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Hornberger’s Blog, October 2011

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Monday, October 31, 2011 Greek Bailout Delays the Inevitable The European Union’s bailout of Greece will only delay the inevitable because it doesn’t get to the root of the problem — Greece’s welfare state, along with the fierce refusal of the Greek citizenry to abandon the welfare-state way of life. It’s amusing to watch Greek citizens protest so vehemently against Germany, whose taxpayers have just been plundered to bail out the beleaguered Greek government. It’s also amusing to watch those same Greek citizens protest any reductions in welfare in Greece. Here’s the problem in a nutshell: The Greek people want the government to take care of them with free welfare benefits. Where do the Greek people expect the government to get the money to pay for those free welfare benefits? They don’t care. They just know that it’s the government’s job to take care of people by providing them with free welfare benefits. How the government gets its money is no concern of the ...

Stockholm and the Kidnapped Citizenry

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Individual men and women don’t need enemies. Many want a challenge with an opponent, someone with whom to compete cooperatively, but not an enemy. Governments, however, do need enemies to get their citizenry to submit to coercion. Some of us accept that as almost axiomatic, a self-evident fact that’s so blatant we can’t understand why the rest of society doesn’t recognize the obvious. So the question arises: Why are people so willing to put on blinders and wear a yoke? In her August 29 Washington Times commentary regarding the Transportation Security Administration 10 years after 9/11, Gail A. Jaquish made several interesting references. One was to F.A. Hayek’s Road to Serfdom. Summarizing one of Hayek’s points, Jaquish wrote, “Once a population internalizes that authorities have the power to coerce, few will experience actual coercion because passive submission avoids it. Excessive government control ultimately leads to a psychological change in the people of a nation.” That sounds much like the change that takes place ...

Stop Obama from Managing the Economy

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As the presidential campaign season gets into full swing, be prepared to hear the standard arguments as to which candidate and which party is better at managing the economy. The debate surfaces every four years. Republicans will cry, “President Obama and the Democrats have made a mess of the economy. Elect us because we’re able to do a better job at managing the economy.” It was the same thing four years ago, only then it was the Democrats exclaiming, “President Bush and the Republicans have made a mess of the economy. Elect us because we’re able to do a better job at managing the economy.” From the standpoint of libertarians, the debate is a silly one. Why? Because neither the president nor the government should be managing the economy. A system in which government officials are managing the economy is inevitably going to be one big messed-up system. It really goes to show that when it comes to economic principles, there isn’t any ...

Hornberger’s Blog, May 2011

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Tuesday, May 31, 2011 Immigration and Liberal Hypocrisy Let’s give credit where credit is due: When it comes to hypocrisy, liberals can be just as two-faced and duplicitous as conservatives. We’re all familiar with conservative hypocrisy. The favorite mantra of conservatives is: “Private property, free enterprise, and limited government.” Yet, the favorite programs of conservatives are: Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, public schooling, education ...