PRay TeLL, Dr. Hash

<p>Capitalism matches up with liberty pretty closely, and it creates more wealth than any other economic system, but Capitalism has the major flaw that it concentrates wealth. Concentrated wealth has always been a specter; James Madison, the author of the U.S. Constitution, said, “the day will come when our Republic will be an impossibility because wealth will be concentrated in the hands of...

<p>Liberty is a fragile thing, hard to obtain and easy to lose. A lot of people don't like liberty; being responsible for yourself is frightening and difficult, plus if you're responsible for yourself then someone else can't say they are. The theists don’t like liberty because they think everyone should be forced to share their morals; Collectivists don’t like liberty because they think the...

<p>Everything runs its course, even liberty. Say something enough times, especially with contradictory data all around you, fake or not, and what was once a given, goes out of vogue. If you're raised not making decisions for yourself, wouldn't it seem odd if suddenly you were responsible? Without experience, there's going to be a lot of missteps, and lack of understanding of what the obligat...

<p>In previous epochs, people thought their lives were dictated by fate. Even today, intelligent sophists propose we're all in a giant computer simulation where everything we do is predictable. Contrarily, Free Will is the belief that your life results from the decisions you make, not some preordained script. The confusion comes because luck plays such an important role in every outcome, so...

<p>People often conflate liberty and freedom, thinking they're the same thing, and the confusion is not clarified by the dictionary definitions of the two words. In the dictionary, liberty is defined as “the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views, and the power or scope to act as one pleases.” Th...

<p>Let's review what we know about banking:</p> <ol> <li> <p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">It's technically impossible for Government to save money.</p> </li> <li> <p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">Centr...

<p>High interest, so-called Payday loans, are often demonized but the reality is totally different. Convenience and routine are valuable, and traditional banks, with their inconvenient practices, feeling of elitism, and constant fees are not an attractive alternative to many people. In fact, predatory banking overdraft charges and interest penalties could easily exceed the cost of a Payday l...

<p>Businesses factor in the amount of defaults on payments they expect so everyone pays for the people who don't pay, and you can be indignant about that, but when you consider that a majority of people have no savings, and live day-to-day, it's more likely you're the one reneging on loans, so for most people, escaping from Debt Collectors should be something that's taught in school. First t...

<p>The idea of a Debt Ceiling comes from Article I of the U.S. Constitution, saying that Congress must authorize spending, back when accounting was first confused with economics, and only Alexander Hamilton seemed to understand the imaginary aspect of money. Debt Ceilings are an emotional issue, not really a financial one; it makes no practical difference what the Debt Ceiling is or even the...

<p><span lang="en">America's debt is the accumulating difference between how much government spends versus how much taxes it collects. America hasn't had to balance its budget in decades, essentially getting its cake and eating it too.</span>The debt is accounted for by the total amount of Treasuries issued, now well into the mid-20 trillions of dollars, which doesn't e...

<p>Imaginary money is only valuable as long as there's force to say it is. This works pretty well within a nation's borders but when other nations would like to buy things from the U.S. but their money isn't really worth anything because all they do is grow bananas, what's a money-printing nation to do? This is where the Export-Import, EXIM, bank comes in. Banana republics can buy Boeing air...

<p>Capitalism is the abstract idea that special people can imagine money exists, then loan it to ordinary people who work for a living to get some of that imaginary money. The concept sounds exploitative, and it is, but it works because it harnesses the inestimable ambition, avarice and greed of the human species. Because the exploitation can quickly overwhelm the delicate balance of Capital...

<p>“We Accept EBT,” for Electronic Benefit Transfer, is often advertised on the windows of convenience stores; that's how States give away Welfare money; they also give away Smartphones to keep track of it; it's the new Welfare coupons of yesteryear. Whether you support Welfare or not, EBT is here to stay, and probably grow, so with that in mind, it should be exercised to its full monetary p...

<p>Nothing gets conservative economists buzzing louder than suggesting that government should print more money, even though it would eliminate most of the need for taxes. It's especially controversial when confronting the reality of so-called “trust” funds; otherwise people would know that Social Security, Medicare, and government retirement benefits are actually Ponzi schemes, and always ha...

<p>The Federal Reserve Bank, the de facto implementation of a Central Bank in the United States, was created by Congress in 1913 to stabilize the famously volatile banking system. It's composed of 12 regional Reserve Banks, and governed by a presidential-appointed Board. All of these people have Capitalist interests but work in a socialist framework, mostly successfully, creating imaginary m...

<p>Central Banks are one of those mysterious organizations that you think you know what they do by their name but you can't really give an example. Central Banks are usually publicly owned but in some cases, like The Fed in the U.S., they are so-called public-private partnerships, meaning they get the profit with the public taking the risk. Central Banks are currently the most powerful force...

<p>Government can't save money but it's not because they don't want to, it's actually impossible. Are they going to put it in a bank? The money in banks isn't saved either. Are they going to put paper bills in a vault somewhere like Fort Knox? That's not efficient even if a trillion dollar bill was printed to save space. Right now government buys Treasuries from themselves, but how is transf...

<p>Let's review a few of the most interesting aspects of public financing:</p> <ol> <li> <p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">Government's financial responsibilities shouldn't be on the backs of Ma & Pa businesses.</p> </li> <li> <p lang="en-US" style="margin-bo...

<p>Using public money to build private sports stadiums is a well-understood phenomenon: many voters are sports fans, and they think everyone is a sports fan, and since most people vote in their own selfish interest, no politician can walk away without cover. This is the epitome of crony-Capitalism, and one of the most difficult problems to prevent. Government and industry need to be in an ad...

<p>Public transportation has become an ideological war: the equality folks who think everyone should ride together versus the Market-types who wonder why there are still rails on the ground. Buses are last century, and trains the one before that. No bus comes to your house; no bus is on your schedule; there is no choice of buses if you don't like one; buses have a fixed, often congested, rou...

<p>Because money can be saved and money is often exchanged for productivity, people make the natural assumption that productivity can be saved, but it can’t. There's no where that automobiles or apples can be put with enough storage for use 10 years from now. In a very real sense, you eat what you kill; there is no magic replicator that turns out unlimited goods exactly when you want them at...

<p>Though there is one law of economics above all others, few people seem to know it, and fewer still ever mention it in public: production must equal consumption. Any economy that violates this rule can continue a while longer by borrowing from other nations, or plundering the accumulated wealth of others, but eventually even that runs out. Throughout history, you ate the turnips you labori...

<p>Throughout history, it was always a challenge for a single human being to produce as much as it consumed which is one of the main reasons for society, but even that was problematic during strenuous times, like drought. Luckily, as technology developed, the increased productivity provided more than enough for everyone as long as they contributed at some level. However, even advancing techn...

<p>People always confuse Capitalism with entrepreneurship but entrepreneurs are producers while Capitalism is a game of moving money around to make more money; Capitalists produce nothing, yet they accumulate wealth much, much faster than producers. Capitalism incentivizes the largest consumers to be the least productive while simultaneously concentrating wealth in their hands. One way to al...

<p>Imagine for a moment that science fiction became reality, and that Star Trek-style replicators existed: food, clothing, housing, entertainment was all 100% provided at no cost to anyone else; how would that affect life? Why would anyone do anything if they didn't want to? There's only science and art remaining for people to engage in since the drudgeries of life would be taken care of. Sc...