardians Take on Historical Irony

On...The Future of Capitalism

Bailouts and Purges

If nothing else the whole bailout, stock market hiccup, etc is giving the nation a small economic lesson. Unfortunately the professor is a hungover drunk with a failing marriage and a hodgepodge degree in Marxist-Adam Smith tomfoolery. Which is the wonder of Economics. Nobody really knows much and everyone is tampering with the thing. Poking and prodding the carcass. Many suggest leaving it alone is best (see Joel Stein in LA Times), others praise the bailout (A Bill that Deserved to Pass), others look at the big picture and realize the painting has already been ripped off the museum wall and stuffed in a trunk. What is the common man to do? According to many of the political commercials they should be really scared and angry at Big Oil and Wal-Mart and Evil Banks. Ah, the 1930s all over again.

I myself am not astute enough in economics to make real observations that I feel are accurate at this point, and I don't like chasing black swans, but anyone else is free to get a dialogue going on that. But I do have the sense that old systems are shifting and the capitalists are running to the socialists in government for security.

Our politicians should have done what the founders have always suggested--do nothing rash. Sit on it, let our passions cool, then make formative decisions. The bailout bill was a total rejection of Enlightenment coolness of mind. It was a panic-filled free-for-all and buy-off. Instead using logic, we are further blending the state and the market in an orgy of passion and fear. The trudge towards the socialist twilight is usually not a good thing. It puts too much power in too few of hands, especially politician and bureaucrat's hands. We will take a further step in that direction is Barack Obama wins and a Democratic congress injects an European health care system into our bloodstream. If our economy is truly on the brink like so many doom and gloom pundits believe, this will be a potentially troubling move. I tend to be an optimist and believe it is hard to bring down a $14 trillion economy, but universal health care should not be in the cards at this moment (if ever).

I also want to say the whole Wall Street vs. Main Street simplicity is juvenile. Us versus Them. Nice. I love how the populists use the term Main Street as a good thing. They might want to check out where the term really came from--Sinclair Lewis' Main Street (1920). A scathing satire on the idiocy and backwardness of small town life. Clinging to guns and God fits the Main Street motif nicely. But oh, the wisemen will come and show them the light. Fun stuff. Further discussion on the impact the economy is having on the working class can be found in Ross Douthat's new blog posting HERE

Jacob Weisberg from Slate.com has a interesting dissection of the labeling of our new economic arrangement. The article sortof jumpstarted this blog.

Also two excellent economic websites are RealClearMarkets and The Skeptical Optimist.