When the riots begin

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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/wor ... le2193207/

Most major American newspapers failed to mention that Obama has come out on the side of the "useful idiots" who want to spread their message that Wall Street is corrupt and corporations are greedy. So we have to rely on Canadians to tell us what is happening in the US of A. It is always amusing to watch Obama beat up on the financial system because it is very apparent that he does not understand how it works. The guy just does not have any business sense or financial savvy whatsoever. How can Obama justify his view that the new debit card fees is "not good practice" and "not necessarily fair to consumers"? Anyone who understands anything about banking knows that the new fees on debit cards are necessary if American banks are to be restored to health. If banks are not allowed to make money then eventually they will have to be bailed out again, and again, and again. So what does Obama want? A sound financial system or freebies for everyone?

I think it is difficult to understand the causes of the current social and economic upheaval because there are so many of them. There is just SO MUCH corruption/greed/stupidity/exploitation. That is why the Occupy Wall Street movement does not seem to have a clear goal or purpose. There is no one problem which, if we addressed it, would return to Americans the sense of social safety and economic stability enjoyed by the previous generation.

There are a lot of people who have made a public spectacle of how much they enjoy America's present misery. Hugo Chavez is the latest to add his mocking voice in support of the Occupy Wall Street movement. How can America's enemies not rejoice when Americans start attacking the very institutions that perpetuate American wealth and power?

The view of these spoiled brats is that if there is nothing for them then there is nothing for anyone else. Like the criminal protestors in Greece, who have caused billions of euros of economic damage with their never ending efforts to destabilize what they regard as the corrupt Greek state at a time when Greece desperately needs to work together to get through a very difficult financial crisis, the movement that is now gathering to protest corporate greed and Wall Street corruption is likely to do a tremendous amount of damage to the American economy. All in the name of building a better world where people who do things like pursue an MFA in performing arts would not need to pay back their student loans or where everyone can get whatever they want from the bank and never have to pay for it. There used to be a time when Americans would have been scandalized by even the thought of not paying back their debts. What happened to these people? Where are they now? Are there any Americans left?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/pos ... _blog.html

They get bolder and bolder and the response gets tougher and tougher. One can only hope that winter will drive these brats back home where they can watch reruns of the Simpsons in the cozy comfort of their parents den.

And now the Iranians have come out in support of Occupy Wall Street. Way to go!

The central dilemma in all free societies is that everyone’s freedom necessarily impinges on that of others. Sometimes the infringement is a minor irritation that can be endured and at other times the trespass is such that freedom in effect assaults itself. An example of how the freedom enjoyed by some can become an abomination to the very notion of freedom was the institution of slavery in the Antebellum South. Owning slaves allowed plantation owners to enjoy a life that was otherwise out of reach and thus greatly enhanced their freedom. It was a great deal for the slave owners but obviously not a very satisfactory arrangement for the slaves or for other people who did not or who could not own slaves because it is almost impossible to compete with people who use slave labor.

However, even though the slaves were emancipated and allowed to do as they pleased, it did not mean that their new found freedom would translate into the same effects as that of their White brethren. Illiteracy and lack of education meant that although freed, many former slaves would have little choice but to continue working the fields; except that instead of getting room and board, they received wages. Here is another idea you should consider: the same freedoms given to different people will not always translate into the same effects.

But let us get back to the original argument on the competitive nature of freedom. The basis for saying that your freedom impinges on that of others arises from the scarcity of resources. If for instance you eat an apple then that apple which you have consumed is no longer available to others. At any one time there are limited apples in the world and therefore because you exercised your freedom everyone else finds that their options are reduced. There is after all one less in the world while the number of people in the world remains the same (we are assuming that the apple is consumed instantaneously and that no one is born or dies in that instant). The same simple analysis can be applied to just about any human activity you care to mention. Because anything that we do necessarily restricts what others can do, freedom is competitive by default.