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Category: Free Citizen
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2024-11-23

The "dismal science".

When I was an undergraduate back in the ...ies, we had to study economics. We had a huge tome devoted to the topic, and it was clear that if it was a "science" it was unlike any other.

Happily I don't think we were examined on it (except perhaps in the first year). You could probably have written what I learned on the back of an envelope (the internet would come later - much later). Not because I didn't read it (although I didn't read all of it by any means) but because it contained a great deal of what I considered "waffle", worthy neither of record nor of my time.

Now we understand that economics (unlike physics, although that too may be about to undergo a roots up revaluation/revelation ... ) is dependent to a huge extent upon human psychology - and humans are not logical machines, but are driven by all sorts of factors, inclusive of irrational beliefs (as notoriously cultivated by wannabe dictators and cult leaders of all kinds).

Our favoured commentator on matters economic, Nick Hubble, discourses on matters currently regarded as economic (but you can take out neither the politics nor the psychology):

"The first thing my high school economics teacher ever taught us was a simple truth: human wants are infinite, but our means of satisfying those wants are finite"

Yes yes, we say wisely, that is obviously true, move on.

"Who really notices an additional rule or regulation? Few of us are aware of them, at the margin. It’s only when you try and set up a business or fix a fence that you realise it’s damn nigh impossible to do much of anything legally anymore"

"Why not send foreign aid to places like India? And funding for medical research to places like China? It’s the right thing to do"

"Why not try to change the climate? A bad climate would be catastrophic"

"The government’s entire existence is reliant on continuing to pretend what we’ve been doing was a good idea all along"

"If we stop now because the costs of more borrowing, regulation and government control are too high, the obvious conclusion is to unwind most of what the government does"

Stop right there.

In fact, stop at the first quote:

"The first thing my high school economics teacher ever taught us was a simple truth: human wants are infinite, but our means of satisfying those wants are finite"

"Human wants are infinite" - but humanity is numbered, and even if that number is "large" it is not infinite, and according to Elon Musk, not even close.

The wants of any one person are in practice finite (unless you want to rule the entire planet) so in practice, in the situation where most people would happily settle for what used to be called an "upper middle class" standard of living, the wants of most and therefore of humanity (excluding the insane would-be dictators) is also in practice finite.

So the real question is:

"Is it really beyond the scope of our planet to support everybody in reasonable comfort?"

That's it - the whole of economic theory is ... shall we say unreliable, based upon a fallacy.

OK I simplify, but if they can get that wrong, what can they get right?

Now let's reconsider the last two quotes above:

"The government’s entire existence is reliant on continuing to pretend what we’ve been doing was a good idea all along"

"If we stop now because the costs of more borrowing, regulation and government control are too high, the obvious conclusion is to unwind most of what the government does"

... thereby releasing countless numbers of public servants (not to mention many in the Compliance Industrial Complex) into the productive economy!

We would certainly more than double the productivity of the nation (albeit not overnight as the transition would need to be managed). Compliance with unnecessary rules and regulations would cease and productivity and innovation would soar.

I'd drink to that - bring it on!

And imagine what could be achieved globally!

 

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Category: Free Citizen
Hits: 855

2024-11-23

... may be untrue. No, really.

If you are a conspiracy theorist, then you surely believe that many things we once thought were true now turn out to be ... well, false.

And if you reject such conspiracy theories as the nonsense they undoubtedly are, then you are pretty certain that those who subscribe to them are deluded.

So we have neatly divided society into factions (once again!) who both think the other lot are barmy. The division is no longer about race, religion, class, or wokeness, it's about "who's the nutcase".

So before we man the barricades, perhaps we may need to find a way to unite the warring factions under a common purpose - and "freedom of speech", which once used to be robustly defended in the UK ("Freedom to speak only inoffensively is not worth having"), is the principle upon which both sides can unite.

It's a good and effective principle, not least because offence cannot occur until it is taken - a simple offer of offence, however obvious, may well be simply ignored, and is thus ineffective in normal parlance and practice unless and until the offer of offence is actually taken.

We can choose not to be offended!

But I digress ...

Lest we (of whichever conspiracy / non-conspiracy faction) fall into the trap of too readily believing what we are told, here is a warning video that may shake your faith in your own infallible judgement - and does it in its own entertaining way (although of course you are free to disagree with me about that!), starting with the tale of the unknown "presidential candidate" who's campaign clearly suffered from a complete media blackout ...

See what you think!

(2 hrs 38 mins)

 

Like / Dislike this video here. Please hoard your brickbats for future use against somebody else.

And if you are now totally confused about what to believe, perhaps that is a state of mind appropriate to our age. Or just another conspiracy theory ...

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Category: Green
Hits: 852

2024-11-22

Are renewables sinking beneath the waves of new unpredictable threats?

Does Ed Milliband have a solution? Could we afford it?

And what does this mean for the security of subsea internet connectors? 

If the power goes and the internet goes, then modern life may become impossible in short order.

Fortune and Freedom reports ...  (NB - this is not financial advice)

(17 minutes)

 

Like / Dislike this video here.

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Category: Legal
Hits: 728

2024-11-21

The Telegraph reports that the ICC has (after some delay it must be noted) issued arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant.

"The warrants are 'for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024' "

"also issued an arrest warrant for Hamas’s military chief Mohammed Deif, who is seen as the mastermind of the Oct 7 attacks. Israel claimed to have killed him earlier this year"

"The ICC’s decision turns Mr Netanyahu and the others into internationally wanted suspects"

All countries who recognise the ICC are now formally obliged to arrest the suspects and turn them over for legal proceedings to be initiated as appropriate. 

The USA does not recognise the ICC and could in theory ignore these warrants, although they could also act as impartial negotiators to help end the stand-off should occasion arise.

Read the report.

 

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Category: Free Citizen
Hits: 733

2024-11-21

He covers a great deal of ground here, including how relations between the UK and the United States may develop in the future. Of course not to omit the golf courses of the Trump empire!

Nor to omit the conflicts of the Ukraine and Israel, and other geopolitical factors that afflict our world.

Oh, and farmers.

(48 minutes)

 

Like / Dislike this video here.

 

  1. Down the Rabbit Hole to - the Shape of Things to Come?
  2. Mike Yeadon Explains the Jabs
  3. And Now, the G20 Meeting in Brazil (Prelude to Nuclear War?)
  4. Fulford Report - A Tale of Two Trumps - 18 Nov 2024
  5. "An Embarrassment of Riches"
  6. View from the Bunker
  7. New Zealand's Answer to the Colonial Government
  8. Why Matt Gaetz?
  9. The Law of the Spirit, and the Rules of the Legislation
  10. And the Latest on the Rubbery Clots ...

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